A knock comes on my door. “Go away,” I call out. If it was my sister, she’d just charge right in, so it’s either my mother or Isabella, and I don’t want to speak to either of them.
The door opens, and I sit up when I see it’s Austin.
This can’t be good.
“Hope you don’t mind. Your housekeeper said you were up here. May I come in?” she asks, standing in the doorway.
I wasn’t able to get rid of Isabella for long. After my sister found out what I had done, she called our mother and told her that I trashed the house over the weekend. So my mother called Isabella and told her to get back to our house and clean it. Thankfully, Isabella didn’t rat me out and tell my mother that I paid her to stay away. She kept the cash I gave her and her mouth shut.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Depends. Are you here on behalf of Becky or Deke?” Neither one matters.
She sighs heavily. “I’m here for you, Demi.”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
Without asking again or waiting for permission, she enters my room and closes the door behind her. She sits down on the edge of my bed and tilts her head while she looks me over. She frowns when her eyes run over the faint marks left by Deke. They’re fading, but I don’t wear much makeup, so you can still very much make them out.
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture,” I tell her. I’m not sure which one told her what I did with Deke, but it doesn’t matter. It’s done.
“I’m just worried—”
I laugh, cutting off her words. “About Becky? She’s a big girl. She can handle herself. Trust me.”
“No.” She reaches out and pats my leg gently. “About you.”
Austin has always been nice to me. I didn’t get to see her much back in Collins. She didn’t come around my father’s house very often, but when she was there, she would go out of her way to say hello to me or ask how my day was going, but she never invited me out with them. At the time, I thought it was because Becky filled her head full of lies and made her hate me. Now I know it was because Austin was dealing with her own demons—the GWS.
“Why would you be worried about me?”
She runs a hand through her dark hair. “I don’t know what kind of game Deke is playing with you, but I’ve been a part of a game before, and it would have been nice to have someone on my side.”
I look down at my hands sitting on my lap, unable to meet her eyes. I already know what she went through. And I hate that my sister wasn’t there to help her. She was too wrapped up in Deke to see what was really going on. Or maybe she did and just didn’t care.
“I’m nothing like her,” I find myself saying.
“I didn’t say you were.”
My eyes meet hers, and she gives me a soft smile. I highly doubt she knows what Becky is really like. No one does. No one among the living anyway.
“I’m not here to judge you, Demi. I only came here in case you needed to talk to someone.”
I snort. “And to go tell my sister.”
“No.” She shakes her head quickly. “I want to be your friend. And to me that means something. I would never betray your trust.”
I fist my hands. “Then you’re here for Deke.”
“No, Demi—”
“I don’t believe you, Austin,” I shout, interrupting her.
Silence follows my outburst, and she nods her head once before standing. She turns to leave, and I look down at my backpack next to my bed. It’s open, and the top of her journal peeks out.
“Wait,” I call out.
She comes to a stop and turns to face me. I reach down, pick it up, and walk over to her. “I told you I’m nothing like her, and I mean that.” I hold out her journal. “This belongs to you. You should be the one to have it.”
Her green eyes widen when she looks down at it. Slowly, she takes it from my hand like it’s a grenade that can blow up any minute. “Where did you get this?” she asks clearing her throat.
“I found it.”
Her eyes snap up to mine. “What do you mean you found it?”
“I went looking in Becky’s closet for something to use against her, and it was in a box she brought with her from Collins.”
Her eyes drop back down to it, and she grips it tightly.
“I read it,” I admit.
When she just stares at it with terror in her eyes, I feel bad for giving it to her. I should have just thrown it away. I’m sure she wants to forget many events in there. Cole may have fallen in love with her in the end, but there’s more than just him and the sharks in there. There’s a lot of Phillip—her mom’s boyfriend. He touched her. Hit her. And I have no doubt he would have done much harsher things if she hadn’t moved to her dad’s when she did.
I’m not going to apologize for reading it ’cause I’m glad I did. It taught me a lot about Austin and helped me understand her more. Not only is the girl beautiful, but she’s fierce. No wonder Cole fell for her. What guy wouldn’t? I believe her when she says friendship means something to her. And that she is loyal, but I’m just not sure she considers me a friend.
“I …”
The opening of my bedroom door cuts her off. She spins around to face it, and I look up to see my sister barge into my room. “You fucking bitch—”
“What the fuck were you doing with this?” Austin interrupts her. And the look on my sister’s face tells me all I need to know.
She’s fucked!
CHAPTER NINETEEN
BECKY
I STAND IN Demi’s room. My plan was to come in here and beat the shit out of her, but that is clearly not going to happen for two reasons.
One because I’ll have a witness, and two because my best friend looks like she will be the one beating some ass.
I swallow nervously, looking at her journal in her hand. How did she find that? “Where did that come from?”
“Why did you fucking have this?” Austin demands, taking a step toward me.
I take a step back out of the bedroom. Austin and I have never had a falling out; she’s always been nice to me, but I’ve read her journal. And you don’t wanna be on her bad side. “You asked me to take it.”
“No. I told you to fucking burn it!”
Five months ago
I walk over to her hospital bed and sit down. We weren’t even sure Austin would survive the shooting, and now here she is, wide awake and asking for a favor three days later. She just asked me to go back to her father’s house with Cole. By myself. Not sure what the hell she wants me to do for her, but no was on the tip of my tongue when she asked the guys to leave the room so she could talk to me alone.
“I need you to grab something for me.”
“Can’t Cole get it?” I ask, not wanting to be left alone with him. The last time I was alone with him, his hand was wrapped around my throat, and he told me that I’d owe him a favor. Then Austin showed up. And being her friend was my favor. What started out as payment for my sins ended up becoming my best friend. Although I have a bad way of showing it.
“No.” She sits up better in her bed and flinches from the pain. “I have a journal.” I frown. “I need you to get it. He can’t see it.”