“Why you trusting her?”
“I don’t know, okay? I just think things are more than they appear.”
“Never thought this was anything more than mean girls’ shit, T. But I’m telling you, trusting her is a bad idea. I feel it in my bones.”
“Yeah, well, I trust her more than the horsemen.”
“The what?”
I half-laugh at myself, because honestly, I am so confused by everything, including my emotions lately. “Tobias, Harrison, Miles, and Kai. I nicknamed them the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Doom and gloom shit. Conquest, war, famine, and death.”
“T, you need to step back after this shit tomorrow. You need to bring it back home.”
“I know.”
“I hope you do.” He palms the back of my head and kisses the top of it. “I hope you do.”
“Sorry, I really am.”
He smirks. “Aside from this shit tonight, I’m actually pretty fucking psyched about it.”
Gabby walks out of the bathroom. “Then maybe you’re the one who needs to bring it home.”
“ ’Bout ready to call Uncle Z and ask to borrow a ball gag,” he snaps as he turns and walks down the hall.
I shut the door then walk to the edge of my bed and sit.
Gabby rolls over and looks at me. “Three.”
“What?”
“Three horsemen.”
A chill runs up my spine. “Is it that bad?”
“Depends on how deep they drag you in.”
“Gabrielle?”
“Please don’t ask, for your sake and mine.”
“It’s just high school, right?” I ask.
She smiles sadly. “For those lucky enough for it to be, that it is.”
“Are you … safe?”
She nods and smiles. “I’m good, Truth.”
“Because we would help you.”
“Oddly, I believe that.”
“Do you need help?”
She laughs. “Your brother seems to think so.”
“Why do you take sleeping pills?”
The softness in her eyes starts to fade.
“I’m sorry. I know we aren’t there yet.”
She shakes her head. “Maybe someday.”
“Tired?”
“Have you ever taken a sleeping pill?” she asks.
I shake my head.
“Fucking exhausted.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Gabby.”
“Answer a question for me?”
“Sure,” I say, turning out the light.
“Do you like Tobias?”
Instead of asking, You mean, the boy I was grinding on earlier? I go with, “The guy who one minute is nice to me, and the next minute, he’s a tyrant?”
She yawns. “He wasn’t like that up until a few months ago.”
“So, was he mean all the time or …?” I laugh.
“Happy, content, still a bit of a loner, but the best kind of guy out there.”
“What happened?”
She sighs. “Not really sure.”
“Let me guess, he won’t talk about it.”
“Exactly.” She yawns again. “But that’s when we all felt the shift.”
“The shift?”
“No more fights, no more cards at his place, no more hanging out even. He changed.”
“Let me guess, it happened when we moved here.”
She’s quiet, really quiet, and then she finally says, “Never really thought about it, but I guess it was.”
My chest tightens as I wonder what that means, hoping it’s because he likes me and not that he despises me.
“He likes you, Truth, and for some reason, he trusts you.”
“Did he say that?”
“Not a talker, remember? But I can tell he does. Otherwise, he wouldn’t try forcing us to be friends.”
“Not to be rude, but I guess I don’t understand that, either. After this afternoon, I actually think he’s in love with you.”
“No, definitely not.” She laughs.
“How do you know?”
She sighs loudly. “Your brother, although an asshole, wasn’t wrong.”
“About what?”
She chuckles. “The popularity pole.”
“Ouch,” I whisper.
“It is what it is. I don’t regret my decisions, just some of my actions. But Tobias was the first I tried to sink my claws into, so to speak. He flat-out said, not my type.”
“I can see that.”
“Ouch,” she says now.
“No, not like that. I’m guessing he likes blondes with tiny tits and narrow asses.”
She laughs. “Downward Dee?”
I laugh, too. “Yoga will never be the same.”
“So, are you gonna go after him?” she asks.
Turned down once already, no, thank you, I think.
“No.”
“How about Harrison?”
“If I was ever really into him, how do you think that would go over?”
She laughs louder now. “Wasn’t trying to eavesdrop at the game, but seriously freaking hilarious.”
“Yeah, they’re cool.”
“Better than cool, Truth Steel. You have a great family.”
“I’m sure yours is, as well.”
“Yeah,” she whispers.
After a few minutes of silence, Gabby yawns my name, “Truth?”
“Yeah?”
“Your parents don’t know about me or the video, do they?”
“No.”
“You seem really close, so why?”
“That would only tighten the leash.”
“Understood. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
Chapter Seventeen
Idiom
Get your act together.
Truth
What if it’s not an act?
I’m not a quiet waker-upper, but knowing I have a guest in the room, who doesn’t know how obnoxious I can be with my normal stretch and squeal routine or, God forbid, Mom’s “Love Myself” by Hailee Steinfeld dance party, I quietly stretch my arms over my head and do the best I can while remaining quiet.
When I look down, I realize that someone, probably Justice, removed the boot from my leg when I forgot from the overstimulation of the day and evening.
Tiny T, I think.
Don’t even think about it, Rocky, I scold myself as I feel my cheeks get hot. It was hard enough to fall asleep last night wishing I hadn’t read him wrong and basically tried to—no, actually did—mount him in my first, of many I assume, blotched attempts at seduction.
I pull my duvet over my head and pretend to scream into it before righting my head, sitting up, and looking at … an empty bed.
Walking upstairs to the kitchen, the smell of bacon wafting in the air, I expect to find Gabrielle but find pretty much everyone else all but staring at me.
“What?” I ask, knowing exactly what. Then, quick-like to cover my ass, I ask, “Where’s Mom and Dad?”
“Shopping,” Justice says, popping a piece of bacon into his mouth.
“So, is this the surprise Mom was talking about last night and you were all hush-hush about?” I ask, walking over and taking a piece of bacon off the platter, tearing it in two.