Lai's family makes me wonder... Dion is older, likely in his mid-thirties, and he looks different than the rest of the Eden Falls boys. More experienced. Harsher. Like life wasn't gentle with him, and it made him rougher in all of his exchanges.
Ashamed, I realize I'm getting turned on by the image of this man who doesn't let anyone intimidate him. I cross my legs righter and hope no one notices.
"Anyway," Dion sighs, drinking a long sip of wine. "I'm only here this week. I'm leaving for Stormcliff this morning, indefinitely."
I nod at his words. Stormcliff is the main city close to Eden Falls. A lot of the bigger companies have offices there.
"But what about Lai?" I finally ask. "He'll be here by himself?"
"He can take care of himself," Dion smirks.
I sneak a look at Lai. For the first time ever, I see him looking almost vulnerable, like he's about to say something. But a moment later the softness disappears, replaced by jagged, harsh edges.
"Don't worry about me so much, Pandora," he grits out. "Don't you have your own shit to deal with? Like the situation with Booth?"
I glare at him, trying to silently remind him not to talk about it, but it doesn't seem to be working.
"That's true," Dion muses. "What are you even doing here, girl? Aren't you Dexter's fiancée now?"
"I've had enough of the third degree," I mutter, pushing my chair away from the table.
"Oh, you have, have you?" Dion laughs. "Well then, we've had quite enough of you too. Unless you're inclined to share, you will be gone by tomorrow evening."
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"Dion, I..." Lai glances nervous between his brother and me. "It's not your place-"
"No, Lai," Dion smirks. "It's not your place. And if I say she can't stay here, she can't fucking stay here. Got it?"
Lai is pissed off, and so am I.
"No worries," I hiss. "I can take a hint."
I walk out of the room with my head held high. It takes everything in me, and as soon as I round the corner, I lean against the wall and exhale, feeling my chest rise and fall with panicked, shallow breaths.
I hear their conversation go on as I try to catch my breath, and I listen in guiltily.
"Why do you have to be such a fucking tool to my friends?" Lai hisses.
"You know why," Dion tosses back. "Do you really want to make room for another Lily fucking Anna?"
"She's nothing like her. Nothing."
"I see quite a few similarities, actually. Namely the one where they both had you fucking whipped, Lai."
"You don't know shit."
"Tell me you don't love this one too, then." Silence follows, tensions heavy and thick in the air. "You can't, can you? You fell in love with another one of your best friend's women. Lily Anna first, and now this Pandora girl. For shame."
"I don't need to listen to this," Lai hisses.
I rush toward the staircase to avoid him, tripping over my own feet in an effort to get the hell out of there. I reach the upper floor when I hear him call out from below.
"Pandora." I look over my shoulder, my eyes on Lai's. "Did you hear any of that?"
I don't reply, standing frozen with my hand on the bannister.
"It's true," Lai grits out. "I do. I love you."
I can't move. Can't say a word. My heart beats wildly as I watch him wait for my reaction. I don't give him one, because I don't know what it's supposed to be. Finally, he gets tired of waiting. Taking his eyes off me, he leaves down the hallway.
It takes me several long minutes to return to the guest bedroom. I can't even begin to think about Lai's confession - I still need to figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow.
I want to go back to Dexter's house.
The realization hits hard, and I groan, knowing I'll have to swallow my pride when I return to the Booth Manor.
But at the same time, I know it's what I want. I want Dexter. I want to leave this town with him.
Tomorrow at school, I'll ask him to come with me.
Together, we'll leave Eden Falls in the dust.
As I walk into the school that morning, I feel even more exposed than usual. There are lingering gazes on me. Whispers are being passed around as I make my way through the hallways. I know something's up before I even make it to my first classroom of the day. But as soon as I do, my hand flies to my mouth and I stare in shock at my own image. The picture Dex took - it has to be. It's been blown up in ridiculous detail, pasted all over the classroom. It's on the blackboard, on the walls. It's everywhere. Audra strolls past me then, with a sickeningly sweet smile, passing out more copies of the lewd photograph.
"Got a text this morning," she purrs when she bumps into me. "Dexter sent this over. I thought I might as well share."
I'm horrified. I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole, but the relief doesn't come, just the horror of being so utterly exposed yet again.
Lai is not in this lesson and neither is Dex. I can't bear another second in that stuffy classroom, and I turn on my heels, running away.
I don't stop until I've made it to the girls' bathroom on the first floor. I look myself into the last cubicle, feeling hot tears blurring my vision.
I can't believe Dexter's betrayal.
After everything that's happened... after everything he's done for me - to me, he did this. The knife in my back twists and I retch over the toilet bowl, emptying my stomach. I sit down, shivering as I hear the door open and someone comes into the bathroom.
"She's not even that pretty." The sound of running water and giggling follows. "God, can you imagine being such a slut that you'd let someone take those pictures of you?"
"What did you expect?" the other voice wonders out loud. "She's not Eden Falls material. Never belonged here, anyway."
With a scowl, I put my bag over my shoulder and open the door. The two girls doing their makeup in front of the mirror freeze as I saunter between them, washing my hands and face in the sink.
None of us say a word, them being too scared to look at one another and me not wanting to give them a second of my time. Once I'm done, I smirk and leave the bathroom. As soon as the door closes behind me, I hear them going at it again, gossiping and spreading more rumors.
Let them fucking talk. I'll have my revenge.
I go back to my locker. The hallways are deathly quiet because the lessons have already begun. I stash my school bag in the locker and take out another bag, a weekend one that I've packed with my essentials in case things ever got too bad at the Oakes Estate and I needed to make a run for it.
Dex and I had discussed leaving together. We'd talked about leaving all of this behind. But I never should have trusted him. He was never looking out for me.
Now, my bottom lip wobbles as I think about leaving by myself. I'll be all alone, just like when I first got to Eden Falls. But Dex doesn't deserve better. He wanted to get rid of me. Why else would he send that private photo to Audra?
I hesitate before pulling out the stack of printed out papers from my locker. But it has to be done.