“You’re not fine. You’ve bought in to it. You’re really picturing yourself as Cooper and Isabella’s little fuck toy, aren’t you?”
I slap him.
Then regret it.
“Nice,” he says, palming his face with his hand. “That’s nice. But slapping me won’t change the truth. You’re not going to be here much longer, Cadee.”
I just stare at him.
I know this. It’s not a surprise. The whole point of us all coming back to school was to put Dante’s plan in motion. And that didn’t include me staying on for sophomore year.
But…
“You want to stay, don’t you?”
I want to lie to him. Tell him everything he wants to hear. But I can’t. So I say nothing.
“Where does that leave Cooper?”
“What are you talking about, Ax? Cooper and Isabella will be married on June fourth.”
“He’s not marrying her, Cadee.”
“Oh, he most definitely is. I love the double standard here. I really do. I love how Cooper can go along all he wants and you show up in my art class to literally lecture me about having one friend.”
“She’s not your friend. And Cooper isn’t going along—”
I turn away, take a few steps, and then turn back, fuming. “I don’t want to hear it. Everyone is pissed at me, fine. We’re right on plan then, aren’t we?”
“We would be,” Ax says. “If we all thought you were faking it. But you’re not, Cadee. You really think that bitch is your friend.”
I keep walking. I’m not even a hundred percent sure where we are, but I vaguely remember how to get back to the central gardens using the path Cooper and I traveled during homecoming.
Ax doesn’t follow me. And when I finally make my way back to the dorm, every one of my former friends ignores me as I get in the elevator and go up to my room.
Go up to my tower.
Cooper doesn’t come back to the dorm.
Ax isn’t the model in my life drawing class the next day.
Leela doesn’t show up to take me to dinner.
I don’t think I will ever see Ax again.
Leela is in my bedroom when I finish my last final exam of the semester on Friday.
“I packed you up,” she says with a smile.
And I know it’s sad. But I say it anyway. “I missed you.”
She delivers me to the Valcourt mansion via limo. Jack is there when we arrive. If Cooper is there, he doesn’t come outside.
And he’s not there for dinner, either.
Leela comes to my room with a tray of food. I’m not sure what’s happening when she knocks and I open the door, but then she says, “Jack and I are going out to dinner and the Chairman has a dinner meeting. But I didn’t want you to think we forgot about you.”
She comes in my room and sets the tray on the dressing table, then turns to me and gives me a hug. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and Cooper, Cadee. But don’t worry, everyone gets confused before the big day. In two weeks you won’t have to think about any of this anymore. It will all be settled.”
I nod and breathe out. “Thanks, Leela.”
“I’ll see you soon.” Then she places her hand on my cheek and it lingers there for a moment as she smiles down at me.
Then she’s gone.
My door is closed.
And I am alone.
I don’t eat the food. I’m too busy wondering how I got here.
Too surprised at how lonely it is.
Too sad at how nothing ever seems to change.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - COOPER
“What am I looking at, Christopher?” My father sighs and rubs his temple. This meeting was Jack’s idea. It’s Christmas Eve and the only thing on my father’s mind is getting drunk.
This is a Valcourt family tradition. Has been since my mother died in that car crash when I was five. I have always thought my father hated me because I survived and she didn’t—why is it my fault that air bags and car seats are wonderful modern inventions? It was only very recently that I entertained the idea that this might not be the case. That my father might actually give a fuck or two about me.
How naïve I was.
“It’s seismic scanning, Dad. Jesus Christ. It’s like I’m suddenly the smartest person in the room. How many times do I have to fucking explain this shit?”
He turns from the window and scowls in my direction. We’re in his office. Me, Jack, the Judge, and the Mayor. I’ve never taken a meeting with his cronies before. It’s kinda creeping me out. But Jack said they’re invested in my project and are eager for the news.
Right now, the Judge is looking at me like I have a target between my eyes and he’s seriously considering shooting me. The Mayor is texting on his phone. My father is standing at the window, drink in hand, looking out at the freshly fallen snow that covers the lake.
Jack is pacing. “I think we need to hire someone to go over the data. Clearly Cooper is not able to fully interpret what we’re seeing here.”
“What are we seeing here?” my father asks. Like he didn’t just ask me that same question ten seconds ago and he’s hoping Jack has the answer he’s looking for.
I’ve made a PowerPoint and it’s being projected up on the wall. “We’re seeing nothing,” I say for the tenth time, so fucking annoyed. “Because there’s absolutely nothing there.”
“That can’t be true.” The Mayor looks up from his phone, searches the room for Jack, then says it again. “It simply can’t be true. We all know it’s there. We need to find it.”
“Cooper doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
“I know what I’m doing, Jack. Am I, or am I not, the only one in this room who maybe could potentially be a goddamn geological engineer next year? There’s nothing there. Look at the scan.” I get up, walk across the room, and start pointing things out. “This is all rock. This”—I point to something else—“is clay. Victor and I dug it out. That’s what I’ve been fucking doing for the last week. We dug it all out. There’s nothing there. Whatever it is you’re looking for, it’s not here.”
“Then where is it?” The Judge’s voice is deep and low. We all turn to look at him, but he’s directing this question at me for some unknown reason.
“How the fuck should I know?” I snap at him because he’s an asshole. “I don’t even know what you’re looking for.”
“Get out, Cooper.” My father’s words come out with the same level of contempt for me as mine just did for the Judge.
I throw up my hands. “Fine with me. But my project is done, right? I did my job and I’m done.”
“Get. Out. Cooper.” He snarls it so I leave.
I head towards my room, but then I catch a glimpse of Cadee’s door down the hallway. I look over my shoulder, checking to see if Jack followed me out, but he didn’t.
So I walk down the hall and tap lightly on the door. “Cadee?” I don’t hear anything, so I open it. She’s not here.
I enter, check the hallway, then close the door behind me and head straight across the room to the door that leads to the patio.