“Willow why is Pepé out of his house?” We called it a house because she was convinced Pepé disliked the word cage. Yeah that was all Willow.

“I don’t know…he escaped?”

“Willow your mom will have a fit if she knew he was left out.”

“He has a soul! He doesn’t belong in a cage!” Here we go. I turned on her speakers to avoid another animal rights speech. “I’ve got a date with Derek Ryan tonight,” she blurted.

“Dash still not talking to you?”

“No. Who cares anyway?”

“Willow –”

“Nope. Not going there. He has a fiancée, remember?”

“Do you even know if that’s really true? You know how girls like that are. They’re self-serving. They think the world belongs to them.”

“He didn’t deny it either.”

“You asked him? When?”

“He snuck in Sunday night when my parents were sleep.”

“What did he say?”

“What do guys like that always say?” He told me his relationship with Rosalyn had nothing to do with our thing.” She let out a humorless laugh. “I asked him was I supposed to be his mistress or something and he just shrugged and said we were friends who fuck and there was nothing to talk about.”

“Oh Willow.” I sat down on the bed next to her and hugged her.

“You know what the worst part is about this fuckery?”

“What?”

“I let Dash throw away my favorite vibrator! It was special.”  I laughed at her silliness. I was happy that she didn’t let Dash break her because her spirit was amazing.  “So you still plan to go after Keiran and Dash, huh?”

The way she asked instantly had me turning around to face her. “I won’t go after Dash if you don’t want me to…” She shrugged and stared down at the floor.

“Willow?”

“I don’t want you to go after either of them.”

“Look, I don’t even know what I’m going to do. I just know I need to find out if he killed that girl.”

“Why?” She finally met my gaze again but she looked truly angry now. “You don’t even know her.”

“But she’s an innocent little girl.”

“How do you know that? Really, Lake. How? All you have is picture. So you found a locket in his closet that looks like hers. That doesn’t mean he did it.”

“Willow…”

“I know how it sounds, damn it! I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I promise, I’ll be careful,” I reassured her.

“Yeah well…promises are made to be broken.”

Sheldon came over an hour later with news that Anya had a bounty on my head. Apparently word spread that Keiran and I were a couple now and that I stole her man. “I wouldn’t worry about Anya, she is all talk. Keiran won’t let anyone touch you anyway.”

“I’m not worried about her. Keiran and I are just friends anyway.”

“Sure, babe.”

“Lake, I have to agree,” Willow chimed. “That kiss earlier didn’t look friendly. It was hot.”

“We just have an agreement. A truce of sorts.” A truce that was a half lie but would get me what I needed. There was no way Keiran was getting away with this.

“Uh huh and how did this agreement come about?” Sheldon asked.

“We played basketball.” They gave me a weird look and I ran down everything that happened starting with English. I didn’t however tell them about our impromptu shower.

“He totally hustled you, Lake.”

“What do you mean? It was a fair game.”

“Come on. You saw Keiran play.  He used your curiosity and made the odds sound good enough that you couldn’t resist.”

“You got played,” Willow added.

“And if I know Keiran, he is after more than friendship.”

“I know. He made it pretty clear he wants sex.”

“Are you sure you know what giving it up to Keiran will lead to?” Sheldon asked.

“An orgasm?” I laughed.

“Lake, Keiran is playing for keeps.”

“He has had to fuck almost every girl at Bainbridge and then some. Does he keep all of them?”

“Of course not.  And he isn’t as big of a man whore as you may think. He’s too calculating. Most of what he does has a purpose.”

“Like his sudden interest in me?”

“Have you been listening? It’s always been there.”

I didn’t understand why everyone was so convinced that Keiran has always wanted me. He has done everything in his power to convince everyone that I was an undesirable waste of space.  I’ve never once been on a date because of him. I didn’t go to parties. I didn’t hang out. Up until now I had one friend. No matter how much I hid in the past, he found me. I ran and he chased. I couldn’t escape him. It was as if my pain fueled him.

This year was supposed to be about getting through and breaking away with the hope that I would never see him again. Now I was being told that the past was a lie. It felt very real to me because I still carried the scars. After his last play on my sanity, the scars ran deeper than ever before.

I guess I still haven’t gotten away from wearing my emotions on my face because Sheldon quickly changed the subject.  “Willow what are you doing to my brother? He’s been snapping and growling at everyone. My dad put him in a chokehold when he snapped at mom. It was awesome.”

“I took your advice. I showed him I was serious.”

“I never doubted you were serious. I’m wondering though if you’re sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“You want him, so what’s the deal?”

“He’s engaged?”

“Oh that.” She shrugged and answered, “He’s not engaged.”

“Sheldon, don’t lie for him.”

“He’s not. There was talk between our fathers about Rosalyn and Dash marrying, but that was more like matchmaker bullshit. At least for my dad it was. He called the idea off when Dash told him he wasn’t interested. Rosalyn’s dad, however, has it in his head that they made an agreement. We all know he’s just after money. His finances are failing and our family is richer, so they want to marry into the family. “

“Are you talking about an arranged marriage? Who does that?” I interrupted. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Our families are old money so they follow a lot of old traditions and customs. My dad is more realistic and believes in marrying for love. Besides he would never make us do what we wouldn’t want to; to a point anyway.”

“What point is that?” Willow asked.

“Dash and dad got into an argument Sunday night about what school Dash would attend. He wants Dash at a more promising school so he can take over the family business.”

“Dash doesn’t want to take over?”

“He wants to. He just wants to do it his own way. Anyway the argument escalated and he disappeared for a few hours.”

“He came here Sunday night around nine but he was only here for a few minutes. I asked him about Rosalyn and he took off.” Willow repeated the conversation to Sheldon who wasn’t surprised.

“He didn’t mean it, Willow. He was already pissed and looking for someone to take it out on. Dash is crazy about you. He told me there was no one like you.”

“Great. I’m his favorite toy. I’m honored.”

Sheldon shook her head, exasperated. “You two are going to get caught in the worst way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Dash may be mad now but he isn’t letting you go and Keiran won’t let you run, Lake.”

“How are you so sure?” I asked.

“Because you let them in.”

Chapter Twenty

Rumors were spreading hard and fast. To everyone at school, I was Keiran’s girlfriend and we were the topic of everyone’s conversation. What really threw me for a loop was the birdie, by the name of Angela, who said that Keiran started the rumor.

Willow had stopped her in the hallway one day to ask about where it came from. Angela’s exact words were “How could it be a rumor if it came straight from the horse’s mouth?” I knew then that it had to be Keiran because I didn’t say that shit.

When I confronted Keiran, he’d only shrugged and say, “You’re mine. Now they know it.”

To make matters worse, Anya was doing everything in her power to tarnish my reputation, which was really a pathetic attempt after being bullied by Keiran for years. I was immune to anyone else.