“You’re not a bad person. All kids feel like they hate their parents at some point in their lives,” she says, munching on a chip. “And besides, your parents are freakin’ psycho, making you burn all those pretty clothes like that. You seriously need to tell them to fuck off.”
A stressed breath eases from my lips. Just thinking about telling them off makes me sick to my stomach. “I’ll think about it.”
“No, don’t think about it. Do it.” She offers me some chips, and I shovel up a handful. “I mean, you’re already eighteen, for God’s sake. They need to start realizing they can’t control you anymore. You need to be your own person.”
Easy for her to say. Wynter’s parents are completely the opposite of mine and pretty much ignore her and let her do anything she wants. While she pretends her life is fun, I can tell she gets lonely sometimes.
“I’ve been trying to. You know that.” I look down at my hideous sweater. “But I feel like I’m starting all over again.”
“You’re not starting over. Your mom can’t burn all those parties and fun things we’ve been doing.” Wynter evaluates my outfit again before springing to her feet. “But we do need to get you out of those clothes like ASAP; otherwise, I’m going to have to disown you.” She smiles so I’ll know she’s kidding.
I know she’d never disown me over clothes and will always be my friend no matter what. Even if she found out about my klepto habit, she’d probably still love me. But I’d rather her not know. I’d rather have no one know about that horrible side of me.
But now Grey Sawyer knows, and I’m going to cross paths with him multiple times today. Will he say anything? What if he’s told people, like his popular jock and cheerleader friends? Will they start ridiculing me again?
“Are you okay?” Wynter asks as she opens her locker and picks up a small stack of folded clothes from the top shelf. “You look like you feel sick.”
“I’m good.” I stand up and stretch out my legs. “I’m just really ready to get the hell out of this outfit.”
She gives me the look as she hands me the clothes. The look always makes me uncomfortable, as if she can see right through me, and it usually leads to her prying.
“You sure? Because you can always talk to me about anything.” Her eyes light up as she claps her hands together. “You know what we should do? We should go track down Willow and the three of us ditch today. We can have a girls’ day out and binge on ice cream. We haven’t done that in forever.”
The idea is appealing, but she’ll hold to her word and make me tell her what’s bothering me. While I hate keeping stuff from her, confessing my worries with Grey discovering my klepto side means confessing things I’m ashamed of. Hopefully, Grey will keep his mouth shut; otherwise, the rumors are going to spread through the school like a wildfire, and Wynter will end up finding out, anyway—everyone will.
“I can’t ditch today. I have a test in math that I can’t miss. Plus, my mom’s got the principal on Luna watch.” I take the clothes from her and back toward the bathroom. “But how about a rain check? Maybe next week sometime?”
“Okay.” She keeps giving me the look as I wave good-bye then duck into the bathroom.
I peel off the heavy sweater and slacks and put on the black tank top and plaid shorts Wynter brought for me. We don’t wear the same size shoes, so I’m stuck wearing my tattered sneakers, but they look okay with the outfit.
I stuff the sweater and jeans into my backpack so I can put them back on after school. Then I pop my headphones in and crank up a song. School is one of the few places where I can actually listen to the music I like. The rhythm soothes me as I head to my first class of the morning, even though school doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes.
Since it’s so early, I expect the classroom to be empty, but when I walk in, Grey Sawyer is sitting at one of the desks. He’s wearing a faded black Henley and a pair of worn jeans, his brown hair scraggly but sexy, looking perfectly put together like he did the other day when he saw who I really am.
I start to back out of the room, but he looks up at me before I can make my escape. For a split second, his blue eyes widen, but then he gives me that lazy, I’m-the-shit smile. Even after everything that’s happened, the look makes my heart go all kinds of crazy in my chest.
His lips suddenly move as he says something to me.
I tug on the cords of the headphones and pull them the out of my ears. “Sorry. What did you say?”
A sparkle of amusement dances in his eyes. “I said, hey, how’s it going?”
“Good,” I reply hesitantly, hitching my thumb under the handle of my bag. “How’s stuff going with you?”
“The same. You know, just living life and all that shit.” He briefly studies me before he returns to scribbling in his notebook.
That’s it? No, ‘hey, crazy shoplifting girl’? No, ‘I saw you the other day stealing from Benny, the nicest old man on the planet’? No, ‘here’s your jacket back, you dirty little thief’?
I reluctantly sit down in a desk across from him. The room is so quiet I can hear the sound of his pencil scratching across the paper. I retrieve my phone and check my messages to kill time, but no one has responded, and I’m left feeling hyperaware that Grey is right there. Usually, that alone makes me a little bit nervous, but now my nerves are even more jumbled because he probably knows stuff about me that no one does. It makes me feel exposed and very uncomfortable in my own skin.
“Have you talked to Beckett this morning?” Grey abruptly asks, startling the living daylights out of me.
“Yeah, I saw him, like, fifteen minutes ago. Why? Did you need to talk to him or something?”
“I just needed to get something from him, but haven’t had time to go track him down yet.”
“Just send him a text and tell him to bring it to you.” I force myself to meet his gaze and point at the window. “Or you can just go outside and search the quad. I’m sure he’s still out there.” Bitching Ari’s ear off about Wynter.
“I would, but I can’t leave the classroom.” When I stare at him in confusion, he looks down at the notebook on his desk, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. “I’m on academic probation, and I’m trying to get caught up on some assignments so I won’t miss Friday’s game. And I know, if I walk out of here, I’ll get caught up with other shit and won’t come back. Being in a classroom, there’s less distractions.” He lifts his gaze back to me and shrugs.
He’s acting so casual. Maybe he’s simply going to let the stealing thing go. I sure hope so. I feel a small weight lift from my shoulders at that thought.
“Just text Beckett, then. I’m sure he’ll bring you . . . that thing.”
“I would, but I . . . I didn’t bring my phone.” He stares at the trees, avoiding my gaze, seeming less confident than he normally is.
Weird. But then again, this whole exchange is weird since the two of us have barely spoken since the dance invite fiasco.
“Another distraction?” I wonder.
He nods, turning his head toward me. For some reason, I feel like he’s lying. I don’t know why I feel that way or why it even matters, yet I don’t understand why someone would lie about not having their phone with them.
“I can text him for you,” I offer.
He exhales audibly. “Thanks, Luna. That’d be awesome.”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I say as I type Beckett a message.
Me: Hey! U need to hit up Mr. Gartying’s classroom. Grey’s stuck in here and says ur supposed to bring him something. I’m hoping it’s not what I think it is, though, because now I feel like an accomplice. ;)
Beckett: Nope, it’s exactly what u think it is. Don’t worry, though. I’m sure you look hot in handcuffs.
I roll my eyes. Well, at least he’s in a better mood.
Beckett: Tell Grey I’m on my way . . . Although, I didn’t know u two hung out.