“Did you think you could get into my head? I’m your worst nightmare, Reject.”
I pushed her back into the mattress. “I know everything about you. I know the deep dark secrets you don’t even tell yourself. I know the truths to all your lies.”
I pressed down on the freckle until it disappeared into the bloodless white of her skin.
“I will always be inside you.”
A fear whispered back: She would always be inside me.
I let go, got off the bed, and left her behind, slamming the double doors shut as she yelled at my back, “All I said was thank you!”
Nine
ABIGAIL
I rubbed the small blue-gray freckle to the left of my vein, the tattoo Theo had given me, made from the tip of a graphite pencil. He’d said everyone would think it was just a small, irregularly colored freckle
, but I would know. Forever.
I was tired, having stayed awake after Theo came to me last night. At least he’d shut my doors, given me that sliver of privacy.
For a brief second, I thought I’d seen the old Theo. Sweet and kind Theo, the one who woke me up from nightmares. Of course I was wrong. There was nothing about the old Theo left.
Theo used to wear a friendship bracelet every day. It was made of bulky, pastel beads and had the letters BFF sandwiched between hearts. Seeing someone like Theo, a guy who only wore shades of black, with a penchant for smoking, smirks, and brooding, with a pastel bracelet on his wrist was unbearably sexy. He’d worn it like he wore everything else, with effortless confidence born from not giving a shit what anyone else thought.
Like everything else Theo, it drove me insane.
Who gave it to him? Why didn’t he ever take it off?
Anytime I’d asked him, he’d always said I already knew the answers.
I used to hate seeing it on his wrist… now it drives me insane to see his wrist bare. Another reminder the old Theo is gone.
A knock at my door had me sitting up and righting shoulders achy from hunching for hours after Theo left, wiping sleep-tired eyes. I expected it to be Theo, so I steeled myself. Today was another stupid party. Another expensive invite. Another day for Abigail Crowne to ruin. Some famous cellist was playing, one of the women people would cream their panties just to sit hundreds of chairs away from. Naturally, everyone at Crowne Hall wouldn’t give a shit.
When I was a kid, we used to sabotage such parties.
Before my siblings and I totally hated one another, we ruined them together.
When my mom pushed open the door, I realized I didn’t need steel. I should’ve poured liquid cement inside my veins.
I quickly scrambled off my bed. “Uh, hi, Mom.”
She had a small unreadable smile on her face as she came to the side of my bed. I could count on one hand the number of times Mom had been to my wing.
Mom pushed my hair behind my ear. “It’s a shame your father had to miss last night.” Her smooth, nearly wrinkle-free hand lingered on my ear. I couldn’t breathe. “To see your beautiful, masterful magic trick.”
I frowned, biting the inside of my cheek to suppress a swallow. Mom’s sweetness barely veiled the sharp edge of her words. Anytime Mom brought up our late father, something awful was about to happen.
“A quarter of my garden and two point five million dollars disappeared in thirty seconds.”
Still she played with my hair, the same smile on her face. If I were any other person, I would’ve thought that was what got me in trouble, but money didn’t matter to us.
I waited for the shoe to drop.
“The acquisition and your engagement nearly went with it.”
Her voice was deathly quiet, but her grip on the lock of my hair tightened. If I moved the slightest bit, it would be painful.