“Fine. Go on.”
“I woke up the next morning and some guy showed up with a tray. I thought he was bringing me food. I thought the guys were off doing whatever. You know, Xavier working out. Noah dealing with his parents. Easton having a cigarette. That kind of stuff. But they were already gone. They left me a note on that tray. It said that they knew. I panicked. That’s when I called you crying.”
“I was shocked too,” Gia said. “I started to cry. I still think you should tell the cops or something. There has to be someone we can talk to.”
“There’s not,” I said. “They’re too powerful, Gia. I’m telling you… that detective I talked to… it was weird. It was like he knew more than he said he did. Like he was waiting for me to admit something.”
“And you still think someone was following you?”
“Think? I know so, Gia.”
“Sorry. Right. I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s just… everything right now, okay? I have to be here and think. They know I lied. They know I know about the accident and what they did. They haven’t tried to contact me either. That’s scaring the hell out of me.”
“Wow,” Gia said. “Well, if it matters at all, I haven’t seen them. They haven’t tried to talk to me or anything.”
“Doesn’t mean someone isn’t following you.”
“Yeah, just what I need to think about,” Gia said. “Tell the girl with anxiety that someone is following her.”
“I am so sorry, Gia,” I said. “I dragged you into this…”
“I dragged myself into it,” she said. “You know, there is one thing I can do.”
I shook my head. “You’re not getting deeper into it.”
Gia grabbed my hands. “Shut up and let me tell you my plan.”
Gia paced.
I listened.
Then I stood up and grabbed her shoulders.
“No,” I said.
“Why?” Gia asked. “Xavier is my brother. I can blow the whole thing up.”
“That would put you at risk,” I said. “And your mother.”
“Good,” she said. “It’s time for this to be known. It’s a wild secret. It’ll hurt him. It’ll slow him down. It’ll make him question everything. Remember what happened when Noah got scared? They all started fighting.”
“Gia, that’s too personal,” I said. “It means a lot you’d do that for me.”
“I’m going to do it anyway,” she said.
“Please… not yet. Okay?”
“Then how long?” Gia asked. “Look at this place. Look at what you’re doing.”
“I know,” I said. “Believe me, I know.”
“This is killing me,” Gia said. “I know that sounds greedy. But it’s killing me. I miss you. I miss hanging out with you.”
“I miss it too,” I said. “It won’t be for much longer. I just need to think about what to do. How to do it. How to face them. What to say.”
“You know things about them,” Gia said. “So use it. I’ll keep my mouth shut about Xavier for now. But you use it. Show strength and make them back off. That was the plan all along, right?”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“So instead of hiding, own it,” Gia said.
“I will.”
“Right now.”
“Gia…”
“Fine,” she said.
She walked away toward her car.
I gave her a few seconds and took a deep breath.
Gia was probably the best friend I ever had in my life. And I used to treat her like crap. Because I thought as a Bump I was better than everyone else.
The accident changed that.
I approached Gia carefully. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Sure,” Gia said. “Darcy thought she was pregnant.”
“What?” I asked.
Gia turned and smiled. “Yeah. There was a big rumor about it.”
“She’s not pregnant?”
“No,” Gia said. “She finally got her period. But then everyone started talking about who she was fooling around with.”
“And who was it?” I asked.
“She got busted for fooling around with some loser from HCH,” Gia said.
I clapped my hands together. “No way.”
“Yeah.”
“So the princess bitch was in bed with some HCH guy,” I said. “Wow. That’s amazing.”
“It’s something,” Gia said.
“I can’t believe I’m thinking this… but I wish Evie and Darcy were my biggest problems in life.”
“I know. Soon enough. You just have to get out of here, Winter.”
“I’m telling you though, it’s not all that bad. They know who they are.”
“You keep saying that,” Gia said. “You should be a Troc then.”
“If you saw where I slept at night…”
Gia’s face turned white. “What does that mean? Are you okay? Are you sleeping with someone? Is it Talon?”
“No,” I said. “I meant the bed. It’s the top bunk of a bunkbed, but it’s so high, you can’t sit up or else you’ll hit your head. Talon sleeps with me and he-”
“You just said you weren’t sleeping with anyone.”
“Not like that,” I said. “He’s just there because I get nervous. I have bad dreams. I hate to say this, but he’s not all that bad, Gia. I’m paying him to be that way though. I know that. Trust me, I’m not falling for a Troc.”
“Good,” Gia said. “Bad enough you fell in love with the guys who tried to kill you.”
“Don’t say that,” I said.
“It’s true,” Gia said. “Right?”
I didn’t answer the question.
I refused to answer the question.
That made Gia sigh and walk back to the porch.
I looked down at my feet.
I knew there was a part of Gia that hated me for getting too close to Noah, Easton, and Xavier.
Trust me, I hated myself too.
Gia took one step into the house and Brock appeared.
“Two Bumps?” he asked.
“One scumbag,” I said with a smile.
“Not here,” he said. “No fucking way.”
“Back off, douche,” Emily called out.
“Don’t you have someone to blow?” Brock asked.
“You’re just jealous, Brock,” Emily said. “Jealous… jealous… jealous…”
“Are you going to move or no?” I asked.
“If I say no, then what?” Brock asked.
“I’d say I’d kick you in the balls, but you’d enjoy it,” I said.
“I’m fine outside,” Gia said. “I don’t need to deal with this.”
“Listen to your Bump friend,” Brock said.
“Come on,” Gia said to me. “Don’t get into anything with this guy.”
“I can’t wait until Talon breaks your jaw,” I said.