I smiled.
He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “But I really don’t mind having you in my building.”
“You being close by is the only positive, trust me. But I can’t stay there, Felix. I couldn’t sleep at all. I’m pretty sure a…” I stopped talking before I could embarrass myself. I’d almost said there was a ghost in my room. He’d think I was nuts. Oh God, am I nuts? One night in that place and I’d officially lost my mind.
“Pretty sure what?”
“Nothing.”
He moved closer. “No, what were you going to say?”
I was saved by a knock on the door.
“Both of you stay there,” Miller said. His voice was so firm I actually froze in place. “I’ll be right back.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, but Miller had already disappeared.
The banging on the door grew louder and I grabbed Felix’s hand. For just a second, I thought the ghost had followed me here. That it was trying to get in and terrorize Felix too.
“It’s okay,” Felix said. “You’re safe here. If it’s Mr. Pruitt, I won’t let him take you. You can stay with me.”
Right. It was a lot more likely that it was Mr. Pruitt than a ghost. But I squeezed Felix’s hand tighter still. Or maybe it wasn’t either of those things. Maybe it was whatever Miller was supposed to be protecting me from.
“I have every right to be here.” Kennedy’s familiar voice flitted into the room. “So get out of my way.”
Kennedy! I stood up and ran toward the foyer.
“Move it, buddy,” she said.
“I can’t let you in,” Miller said. “You aren’t on the list.”
“What list? Brooklyn!” she screamed. “Brooklyn, are you here?”
I ducked under Miller’s arm that was blocking the door and threw my arms around Kennedy. And I immediately burst into tears. Felix’s hugs were great. But Kennedy smelled like her mother’s cooking and home. She smelled like everything I was missing.
“Brooklyn,” Miller said from behind me. “You need to let go and come back inside. Right now.”
Fuck you.
“Neither of them are on the list,” he said.
Neither? I opened my eyes and looked over Kennedy’s shoulder at Cupcake. He was holding a box that I was sure was filled with high calorie, sugary treats.
“Hey, Brooklyn,” he said. “I brought dessert. Thought it might make you feel better.”
It was the first time I’d ever been happy to see him. Another familiar face, even if it was one that had thrown a dodgeball at my nose. “Thanks for coming, guys. And for bringing snacks.”
“Where else would we be?” Kennedy said. “Felix said you were here and I knew you needed me.”
I had the best friends in the world.
“That’s enough,” Miller said more firmly. “Brooklyn, get back inside this apartment right now or…”
I turned around. “Or what? They’re not going to hurt me if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He frowned.
“They’re my friends. I don’t care if they’re on Mr. Pruitt’s approved list, because they’re on mine.”
“Brooklyn…”
“Miller, please.” My voice cracked. “Please.”
He sighed.
“Come on man,” Cupcake said from behind me. “I brought cupcakes.”
“Yeah, we brought dessert,” Kennedy said. “And we absolutely won’t hurt her. That’s not really what you’re worried about, is it?” There was an awkward silence. “Wait, that is what you’re worried about?” She lifted up her camera. “The worst I could do is sell pictures to the paparazzi, and I’m not even going to do that.”
I laughed. “See? Please, Miller.” I blinked up at him. We’d shared some kind of moment last night. Maybe it was one-sided. Maybe it wasn’t. But it felt like he was at least my friend. “Please.”
“Fine. But don’t tell Mr. Pruitt.”
That was a promise I could easily keep. Because I was never going to see Mr. Pruitt again.
Chapter 13
Saturday
Kennedy pulled me into the bathroom with her before Miller had a chance to demand to search it for…whatever it was he was looking for.
“Are you okay?” she asked and put her hands on my shoulders. “Tell me everything. What was it like at their place? Were they as awful at home as they are in public?”
“I messed up.” I tried to blink away the tears that had started the moment she’d hugged me.
“What do you mean?”
“I told Mr. Pruitt the truth about what happened at lunch and got Isabella and her mom kicked out of the apartment for the weekend. Isabella’s going to be worse than ever to me. What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that the truth is better than lies.”
“Not when it comes to the Pruitts apparently.”
Kennedy’s hands fell from my shoulders. She was staring at me with so much concern on her face. I didn’t know if she was waiting for me to say more or if she had more to say. But it was easy for me to fill the silence.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “I can’t stay there another night. And I was hoping Felix would help cause a distraction and then I’d be able to sneak away to your place. But he brought up the point earlier that Miller would easily find me. And I don’t have anywhere else to go. What am I supposed to do? They’ll always find me. Won’t they?” I’d already answered my own question
Kennedy nodded. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to be brave. And you can tell me all about how horrible they are when we hang out every day. And you’re going to get through this. Before you know it, we’ll be off to college and you never have to see them again.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting her to say. At all. What was she talking about? “College?” That was two and a half years away. “Your mom told me she was going to fix it. She’s…”
Kennedy shook her head. “Matt even had his fancy lawyer go with my mom. There isn’t anything they can do.”