“Brooklyn knows how I feel,” he said and hit the turn signal.
I absolutely did not know how he felt. Most nights when he held me he’d just let me talk about my awful day. He was really good at listening. Not so much at sharing. He was literally my shoulder to cry on. And I hadn’t been very good at returning the favor. If I really thought about it, I barely knew him at all. How had that happened? I was pretty sure he knew everything about me.
“And how do you feel, Miller?” Kennedy asked, as if she could read my mind.
“Right this second?” He focused on the road. “I feel like my patience is wearing thin.”
Kennedy laughed.
I didn’t. It had to have been hard to watch Matt sing to me.
“I really think a grand romantic gesture would do you well after that performance,” Kennedy said. “Maybe you could choreograph a dance with the other security guards! That would be so much fun.”
“Actually bothering to show up is the best gesture,” Miller said.
I jumped in, hoping to end the awkwardness. “Agreed.”
“Sick burn on Matt,” Kennedy said.
I saw a hint of a smile on Miller’s face at my agreement. He was right. Matt dancing was wonderfully public and hilarious. But it didn’t really change anything. He had still slept with his best friend’s girlfriend. And yes, he still tried to call and text me, but he stopped showing up to school. He stopped showing up for me. He’d never shown up for me before that either. I was a dirty little secret, despite what he sang. Miller, on the other hand, was always there. He was solid like a rock. Literally. I stared at the way his muscles bulged beneath his suit jacket. He’d never let anything bad ever happen to me again. All Matt did was make bad things happen to me, sprinkled with moments that tricked my mind into forgetting. But I wasn’t an idiot.
“Well, if you can really sneak me into the Pruitt’s apartment, that’s a pretty grand gesture all by itself,” Kennedy said. “This is going to be so much fun.” She elbowed me in the ribcage.
This really was going to be fun. I took a deep breath. Tonight was going to be the best night ever.
***
Sneaking in turned out to not be hard. At all. Despite the traffic, we’d beaten Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt back in record time. All we had to do now was get safely to my room. Sneaking back out would be harder, but we’d deal with that little hiccup later.
I tried to pull Kennedy through the foyer but her feet had frozen in place.
“This place is…” her voice trailed off as she turned in a circle.
“Cold? Over the top? Massive? Vulgar?”
She laughed. “No. It’s…haunting,” she finally said as she eyed a portrait of the Pruitt family above a vase Mrs. Pruitt hadn’t gotten a chance to smash yet.
Her words sent a chill down my spine. Or maybe it was just the dead look in Isabella’s eyes when they were so blown up. Or maybe it was because it felt like someone was watching me.
“You two should get up to Brooklyn’s room before they come back,” Miller said. He handed Kennedy her homecoming dress.
Kennedy folded her dress over her arm. “Yeah, I really don’t want to run into Isabella outside of school if I can help it.”
Welcome to my new life. “Her bedroom is on the other wing upstairs. I actually run into her less here than at school.” Now that I thought about it, that was pretty weird. It was like she avoided me here but sought me out in public. A game she played for her father, I guessed. Our father. You’d think she’d pretend to like me here right in front of him. And the more I thought about it, the less any of it made sense. I’d never understand Isabella. And I never wanted to, because if I did I was worried it meant I was truly becoming one of them.
“But you see her at family dinners,” Kennedy said. “I love those stories. I can’t believe your life now.”
“Oh God, don’t get me started on family dinners,” I said with a laugh.
“Can I see the dining room real quick? I want to be able to picture your epic stories of the upper class better.”
“The Pruitts just pulled up,” Miller said as he looked down at something on his phone. “You have about three and a half minutes until they come in. Make it fast and I’ll go get your dress from my room.” He walked away without waiting for a response, suddenly all business.
I wasn’t sure if he was upset with me or not. Maybe he was just tense because he was putting his neck on the line by letting me sneak Kennedy in.
“The dining room is this way.” I grabbed Kennedy’s hand so she wouldn’t keep stopping and staring at everything along the way.
“Why is your dress in Miller’s room?” she asked as we stopped outside the dining room.
“It’s silly. I thought maybe Isabella was trying to sabotage me or something. But maybe she really was worried we’d be wearing the same color.” The feeling of being watched all the time was getting to me. I was even making up evil moves by Isabella. She was horrible. But it didn’t mean she was out to get me all the time. Surely she had other people she had to harass. Her list of enemies was probably quite long.
“The same color dress for homecoming? Oh the horror,” Kennedy said with a laugh. “Which wall did Satan throw the wine on when he got mad?”
I laughed and pointed to the far wall. Kennedy loved hearing stories about Mr. Pruitt, and I loved reenacting all of it for her. I’m pretty sure hearing about my horrid living situation was the highlight of her day. And I was happy to give her all the dirty details because they distracted her from Cupcake. And his assholery.
“He seems legit crazy,” she said.
“Yeah, and you legit don’t want to run into him. I have no idea what his reaction would be. He pretty much banned me from seeing you. And I signed all these papers agreeing to it.” I think. I really should have read that contract.
She rolled her eyes. “How can I hate someone that I don’t even know?”