It hits me like a punch to the gut, and all the energy leaves my body. I lean against the wall to stay upright. “Whoa, um, okay. What happened?”
“Did you see that reporter from last night? The hot one? She came for me in the locker room. I was so excited about everything and she made these sultry eyes at me. And then she invited me to the bathroom and she kept making those eyes at me, like I was the man I want to be eventually, but it was like I was him in that moment. Like I was already successful and famous. I think she could tell what I wanted, so she grabbed me and led me into the bathroom and she got on her knees and pulled my pants down and I … I didn’t stop her. Natalie had never done that for me; she thought it was gross. So I leaned back and closed my eyes and…”
His enormous chest heaves in a sob. He raises his hands and covers his face.
I place my hand on his shoulder. He doesn’t shake me off so I leave it there. “She might understand, man.”
He shrugs his shoulder and turns away. “I know she’ll forgive me. But that’s why it’s not fair to her, man. She doesn’t deserve to be with someone weak and scummy like me. Someone who has sex in a bathroom, where people piss on seats and take shits. I’m dirty and she’s pristine. She’s too good for me.”
Kaylee, can you help?
This is sorta out of my area of expertise, Caden.
“Don’t give up on what you have. Not yet. Talk to her.”
“I don’t know if I can bear the pain. It’ll kill me.”
I step toward him. “What you’re doing now is killing her.” There’s anger in my voice, making it deep and making it tremble. His eyes widen and he takes a step back. “Right now you have a choice. You can take some of the pain from her or you can leave her on her own with it all. It’s all up to you, Trevor. I advise you to make the correct choice, because if you don’t, you’ll have to deal with me.”
I walk back through the house. I pass Donnie, who is sitting at his computer. His watery eyes follow me as I pass.
That wasn’t very Nice, Caden.
Honestly, I don’t really care about that right now.
She gasps. I’ll pay for saying that later, I know I will, but I can’t stress about that now. I pull out my phone and stare at the contact list. It reads:
Juliet.
And then, beneath hers:
Dyl.
I want to call Dyl, but Kaylee is listening, so I press Juliet’s name. It rings twice and she picks up. “Did you talk some sense into him?”
“I tried my best.”
“Was it good enough? Did he at least explain why he broke up with her? I think that’s what’s hurting her the most, she thinks she screwed up royally in some massive way that she can’t remember.”
“It’s not something she did, it’s something he’s done. But he seemed to be in a daze. I think it’s best that he tell you himself, if he wants you to know. It’s pretty private, and I feel weird knowing it myself.”
“Fair enough. Caden, hang on, Natalie wants to talk to you.”
I hear the muffled sound of the phone being passed from one hand to another.
“Caden?” says Natalie.
“I’m here.”
She lets out a tired sigh. “Juliet, I want to talk to Caden in private. Is that okay? Caden, are you alone?”
I hear a door shut through the speaker.
I turn around. I’m on the sidewalk, surrounded by silent houses. Two blocks down, an old woman is clipping a hedge with a massive pair of shears. Other than that, the entire street looks deserted. “Yeah, I am.”
“Did you speak to Trevor?” Her voice is soft. “Did he tell you if he was going to get back together with me? Like, ever? Or are we officially done?”
“It’s not my place to say, Natalie. I’m so sorry, I don’t want to screw things up by telling you things he doesn’t want you to know. I couldn’t live with myself if I made things worse between you.”
A harsh sob sounds. “There never used to be anything he didn’t want me to know.” She laughs a harsh laugh. “I’m dead. This is it, I’m dead.”
“Natalie, don’t hurt yourself over this. He’s just a guy, and even though you love him you’ll get better in time. You’ll eat ice cream and watch movies that make you cry and then you’ll get better. Don’t you dare kill yourself over this.”
“You’re not listening to me,” she says, her voice cold and clinical. “If he dumps me, I’m dead. Do you get what I’m saying, Caden? If Trevor breaks up with me I’m dead.”
I picture her perfect eyes, her flawless skin, and impossibly white teeth. The extraordinary, almost unnatural length of her eyelashes. Her faultless model’s body.
She’s like me.
She’s a Love Interest.
I force myself to say, “Meet me at the lookout.”
*
Natalie is sitting upright on the lookout bench, running her fingers through her hair. Her eyes are red but her cheeks are dry.
“You’re …” I say as I step toward her.
“I’m a Love Interest,” she says. “There. Now your coach can’t get you in trouble for disclosing it. It’s not like it matters anyway. They’re probably already programming the Stalker to come for me as we speak. Hardwiring its circuits, planning the kill strike.”
Does it work like that, Kaylee?
No response comes.
I sit down beside Natalie and put my arm over her shoulders.
She nestles into my chest. Her breath is warm and it makes my shirt flutter. She smells sweet, like strawberries. “I suspected you were one as soon as Dyl appeared. You always act weird around him. When you both started courting Juliet I knew for sure. Plus, the fact that you’re both ridiculously good-looking kind of clued me in to what you really are.”
The label offends me. Does she know what I am? Does the term Love Interest define me? If she knows I’m a Love Interest, does she know everything she needs to about me?
Or am I something more?
I look down at the top of her head. “I suspected you as well, at first—when I saw your eyelashes, because they’re way too long and perfect to be natural. But you’re obviously a better actor than I am, because you fooled me. I was so sure you were in love with Trevor. It made me think I was just being paranoid.”
She pushes her head away from my chest and meets my eyes.
“I do love him. With everything I have.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay.”
She blinks once. “I do, Caden. I love him so much that I can’t even tell if what I’m feeling is fear because I’m probably going to die, or grief because I love him and he dumped me. Wait, you don’t feel that way for Juliet? You must be a pretty good actor yourself—you seem pretty smitten with her.”
I cross my arms. “Maybe I do. I’m an expert on making people fall in love, not on what love feels like.”
“Here’s a test. When you’re bored, what do you think about?”
I bite my lip. “I don’t know. Death, I guess. Either mine or Dyl’s.”