For the Rush(53)

“Hey,” a girl’s voice cut into my thoughts.

I looked up. “Oh.” Even though I tried to hide my disappointment I was sure it showed. “Hey, Bethany.” It wasn’t that I disliked her. I didn’t even know her. But I didn’t trust her. We’d only had one conversation, and it hadn’t been the most pleasant one. After the week I’d had I wasn’t in the mood for another one like that.

“I just wanted to say that it was really brave what you did trying to talk to Preston like that,” she said.

A lot of kids had made similar statements over the past week, although I think most of them thought I was crazy. No one else was willing to risk their lives to help Preston. In fact, every other student at this school hid until it was all over. Even when I gave my statement to the police I could tell that they thought I made the wrong choice. We’d been taught to hide, to keep ourselves safe. What I’d done was reminiscent of a bad horror movie where the girl goes toward the danger instead of away from it. The thing is that I didn’t see it that way. Preston had been my friend. When I initially started talking to him I never thought my life was in danger. I never thought he’d intentionally hurt me.

Now I knew I was wrong.

“Thanks,” I responded.

“I mean, you could’ve been killed,” she went on.

“Might have been if Holden hadn’t stepped in when he did,” I added.

“Well, it’s the least he could do.”

Her words surprised me. “What does that mean?”

“I mean, if it weren’t for him Preston never would’ve hurt you.” She tossed a strand of hair over her shoulder.

Warning bells went off in my head. A voice deep down was urging me to leave, to not listen to another word she said. But the other part of me was curious. And in the end curiosity won out. “I don’t understand.”

“You and Preston were friends, right?” Bethany asked.

I nodded.

“So didn’t you think it was a little weird that he would threaten to shoot you?”

“We had gotten into a little argument on Friday night.” I shrugged.

“Let me guess, it was about your involvement with Holden. Am I right?” Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. The wind lifted her hair and it sprayed across her face. Reaching up, she brushed it away.

“Yeah, but that’s not Holden’s fault. I chose to date him.”

“He didn’t have to rub it in Preston’s face though.” Her smile was calculated and it made my blood run cold. She knew something I didn’t. Something I should have known. “Not that you can blame him. It was obvious to everyone that Preston had a thing for you, and Holden just wanted to make sure he knew that you were his, not Preston’s.”

The earth spun beneath my feet like I was on one of those spinning rides at the fair. I took deep breaths to regain my bearings. Had Holden set this whole thing off? Why hadn’t he told me?

“Are you okay?” Bethany asked, her voice sugary sweet.

I wanted to punch her in the face. “Fine,” I spoke through gritted teeth. “I have to go.” Spinning away from her, I hurried toward my car.

When I reached it, Holden was leaning against the side, his leg bent. He looked like he had just stepped out of a magazine. The only flaw was his cast. The rest of him was perfect. But even his heart-stopping good looks weren’t going to work for him today.

“Hey, Chloe.” He smiled when I approached.

Keeping my lips together, I didn’t say a word. Just jammed my key into the driver’s side door and unlocked the car.

“Chloe? What’s going on?” His brows furrowed.

“I think you should get a ride with Sawyer or one of your other friends.” I hopped into the car and started to close the door. But Holden was fast, and he blocked it.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Bethany told me about your conversation with Preston about us.”

“What conversation?” He appeared genuinely confused, and it perplexed me.

But I powered on. “She said that you thought Preston had a thing for me so you made sure that he knew I was yours.”

“I never talked to Preston about us, Chloe,” he said.

I froze. “Why would she lie about that?”

“Because it’s what Beth does. She lies. She likes to stir up trouble.” Holden stepped back. “I guess the more important question is, why do you keep believing her over me?” When he turned away, I felt like a jerk.

“I’m sorry,” I called after him. “I don’t know why I believed her.”

“When you figure it out, give me a call.”