TWISTED FATE (Twisted Path Book 1)

Chapter 22

Becca

"What do you mean you didn't discuss it?" Felicia demands, her voice pitched higher than usual. The disapproval in her tone is a sharp contrast to her earlier squeals of delight over the details of my star-gazing date with Shane last night.

"Will you please keep your voice down?" I glance around, relieved to see the cafeteria is still mostly empty. "Exactly what I said. It didn't come up."

Joss shakes her head, her expression dripping with the kind of disappointment usually reserved for a scolding parent. "How could you let an entire night go by without asking him what happened with his ex the night before?"

"It wasn't like I set out to avoid it," I protest, not liking how they're ganging up on me. "At first, we had school stuff to get through. And then, with everything he planned for us, the timing, I just..."

"You just what?" Joss presses, barely masking her annoyance.

"She didn't want to ruin the moment," Felicia cuts in before I can answer, her tone softer now, like she's finally pieced it together.

I nod, shame creeping over me like an icy wave. I can practically feel Joss's judgment burning into me through her eyes, just like I can sense the reprimand on the tip of her tongue.

"Becca!" Joss exclaims, exasperated. "What is going on with you? You've gone from wanting absolutely nothing to do with this guy to diving headfirst into this weird, convoluted relationship. And you're ignoring every red flag staring you in the face. All in what? A week?"

"Joss, stop..."

"No, Felicia. She needs to hear this." She leans over, her elbows on the table, hands clasped together like she's about to deliver a closing argument. "Becca, you need to deal with this. Today. Before the two of you get in any deeper. He needs to know of your connection to the Klines, and you need to make sure that whatever was going on between him and Amanda is truly over. Because if you don't, there's only one way this ends—with you getting hurt. Again. And this time, it won't just be the heartbreak of some schoolgirl crush. If you thought what you went through with Lucas was hard, take a good, long look at how fast you're falling for Shane. Then imagine how it will feel when things inevitably fall apart."

Standing, Joss gathers her uneaten breakfast, her movements sharp but deliberate. Slinging her backpack over one shoulder, she locks her gaze onto mine, her voice soft but filled with unwavering resolve. "I'm your friend, Becca. And as your friend, I don't want to see you hurt. Not by Shane. Not by Amanda. And definitely not by Charles Kline. He should be your biggest concern right now. Look at the lengths he went to, to get rid of your mother. Don't think for a second he wouldn't do the same to you."

Her parting words hit like thunder in the night, reverberating through me as she turns and walks away, leaving behind a silence that feels impossibly loud. Blinking back the sudden sting behind my eyes, I fidget with the corner of my napkin.

Joss's words hurt—not because she's wrong, but because she's right. Yes, I owe it to Shane to tell him the truth about Charles being my father, but the bigger concern is what Charles will do when he discovers I'm the reason Shane won't go through with the marriage. While Shane is confident we have four years to find a way out of the arrangement, I can't shake the icy fear that my involvement might be the catalyst Charles needs to act. If he discovers the truth, what's stopping him from forcing the marriage to happen sooner? Or from doing whatever it takes to ensure I'm no longer in the way?

"I am going to tell him," I say the words out loud, more to reassure myself than Felicia, whose worry radiates off her in waves. "I was waiting for the right time, but Joss is right—that moment has come and gone. I should have told him the second he mentioned his parents' plans for him and Amanda."