Over the Edge

Ch.18-His Defeat

~Rhys~

I was pissed. Again.

At Emma.

Again.

I drove to her house because I thought like the fucking greatest guy I was, I would chauffer her to the dance. But when I arrived her house was dark and the car was gone, which left me no choice but to think she had driven herself or her parents had given her a ride. Which meant I had gone out of my way for absolutely nothing.

This was why I didn’t bother dealing with people before. All they did was piss you off, give you headaches, and make life harder than it needed to be.

I pulled into the parking lot of the dance, knowing full well I would rather ram my car into a tree then go and suffer through the hell taking place in that gym. Balloons and punch and people grinding . . . It was enough to make me puke.

Begrudgingly, I shoved open my car door and trudged into the school. Maybe Emma would only want to stay for ten minutes and we could sneak out without Mr. Matthews knowing we left.

Ha. Fat chance. That old geiser didn't miss a trick.

I was hit with a wall of music and thumping bass that set my teeth on edge the minute I crossed the threshold into the gym. I skirted the boundaries, spotting Rose and Luke amidst the chaos. They were chatting away with a couple of their equally annoying friends. I scoffed and grabbed a seat by the food. I might as well get compensation for the terrible time I was bound to have.

It occurred to me then that I really didn’t have true, legit friends I could rely on. Except for Rico, and whatever Emma was. My English partner, I guess.

And it also occurred to me I didn’t care.

Maybe I was just a loner by nature.

“Where’s Emma?”

I swore, the girl had like sensors or some crap that told her the exact time I didn’t want to talk to anybody, and made her just have to come up and say something. I glanced up at Rose, holding Luke’s hand. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “I don’t know.”

“Did you do something to her again?”

“I didn’t do anything to her last time.”

“Right, and I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Yep.”

She huffed. “You’re impossible. I don’t know how Emma does it.”

I grunted.

“Let’s go, Luke,” Rose urged. “He’s just going to be his usual grouchy self.”

Luke sent me an amused smile before letting the red-head brat pull him away. I sighed, digging my fingers into my temples. Emma clearly wasn’t there. So maybe she bailed. Maybe she was finally paying me back for that Vittorio’s incident when I didn’t come to train her.

So then what the hell was I still doing there?

“Rhys?”

Right. He was the reason.

I spun on my heel with full intention of giving him hell for the stupid dance, but hesitated when I saw the grim expression on his face. If there was one thing I had learned about my odd English teacher, it was that he never looked the least bit stricken.

Ever.

“I was waiting for you,” he began, eyes flickering with sadness. “I have some troubling news.”