The One Without Words

❀ chapter twenty-eight | empty girls ❀

The one thing universal to all versions of Romy so far: stubbornness.

I left Jack in the rain and got an Uber instead. The last thing I needed was to hitch a ride home with Danielle after I tried to kiss her son.

I didn't feel embarrassed over her finding me in his bed. I didn't feel embarrassed about much, actually. I never understood what the fuss was about until the I-want-to-hide-for-a-century feeling washed over me now. Jack's rejection was less a slap in the face and more a stab in the gut. I'd never had a guy reject me before. I'd kissed plenty, and it had been no big deal, so this should've been even less of a big deal.

Did he even like me?

Worse—did I like him?

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At home, I got in major trouble with Dad and Greta. The lecture they always gave, rehearsed to perfection by now. And for once, I decided to be honest: "I was with Jack."

That made them shut up. Somehow, they trusted Jack to be the good little boy they thought he was.

I knew better.

Maybe his rejection was his payback for me embarrassing him.

Time for a distraction. Except my go-to distraction nowadays had been Jack, but now I needed to distract myself from him.

No. Okay. This was getting too confusing. His hazel eyes. His hair he never brushed. The curve of his back, his occasional smirks, the panic on his face every time he said something out loud. Distractions and amusement and the freckles covering his cheeks and—no.

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The next week at school, Megan approached me between classes.

"Romy!" she gasped. "We have to talk."

"What's going on?"

I was more than eager for a distraction from all the Jack-related thoughts plaguing my brain.

"Shit is getting real," she laughed.

"In what way? Have Seth and Eli finally declared their love for one another?"

"No, this isn't about them. This is better. Penelope. She's pissed!"

"That makes two of us. She still hasn't paid me back for the attack on my shop."

Well. Not "mine" anymore. So maybe I shouldn't even care when the money would be coming out of Grace's pocket.

"What happened?" I asked.

Megan tucked her dark hair behind her ears, then gave me a sly smile. Cute in her pink lipstick. If there was one thing Megan Zhao was an expert on, it was the color pink.  "So... I might have told everyone what you told me. About the race. About how people crashed and went to the hospital. And she was the one behind it! Funding the race, yeah? I think she's going to be in major trouble."

"Not with law enforcement," I scoffed. "We spent the night in jail and have to do some community service, but that's it. It's not like she caused the crash. Unless all her speeches about dark magic actually mean something."

Completely ignoring my dark magic comment, Megan continued: "Okay, so maybe the police don't care. But the beauty pageant judges? They're so going to know the story. I heard she was wanting to paint this picture of this girl who had been in juvie, got out, got her act together, and became a beauty queen and advocate for her community or whatever. But now her image is ruined."