The Class Reject: A Pariah in Purgatory (Book II)

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

It was a rather uneventful Friday night for most of the boys at Rinzen. Wallace was helping Chara crack the code, and although Theodora wanted to go out, Jeno opted for a rain check. For all he knew, Penelope might have exposed Miren, or Miren might have killed her. Naturally, he preferred the latter, but he couldn't work with either.

As he made it back to his room from the library, he was happy to hear the shower running. Until he saw an empty bottle of tequila on Miren's nightstand.

"MILES?" When he stopped at the bathroom, he noticed the door was slightly ajar. He hesitated, but he couldn't hear any movement, just the hypnotic rhythm of water raining against porcelain. Abandoning all reservations, he pushed the door open.

"Miren?" If it weren't for the fact she was sitting in a tub, it would have looked like she was in puddle of her own tears. The sight would have been alarming, but she was also naked. Okay, so she wasn't naked naked. But she had striped down to a bra and boyshorts. And she didn't even turn to acknowledge Jeno's presence. He blinked at her before shutting off the shower. "Are you okay?"

He felt foolish asking that question. Of course she wasn't okay. Okay people didn't sit in tubs with blank expressions. He took off his jacket before stepping in front of her. "What happened? Where did you get alcohol?" he started again. "What did Penelope do?"

Miren just shook her head as she hugged her legs in a crouch. "Axel wouldn't sell me weed, but Cliff sold me a bottle of tequila. Tastes awful. Poured it out."

"That doesn't explain why you're in the fetal position." Jeno sighed. "I thought we could finally be open with each other."

It was her turn to blink at him. Open? What good does being open ever do? She shook her head. "Everything we've done is for nothing. We can't take down Penelope," she mumbled. "Not when she tormented me for no reason."

Jeno's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Miren bit her lip, realizing she couldn't sulk in her pity forever.

"Penelope wasn't responsible for the little power shower at the assembly," she finally confessed. "Nor was she bullying me to put me in place against Parker. She doesn't even like him."

"It doesn't matter if she's actually responsible or not, we just need her to say that she is," Jeno tried to assure her. "There's still hope. Don't you see that—"

"How do you terrorize someone for no reason?" She turned toward the sink, feeling the urge to wipe her eyes clear of water/tears, but when Jeno placed a towel over her shoulders, her attention shifted back to him. "Do you know that they're basically betrothed? And I wasted all of my time hoping maybe he'd love me back. But no matter how he feels—no matter how I feel—it doesn't matter. I never mattered.

"And then when I have the perfect shot to take her down, she's not even responsible." She sniffled. "Maybe this is all my fault. I'm weak and I should just kill myself because I'm already dead, and everyone who cares about me is DEAD."

"You know I care about you." Jeno pulled her into a hug. She heaved against his shoulder, shaking her head.

"All I did was guilt you into helping me. Same with the others. And the worst part is that I'm a sham. I have nothing to go back to and I can't move forward."

"And why not?" He stroked her head. "You're not the girl you were before. And you and I both know that Penelope is a master manipulator. She may not have been lying about what she said, but you have to believe she twisted her words. We'll find something. Just have faith."

"Said Mr. Skeptical," she replied, drawing back from his grip. "I'm just sick of this, Jeno. And I know you're trying to reassure me, but what are we even doing anymore? Penelope's like a cockroach—even nuclear warfare won't kill her. I just want to quit. The only reason I wore something was in case I decided to drown myself."

"Unfortunately, there's no alternative to quitting." Jeno rose to his feet before pulling her up. She groaned in unwillingness before shifting. "It's like you said; she wins unless we win."

"Then I guess I still have to woo her, right?" he nodded slowly. She cursed.

"That's the spirit." As Miren groggily moved to toward the door, he took her hand. "But if you ever feel bad about anything, you don't do whatever you just did." His words were sharp, but his tone was calm. "You call me. You call Wallace or Chara. Parker and Penelope aren't worth spilling tears over. And when we're done with all of this, you bet they'll be crying."

Miren nodded, but she still felt pretty shitty. Somehow Jeno had become the optimistic one. And each day she was becoming excruciatingly aware that she couldn't make him happy.