Broken

• Chapter 21 •

"Clem! Over here!"

I snap my head up from my phone and push myself off the wall of the building when Adrien honks the horn of his red Dodge Challenger SRT and shoots me a smile. Of course, he drives a muscle car.

I give him a smile and slide into his car. "Hey. Thanks for picking me up," I tell him.

"No problem. You live in one of these buildings?" he glances at the buildings around the restaurant. I shrug, "Sure."

He raises his eyebrows, "Mysterious, I like it. You ready?"

I nod and he begins driving off like a damn maniac.

___________________

"A beach party? How cute," I comment when we pull up to a private beach, it's sunset and I recognize people from our class drinking and chatting around a huge bonfire.

"You want a beer?" Adrien asks me.

"Depends. What kind do you guys have?" I can't stand Corona, even if it is good.

He snorts at my pickiness, "Well princess, we don't have any high-end Pliny The Elder but I can offer you either Corona or Guinness."

I snort and roll my eyes at his comment. "Guinness is fine," I tell him.

He nods and sets off to get our drinks. I sigh and glance around, eyes locking once again on that Ashton kid. Something about him is off. Maybe not in a bad way, but he's too quiet and mysterious to be normal. I have a suspicion he isn't even human, and is secretly an alien spy here to uncover the mundane ways of life.

He glances up in boredom and meets my eyes. Shit. My heart sinks into my stomach, but I can't seem to look away. He stares right back, unflinching, confident, threatening. Where does he come from? Is he secretly a serial killer? Ex-con? Psychopath? At this point, nothing surprises me. Maybe he's a drug dealer!

"Helloooooo?"

I flinch and break out of my trance, tearing my gaze to a petite girl in front of me.

"You okay, dude?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just a little distracted," I tell her.

"It's all good. You're new, right?" she asks.

I nod. "I'm Akshatha. But you can call me Ashu," she tells me.

"Like the sneeze," I finish with a smile. I remember her from introductions. She's cute, "I'm Clementine, you can call me Clem."

I glance up to find Ashton still staring at me, curiosity wins me over. I have to know if he's a possible threat to my life.

"Can I ask you something?" I inquire.

Ashu shrugs, "About what?"

"That guy over there, Ashton. What's his story?"

She snorts, "You mean the brooding hottie who looks like he could murder your pussy?"

My eyes widen at her words, she gives me a smirk. I snort, "Well?"

"I know that he has commitment issues. His girlfriend Kate over there? She told me she never met his parents, that they ditched him or something."

I frown, my heart drops. I automatically assumed the worst of him, and now I feel bad. "Ditched him? How does he support himself?"

She shrugs, "Dunno. I think his dad still pays for his shit, he's just never around. But hey it might not be true, Kate isn't a reliable source," she tells me.

I nod, "Why would anyone lie about something like that, though?"

"Drama, attention, I don't know. People like Kate go to all kinds of lengths for a good story," she says.

I sigh, I feel like I've overstepped my boundaries and I'm not even supposed to know such intimate details about someone I've never spoken to. Time to change the topic.

"So I heard you like anime?"

"That's an understatement," she tells me.

"What else do you like? You into Marvel?" I quiz.

Her eyes pop, "Well, duh!"

"Favorite superhero?"

"Thor. One hundred percent," she tells me.

"Really? Why Thor?"

"Because he's hot as hell and super freaking cool, that's why!" she snaps.

I laugh at her defensiveness. "You?" she asks.

"Iron Man. Daddy material as fuck."

She laughs at this. "I like you," she tells me.