Piece of shit.
Natalie is headed in my direction—her dorm is in the same hall as Wren’s—and she’s about to go marching past the bush I’m hiding behind when I step out, revealing myself.
She comes to a complete halt, her eyes wide. “Crew. What are you doing out here this time of night?”
“I should be asking you the same question, Nat.” I glance toward the now empty parking lot, Figueroa’s car long gone. He didn’t even wait to see if she got inside safely. “Who’d you sneak off with?”
She turns on the sass, despite the freezing cold and how bundled up she is. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Her tone is flirtatious.
“I think I already know.” She smirks, as if she’s daring me to figure it out. “Dark gray Nissan? An Altima, I believe? Pretty sure there’s only one teacher who drives a car like that. Figueroa?”
Her smirk fades, her gaze turning pleading. “You can’t say anything to anyone.”
“Are you seriously hooking up with that piece of shit?”
She glances back at her dorm building, completely freaked out when she faces me once more. “Keep your voice down.”
“No one can hear us. I can’t believe you. You know he’s been with Maggie all semester,” I tell her.
Natalie flinches. “He swore they broke up.”
“You really believe him? And what about Ezra? I thought you liked him.”
“That’s all just for fun. He likes to flirt.” She shrugs.
I shake my head. “You’re fucking with him. I thought you were nicer than that.”
“Come on, Crew. You know better. I’m not nice.” She turns away from me, heading for the dorm building.
Like a complete idiot, I follow after her. Yeah, we hooked up in the past, and yeah, I also find her annoying most of the time, but she needs to watch out. Figueroa is a piece of shit. Only out for himself. “You need to watch out for him, Nat.”
“Oh, watch out for him?” She whirls on me, her expression fierce. “We need to watch out for all of you. That’s all guys want, am I right? A quick piece of ass, then you dump us. At least Fig is a man. He knows how to treat a girl. Make her feel good. He’s not some insensitive asshole like the rest of you.”
“Oh, come on. You really believe he’s something special because he’s an adult? He’s a middle-aged predator who fucks around with underage girls. He finds new ones every single year, and I don’t know how the piece of shit doesn’t get caught.”
Her eyes are wide and she’s panting, she’s so upset. “It’s not that deep, Lancaster.”
“Right. That’s why you look ready to tear my eyes out for insulting your pedophile hookup. Do you really care about this dickbag, Natalie? You need to wake the hell up.”
She comes for me, her fists swinging, screeching at the top of her lungs. I duck, avoiding her fists, grabbing her with both arms and holding her against me as she struggles and fights. She’s calling me all kinds of names, and I swear to God she’s sobbing.
Pretty sure I’ve never seen Natalie cry.
“You’re such an asshole, Lancaster!” she screams, and I’m about to cover her mouth with my hand to keep her quiet when a bright white light flares on. A cluster of people exit the dorm building, flashlights illuminating us.
“Natalie? Is that you?” one of the women call.
All the fight leaves her as she sags in my arms. “Oh shit,” she whispers.
TWENTY-NINE
WREN
I’m still in bed, half asleep, when there’s rapid-fire knocking on my door.
Cracking one eye open, I grab my phone and check the time.
It’s not even seven o’clock. School doesn’t start for another hour.
The knocking starts all over again, then stops.
“Wren. Open your door.”
It’s Maggie.
Climbing out of bed, I put on my slippers and cross the room, unlocking and opening the door to find Maggie standing on my doorstep, dressed in her uniform and ready for the day, though her face is streaked with tears. “What’s wrong?”
She rushes inside, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. “Fig never came to meet me last night.”
I’m almost relieved he didn’t, though I can’t tell her that.
“What happened? Did he give you a reason?”
Maggie shakes her head. “He said something came up, and he couldn’t talk about it. I kept trying to text him, but he ignored me for the rest of the night.” She hesitates, her eyes full of fear. “Do you think he found someone else?”