•⋅⊰∙∘☽✼☾∘∙⊱⋅•
I leaned against the seat. So much for going unnoticed, in my dreams.
Gigi blinked, then turned to the source of her voice. "Oh no," she whispered. "It's her."
I gave a phony grin as Vanessa and her group approached our table. "Vanessa," I said in a monotone voice.
"Surprise to see the two of you here."
She smiled, all smooth lip and forced heat. "Wow, you look so. different! In a good way, I mean." Her voice dripped with that familiar somehow still painful edge. "I barely recognized you without your, ah, cardigans."
Kris snorted at her back, visibly satisfied with herself for being alive.
I ground my teeth but kept my even tone. "Yeah, people change, I guess."
Vanessa cocked her head, as if she was actually studying me. "Well, it's good to see you're making an effort this year. Perhaps a new beginning will be good for you."
Gigi arched an eyebrow, licking her ice cream deliberately as if she were following a terrible sitcom. "Funny," she said, "I was just considering the same about you."
The redhead blinked, her grin twisting for an instant before going back into alignment. "Oh, Gigi. Still amateur psychic with your crystals and rocks?"
"Still assuming you have a personality when you're not using daddy's credit card?" Gigi replied sweetly.
I came close to inhaling ice cream in an attempt not to laugh.
Vanessa's eyes tightened for a moment before she glanced back at me, clearly deciding Gigi wasn't worth her effort. "Anyway, Noah, I wanted to apologize for what happened last semester."
The statement regarding the pool sent a shiver down my neck, but I refused to give her an inch.
Vanessa smiled like she knew something I didn't. "Oh, I'm totally sorry." Her voice was dripping with innuendo. "It must have been terrible having the entire world know about your little crush on Ethan...then, you know being pushed into the pool and almost drowning. I thought you could swim with the way you go around acting like you know it all."
Her little clique of friends tittered like she'd told the world's best joke.
"But, hey...water under the bridge, right?" Vanessa smiled, though her eyes continued to scowl at me with a combination of hatred and playfulness. "We're cool, right, Noah?"
"Yeah, Noah." Said Jace from the back, as if to intimidate me to forgive their sorry excuse for an apology. "Are we cool?"
I nodded, averting my gaze from her to look at my ice cream. "Sure." I said, I just wanted her and her group of idiots to leave already.
"You're so cute," Vanessa smiled devilishly as she left. "See you at school, Noah."
Gigi leaned forward and whispered, "One day, I'm going to hex her."
"Make it a slow one," I growled back, struggling against another fake smile as Vanessa waved and sashayed away with her acolytes following behind like submissive puppies.
As soon as they were out of sight, I let out a deep breath and slumped back against the chair. "I swear, I thought I finally lost her over the summer."
Gigi gazed at me sympathetically. "Vanessa's like bad perfume-she's still hanging around long after nobody wants her to."
That made me laugh, and the tension immediately started to drop, just like that. But beneath all that, I couldn't help but wonder what she was referring to with that last comment about the pool.
"Come on, girl. Let's go." Gigi said.
By the time we arrived at the parking lot, my arms were literally about to drop off all those shopping bags. Gigi, naturally, was still going on about Vanessa, her voice growing slightly higher each time she uttered her name.
"I'm telling you, Noah," she said, ruffling her hair and unlocking the car, "that girl is only being pleasant because she's campaigning for prom queen this year. You know how she is, anything to make people think that she's the ideal, sweet popular girl. The same girl who tormented you for two years because the love of her life, Adrien does too to get on his good side."
I sighed, buckling the straps of the heaviest bag. "Yeah, well, she's getting away with it. The world adores a pretty face, even if it's paired with a rotten heart."
Gigi rolled her eyes and stacked the bags in the back seat. "If she tries something this year, I'm so going to curse her with my amethyst pendant. Skylar says my aura's been really strong lately."
That made me laugh, which I desperately needed after meeting Vanessa. "You and your aura, Gigi. I'm pretty sure the only thing that would repel Vanessa is a bucket of ice water in the face."
Gigi snorted. "Don't tempt me, I might just do it."
I smiled for a moment, but my head returned to the house. I had no idea if I was ready to go home yet, to sit again in that cold silence with Adrien's scowls and my mom's nervous titters struggling to fill it. Still, I said I'd call Gigi later and climbed into the passenger seat.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, she glanced over at me. "You okay, Noah? You've been quiet for the last couple of minutes."
"Yeah," I grumbled, resting my head against the glass. "Just. thinking about all this. It's only two days and already it feels like a lot."
"Well," she said with a soft smile, "you've weathered tougher. And once again, if it gets too bad, you know where to find me. Skylar and I can fit you in. We'll drown your sorrows in bubble tea and the best romantic comedies."
That produced a small but real smile from me. "You always know what to say."
Gigi shrugged. "It's a gift."
When she dropped me off, I embraced her tightly before entering the house, bracing myself for whatever painful tension was inside. The mansion stood still when I entered, too still, until I could hear voices at the end of the hallway-Keith's office.
I remained standing there in shock when I saw one of them was Adrien.
"Don't talk to me-"
Adrien's words crackled, harsh and bitter in a voice I'd never heard. "You think you can buy yourself a new family and live happily ever after?"
"Adrien, please-" Keith's voice was tight, exhausted. "This isn't about replacing people. I just want us to move on, be a family again."
"Family?" Adrien laughed, harsh and hollow. "You mean the one you ruined!!"
My breath was stuck. The words stung, slicing through the air.
Keith started to answer, but Adrien's voice interrupted again, more loudly. "You treat it like Mom died accidentally, but I know there's more. You've been lying to me since she died, and you're telling me that I'm supposed to sit at the table with her replacement and be polite?! Fuck that!"
A door slammed, and I sprang, clutching my shopping bag tighter to me. Stomping footsteps thundered down the hall, and before I could slip into cover, Adrien appeared at the head of the stairs, anger still dancing in his green eyes.
When he saw me standing there, he stopped, his jaw tightening. For a second, I feared that he would speak harshly, speak painfully, but he didn't. He just pushed past me, the scent of musk from his cologne still lingering in the air as he took off up the stairs.
What the devil just happened?
I panted unevenly, gazing in the direction of the office doorway where Keith now stood outside the doorway, appearing older than he'd been that morning. His eyes locked onto mine, and I knew he'd realized I'd overheard.
"Noah." he began, but I simply shook my head. "Uhh, did you...?"
"I didn't hear anything," I lied softly, then turned and proceeded past him toward the staircase, my heart racing.
But I knew better deep down. I'd overheard everything, and something in what Adrien said was echoing relentlessly in my head.
What in the world did he mean by Adrien's mom hadn't died accidentally? What actually occurred?