Luca waggles his eyebrows. “Really? Is he cute?”
I nod. “Yeah, not bad. He dresses like he’s strutting the runway every day.”
“I love him already.”
I hold up my hand. “Hey, wait! What happened to Mr. Blake?”
Luca scoffs. “Girl, please, he is as cold as they come. I was wrong about that one. I don’t like to admit it, but I was.” He dismisses the conversation with a wave of his wrist. “Enough about me. What else?”
I wipe my mouth, then take a sip of water. “Monarch is a lot like Maylen in most ways but very different in others.”
“Like how?”
The first thing that comes to mind is Venom. But I don’t start with that. “Their campus is larger than Maylen’s. They have dorms. They have meaner girls who are the bottom-feeders of their daddy’s wallets and think everyone should bow down to them.”
“Uh-oh, what happened?”
I tell him about what Brielle did to Eden in the cafeteria.
He lowers the slice of pizza on the way to his mouth. “Tell me you didn’t get in the middle of their drama?” It comes off less as a question than an all-knowing accusation.
“Well, I couldn’t just stand back and let the bitch cut off my new friend’s hair. I mean, who does that?” I leave out the part about Edge breaking up my fun. Then I also leave out the other part about Edge kissing me and everything about him altogether. Feeling the invisible pressure rising in my chest, I change the subject. “In art class, I have to paint myself on a canvas.”
“Kins, you and I know you are no artist.”
“Tell me about it. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m pretty sure the entire canvas will be considered an abstract. Then I’ll have to make some crap up about how that’s the way I see myself. It’ll look like I’m a giant mess of color and squiggly linesthat most definitely needs a mental health overhaul. But on the bright side, my professor is cool.”
“Still, you’ll need all the help you can get.”
I smack his arm. “Hey!”
“You know it’s true.”
I take a bite of pizza. “Yeah, you’re right.” I think about Gunner’s piece and how amazing it is. If only I had even a small percentage of his talent.
Luca takes a sip of water. “Now, on to the important things. Any hot guys?”
Only all of my enemies.“I guess there are a few, but no one worth mentioning.”
He narrows his eyes at me. At first, I don’t think he’s going to let me off that easily until he does. “Okay, I’m getting vibes that you’re not ready to head in that direction, so we’ll circle back to that another time. ‘Cause you and I both know there’s a golden nugget in that topic that I will dig up.”
I swallow the bite without choking.One for me—for now.
“How was the party last night?”
I pause, bracing myself to be caught in the lie. “It was like all the rest. Solo cups, drunk idiots, half-naked girls…” I tell him about Josh and, in the same breath, tell him it’s nothing to get excited about. Luca’s face falls with disappointment. “He’s nice and all, too nice, cute, tall, tan, but he’s missing something or has too much of something I can’t seem to get past, but I can’t figure out what it is.”Actually, I know what it is, and Edge is to blame for it.
Until it’s time to leave, we continue to chat about nothing and everything. He gives me the highs and lows of his week, new gossip floating around Maylen, who’s hooked up with who. Except for Luca, none of it makes me wish I were back at Maylen. This week has been hell, but it’s been new and challenging. The only thing I miss is seeing my best friend everyday. With the pizza more than half gone and the dessert eaten, we doze off for the next couple of hours and wake just in time for the sun to set.
“You know the invitation to come live with me is still open. My parents love you and would love to have you,” he says as I lock the dojo’s door.
“I know. Thanks, but I’m going to tough it out here for a while. My uncle seems to like the company, and I love being close to the dojo.”
His eyes soften. “For what it’s worth, I love your hard-ass attitude. You take down anyone who gets in your way.”
That’s exactly my plan.
Saying goodbye to Luca is terrible. He’s always been my rock, my go-to for anything. It’s painful how much I miss not seeing him every day. We hug for a long time before we say our final goodbye.
