I felt my brow wrinkle in confusion. "Head out? What do you mean?"
"I’m gonna head back to my own room, maybe get some sleep."
Maybeget some sleep? I hesitated. "Oh. Okay."
He'd never done such a thing before. Normally, he stayed until just before sunrise, and left with obvious regret.
With no sign of regret now, he said, "And about the house. I meant what I said. Drop it, alright?"
Drop it?
Like it wassoeasy.
I refused to lie. "I can't promise you that."
"Yeah, well that makes two of us."
I wasn't even sure what he meant. But judging from his tone, it wasn't anything good.
Before I could even think of something to say, he was already out of bed and pulling on his clothes. In the shadows, I could see only his silhouette, but that didn't make it any less painful to watch as he prepared to leave.
And me? I didn't try to stop him.
I mean, hey, if he wanted to go, I wasn't going to beg him to stay – even if there was a pathetic part of me that was sorely tempted.
But all too soon, he was heading out. He didn't even leave through the window, but rather through the bedroom door, slipping out into the hall and shutting my door firmly behind him.
Alone in the quiet bedroom, I closed my eyes and tried to block out whatever had just happened.
My bed wasn't terribly huge, just a basic double. Still, it felt too big and empty after his sudden departure.
The whole thing was incredibly strange – and even stranger the next morning when I learned something that Ishould'veheard directly from him.
But I hadn't.And I didn't like it.
Chapter 48
Arden
I stared at Waverly. "What do you mean he's gone?"
With a smirk, she replied, "I mean exactly what I said. He's gone. G.O.N.E, gone."
I gave her an annoyed look.Thanks ever so much for the spelling lesson.
We were standing in the crew house kitchen, and she was talking about Brody.
I asked, "Gone where?"
"To California, of course."
I shook my head. "California? But why?"
"Because, he wassupposedto be there weeks ago."
He was?If so, this was the first I'd heard of it.
It was just past seven o'clock in the morning, and my day was off to a bitter start. After Brody's sudden departure from my bedroom last night, I'd slept fitfully at best and woke way too early feeling disgruntled and upset.
