Page 273 of Hide and Keep

Never.

That’s what I called her in there. In there… What was that in there? With my ears trained on Arthur’s office, the moment I heard his voice rise, I lost it. I fucking lost it. I knew going in there like that would put my job at risk, I just didn’t care. All I cared about was getting to Ever—protectingEver.

And now I can’t even do that. I can’t protect Ever from anyone, or anything.

I grind my jaw until I taste dust. I can’t protect Ever.

I hear a knock accompanied with a “Mr. Brantley, would you like some assistance?”

Edwin’s out there, waiting for me to pack my belongings. But all I can do is replay Ever’s words. Her actions. Her animosity toward me. Over and over again.

It was like we were right back at the beginning again. What she said… How she behaved… It couldn’t have been true, could it? Did Ever actually mean any of that shit? Or was she just acting for Arthur’s sake?

That’s the sad part—I can’t even tell. I can’t fucking tell and now…

Now it doesn’t matter. I’m fired. I’m done. I’m leaving. Forever.

Fuck!

I stuff some clothes in my duffle bag.

Why didn’t Ever warn me? She knew. Supposedly.

Did she know?

“I’m not graduating, Crue Brantley. You might as well walk away now.”

She did. She fucking knew. And she didn’t say a word.

“I told you. I’m. Not. Graduating.”

She said some words, but not all of them. Not enough of them. How was I supposed to know what that meant? Ever was dramatic as fuck when I first got here. She said and did anything to try to get rid of me.

I thought that was behind us though. I thought she loved me. I thought…a lot of things. I thought we had time. More than a few weeks.

All she had to do was correct one of the hundreds of times I talked about spending the next three years here. But she didn’t. She stayed silent, letting me believe we had more time together than we did.

Why would she do that? She loves me. She said she loves me.

But…she’s a liar. I’ve known that.

What else has she been keeping from me?

I eye the door between our rooms. I’ve only been in hers twice. Once on my own, which she did not appreciate, then again after I found out about the secret door. She didn’t seem to appreciate that time either, even though we were on much better terms—in love. Allegedly. Always having her in my room was enough, so I didn’t push her on it. I should’ve. Obviously, she’s hiding something in there.

I tell Edwin, “No, I got it,” then I’m opening the door to Ever’s room the next instant, entering the dark space. Under her bed, I find the same sketchbooks as last time, only fuller now. I get hung up flipping through the latest additions. They’re all of me, some of them while I’m asleep. She drew me when I was asleep? I had no idea.

The way she sees me, it’s nothing like how she just spoke to me. Or about me. She called me trash. Told Edwin to throw me away.

Edwin. Shit. I need to hurry.

I search Ever’s closet again. It looks similar to last time…except for the mysterious black lump in the corner. Lifting it up, I examine the material, recognizing it as the dress she wore to dinner that night the Larsons came over. Or it was that dress. Now it’s just a mess of ruined fabric. Ripped all the way up the front, it’d show her pussy if she tried wearing it again.

I frown.

How’d that happen?

I think back to that night. I didn’t see the front of her dress after dinner. It was so dark because of the faulty lights, I barely saw any of the dress.

---