Page 58 of The Demons We Hide

“We can always come back,” Lex’s voice is soft as he leans down and makes the offer.

Shaking my head, I jog towards where Nolan now waits, the side door propped open and morning sunlight pouring into the otherwise dark interior of the building. “Maybe,” I say as we exit into the parking lot, “if we end up making it into Eastpoint.”

Lex chuckles and lightly grazes my side with his fingers. For a moment, I think he’s going to wrap his arm around my waist, but instead, he plucks my duffle bag from my shoulder and slings it over his. “Don’t worry about that,” Lex replies. “I’m pretty confident that the four of us will be here before you know it.”

“What—”

“Keys!” Nolan calls out, interrupting whatever I might have said as Lex whips around and lifts a hand. The jangle of keys as they soar through the air reaches me a split second before Lex captures the glint of silver before it can sail past him. Then, he flips back around and hustles towards the only vehicle left in the lot—the SUV—and I’m left wondering what he meant.

Twenty minutes after we leaveHellfire, we’re pulling into a small student parking lot off the main administration building of Eastpoint University. My gaze catches on a familiar Audi R8 GT and I sink farther into the backseat.

Gio glances over at me as an annoyed growl makes its way up my throat. “Jules?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.Of all places he could be and of all times, did it really have to be here and now?

The driver’s side door of the puke-green car that I’ve always hated opens and out pops a familiar head of dark hair. The upper half of his face is covered by reflective aviators, but I’d know that jawline anywhere. Then, as if my day can’t get more fucked, the passenger side door opens too and it gets that much worse.

I groan and scrub a hand down my face.

“Is that fucking Pillard?” Gio’s head whips away from me at Nolan’s comment. All three Scorpion Kings peer through the tinted windows as Brandon Pillard, my ex, and Avery Carpenter, my ex-best friend, meet at the front of his car and clasp hands before heading off to the big banner that reads “Welcome, future students.”

“It is.” Lex answers Nolan’s question with a cold tone, and I want to melt into the seat. Maybe I can hide out in the SUV and skip the tour.

Almost as soon as that thought surfaces, though, I know I won’t. I’m not going to let Bran or Avery scare me away. It’s been months since I’ve seen them. I can just ignore their presence and pray that they do the same.

Lex parks and the four of us get out. It’s not hard to notice that most of the other cars in the lot are worth nearly quadruple what the SUV is. The looks of amusement and all but disgust that land on us from everyone else making their way towards the banner make it obvious. My throat tightens and I reach into my backpack before we follow everyone else and grab a pair of sunglasses from inside before shoving them on my face.

Gio throws an arm over my shoulders. “Want to make them jealous?” he asks, grinning.

What I want is to disappear into the pavement or put my fist through both Avery and Bran’s faces. Unfortunately, neither of those are an option. “No thanks,” I say, shaking my head.

A pout replaces his grin. “Aw, come on, why not?” he pleads. “It’ll be fun. We can make out right in front of them.”

I shoot him a dark look before I realize he can’t see it through my sunglasses. “Yeah, that’s totally going to make them regret their actions,” I say, sarcasm dripping from my words.

“You don’t care if they regret their actions,” Nolan says, stepping up to my side and drawing my attention away from the human sized puppy dangling off me. Cinnamon colored eyes land on my face, and he arches an eyebrow. “You just want them to pay for what they did.”

Shrugging Gio off, I stomp towards the banner. “You’re such a damn know-it-all,” I scoff. Sometimes, though, like now, he’s not wrong, and damn if that doesn’t piss me off even more.

Eventually, the four of us make it to the end of the trail where a large collection of other potential Eastpoint students are gathered before a platform on a plush green lawn of the administration building. An older woman in khakis and a blue and white striped button-down stands at the front of the platform with a microphone in hand. After a sharp crackle of the microphone being turned on as the speakers on either side take in the sudden noise, everyone in the crowd quiets down and waits for her to speak.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” she calls out. “My name is Ms. Bairns, and I will be guiding you on a tour of our illustrious University today. Beside me are…” She turns, introducing the two others on either side of her as Mr. Donner and Mrs. Gail, two instructors who’ve volunteered their time to guide groups of us on tour today.

I cast my eyes away from the crowd and towards the University buildings that surround us. Pillars and archways, stone steps leading into covered awnings and outdoor corridors between buildings, Eastpoint reminds me of the one time I visited Oxford with my father. It’d been a business meeting at the university with an investor that taught there part-time, and I’d been given free rein to look around.

Everything appears both old and new—old in the way that this place has obviously been here for quite a while and the architecture is inspired by European designers, and new in the way that I’ve never lived in a place like it before. Visited, sure. But if I get what I want—if I leave Silverwood behind and finally escape that town, this will probably be where I end up. This will be my new home.

When Ms. Bairns finishes her initial announcements, she divides everyone into groups and directs each of us to meet up at specific points. One group turns around and heads back towards the parking lot while another heads off with Mr. Donner. The Scorpion Kings and I are left standing before the platform, waiting for Ms. Bairns as our guide, and as we shuffle forward to the freed-up space left behind by those who’ve left, I stiffen at the new sight of Avery and Bran.

“Jules?” Bran whips off his aviators as he gapes at me. “Is that you?”

I leave my own sunglasses on as I shove my hands into the back pockets of my pants and rock back on my heels. “Nope,” I lie. “I’m just a figment of your imagination.”

“Oh my god, it is you!” Avery dives forward, coming up short as her nose wrinkles. “What did you do to your hair?”

Beside me, Lex stiffens and nearly snarls as Avery takes another chance to step closer, her eyes fixed on the electric blue locks that have stained my previously bottle blond hair. The muscles in my back contract and release as I try to keep my voice steady.

“I did what I wanted with it.”

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