Page 200 of Did They Break You

And I hear something, coming from my purse slung over the back seat as they both talk over my head, as if I’m not even here.

Because once again,I don’t say anything.

Their voices fall quiet as the buzzing sound seems to grow louder.

My phone.

Silas glares at me. “You couldn’t even bother turning that off for a single night, Remi? Is he that important?”

I ignore the vibration, my hands shaking in my lap.

I don’t know what to say.

I glance at Crystal, and she’s staring at me with a mixture of pity and confusion, and then my phone starts to vibrate again.

“One second,” I whisper.

“Don’t answer your phone at the table, Remi, you know better.”

But I’m already doing it. I’m digging in my bag and Silas is reaching across the table to snatch it from me but my heart is racing and I see it’s Cortland calling, for the fourth time, and I answer it, standing to my feet, my chair tipping backward as I get out of Silas’s reach.

He’s snapping my name, standing, too, throwing his cloth napkin on the table.

“What’s wrong?” I rasp into the phone.

“Oh my God, Remi,” Cortland is saying, and there’s relief in his words that sends the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” He exhales, and I can practically see him pacing on the other end of the line.

“What happened?” I ask, locking eyes with my stepdad.

He’s not moving toward me anymore, and Crystal is on her feet, too, staring at me with concern.

“Your dorm…” Cortland trails off. “Your dorm… it… caught on fire.”

I blink, dropping my gaze, my mind spinning. “What?” I whisper into the phone. “What do you mean?—”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Raleigh?—”

“I’ll come get you.”

“No.”

“I’m leaving now, give me an address, I’ll?—”

“No.”

“Just give me your fucking address, Remi, I’m not leaving you alone tonight?—”

“I’ll be there soon.” I hang up the phone, hearing Cortland curse in the background as I fist my phone in my hand.

“My dorm is on fire.” I say it out loud, those words tumbling out of my mouth awkwardly as I turn and grab my purse, slinging it over my body.

“Remi, what do you mean?—”

“You’re not leaving yet. Sit down.” Silas’s voice, cold and immoveable, he doesn’t give a fuck about what I just said.

“Didn’t you hear me?” I snarl back, stepping toward him. “My dormis on fire.”

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