Page 17 of In the Net
But as I’m about to tell, not all the changes he’s undergone since then have been for the better.
“Anyway, he transferred, and I didn’t see him nearly as much. But I knew he and Bryce had a falling out, and that surprised me. They were such good friends. Sebastian started only hanging out with his prep school friends. He made it onto their hockey team and became popular there. When I talked to Bryce about it, I basically got the sense that Sebastian’s newfound popularity at St. Bart’s went to his head, and he started acting superior to everyone he used to know. Like, the kids at our school used to act superior tohimbecause he was poor, but now that he was popular at a school full of real mega-rich people, and the star player on their hockey team, he wanted to rub it in any chance he got.”
Scarlett tilts her head with a thoughtful expression. “I guess I can understand that.”
“In a way, sure,” I say. ‘But dropping your best friend over it? Acting distant and condescending even to the people who were always nice to you when most people weren’t?”
“And what happened freshman year between you two?” Jasmine asks.
“We had English 101 together. At first, I was sort of excited to see him again. I thought maybe he’d be able to leave his whole high school experience behind him and get the chip off his shoulder now that he was at college. But instead of losing that chip, it grew so big I’m surprised his arm didn’t fall off,” I say, my voice turning grumbly at the end.
“Suddenly, he was more than cocky,” I continue, dredging up the memories. “He was arrogant. Not the same way he is now. I know some people find his confidence funny, or charming. But it was different then. In class discussions, he would suck all the air out of the room. He couldn’t stand not being the center of attention. And if anyone disagreed with him, he’d launch a full-out verbal assault on them, not willing to give an inch. And out of class, he was such a womanizer it made me sick. Worse than he is now, worse than any of the Black Bears guys are now.”
I take another sip of my wine, but the bitterness coating my mouth dulls the flavor. “During freshman year, my closest friend was my roommate, Hailey. She went on a couple dates with him. Her and basically every other girl in our freshman class,” I add snidely. “I wanted to warn her away from him, but I didn’t want her to think I was sabotaging something she was so into at the time, so I kept my mouth shut. But, of course, she fell head over heels for him, and when he ghosted her, it broke her heart.”
Scarlett frowns. Her eyebrows cinch in disapproval. “Were they, like,datingdating?”
I roll my lips. “No, they weren’t. As much as I hate to give Sebastian the benefit of the doubt, it’s not like he cheated on her. Anyone should have realized that what they were doing was totally casual. But still, he should have realized how into him she was, and been decent enough to let her down easy.”
Maddie’s lips pout. “That’s true.”
“She spent the next week moping around, depressed. After that, I couldn’t take Sebastian’s new attitude anymore. I started challenging everything he said in our class. Criticizing him every chance I got and poking holes into every point he made during discussions. If no one else was going to take on his bloated ego, I decided I would. I kept doing the same thing the next semester, when we had a Philosophy class together. Our professor reallyencouraged in-depth class discussions and debates, and most of the time it was just Sebastian and me butting heads.”
“Now we’re getting to the part of the story that sounds familiar,” Jasmine says with a snarky smirk.
I shrug. “And that’s that, I guess. He’s less of a jerk now than he was freshman year, I have to admit. But ever since I made it my mission to check his ego, whenever we see each other, antagonism has pretty much been our default setting.” I finish the wine remaining in my glass. “Which is fine with me.”
“You don’t think you’ll ever be friends again?” Maddie asks. The optimistic note in her voice almost makes me laugh. Maddie’s a total sweetheart, who always wants everything to work out for the best. Too bad some things never will.
“Me and Sebastian? I’m pretty sure the last thing we’ll ever be again isfriends.”
7
SEBASTIAN
I’m walking down the hallway after leaving my Short Fiction class, and I can’t pull my eyes away from the blaze of Harper’s auburn hair a couple paces in front of me.
Why the hell did I say that to Carter the other day? That I’ve always found red hair particularly attractive. I’d never even thought about it before—it just popped out of my mouth as I mulled over the random question.
All class long, I couldn’t stop my eyes from flicking back to the bright sheen of Harper’s hair. It didn’t help that a slant of light shining through the window fell right on it, giving it a ruddy copper glow that was impossible to ignore.
Trust me, I tried.
When I finally manage to look away from the healthy bounce of Harper’s hair as she walks in front of me, the next thing my gaze lands on is even more unwelcome.
Her cousin, Mackenzie.
A scowl scrunches the side of my nose when I see her. Even from a distance, she radiates a sense of unearned superiority, like stink lines drawn on a cartoon pile of garbage.
Back when we went to school together, before I transferred to St. Bart’s, she was the meanest to me out of all the stuck-up rich kids I went to school with.
And now that I’m a Black Bear, whenever she sees me at a party, she always makes a big show of talking all buddy-buddy with me. Asking if I’m still in touch with so-and-so, trying to make people think that we’re acquaintances, even though my attitude toward her is frosty enough that even she can’t spin it to make anyone believe we were ever friends.
I notice Mackenzie spotting Harper in the crowded hallway.
Then I notice Mackenzie spotting me, walking a distance behind her.
Her brow quirks, and something glimmers in her eyes.
