Page 34 of The Rebel of Raleigh High
“No. You’re only interested in the weird, quirky, indie outcasts, I s’pose?”
I say nothing, but we trade dry looks and it’s very obvious who and what he’s referring to.
“I won’t tell you to be careful of that one,” Leon says, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly. “I know Jake’s already done that.”
“Do I reallyneeda warning?”
For a moment, Leon looks uncomfortable. “I don’t know the details. I can’t say either way. That night just got…it got really fucking crazy, and when the shit hit the fan, Kacey still had her claws in my back so deep, I’m ashamed to say I just did whatever the fuck she told me. All I do know is that Silver used to be one of them…and something really horrible must have happened between her and Kacey for everything to have blown up the way it did.”
I frown, crushing the solo cup in my hand. We’re almost back to the kitchen’s sliding doors. The sounds of the party have reached a fever pitch, the music pulsing like an angry heartbeat. Someone opens the door, throwing an oblong shard of golden light out into the darkness. Inside, someone screams raucously at the top of their lungs, but I’m not focused on what they’re shouting. I’m still trying to process what Leon just said. “Wait, what do you mean, she used to beoneofthem?”
Leon nods, rocking his head from side to side, as if he finds the idea of Silver and Kacey being friends absolutely un-fucking-believable, too. “Yeah, I know. Kacey and Silver were inseparable not too long ago. You couldn’t say one of their names without the other. Kacey and I were in a relationship for years, but you’d never hear the names ‘Kacey and Leon’ put together. It was only ever Kacey and Silver. You couldn’t picture it now if you tried.”
Iamtrying. I’m trying to picture it, and he’s right. I can’t fucking do it.
He gives a brittle, hollow laugh. “I guess now it’s not Kacey and Leon, or Kacey and Silver, anyway. It’s Kacey and fuckingJacob. I wonder how longthat’sgonna last.”
