Jillian Dodd - Hate Me

I know there’s a very good chance that I might not come back from this trip.

That my fate might be the same as Leighton’s.

Aiden sneaks in my window sometime after curfew and pulls me into his arms.

I still don’t sleep, but I do realize there’s something important I need to do before I go back to face Vincent.

Just in case I don’t come back.

I slip out of bed, grab my phone, sneak into the bathroom, and send Sam an email with a very specific set of instructions to be carried out in a very short amount of time.

I end the email with a directive to meet me on Thursday afternoon.

Then I use the notes function on my phone and start writing.

Kiss me here.

7:40am

Aiden meets me in my dorm room with coffee and donuts.

“How are you feeling this morning?”

“Better. Thanks for always being there for me, Aiden. I really appreciate it.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he says, setting down the food and taking me into his arms. “What’s that?”

I turn around and see a wrapped tube with another pink bow. “It must be from my naughty Santa. Katie must’ve put it there when she left for her Spanish Club meeting.”

“Do you want to open it?”

“Yeah,” I say, eager to stop talking about yesterday. I rip the paper off the container to find a game called Sexy Truth or Dare. I take off the lid and Aiden pulls out one of the long sticks out and reads it.

“How fun,” he says. “You have the option of answering a truth about sex or you have to do the dare on the back.”

“That would be fun to play with our friends!”

Aiden shakes his head and holds out a stick with one of the dares, which is definitely something you wouldn’t want your friends to watch you do.

“Maybe it’s more of a couple’s game,” I say. “Did you get another gift this morning?”

“Yeah, I think Maggie might be my Santa. She was in our dorm, supposedly picking up Logan, but he always meets her.”

“I don’t know who anyone has except for Katie. She’s bad at keeping secrets.”

“Who does she have?”

“Dallas. Yesterday she gave him a six-pack that she decorated so that each beer bottle looked like a reindeer. Today it was a t-shirt with a porcupine that says Do I make you thorny?”

“That’s funny,” Aiden says. “Wanna see what I got?”

“Sure.”

He untucks his shirt and pulls it up.

“Ohmigawd.” I laugh at the downward pointing, pink arrow-shaped sticky note he has stuck to his stomach. “Kiss me here, huh?” I ask, reading it.

He gives me an adorable grin. “I wanted to give you first dibs.”

I pull the sticky note off and put it on my notebook. “I better be the only one you’re offering dibs on the Titan.”

“The what?”

My eyes get big, realizing what I just said.

Shit.

“The, uh . . .”

Aiden gives me a panty-melting smirk. “You named it?”

“I didn’t mean to tell you. Now you’re going to get a big head.”

He chuckles, playfully pulls me into his body, and puts his mouth near my ear. “If it’s called the Titan, it must already have a big head.”

“I got my Greek mythology screwed up when I named it.”

He glances at his watch, noting that we need to get to class. “We’re going to finish this conversation tonight.”

Hawthorne’s Sweetheart.

Ceramics

Jake leans over when our ceramics teacher goes into the kiln room and says, “You’re going to be Hawthorne’s Sweetheart, Monroe.”

I squint my eyes at him. “What’s that?”

He shakes his head. “I always forget you’re new. You know how for Homecoming and Prom we choose royalty?”

“Yeah.”

“We don’t for Winter Formal. Instead, each dorm chooses a girl to represent their house for the upcoming year. To be their Sweetheart. It’s a big honor.”

“Who’s the Sweetheart now?”

“Peyton. Why do you think she won Homecoming Queen? Our whole house voted for her.”

“I didn’t know that. What does she have to do?”

“Be friends with the guys.”

“Ohmigawd, Jake. Tell me it’s not because I’ve kissed a lot of the boys in your dorm!”

Bryce laughs at me but Jake says, “That’s not at all what it’s about. It’s an honor. We choose a girl we think is cool. Someone the younger guys can look up to. A hot big sister. Someone they can come to if they’re having girl troubles. Stuff like that. It was between you, Maggie, and Ariela. Ariela is super pretty, but she’s a little too reserved. Maggie is awesome, but she slept with her ex’s best friend. As the prefect who makes the final decision, I just have a problem with that.”

“I almost slept with you to get back at Dawson.”

“But you didn’t. Even drunk, you didn’t. We all know that.”

I have a flash of Aiden and me being crowned Homecoming King and Queen.

But it’s a fairy tale that will never happen. I won’t be here next year. I won’t even be here for Prom.

And that makes me sad.

I wish we could have the Prom of our dreams after the kind of Proms we both had last year.

I close my eyes for a minute and breathe.

We’ll just have to make sure Winter Formal is special.

And I need to talk Jake into choosing someone else.

“I’m not sure if I’d give good advice.”

“You will. I’m sure of it,” Jake tells me. “And when you win, act surprised.”

So damn stubborn.

Soccer

Before soccer practice starts, Cooper inquires about my hamstring.

“I think maybe I should sit out today. Could I go in your office and make some phone calls?” I ask.

“What for?” he whispers.

“Can we talk about it after practice. I have something I need to tell you.”

“Why don’t you go take a whirlpool and then we’ll stretch after practice,” he says loudly so that my teammates can hear.

“Thanks,” I say.

After practice, he meets me in the training room.

“So what were the calls about?”

“We’re going back to Malibu on Thursday.”

Cooper’s face turns a shade of pissed-off red. “Are you fucking nuts?”

“Calm down!” I whisper softly, but firmly. “I have to do something. I can’t let what happened stop my plan. I also need to go back to honor her.”

“You’re not going to the funeral.”

“No, that wouldn’t be right, since I didn’t know her. We’ll be honoring her at the club.”

“No. No fucking way are you going back there. I’ll quit before I’ll allow that.”

“Fine. Then I accept your resignation.”

Cooper bangs his fist on the table. “Oh, you are so damn stubborn.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Cooper. I have to do something. I can’t let him get away with it.”

“He might not get away with it. The police are going to question him.”

“That’s awesome news. He deserves to go to jail. But knowing him, he’ll get off. And knowing him, he’ll be back at the club on Thursday to see if I have the balls to show up.”

“I want to know your entire plan now. We can’t go out the back again. We have to have a different plan. Something . . .” Cooper says.

“More dramatic?” I laugh, knowing my plan is just that.

“No, I was thinking safe.”

“We’re going out the front door, Cooper. I just need you to make sure I get there and then to  . . .”

I tell him my escape plan.

Cooper slaps his forehead. “You seriously have a flair for the dramatic.”

“Think it will work?”

“It’s not like he’ll be able to follow us. But you told me that when you were in Miami he had a gun. The photos he’s sent to your mom and Brooklyn involved shooting. What if he decides to start shooting? Creates a distraction to get you out. Or, worse, to clear a path to you.”

“I think—well, hope—that he’ll be too shocked to do anything. And by the time he realizes what’s happening, we’ll be gone.”

“Let me think this through, okay.”

I nod, shutting up.

“It sounds more like a movie than real life,” he finally states.

“That’s why it’s perfect. He’ll never expect it. And if you can get your friends to help, I’ll stay safe.”

Cooper shakes his head at me. “I’ll see what I can do.”

The one crying.

6:15pm

Since there’s a home basketball game tonight, we eat pizza and get ready in the dance locker room.

Once I have my dance uniform on and my hair fixed, I text Aiden.

Me:  Good luck tonight.

Hottie God:  Thanks. Tonight is a big game, but I have to admit, my thoughts are on you wearing candy. Did I mention I have a sweet tooth?

Hottie God:  And tongue.

Whew. Is it hot in here?

I use a pompom to fan my face.

Me:  I like your tongue.

Hottie God:  It likes you too. I have to go. What outfits are you wearing tonight? Are they nice and short?

Me:  Very skimpy as usual.

Hottie God:  Perfect.

The game is very back and forth. It’s also really rough. Dawson has already fouled out and Ace is close. Aiden makes a great defensive play, stealing a pass and running down the court for the fast break score. But as he goes up for the ball, he’s badly fouled and falls down on the ground hard.

I hold my breath as he lies on the ground, holding his ankle and writhing in pain.

The trainer runs out onto the court and helps him limp off. He isn’t even able to shoot his own free throw.