Wreck Me (Corrupt Legacy Series #2)

“Wait.” It’s Bailey, and she loops her arm around mine, leaving the guys in our kitchen. She has this playful grin on as we walk out the door and head to the school building.

“I want to know everything.”

I sigh as we walk toward school.

“Dane was pretty mad when he left.”

Her features turn pensive. “Your feelings for him must be strong. Out of all of us, I thought you’d be the one…”

“Strong enough to put an end to every beginning.”

She shrugs a shoulder. “When you work so hard on an image, with time, it starts to be a part of you.”

I nod, sad that even my family perceives me as cold.

“That came out wrong. I’m not good at people-ing.”

I crack a smile. “Maybe you would if you’d get your head out of a device once in a while.”

She plucks her phone out, saying. “Hey, I’m fully invested. I haven’t looked at it for five minutes and fifty seconds.”

That’s not healthy, but I’m not exactly a role model when it comes to healthy habits, so I keep my mouth shut.

“We’re going to be fine,” I say, wanting to believe it with every fiber of my being.

“And now you’re optimistic. That’s not scary at all.”

In front of the lockers, she says, “I haven’t been in love. How is it?”

I open my mouth to deny it, but she whips her head to me, arching a brow as if daring me to lie to her. Instead of refuting what would be the truth anyway, I ponder my answer.

“It’s the most wonderful and terrifying thing ever. I want to be with him all the time. I think about him so much. He’s even in my dreams. There are moments I want to yell at him for making me fall in love with him, and then I want to run away with him so I can love him freely.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

I hug her. “Thank you.”

“We’re family.”

She waves at me, and Kaden approaches me. We both watch the youngest heading to her class, her eyes on her phone while all glances follow her. There’s just something special about Bailey that draws people in, and she isn’t even aware of it.

The silence between Kaden and me is comfortable. We each are deep in our thoughts and at ease with each other.

“She’s going to do amazing things,” he says.

“Look at us, like proud parents.”

We chuckle. I hug his side, placing my cheek on his shoulder. He laughs way too seldom.

My luck must run dry because as I share a moment with my best friend, an angry energy cools my back.

“He sure knows how to make his presence known,” Kaden says.

He and Dane are locked in a death stare, and I am so over their testosterone bullshit. I march straight to the classroom, but Mr. Parker, the assistant principal, intercepts me and says Ms. Baker, the principal, wants to talk to me. My nerves eat at my composure as I head to her office.

Inside her office, the walls close in on me as she says, “I’d like to have a word with you.”

Ms. Baker gestures to the chair in front of her desk and continues, “About the test results.”