Page 82 of Lessons in Cruelty

No one does. Ever.

Melissa nods enthusiastically. “See? Perfect is boring. I’ve had boring all my life. You’re real, Haven.” She shrugs, curling her fingers to check her nails. “Plus, you have that whole ‘save me’ vibe. Guaranteed drama. I fucking love drama.”

I blink at her. “Fuck you.”

She just throws her head back and cackles.

Chapter 21

Haven

My phone vibrates against my hip, dragging me awake from a tequila-induced coma. Seconds later, a pillow hits my head.

“Fuck!” I shove into a sit, arms up in case more feather-stuffed missiles are headed in my direction. “Why?”

“It’s been going the whole fucking night,” Melissa groans. “Turn it off.”

There’s drool on the side of my cheek.

Did all my saliva migrate? Would explain why my mouth is so dry.

“Fuck me. I’m already hungover,” she mumbles, her bedsheets rustling as she turns over.

I dig my phone out of my pocket and unlock it, staring blearily at the screen until my eyes decide to focus.

Missed calls?

No one even has this number.

My bladder sends a frantic SOS to my brain. Fuck, I need to pee. I turn toward Melissa to ask her where the bathroom is, but on cue, she begins snoring.

Can’t be that difficult to find, right?

I try to untangle myself from the blanket around my legs, and end up rolling off Melissa’s sofa and onto the floor, still wrapped up like a burrito.

“Ow.”

Thankfully, I don’t wake her or her roommate, name unknown.

After we’d finished our assignment, we went downstairs and joined the rest of her sorority for dinner. It was some of the best low-fat, zero-carb, vegetarian shit I’ve ever tasted.

I was pretty drunk by then, of course, so maybe my taste buds had shut down. I fended off attempted efforts at pouring more booze down my throat, but Melissa had another two cocktails with her sorority sisters.

Her roommate was asleep by the time Melissa announced I’d be spending the night, because I was way too drunk to walk back to my car and she was too drunk to drive, and Agony Hollow’s one and only Uber driver apparently wasn’t cute enough to drive me anywhere.

My new friend is strangely protective when she’s drunk.

And strangely, kind of fun.

I barely thought about Kai or my shitty life at all.

This sofa is the most comfortable thing I’ve slept on in years. Fucking years. I groan at another sharp ache in my bladder. I’ve been holding it in for a few hours already. What’s another⁠—

There’s another chime from my phone.

Melissa growls like a feral cat. “Haven!”

Panicking, I kick off the blanket and hurry down the hall, squinting at the doors I pass.