Page 25 of Wicked Titan

My eyes clamp shut. I feel crazy saying it out loud, trust me, but I need some hope. Saying goodbye to my dad won’t bring me closure because I need my dad.

“He would’ve found a way to get ahold of you by now if he were alive.”

I hear the truth in Nathan’s words as my eyes remain closed. And I hate that he’s right. I know my dad wouldn’t let me believe he was dead. No matter what trouble he was in, he’d never do that to me. The detectives said there was blood in the car, it was likely he’d been ejected from the vehicle, and with the current—

A wave of nausea overwhelms me; I clutch my stomach. Candace’s sobs fill my ears as she remains seated at the table. It fuels my rage, overpowering my pain.

Shrugging out of Nathan’s grip, I run from the kitchen heading straight to my car. I can’t do this. Saying goodbye to my dad isn’t an option. At least this way I can pretend he might show up someday, even if I know nothing is further from the truth.

19

My car reflexively swings into the driveway of my old house even though Haley’s house is my destination. The three-hour drive did nothing to calm my nerves because she still hasn’t answered my calls. I want to know she is okay or undo whatever the douche-bucket did to my friendship.

Cars line Haley’s driveway, all familiar, belonging to our friends. At least they were my friends. Hurrying across the yard, music floats from the backyard, so I take the familiar path through the side gate that’s always unlocked.

Pushing the gate open, I spot an all too familiar scene—a party. The fear that something bad happened to Haley vanishes as the traumatizing memories from the last party I attended here surface. With my palms pushed against my temples, I scan the crowd until I focus on Haley, who is currently enveloped in Mason’s embrace as his mouth nuzzles her neck.

I can’t move until I hear a random partygoer yell my name, welcoming me to the party I hadn’t been invited to.

Haley’s eyes snap up, meeting mine. A million thoughts flood my mind. None of them I want, so I take off running down the path I’d just come up.

“Quinn!” Haley’s desperate scream causes me to freeze, my fingers gripping the handle of the door as I look to her, hoping for some logical explanation. “I’m so sorry, Quinn.”

“What?” I croak, facing my most trusted friend as Mason stands behind her.

“I wanted to tell you, but I just couldn’t … not with everything else you were dealing with.” Haley’s eyes look everywhere but at mine.

The person before me is a stranger. “Did he put you up to this?”

“Who?” Confusion mars her normally pretty face.

“Asher. Did he tell you to do this?” It doesn’t make sense but neither does the scene in front of me. Haley is the only person I have left that feels like family.

“Who’s Asher? What are you talking about?”

My hands ball into fists at my side. I’m so sick of playing games. I’m tired of being lied to. Even my dad had been jerking me around, I can’t help but think as I glance at the dark, vacant house that used to be my home.

“Tell me the truth.”

“It just happened,” she says, just above a whisper. “We started hanging out because we both missed you, and it just happened.”

I don’t know what bothers me more, the fact that my best friend betrayed me or that I’d been expecting this was another wicked design of Asher’s torment. It’s not, but even worse—it’s my new normal, where everyone I trust is nothing more than a malicious liar.

My eyes scrutinize Mason, my emotions numb. “It’s fine.”

“Quinn,” Haley says, stepping forward as I dart back.

“No, really, it’s fine. It’s not like I was anywhere around since I was dealing with a dead dad and all.”

“Quinn, please don’t leave. Please just talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I slide into the driver’s seat, watching Haley turn, burying her head in Mason’s chest while he consoles her.

Looking at my former house, it’s official: my life will never be what it was before. My best friend deserted me, flaking out on my birthday—one of the toughest days I’ve had since I’d lost Dad. My dad … the man who’d been my constant in life. The man I measured all others against had been lying to me. A lie so utterly massive that he paid the ultimate price, leaving me in his wake to question which aspects of him were genuine. Guilt over questioning his memory surges through me as I will it away by looking to my former home. Whether it was truth or deception, I can’t go back even if I wanted to. And right now, that’s for the best because the two people I cared about most betrayed me.

20

My feet skim the warm water, sending ripples floating across the pool, causing light reflections to bounce around the yard. I don’t question why I drove straight back to Nathan and Candace’s house. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go. And I hadn’t wanted to go anywhere else once Nathan’s words about this being my home away from home pierced through the anguish that had swarmed my mind after driving away from the only home I’ve known.