AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Compassion? We barely know her!" Renly yelled, finally hitting his breaking point. "She could be a murderer for all we know, and we've let her into our lives like stupid, naive little boys. This could have been her plot all along, and she's gotten her sick satisfaction out of it.”
He turned back to Mykie, who was huddled against the counter.
“How about it? Did you get what you wanted?" he spat in her direction, eyes flicking between her and her verbal ally. “Meeting you really wasn’t a coincidence, huh? I realize now that it was nothing but a mistake.”
He then turned again to force a finger in Caspar's face. "That's probably the only reason she's friends with you, too. You were just begging for someone to befriend you and you stupidly fell for her story about caring about you hook, line, and sinker."
Mykie clenched her fists. She could take whatever he decided to throw at her, but she wouldn't stand for Caspar to be targeted or be hurt by him.
"How are you any better than I am?" she hissed, stepping between the two boys. "You were all in with me last night and convinced me that no matter how dangerous things got, you knew I wasn’t a bad person. What happened to ‘sticking close until we deal with the threat’? Was that only convenient for you while you still wanted to get in my pants? Now you think I’m a murderer, instead of realizing that your dad was already involved with a gang before me! The Vultures have no worries killing people, you know. And news flash, daddy was already dead when you got the call! He was already dead when I arrived! There was nothing for you to do except run off and act like the dutiful, grieving child. Rushing off to see the damn body did nothing for you or your brother. You couldn't have saved him, and neither could I. All you're doing now is putting up a fight because you can't live with the knowledge that I was right. That being around me is dangerous and would only lead to one of us being hurt. You're just angry that I'm not the one that got hurt. I can almost bet that if I wasn't here now, you would have shown up at Pearl's and made sure I knew that everything was my fault. I can also bet that you didn't even take the chance to contact your brother or sister to see if they were okay. You’re hurt and now you want to make everyone else hurt, too.”
She pushed him back away from Caspar. "You might think I’m self-involved, but you’re no better than me, Renly Harper, and don't you forget it."
"Get out of my house!" he roared.
She didn't waste another minute. She swept her bag and jacket from the counter next to her and opened the door. She looked back at the group of boys, shaking her head at Caspar when he seemed to want to follow her. She caught Blaine watching her, and she was almost sure that he wanted to say something, but she didn't give him the chance. It was highly likely that he only had a snarky remark for her to back up his friend.
She slammed the door behind her, and she hoped it rocked the house just as much as Renly's words rocked her core. She knew that he probably didn't mean them, and they were words of pain and anger. He just wanted someone else to feel just as upset and low as he did at the moment, but it didn't make it right. She regretted her words to him as soon as she said them, too. They were harsh and uncalled for, but she couldn't take them back. What was said, was said, and she'd have to deal with the repercussion once Renly wanted to invite her back to the house.
She'd have to explain what happened to Corbus, if he'd even want to see her after Renly talked to him. She hoped he wouldn't hold her words to heart or worse, believe Renly in his anger when he’ll say she murdered his father.
She got back in her car and turned it back around to head back into town, throwing her jacket in the passenger seat. She didn't want to go home just yet, but she wasn't sure where she should go otherwise. Dexter knew about her mission and the boys, but she wasn't sure if she should barge into his place again after what happened last time.
When her stomach grumbled, and she decided that she'd head to lunch before going home. She'd talk to Dexter tomorrow when she could think straight, and she wasn't running on pure headache and emotions.
The Corner Diner was off-limits now, so she settled on a small building that housed an east coast chain diner that was only a few blocks away from her apartment. She didn't even know it existed until she started looking closer at the buildings. It was probably only a third of the usual size, so she wasn't surprised to see how small the tables were when she came inside. She waited at the door for a few minutes, looking around the small, but cozy building before a gray-haired server walked past her.
"Go ahead and seat yourself, honey. I'll be right with you as soon as I can," she said in a sweet, grandmother-y voice. Mykie nodded and walked down one side of the rows of tables before selecting one in the back corner. The place was mostly deserted except for a couple eating lunch on the other side of the restaurant and two different small families around the same area closer to the entrance. She thought that in such a small restaurant, seating fit the bathroom stall rule: If possible, it's polite to take one the farthest away from each other to give a fellow user the respect of privacy.
She didn't have to wait long before the same gray-haired lady came over to her table. "What can I start you with for a drink?"
"Just a plain coffee," she answered.
"I'll have that out to you as soon as I can. In the meantime, here's a menu for you to look through. We've just switched over to lunchtime about an hour ago, but I'm sure we can whip you up something breakfast-like if you really want it."
Mykie nodded her head and took the menu from the woman. She flipped through the menu’s lunch items first, hoping to find something good enough that she wouldn't feel the need to bother the woman and the kitchen staff by asking them for something for breakfast. A burger sounded good, but the quesadilla also looked appetizing in the pictures.
"So, what are we going for today?" A voice said across from her. She jumped, slamming the menu down on the table as she looked across the table at her new lunch companion.
"You," she hissed.
"Ah," Zack said, holding up a finger to her face. “As flattering as that is, I’m not on the menu.”
The childish part of her wanted to bite his finger just to get him to move his hand. And what an interesting person that hand belongs to, also. His curly red hair sat pristine on top of his head, and he was wearing different clothes than she last saw him in.
Hetskedas she continued to glare at him. "You can't freak out in public. It's very unbecoming of a lady, isn't it?"
She snorted. "You make it sound like this is the nineteen-twenties. I'll yell at you in public whether you like it or not, especially after what you've done today. Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
"Was little Renny upset with you for killing dear 'ole papa?" He smirked. "How could you do that to the poor boy, Mykie? You've broken his heart."
"I didn't do it!" she hissed, kicking his leg under the table. "I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but I'm not going to stand for it."
"Of course not," he said, his expression turning serious. "You're sitting right now."
Mykie covered her face with her hands and barely resisted letting out a scream of frustration.
"Why are you here?" she snapped, keeping her voice low to not disturb the other patrons.
