Chapter 148
And Then There Were Four
Chapter 148: Words with Silas Cassie.
I hadnât expected to run into Silas on the way home, but now that I was faced with him, I was actually pleased. I had allowed myself to face a moment of weakness by letting my heart play tricks on my mind.
To think the mate thing was actually possible with Lucas was a stupid decision to begin with.
Pulling from Silas, I quickly wiped away my tears and pushed a smile on my face.
âGod, I feel completely stupid,â I whispered as I gazed up into his hazel eyes, âuhâso how are you?â
Silas gazed down at me, giving a small chuckle as he âreached up, rubbing the back of his neck as if hesitant to speak. âIâm okay. I actually was coming to see you, but I can. see that whatever I had to say can wait⦠whatâs going on? Why are you crying?â
He was coming to see me? The thought was sweet, but I wasnât sure why he would have been going out of his way to see me. âUh, nothing. Iâm not sad, more angry than anything.â
âAngry about what?â
Shrugging my shoulders, I turned and made my way toward a small bench that sat off the edge of the sidewalk. âMenâin more precise measures, Lucas. Itâs all stupid and not important, honestly.â
Silas followed my movements as he came to sit next to me. He didnât bother to push for more information and instead nudged my shoulder with his own, causing me to smile.
âWell, the topic of men was the reason why I was coming to see you. I wasnât sure if your brother had spoken with you yet, but I wanted to explain myself.â
Confusion filled me as I furrowed my brow, staring at him, trying to figure out what exactly he was talking about. Taking a moment, I thought back to when my brother confronted me in the hallway at the school, and suddenly what he had said dawned on me. that was âSo when he said the guys were talking about me, you?â The sheepish grin that crossed Silasâs face at my question let me know it was exactly what he was talking about.
Obviously, my brother had overheard a conversation between him and somebody else, which caused the entire scene in the hallway. Not only that, but the word had gotten out, leading to Lucas hearing what he had heard.
Words seemed to travel very quickly around this place, and that was something I did not like.
âIt wasnât what you thought. I donât know what your brother told you, but I promise⦠Nothing was bad,â
Silas said quickly, causing me to halt and what I was going to say next.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to think very thoroughly through all of this.
Silas didnât come across as the kind of guy who would just say shit for no reason. And, in fact, if he was the Playboy kind of guy. Why would he even bother to come here and try to explain himself and then also comfort me when I was at my weakest moment?
âWhat exactly was said?â I asked him as I opened my eyes and stared back into the bluishâgreen haziness of his own.
Rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes darted around before they finally met mine once again. âA few of the guys saw us talking the other night, and because of it, they assumed that we were hooking up, which of course, we didnât. And then, they saw Lucas act the way he did toward me. Guys are going to make assumptions.â
Whatever his words as he spoke, and nodding my head, I followed along the best I could, trying to understand his point of view. However, if these guys have made assumptions, why had he not corrected them? Because obviously, they were letting people believe that more happened than actually did.
âOk. And did you correct them to prevent them from · spreading these ridiculous rumors over something that didnât even happen?â Silas gave me a meek smile, and that smile let me know he hadnât entirely told them the truth, which pissed me off even more.
Not only did I have to deal with the shit Lucas and my brother were putting me through, but on top of that, I had to deal with everything else in my life constantly spiraling out of control. And now this issues with Silas because people seem to think Iâm a girl who likes to sleep around.
This place was supposed to be about growing into the person we were meant to be, and instead, it reminded me so much of high school, so much of the drama, I was glad to get rid of when I graduated.
Standing to my feet, I shook my head and quickly turned, heading back down the path toward the building we stayed in. The last thing I wanted to do was say something mean to Silas and cause even more drama.
My mom always told me if I didnât have anything nice to say, it was best not to say anything at all. So that was what I was going to do.
However, Silas had other plans because as soon as I started heading down the sidewalk, he was on his feet rushing after me, his hand gripping my upper arm as he stopped me in my tracks and turned me to face him.
âPlease donât walk away from me. I want to talk to you about this. In fact, thereâs a lot that I want to talk to you about,â he said softly.
There was nothing but sincerity in his gaze, and as much as I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and never put his hands on me again, part of me couldnât help but want to give him that chance to explain and fix things.
âHow do you expect to fix what has already happened, Silas? What else is there that we need to discuss? You made it very clear the guys here, and probably a lot of the girls, are assuming Iâm somebody Iâm not.â
I had never claimed to be this badass girl people thought I was. I was 18 years old, trying to figure out my life and where I wanted to go.
Did I have a rebellious nature? Absolutely.
But that didnât mean I was ready to stand toe to toe with the world as if I had my shit together. What I wanted was to be able to come here and heal from everything that had happened, including losing Melissa, the woman I had loved all through high school.
I had pushed the thoughts of losing her to the back of my mind, not trying to dwell on it what had happened because it was a situation I couldnât fix. However, this place turned out not to be the solace I was looking for, and instead, had become just as much a nightmare as where I had lived before.
I took a moment to think about what I had asked him, and he opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something but wasnât sure. âWill you please just have dinner with me? I can explain everything then.â
Iâd be a fool to agree to have dinner with him, but I was curious to know exactly what it was he was going to do to fix things. Taking him up on this offer was not going to make anything better between Lucas and me. But honestly, after the way Lucas had treated me today, regardless of what he assumed to be true⦠I had no reason to say no.
Nodding my head slowly, I shrugged my shoulders, gesturing with my hand that yes, I would. A bright white. smile crept across Silasâs face at my acknowledgment to go to dinner with him. He was pleased, and honestly, I wasnât surprised he was.
He was a very strange man in a way. There was something dark and mysterious about him that pulled me in, but I couldnât help but feel he didnât just look at me like a person but as a prized possession to own, which was a little unsettling.
He hadnât actually done anything to make me feel that way. It was simply the gaze he gave me was as if I was a piece of gold littered with jewels he wanted to have.
Which perhaps was normal because he was a dragon, and they were known to be very materialistic.
âGreat. Iâll come by and pick you up at 7. I promise you wonât regret this.â He quickly turned, not giving me a moment to decline or say anything else, and disappeared from my sight. And once again, I was left alone to ponder my thoughts.
l, of course, instantly regretted I had agreed to go to dinner with him because it would only add fuel to an already blazing fire. I sagged my shoulders and continued walking down the path in the direction I was headed.
The only thing I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and take a nap. The day had been long and draining. I was still slightly hungover, and with everything that had taken. place, I didnât know what to do with myself.
It was the first time in a very long time I had wished my mother was present. That I could go to her for advice, have her bring me a hot cup of tea, and sit on the bed and talk to me.
My mother and I hadnât been close in years, and once upon a time, we had been. When I was little, I was everything to her, just as Pollux was, and she was everything to me. But then, of course, as I grew, we grew apart, and it became more complicated than we would have liked.
Our relationship was strained, and it became more strained the day I turned eighteen.
She may have fought for me to try to get me and Pollux to stay, not wanting to have us leave, but honestly, I believed a part of her was relieved I was going because, for once, she could try to live normally without worrying who I was going to hurt if I got upset.
The moment I stepped into my room and closed the door, tears began to flow down my face. Everywhere I went, everything I did, I caused problems. I had to figure out how to fix myself, and perhaps it was time I changed slightly who I was.
Instead of being the girl who stood out among the masses, perhaps it was time I tried to blend in. At least then, if I blended in, I wouldnât stick out with everybody wanting to have a piece of me or something to say about me.
Because the girl I was, was not a girl she would want to be proud of.