Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace Read Free Book Online

to know what a fool I’ve been and that he and Tiffany are back together. I knew he was going to end up leaving me. Same as my dad.
    My stomach twisted. My hands shook as I furiously wiped the tears from my face. I was further frustrated because my mom slept in the next room, and I had to keep quiet or she’d end up being another witness to my demise, wrapped in a pretty little pink bow, signed:
    Truly yours,
    Tiffany XOXO
    Arrrrhhhh. Tiffany probably didn’t even want him back because she missed him. I bet her only motive was because she didn’t want me to have him.
    I tried to focus more on my breathing and less on the internal monologue. I kept telling myself that I didn’t really know anything yet and needed to stop jumping to conclusions. Eventually, I tuckered myself out so much from all the tears and thrashing around on my bed that I passed out for the remainder of the night.

 
    7
    He Tarnished It
    The next morning, I had to force my legs to walk to the bathroom. I tried to convince myself that maybe Jaren and Tiffany simply talked and not to jump to any conclusions. It wasn’t like they were going to get back together. Right?
    Oh, man. My stomach hurt. I jumped into the cold shower trying to shock myself out of this terrifying train of thought.
    Jaren and I had made plans before I left school yesterday that we’d meet up today at lunch. I wasn’t really sure what was going on anymore. I certainly didn’t want to call him and make a greater fool of myself by groaning to him about it. So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw him pull into my driveway with David’s Mustang. It must really be serious then. David didn’t let Jaren take his Mustang “just because.”
    I was grateful that my mom had left to go show a client some houses. I didn’t want her getting involved in this.
    I opened the door before Jaren could knock on it. My face contorted with anger.
    “Hey,” Jaren hesitated. “Can I talk to you? Can we go for a ride or something, please?” Jaren’s face told me what he tried to hide in his voice—regret and urgency.
    “Where do you want to go? The park ?” I crossed my arms.
    “That’s not fair. At least let me tell you what has been going on with me, okay? If you never want to talk to me again afterward, then I’ll accept that. But I can’t accept it if you won’t even hear me out.”
    I grabbed my keys from the counter and slammed the front door behind me. “You’re driving.”
    Jaren took Highway 60 and drove until we were out of town. We passed the point where we watched the meteor shower, and I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could, demanding they not water.
    Jaren stayed on the highway until we were deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains. It would have been nice to have been coming up here with him under different circumstances. The leaves were now brilliant oranges and fiery reds. I loved nothing more about the East than its vibrant fall seasons.
    Jaren turned the car into a pull-out. He shut it off and faced me. I met his eyes with daggers in mine.
    “It really isn’t as bad as you think,” Jaren said, but I cut him off.
    “Right, like you know anything about what I am thinking right now.”
    “Okay, let me get this out, and then you can cut in all you want, please?” His eyes took on a pleading shine. I nodded my head in agreement.
    “Tiffany came up to me after school yesterday and asked if she could talk to me.”
    “Before or after I left?” I had spoken to him after school, right before I’d left with Kaitlynn.
    “After I talked to you.”
    I sucked in a ragged, angry breath. She had probably been hanging out, waiting for me to leave so she could swoop in like a vulture.
    “Let me finish,” he said.
    I huffed air from my nostrils and rolled my eyes.
    “I know. I was surprised by this, too, because…well, you’ve seen how she’s ignored me or been a complete snob.”
    I nodded again, and he continued.
    “Well, I was curious to see what she had to say, so