Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Man, I thought this was going to be a party, not a funeral.
Levi looks at me and nods, and I raise my glass in a toast to him, praying he won’t fuck up this birthday party. I didn’t even know my parents had invited them over.
“What are they doing here?” Penelope grits.
Here we go again.
“Hi to everyone, I guess?” Elliot says, gently waving, before lowering his hand again when all he’s met with are raging glances.
“We’re here to celebrate Cecelia’s birthday,” Lana replies, pulling out a gift. “As we’ve always done.”
She hands it to Cecelia, but she doesn’t even know if she should open it, as she looks around at her guests, who can’t stop throwing eye daggers at each other.
“Congratulations, Cecelia,” Levi’s dad says, hugging her.
Dylan’s nostrils flare, but it’s Felix who first waltzes off.
“Happy birthday, doll,” Nathan tells my sis.
“Where’s Felix going?” Cecelia asks.
“Don’t pay any attention to him,” Nathan answers.
“Fuck you,” Dylan growls, before marching off too.
“Well, this went sour quickly,” Milo mutters to himself.
“Maybe you guys shouldn’t have,” Alistair tells him.
“Is this going to turn into a fight again?” Melody asks, but no one’s listening.
“Can’t we have a normal birthday party for once?” Atlas asks.
“Not in our family,” Orion says, chugging down his drink.
“Please, calm down, everyone,” Ares says.
Felix waltzes out again with his helmet in his hand. “No, why did you invite those fuckers?”
“Felix, please,” Mom says.
“Tell them to leave, now,” Dylan tells Ares, adding fuel to the fire.
“But we just arrived,” Max says, frowning.
“Why? We can celebrate her birthday just as well as you can,” Kai says.
Levi mutters into his ear, “Dad, maybe it’s better—”
“No. I won’t let them bully us out of their lives too,” Kai interjects.
“They killed my daughter!” Penelope shouts.
Everyone goes quiet, while I can’t help but look at Aspen, who seems mortified by the whole situation that’s unfolding. Dammit.
“I cannot stay in the same fucking room as them,” she says. “I just can’t.”
“Maybe we can do the party outside then?” Milo suggests, but Nathan nudges him to keep quiet.
“If you won’t tell them to leave, we’re gone,” Felix says.
“Great, I can’t fucking wait to get out of here,” Silas says. “All this pink makes me nauseous.”
“Felix is right,” Dylan says. “Let’s get out of here.”
Alistair grabs Melody’s hand. “C’mon, Mel. Let’s go.”
“Dad, please, let’s think this over for a second,” Aspen says.
“Why aren’t you siding with us?” Xavier asks her.
“Bunch of idiots,” Sunny mutters under her breath.
“What did you just say?” Silas growls back, his eyebrow twitching.
“Hold on. Not on my grounds.” Ares steps between the two feuding families. “You wanna fight? Do it somewhere else.”
“Or what?” Xavier rebukes, egged on by Silas.
“Stop,” my mom says, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please. Just stop.”
“Fine,” Penelope says. “C’mon.”
She grabs her kids’ hands and drags them toward Dylan’s car, and Felix puts on his helmet.
“Felix, please, can’t we talk about this like grown adults?” Blaine begs.
My sister chucks the bow that was on the car on the ground, wipes away her tears, and storms inside the house.
“Motherfuckers,” I mutter. “Now her birthday is ruined.”
“Sorry,” Levi says, rubbing his lips together like he doesn’t know what else to say.
“Why? Why couldn’t you just … not?” I ask him.
“Like it would’ve helped if I stayed home,” he replies.
“It might have,” Elliot says, but Sunny pokes him with her elbow to shut him up.
“Don’t blame them, blame me,” Blaine says. “I’m the one who invited everyone.”
Everyone looks at him now.
“Why did you think this was a good idea?” Cecelia’s dad, Caleb, asks.
“I don’t know, I thought they could maybe … patch things up,” Blaine replies.
“Patch things up?” Lana frowns at him. “With the people who want us dead?”
“There is no patching up,” Felix growls as he hops onto his motorcycle. “Ever.”
“Wait!” Mom says.
But Felix has already raced off, together with Alistair, Dylan, Penelope, and all the kids in their cars, until their entire family is gone from the premises.
And the birthday party lies in ruins.
CHAPTER 20
Grey
Later that week
It’s awfully quiet in the library, but the silence has been especially deafening after getting rejected by my own girlfriend. My lips are still buzzing from the memory of the mere electricity between us, and then she suddenly … vanished.
As if the thought of kissing me became too much.
Fuck.
I nearly break the coffee cup in my hand, so I set it down on the table before I spill it all over our homework. I don’t know what to say because I don’t want to ruin her already precarious mood after the way Cecelia’s birthday party turned out.
Suddenly, she sighs and puts down her pen.
“Look, I …”
I gaze up into her gorgeous ocean eyes, so lost in thought, while I’m obsessing over every breath she takes.
“I’m sorry about the whole Cups and Cakes thing. I don’t know what came over me.”