Page 151 of Burning Embers
He eyes me suspiciously but relents. “Okay, fine. I actually came to your room for a reason, and it wasn’t just to bug you about your dating life.” He smirks mischievously, and a sliver of unease skates down my back. “What are you going to do for your birthday tomorrow?”
My mouth drops open. “Wh-what?”
“Oh please. You didn’t think I’d find out?” He leans towards me so he can knock his shoulder against my own. “I know everything…including the fact that tomorrow is your eighteenth birthday.”
“Jake…” I swear my cheeks are on fire. I place my hands to them to make sure they’re not actually being consumed by literal flames. “I don’t really want to make a big fuss about it.”
It’s why I didn’t tell anyone that my birthday is approaching. Hale and Gerry know, of course, but they agreed to keep it low-key.
I’ve never really had the best track record when it comes to birthdays. My last few have been…
I shiver.
“Are we going to have a party this weekend?” He taps a finger to his chin in contemplation. “It sucks that your birthday falls on a Wednesday. Oh! Maybe we can have a party after the game on Friday. You haven’t really been to a game since the incident.”
“You mean the time I was tackled to the ground and nearly died?”
He scoffs. “You didn’t nearly die. Don’t be dramatic. But this Friday is senior night. Ashton always throws a huge party after the game.”
“Ashton?” I wrinkle my nose. “And why would I want to go to a party thrown by the great Ashton James?” I tilt my head to the side and then ask, “What is his last name anyway? Is it James? Or is his middle name James? Or is that a part of his first name?”
Jake chuckles darkly. “You seem awfully interested for someone who claims she’s not interested.”
“Know your enemies and all that.” I wave a hand in the air dismissively. “Now, proceed. You were talking about senior night and parties.”
He rolls his eyes but continues. “Anyway, I’m sure if we ask him, we could make it a birthday party as well.”
A laugh bubbles in my throat. “Really? You think Ashton would want to throw me a birthday party? You think I’d want him to? You do realize we hate each other, right?”
And that’s not even an exaggeration. Ashton likes to pretend I don’t exist during the day. Even when I sit at his table at lunch, he very purposely ignores me.
“I see the way he looks at you,” Jake says cryptically.
“Like a fart that he wants to swat away?”
“No, that’s the way you look at him, not the other way around.” He grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “But if youdon’t want a big birthday party, that’s cool too. We can just watch a movie or something with Lissa and the others.” His lips purse as he flicks his gaze towards the empty bed on the opposite side of the room. “Or maybe just the others.”
“Do you think Lissa will be okay?” I ask softly.
I barely see her anymore. She’ll stay in the recreation room until one or two in the morning—or until Hale and Gerry order her up to bed—then she’ll sneak out at first light. When she is around, she’s quiet and sullen.
I never in a million years thought I would miss her incessant chatting.
“I heard Hale and Gerry talking about putting her into therapy. I think that’d be good for her.” He casts me a glance out of the corner of his eye. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you okay?” He rubs the pad of his thumb across my knuckles. “You saw the same thing Lissa did, yet all of our focus is on her.”
I shrug helplessly and swallow down the lump in my throat.
How do I explain to Jake that, while upsetting, seeing the corpse didn’t destroy me?
How do I tell him that Alixandra wasn’t the first dead body I’ve ever seen?
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it—I’m saved from responding by a loud, domineering voice barking, “Let us see her!”
Emery?