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Coke?? As in cocaine?

Trey's eyes flick in surprise and he leans back in his chair. "He hasn't told you. Interesting."

I frown, trying to hide my surprise. "Told me what?"

"That he was hooked on crack for a while," he says, clearly reveling in watching my reaction to the information. He looks thoughtful and sucks on his blunt for a few seconds, his eyes never leaving my face.

I don't know how reliable this 'news' is, but if it's true, why hadn't Arlo told me? Of course he didn't have to, I know that it must surely have been a miserable time in his life, and a hard one to drag himself out of. Talking about it would be painful and require a lot of trust. I can't help but feel like he's swindled me, though.

He's always asking about the personal aspects of my life, like my parents and my brother and my friends before Colton died. He'd been sharing a lot about his mom recently, which I loved hearing him talking about, but... if this is true, I feel like I barely know the surface of Arlo's past.

"You have nice eyes." Trey compliments after a few minutes of silence in which my brain is exploding. "Very expressive."

I look over at Trey and suddenly remember where I've heard his name before.

"I can't believe Harriet fired Trey. I for sure thought he was going to be coming back this year." Montserrat is saying

"I heard dude got all drugged out on the last few days of sales and tried to sell a crate of bottle rockets to Jason's mom while he was high as a kite." Angel says

Edwardo leans forward. "Well I heard he got into some serious gang shit or something, like some dealers were after him or something like that."

"Let's be honest, the guy's 27 and was hanging around a bunch of 17, 18-year-olds. Harriet and her parents were never a fan, it makes sense for him to be gone, doesn't it?" Cecily inputs.

"I wonder where he's at now," Johan says, glancing not so subtly at Arlo, whose arms are considerably more tense than when this conversation started.

I'm guessing he has some knowledge regarding this Trey guy by the way everyone's curiously peeking at him.

"Trey's gone now. That's all that matters."

I examine Trey with a new eye. He's still sucking on a blunt of god knows what, his eyes glassy and contemplative. Thin but tall, greasy blonde hair, half unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. When he catches me staring at him, he arches a brow and holds out the blunt.

"No thanks. I should get back inside." I say, trying not to show how shaken I am.

His lips upturn slightly and says, "Tell your boy I say hello. It's been a minute."

Good. I think before slipping back inside the apartment and heading towards the kitchen. I'm glad Arlo isn't hanging around Trey anymore. I don't know how credible Trey's information was considering he was high and a stranger, but I guess it was plausible. If it was true, my feelings toward Arlo haven't changed at all. Mostly I'm just concerned.

Concerned Trey is going to find Arlo and try to rope him into bad things. Concerned about the fact that if it is true, Arlo hasn't felt comfortable telling me about it.

Just concerned.

In the kitchen, I can hear all the voices still talking about the cake fight that seemed to happen lifetimes ago. I find a cup in one of the cupboards and fill it with water from the sink before downing it, suddenly feeling parched. I only realize my hands are shaking when the water starts to splash over the sides.

I put the cup down and try taking deep breaths, bracing my hands on the counter.

"Hadlee?"

I jump a mile and spin to see Arlo hovering in the doorway watching me.

"Oh, hey," I say, relaxing slightly. I can still feel my hands shaking.

He frowns, stepping into the room. "Hey, I was looking for you. Are you alright?" He comes closer and takes one of my trembling hands in his own. His eyes darken when he feels their shaking. "Did something happen?"

I shake my head, "No, no. Just feel weird." I whisper.

His frown deepens to a scowl and he questions, "Weird? Weird how?"

"I don't know, just weird. We should go back to the living room now." I say, gently pushing him towards the door.

"Well, wait a second, please," he says, resting a hand on my shoulder before I can move around him. "Let's just take a break for a few minutes. Breathe for a bit."

The concern in his voice is heartbreakingly gentle. See? There's no trace of a boy that would fistfight people for fun in parking lots and hang around Trey.

"Hadlee, breathe," he murmurs. I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath. I do as he says. "Do you want some air? There's a patio-"

"No!" I burst, the sudden fear of him seeing Trey taking over. He blinks in surprise, and I shrink. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. Can we just go back to the party? We can talk when we leave." I say quieter.

His mouth tightens and he says, "So something did happen."

"Not now, please. When we get to the apartment." I plead.

I know that I need to talk to Arlo about the information that has been shared with me tonight, sooner rather than later. I don't want him to think I've kept anything from him, but my mind is still reeling from what I've been told, and if I tried to have a conversation about it now, I wouldn't respond in the right way.

He puts a hand on my hip and tugs me towards him a few steps. He leans down and presses a lingering kiss to my mouth, which somehow clears my head of all thoughts whatsoever.

When he pulls away, he plants another kiss on the top of my head and says, "Please don't leave my side for the rest of the night."

As if I'd do that while Trey is on the loose. We start towards the living room, but at that moment, the patio door slides open and we come face to face with Trey.

I feel every bone, muscle, and tendon in Arlo's body stiffen, and his arm is quick to tuck me further behind him. Not before I see Trey's delighted smirk.

"Hey, stranger. Long time no see." Trey says good-naturedly.

Arlo doesn't say anything, his body as still as a statue.

Trey leans to the side so he can see me, and he winks. "You work fast."

If it's even possible, Arlo gets even more rigid, and he glances down at me, eyes hard. "Maybe we should head back to the apartment now." he grits. 

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