Crimson Bonds - ALL GXG VERSION (Hailee Steinfeld X Bridgette Lundy-Paine )

Chapter 22: The Bittersweet Truth

From everything that has transpired to this point, the time is now. Carter must talk to Liza, with or without Evelyn's prompting. She needs to know more, more so the truth. One minute, she seem to be connecting with Liza. The next, the girl pushes her away with all force. Liza is obviously hiding something, something much bigger than herself. Carter wants to know her, to be there for her. Yet there is also something about Liza that puts the worst gut feeling in her, her intuition begging her to run as far from her as possible. More of a warning was Carter's run in with Nate before ditching school to head to the Thomas house. All of this stood as evidence that there was way more to Liza, something wild and unpredictably dangerous.

"Speak of the devil..."

Carter thinks to herself as she arrives to the high school parking lot only to see Nate there, opening his car door as he looks around nervously. She can't help but to approach him, not only due to both their bizarre encounters with Liza after school yesterday, but also after seeing his reaction to Dylan's private run in with the girl in the hallway this morning.  It was obvious to Carter that Nate knew something was off about Liza too, possibly knowing something she didn't. So what else to do than to interrogate him and maybe get a better idea of what she was really getting herself into.

"Got a reason you're ditching fifth period?" Carter asks as she approaches the boy. Nate just looks down to the concrete blankly.

"I could ask you the same question Brown." Nate responds with no emotion, not even a hint of sarcasm or toughness in his voice, as if he had lost his power to be in control or to even fight back.

"Who said I was..." Carter lies as Nate continues to look down. 

"Good for you Carter. Now go away will you?" The jock speaks quietly again,  his response only making Carter's eyebrows raise at him.

"Don't you have anything else to say to me? What no comebacks? No threats?" Yet something shocks Carter as Nate finally meets her eyes as if in angered urgency, more vividly, fright.

"WILL YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!" Nate shouts, making Carter become emotionless herself. It makes her solidify why she approached Nate in the first place.

"Look, I know we have never been friends. But even I notice you've haven't been yourself, ever since after school the other day. What really happened, between you and... 

Nate just lets a heavy huff out before Carter can finish her question.

"Look, I can't...Liza is crazy okay? If I were you Brown, I'd watch your back." Nate had no hint of hesitation in his words. He had every reason to be afraid of Liza from the first incident after school. Yet whatever she had done made him paralyzed with fear. Carter could tell just by looking into his eyes as he spoke her name, for she wasn't expecting the jock to ever admit it. Nate Hoffman wasn't afraid of anything or anyone, not until the Thomas' moved into town that is.

"You will never speak of this Nate..."

Carter remembers the bone chilling moment Liza had spoken those words to him. Whatever she had done to him definitely fucked him up, breaking his cocky spirit. Carter needed to know why. Why is he so afraid of her?

"Crazy? And is that supposed to be a threat?" Carter asks genuinely, almost dreading the answer.

"Take it however you want. Just don't say I didn't warn you." And from there Nate says nothing more, getting into his car. Just before Nate starts his engine Carter sees Evelyn further down the lot, the younger girl's expression dark with no readable emotion.