Gilded Cage

Chapter 20

Zac drove me home later that morning, lending me his Captain America T-shirt and a pair of navy blue gym shorts to wear in place of my alcohol-drenched Halloween costume. I had to cinch the drawstring tightly to keep the shorts from sliding down, but, secretly, I felt somewhat smug about wearing his clothes. Even giddy. Like I was his girlfriend or something. I tried to hold onto this illusion of happiness for as long as I could since the mood in the car had become rather somber. It was a noticeable shift from the, at times, nerve-wracking and, at times, endearing conversation that we just shared in his studio.

We eventually pulled into my driveway. Zac and I sat in his black BMW for several moments. Neither of us spoke. The dynamic between us had changed so rapidly in the past twenty-four hours. I think we both knew, once I stepped out of his car, reality would snap us back to the way things were: Zac would continue going after Lily and I'd keep pretending not to give a shit. As though we hadn't confirmed our feelings for each other barely an hour ago. As though Zac wasn't the first boy to tie my heart in knots only to unravel them again in the sweetest way possible.

I felt almost certain that the "special someone" he had been referring to was me, and I was both charmed and caught off guard by the fact that Zac held onto his V-card even after his life-changing glow up. Despite the new wave of fucked up questions and doubts that were burrowing through my head, I was beginning to care about the guy. More than I wanted to admit. I didn't even know what I planned to do about it. Part of me wanted to say "fuck it," forget about dicks and dudes, and just focus all my time and energy back on school like I had always done, but another part of me, the irrational, emotional side of my brain, was genuinely worried about Zac.

Was he getting in over his head with Lily?

What if there was something I could do to help him?

Then, of course, there was the familiar voice of reason in my head, the one which had helped me make about 99% of my most important decisions in life, that wondered if this whole thing was just another one of his schemes that I had unwittingly fallen into?

Could Zac be trusted?

"Thank you," I said. It seemed to be the only appropriate thing to say in a moment like this. Safe, polite, pleasant. Something that friends would say to one another.

He jerked his chin in acknowledgment. "See you in second hour tomorrow, Cate."

He waited until I unlocked the front door before peeling away with screeching tires. As I set down my keys on the small console table by our entryway, I noticed a female figure in a hoodie tip-toeing down the stairs in a manner that looked suspiciously like a walk of shame. When she saw me, her dark brown eyes widened like a deer in the headlights.

Loudly, I demanded, "Evonne? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Cate!" she gasped, "I, um—"

Trick rushed in from the kitchen. "Whoa, Catie, relax! She's with me.We came back together from the party last night."

I raised my eyebrows. Trick never called me 'Catie' unless he wanted something. He was also a terrible liar. "You weren't even at Aleah's last night, dumbass. Try again."

Trick had decided last minute not to show his face since he was worried about being harassed by our classmates. Talk about the irony of karma. The tables had turned on Trick.

Evonne flew to his rescue. "Trick isn't lying, Cate! He did go to Aleah's party last night to pick me up. He just never got out of his car. Then, we came back here to, um... hang out."

Evonne didn't even attend Ashton Wellesley anymore.

What was she doing at Aleah's party?

And why would she hang out, let alone bump uglies, with Trick, a boy who had once made her friend's life a living hell?