Society Girls: Neveah (17 page)

“You looked? Seriously?”

“I clicked on the link Ainsley sent me
before reading her whole message. Damn, bro. Just, damn…and
ugh.”

“Whatever. I don’t even care about you
seeing them since you knew they existed. Nev just broke up with me
over them. That’s what I care about right now.”

“She what? How could she break up with you
without talking first?”

“By text, that’s how.”

“Damn.”

“I knew Eric was mad, and I thought he was
giving in too easily, but I never saw this coming. Those girls must
be on his payroll.”

“The other two girls aren’t speaking to the
media, so they must not be part of this. If I can get them to tell
the truth, this will look a lot better for you. Audrey’s the PR
guru, so I’ll have her help spin it.”

“Does it really matter? People are going to
believe what they want to believe, no matter what the truth is. I
haven’t looked at social media, but I’m sure I’ve already been
convicted in the court of public opinion, and also by the only
person I care about besides you and the rest of our family.”

“It matters because I’m not going to let you
be vilified by some people hiding behind their laptop screens.
Getting the truth out there may not stop the trolls, but your
fans—the real fans—should know the truth.”

“If they were real fans, they wouldn’t
believe it.”

“Wouldn’t they? You slept with those women,
Dyl. That’s not a lie. The timing is what’s a lie, and since you
publicly said you were turning over a new leaf, this makes you look
really bad. I’m sure that was Eric’s intention, but he messed with
the wrong ball player.”

I give her a real smile, because my sister
is adorable when she’s being fierce. The people she goes after
probably don’t think that, but as her brother, I certainly do. “I
don’t want Nev back because the lies are exposed.” She should’ve
given me a chance to explain things to her.

“This is about more than Nev right now. I
know she’s your priority, but your career, and your endorsements
are important too.”

“I know that. I just…I thought we had a
shot. I was going to give her what she needed from me, and I
thought things would be perfect from now on.”

“That was your first
mistake,” she says as we get in her car. “Relationships are never
perfect. There’s calm between the storms, but the storms still
come. Sometimes, it’s just a rain shower, but other times, you’ll
be facing a full-on hurricane. You can’t run from those storms,
because they catch up to you no matter what, but you can stand
strong and face them together. Make it
through
them together. I’m sorry to
say this, but if Nev can’t be with you during the storms, then you
don’t belong together in the sunshine, either.”

“This is more than just the pictures, and
the women, and you know it. How much do you really think I could
throw at her without her crumbling? I did this to us, El. I’ve made
the wrong choice over and over again, and now those choices are
overshadowing the one right choice I’ve made.”

“You’ve made more than one right choice, so
stop the pity party right now. Yeah, you’ve also fucked up royally,
but if Nev loves you, she should be able to at least talk to
you.”

“Like Aiden did with you? He ran. More than
once. You wouldn’t be together if you hadn’t chased him.”

“Our situations are different.”

I know they are. She’s told me about what
happened to her when she was captured on a mission, and how Aiden
felt guilty for not being there to save her. Through Sadiq’s
contacts, I also know that my brother-in-law was a badass vigilante
for many years. His guilt over Ellie combined with his guilt over
keeping his activities from her pushed him over the edge. Oh, and
let’s not forget the betrayal from people his family trusted. Yeah,
Nev and I didn’t go through all of that, but what she’s had to come
to terms with over the last few days is no walk in the park.

“The situations are very different, yes, but
we’re still dealing with the same things—lies, and running. The big
difference is that you chased after Aiden, and I won’t chase Nev.
She’s going through enough right now without me adding to her
stress. She wants us to be over, and I have to honor her wishes,
even if it kills me.”

“While I applaud your maturity, are you sure
you don’t want to chase her? You’ve already pointed out that I
chased Aiden when he ran, and we all know he wouldn’t have come
back if I hadn’t fought for both of us. He wanted me, but he needed
to realize that he deserved me, too.”

“Nev knows she deserves me.
Hell, she knows she deserves
better
than me. I wouldn’t be chasing her to prove to her
that she’s worth it—I’d be doing it to try and convince her
that
I
am. Since I
don’t even believe that at the moment, how am I going to convince
her?”

“If I wasn’t driving right now, I’d slap
you. Don’t you ever say that you’re not worthy of someone, of
anyone. You’ve made some mistakes in the past, but Nev is making
one now. She’s not blameless in this, and I won’t let you pretend
that she is. Should she be pissed? Hell yeah. But just blindly
believe some shit about you is not cool.”

“You’re going to leave her alone, El.”

“I make no promises.”

“Please leave her alone. I’m man enough to
say I’m hurt right now, and yeah, I’m also angry that she won’t
even give me the benefit of the doubt about the timeline, but you
going after her won’t make things better for anyone.”

“I have to work with her, Dyl. If she passes
training, I’ll be working with her for the rest of my life. I can’t
do that unless I speak my peace. I won’t punch her—even though I
want to—but we have to have this out.”

I nod, because I know I won’t win this
argument. She’s right, and I know even though she’s angry, she’ll
keep her word and not hurt Nev. Well, at least not physically. All
I can do now is take the high road—defend myself, but not at the
expense of anyone else. I made that damn bed, and now I have to lie
in it.

* * *

Neveah

I’m in Research class with Tegan when Ellie
walks into the room. I know why she’s here, but I’m surprised it’s
taken her so long. She got back into town this morning, but left me
alone for most of the day. Harlow said she seemed on edge when she
met with her earlier, and I’ve been anticipating her coming for me.
Now that she has, I want to hide under the table.

“I’d like to speak with Neveah for a few
minutes,” she tells Tegan.

“I’m not sure that’s such a
good idea, and we
are
in the middle of a lesson.”

“I just want to talk to her.”

“Then you won’t mind if I sit in with you,”
Faith says, entering the room.

“Seriously? You act like I’m going to kill
her or something. I really just want to talk to her.”

“I’m her mentor, and
I
will
be in the
room with you. If I need to call Reina about this, I
can.”

“No one needs to call Reina,” I say,
standing up. “I can talk to Ellie without it becoming an
international incident.”

“I’ll take notes for you,” Matisse tells
me.

“Thanks.”

I grab my stuff and walk into the hall. I
wait for Ellie and Faith to walk out, because I don’t know where
I’m going. Ellie glares as she walks past me and heads for one of
the smaller conference rooms. Faith starts to follow, but I stop
her.

“I can do this on my own, Faith.”

“You don’t need to.”

“I know, but I can. Thank you for looking
out for me.”

“She’s my friend, but so are you. I don’t
believe she’ll hurt you physically, but she’s going to attack you—I
have no doubt about that.”

“I know. I’ll be okay.” I probably won’t,
but I need to do this. Ellie needs to unleash on me, and I have to
take it. Having it build up between us would be worse for
everyone.

I square my shoulders and walk into the
conference room, ready to take my verbal beating. Ellie doesn’t
disappoint, starting in on me the moment I walk in. “Where’s your
babysitter?”

“I’m not a baby, and I
don’t need my
friend
in here with me, either.”

“Let’s get one thing straight. Faith was my
friend first, and she’ll still be my friend, even if you don’t make
it here.”

“I’m going to make it, and I hope you’ll
still be my friend when we do. I know you’re angry about Dylan, but
how is what he did—any of what he did—my fault?”

“His actions aren’t your fault, Nev, but how
you’re reacting right now is. Can you please just talk to him?”

“Can you look me in the eye and tell me that
he didn’t sleep with those women?”

“No, but—,” she says before I cut her
off.

“Then that’s all that matters. I meant what
I said about us being friends, Ellie. I admire you so much, and I
don’t think I’ll ever stop loving Dylan, but it’s all too
much.”

“I want to hate you, Nev, but I can’t. I do
wish you’d let Dylan explain things, because not everything is as
it seems.”

“Maybe in a few weeks—or months—but I can’t
see him now. I just can’t.”

“He’s going to leave you alone. He loves you
so much that he’s going to let you run away from him. I thought you
should know that so you don’t think he just pretended with you, or
that you don’t matter enough for him to fight for you. He wants to,
but he doesn’t want to add to your stress.”

I don’t even know I’m crying until I feel
the tears falling down my cheeks. “Thank you. It doesn’t change my
mind about things, but I appreciate you telling me.”

“I shouldn’t have pulled you out of class.
Reina’s going to have my ass once she gets back.”

“I hope she comes back soon,” I say, wiping
my eyes.

“Me too. We’re handling things okay, but
it’s not the same without her here.”

“I might see her tonight. My mom has been
Skypeing with my father, and we’re all supposed to get together to
talk about what’s going to happen going forward.”

“Has your mom forgiven him?”

“For faking his death to protect us? Yeah.
For trying to take me away? That one I can’t answer. She said she
wouldn’t, but I think she’s leaning that way; although, I’m not
sure I want her to. I know kids are supposed to want their parents
to get back together, but since they never really broke up…it’s
just weird. I’m so angry at him for manipulating everyone—including
Dylan.”

“I’m here, Nev. You are my friend, and no
matter what, the Society sticks together. I can never put you
before my brother, but I’ll be here for you as much as I can.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t ever ask you to
choose me over Dylan.”

“Could you just stop being so likeable,
because I really want to be angry with you.”

“Sorry, but I just am who I am. I can’t
change that.”

“Don’t. No one here expects anyone to change
for us or the Society. Be you, no matter what.”

I hug her, and leave for my next class. My
friends all ask me what happened, but I just tell them Ellie and I
are fine. As much as I’m coming to love my friends, I don’t want to
rehash my conversation, or analyze my feelings. I just want to try
and get on with my life.

Neveah

I don’t know what to expect on the other
side of the door, but I give myself a little shake, and force
myself to turn the knob. Everyone else is already here—my mom,
Sully, Matt, and Reina. “Sorry I’m late,” I tell them, trying to
smile.

“There’s no rush, my beautiful girl. I know
things have been hard for you today,” my mom says.

“They’ve been a little rough.”
Understatement of the year.

“I heard that Ellie pulled you out of class.
We’ll need to talk about that later,” Reina says.

“There’s nothing to talk about. She loves
her brother, and I wouldn’t expect anything different from her. She
just wanted to talk, and I promise we’re fine.”

“If I didn’t have more important things to
think about now, I’d push this. If you’re sure, I’ll let it
go.”

“I’m sure.”

“Nev is just as important as me,” Matt
argues.

He’s wrong, though. What I’m dealing with
sucks, but what he’s dealing with is so much worse. He’s lost some
weight over these few days, and the dark circles under his eyes
tell me he’s not sleeping. Reina needs to take care of him. I can
take care of myself.

“I’m okay, Matt. Really.” He raises an
eyebrow at me, so I amend my statement. “Maybe I’m not, but I will
be.”

“So will I,” he says, smiling at Reina. I
haven’t seen him smile since everything was exposed, but I can tell
that this one is real. He’s moving forward, and I couldn’t be
happier.

“It makes me happier than you know to see
the two of you realizing that we can all go on with our lives, and
not let what we’ve found out stop us from living,” my mom tells
us.

“I’m going back to school,” Sully says. “I
know you all think it’s not safe, but I can’t go on with my life if
I can’t live my life.”

“I’ve already put security in place for you.
I knew you’d want to go back soon,” Reina tells him.

“What about you, Mom?” I ask, acknowledging
the giant elephant we’ve all been ignoring. The one that’s taking
up most of the room.

“I will be staying here for now. Your father
and I have been talking, and while I don’t know if we can ever go
back to where we were…before…I can’t just walk away from him. I’m
still angry about how he manipulated you, Nev, but I hope you can
understand that I need to at least see if there’s a chance for
us.”

“I do. I totally understand,” I tell my mom,
and then it hits me.