Three Years Too Late Chapter 07
After listening to me lay it all out, Kellen just looked at me with this sickeningly deep sympathy.
His voice was strained. “Jaz, I had no idea you went through all this. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I let out a dry laugh and slapped him right across the face.
“Drop the act,” I snapped.
“You blocked my number. You blocked my socials. How exactly was I supposed to reach you?
“Don’t play the hero now.”
When I hit rock bottom, I really did try to go to Kellen for help.
But every time I called, an automated voice told me the number was out of service.
Every text bounced back.
On the days I couldn’t even afford to eat, I bundled up in a heavy coat, a mask, and sunglasses to hide my face, and waited for him outside the gates at Stanford.
I never found him.
Or maybe he just made sure I wouldn’t.
Red welts were already surfacing on his cheek.
He didn’t even get mad; he just gave me this pathetic, sad look.
“Jaz, if hitting me makes you feel better, then do it. Hit me as much as you want.”
I turned on my heel and headed back inside, refusing to look at him. “Stay the hell away from me. I don’t ever want to touch you again.”
Kellen bought a drink and lingered in the cafe all day.
He spent hours just staring at me or zoning out into space, right up until closing.
When my shift ended, he followed me outside, practically begging to drive me home.
I lost it. I slapped him again.
“You selfish bastard!” I yelled.
“You just want to clear your conscience? You want to make it up to me? Then go die.
“If you’re dead, I’ll absolutely forgive you.”
After all, nobody holds a grudge against the dead.
He didn’t dare follow me after that.
But before he left, he swore up and down that he was going to investigate what really happened back then.
I just laughed in his face and called him an idiot.
What good is an investigation now?
Dad was dead, and those people had already destroyed my life.
But of course, the second one nightmare left, another showed up.
Denise found me in the back while I was scooping litter boxes.
Dressed head-to-toe in designer clothes, she pinched her nose and rolled her eyes.
“Jazlynn, haven’t you suffered enough lately?” she sneered. “I can’t believe you still have the nerve to go after Kel.
“Let’s get one thing straight—you are never going to find any proof of what we did back then.
“If you’re smart, I can write you a check. I’ll give you enough money to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life.
“But if you keep hovering around Kellen, I am going to make things very, very ugly for you.”
I ignored her and kept working, scooping the dirty cat litter into a plastic bag.
When I didn’t give her the reaction she was looking for, Denise actually stomped her foot.
“Are you ignoring me?”
I kept tuning her out until I finished tying off the bag.
When I finally looked up, I didn’t bother hiding my confusion. “I’m amazed you have the nerve to show your face around here.”
Denise crossed her arms with a smug little smirk.
“Of course I came. I wanted to see how the other half lives. Are you enjoying the life I forced you into, Jazlynn?
“If you’d just known your place, you wouldn’t have ended up like this. You shouldn’t have gone after a guy who’s so far out of your league.”
I just looked at her and said, “Oh.”
Then, while she was still blinking at me in confusion, I upended the entire bag of dirty litter right over her head.
A couple of the kittens had upset stomachs lately, so the mess was mostly diarrhea.
Denise shrieked. The wet, clumpy filth clung to her hair, and the smell was so horrific I had to pull on a face mask.
Sputtering and crying tears of pure rage, Denise wailed, “Ah! Jazlynn, you bitch! I’ll make you pay for this! God, it smells awful… ugh… it smells so bad.”
She took off sobbing, screaming over her shoulder that she’d be back to get her revenge in a few days.
I gave her a little wave and yelled back, “Make sure you do. Don’t forget!”