Chapter 40

KATHERINE.

“Do you like Hunter?”

The question caught me off-guard and my eyes rounded as I blurted out, “I– No!”

“He’s rather clueless so if you do–”

“I don’t,” I replied in a rush again. “I mean, I do. I just don’t like him the way you mean.”

“What do you mean the way I mean? I didn’t clarify the way I meant. What do you mean?”

“Stop it,” I said, pulling her ear lightly, and she smirked at me.

“Jojo,” a woman who was heading towards us with a younger man in tow called out and Josie’s face lit up when she saw her.

“Mom!” She rushed over to the woman and they wrapped their arms around each other lovingly, rocking each other side to side before pulling away.

“Oh, baby,” the woman cooed as she gently touched Josie’s floral headpiece. “You look like a princess.”

“Right?” Josie’s smile widened as she did a little spin and the man next to the woman rolled his eyes before Josie acknowledged him. “Ah, you,” she muttered and he replied with a blank stare while I noticed that he kinda looked like Josie.

They were both brunettes and had hazel eyes, leading me to believe he was her older brother, and just as his gaze slid to me, Josie walked back to me and pulled me a bit closer to her mum who now had a questioning look on her face.

“Mom, this is my friend, Katherine.”

“Ah.” The woman drew her brows together and tipped her head to the side, probably trying to figure out who I was. “Nice to meet you.”

“It– It’s nice to meet you too,” I replied and she nodded, giving me a once over again before returning her attention to her daughter with a smile.

“Picking up strays again?” the man asked Josie, the corner of his mouth turning up, and I stiffened because it was clearly directed at me.

‘What the hell?’ I was standing right here and he hadn’t said a word to me, but he felt it was appropriate to call me a stray? Again, what the hell?’

Josie had only mentioned him to me once and it was after I talked to Kit over the phone in her presence. All she said about him was that he was an ass and now I understood why she said that.

“Huh?” Josie sounded confused while her mum set her mouth in a hard line and shot the man a look.

“Go back to the table, Vaughn.”

He shrugged and did as he was told before the woman returned her attention to Josie and began to talk to her, asking her how school had been and whatnot. She obviously loved her daughter a lot and I would have found their conversation sweet if the woman wasn’t pointedly ignoring my presence. Seriously, she was behaving like I wasn’t there and was probably hoping I’d leave.

Josie tried to bring me into the conversation three times, but the woman gently steered it in another direction so I wouldn’t be able to speak and Josie wouldn’t notice. It made me feel weird and I couldn’t even tell if she was doing it because of the hierarchy thing or because her pack was Silver Bow’s ally.

“Okay now, I already spoke to Castellan and Emmens, and they’ve been waiting for you to show up. Come talk to them.” She pulled Josie’s hand and Josie immediately grabbed mine too.

“Ah, Kath, let’s go.”

“No,” her mom cut in firmly, a stern look on her face as her gaze bounced from Josie to me, then back to Josie.

“Why not? She can just–”

“It’s fine, Josie,” I said and she glanced at me, a small frown on her face. “I’ll just stuff my face and wait for you to get back.”

“But–”

“I don’t think I’m ready to meet them,” I added while it seemed Josie’s mom was growing impatient. “I’m a bit scared.”

“They’re nice.”

“Josie,” her mom called and she glanced at her before returning her attention to me.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her brows drawn together, and I nodded before she let go of my hand. “Okay. I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

She walked off with her mum and the moment they were out of sight, how big the ballroom was dawned on me. I only knew a handful of people here and now that I was alone in it, it didn’t take long for loneliness to set in. Regret came next because really ‘what was I doing here? I shouldn’t be here’. Even with the fancy dress and jewelry I was wearing, I still felt out of place.

I grabbed a mini cookie from a snack table and non-alcoholic wine from a server’s tray before I began to search faces in the ballroom to find my friends. I couldn’t find Priyanka but I found Lenore. She was standing next to Blake but I couldn’t go meet them though because their family was around them. Hunter was also with his family.

I heaved a sigh and sipped my wine before deciding to watch other people in the hall too. That revealed to me that I wasn’t the only one standing alone and just looking around, and that most of the students were here with their parents. The latter caused my heart to tighten in my chest as my parents came to mind while I watched students interact with theirs.

I needed some air.

I spotted glass double doors which led to a secluded balcony and I emptied my glass before setting it on a server’s tray. Before I could head for the doors though, a familiar face that I’d hoped I wouldn’t see tonight appeared in front of mine.

‘For the love of God.’

Poppy was wearing a sheer dress with layers of tulle that stopped just above her knee and though I hated her, I had to admit she looked beautiful in it.

“Your ‘friends’ sure are charitable,” Poppy said, a frown on her face as she eyed my dress while a champagne glass was in her hand. She’d said the word ‘friends’ like it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“What do you want, Poppy?”

She paused, then lifted her gaze to mine and blinked at me. “Oh, you do speak,” she said before taking a sip of her wine. “Geez, I was beginning to think you were mute or something… So what do I want?” She hmmed as she glanced heavenward for a moment before clearing her throat theatrically. “I want you to get the fuck out of Blackwood.”

I drew my brows together.

“That’s right. I want you to leave Blackwood,” she continued while taking a step closer to me and I stood my ground. “It’s rather obvious what you’re here for… Gluing to Lenore, Patel and Baxter like that.”

‘Oh, she thinks I’m here for alliances.’

“It’s quite pathetic and everyone knows it. Now you show up here in a dress you can’t afford…” She eyed the dress once more before scoffing. “You’re a charity case to them. That much is clear, but you’re not going to get what you want from them so it’d actually be in your best interest to leave. You don’t belong here.”

I blinked at her when she was done and just as I opened my mouth to reply, she threw her drink at me.