Chapter 161
"Fine," he nodded, "But I'll be right behind you."
I nodded and kissed his soft lips. He had been so serious and determined a few seconds ago, I'd almost forgotten how soft he was with me.
"Thank you and, please, when you do come, resist violence," I told him.
Every ounce of my body wanted to get to Kaden and finish this. I knew Zenon wanted to get physical and that was the last thing I wanted. He was practically dreaming of beating Kaden up now.
I have been living in a marginal to low state of fear for the last few months. Someone has felt the nerve to try to intimidate me, to blackmail me, to humiliate me in front of my family and then to violate my home.
Putting a face to fear is the best way to get rid of it.
I'm not scared of Kaden.
I'm angry.
The guys said goodbye to Christopher Hayes and left Arturo in the middle of Alpine with no obvious way home. Layton didn't show him the way to any bus stop, so Art was left trying to call a Lyft.
I was in my car and driving back to school. Today has me feeling like a yo-yo, running back and forth on the same lines.
My eyes stung from tears. I've been haunted by the threats of a blackmailer. I've been doubting myself, feeling guilty for my happiness. The blackmailer made me feel like I was hurting myself by choosing Zenon.
I was so shaken, I arrived at the school parking lot and parked diagonally across two lines, halfway across the street. I mean, really bad parking.
But it was a Sunday and there were about 10 cars in the entire school parking lot. My hands were shaking as I unbuckled my seat belt and stumbled out of my car.
~Zenon's POV~
We weren't far behind Candace and, in Bryce's car, we caught up fast. I saw her fall out of her car and sprint to school. I've only seen her run that fast for coffee.
And that time we saved Dupree after he fell into the lake.
Bryce was driving and whistled as he stared at the world's worst parking attempt. "She is the worst driver I have ever seen."
"You haven't met yourself yet," I told him, making him stop in the middle of the street.
I walked over to her car, since she had left the door open when she ran out of it.
"Axel, can you call your math tutor? Ask him where the nerds practice on Sundays," I said as I slammed her door shut for her.
We had no idea where to go to find 'mathletes' in this school. If we were looking for athletes, we wouldn't be having these problems.
"Yeah, sure," Axel scrolled through his phone and dialed. Two seconds later, his tutor picked up.
"Joe. Hey man, it's Axel... No, we're still good for a session tomorrow. Where do your buddies do math on Sundays?... And where's that exactly?... You're there now? OK."
He hung up and nodded.
I wanted to get to Candace fast. I could only think about how upset she was right now and how much I wanted to destroy this guy. I needed to control myself. I knew Candace didn't want me to beat him to a pulp.
The three of us walked into school. There was an unusual calm about the place.
"I have never been here on a Sunday," Bryce said, staring at the empty hallway in front of him, "I'm breaking values I never knew I had."
~Candace's POV~
I stormed into the theater room. Mathletes like to practice here to stimulate a competition environment and help us overcome stage fright.
The school theater group had booked it out every weekend until December. This was the first week we got to practice here – and I was ready to teach the mathletes drama.
"Austi- oh, hey Candace!" Joe exclaimed when I walked in, "Glad to see you joined! You haven't been to many practices lately and I was worried you were going to quit again."
"Hi Joe," I greeted him and stood in the aisle, looking up at the stage.
Four mathletes were standing on the stage with Kaden in the center. He was always in the center.
I marched towards the front of the stage. The lights were so bright up there that they were practically shining.
I called up to them, interrupting their buzzer round session, "Hey everyone! Hey. Can we have a quick time out? I need to chat to Kaden about something."
"Candace, not now," the team captain said, "We're practicing. You're late so you can join the next round."
'It's not about practice."
"Then keep your social life out of our club. I told everyone that bringing you back in may lead to distraction after you and Kaden broke up-"
The doors to the theater closed with a really loud bang. They came in with a big entrance.
And I really felt sorry for the mathletes. They should've let me have a quick chat with Kaden before Zenon came. Now... well... RIP.
The mathletes tried to see who just walked in. The lights on stage were shining directly onto them, so they had a hard time making out more than shadows in the back of the auditorium.
One of the three shadows said, "Sht. Which one is he? They're all nerds."
A second shadow started moving. He passed by Joe and said, "Hey suspender boy."
That was Zenon. 100% Zenon. And in all the millions of scenarios that I imagined confronting Kaden, I hadn't imagined Zenon Albert involved.
"Hello! Imposters, who are you? Name yourselves!" the team captain said, standing on stage and yelling at the three walking shadows.
"I feel like we're in some fantasy elf game," Bryce commented in response, "Who is this guy?"