"When he hears her sing so sweetly,
he knows he just can't lose.
When he holds her in his arms he knows that
he's the king of the blues."
King of the blues by Gary Moore

“God! It was like the most beautiful date I've ever been to!” Alexa blazes dreamily, looking around, as if to scan the cluttered crowd, but from the look on her face, I can tell that she's reminiscing about her beautiful date with my noxious ex-boyfriend, the one who didn't just shatter my heart, but also betrayed me.

“It was in a restaurant, Alexa.” Melody rolls her eyes, before she takes a sip of her martini. She must've–like me–gotten bored of hearing the same thing all over again, but then again, Ethan is quite the charismatic guy, and with her, he's using a new toxin; one that is univocally working.

I hope I'm mistaken.

Alexa sighs, shooting Melody a nasty look. “I know! But it was a fancy one!” Her eyes move from me to Melody, as if begging for our endorsement, before she sighs once more. “Fine! Restaurants are boring, but he was perfect; the way he acted, the way he spoke,” Her full-fledged smile comes back, and Melody exchanges an oh-no look with me. “The way he kissed me at the end of the night.”

“Video, or it didn't happen.” Melody sticks her tongue out at Alexa, which is immediately answered by a middle finger.

“Uh- Candice?” Alexa turns to me, an apologetic look on her face. “I'm sorry, I'm being dorky. I know you guys used to date and-”

“Don't be like that. It's totally fine, just be cautious with him.” I say, holding my hands up.

“You wouldn't tell us what he has done to you though.” Melody tilts her head to the side, her eyes shining with curiosity.

I'm thankful for the chatoyant lights for being able to hide my flush. I hate it when they keep prying, and I owe it to Alexa, but it's still a part of my yesteryears, and even though they know a lot–thanks to Bitch Claire–I’m still not willing to disclose more. I shake my head. “I don't want to talk about that. Let's move on.”

“Sure.” Melody shrugs. “Why are you avoiding Dylan?”

Thanks, Melody. Now she's going to tell her brother that I've been avoiding him, and not just engrossed in studying as I told him.

“What are you talking about?” I let out a nervous laugh, my eyes flickering over to Alexa.

She doesn't catch my look, taking another sip of her drink. “You told me you have to avoid him for a while!”

“Uh-

“It's fine. I won't tell him.” Alexa huffs, rolling her hazel eyes, which make me harken back to their duplicates, which I miss so much.

I can't help but laugh. “Well, you bitches will have to get me drunk to reveal that.” I wink saucily at them.

They both laugh. “Game on!” Alexa high-fives Melody, winking at her. “But first, I have to go to the restroom, and then I'll get a line of shots for you.” She jumps off her stool, sashaying glamorously to the restrooms in her rose gold, super tight, latex skirt, drawing some licentious looks from the perverts thronging the place.

“Are you sure you're not upset about her dating your ex?” Melody asks, fluffing her curly hair.

“I am.” I nod, sitting back. “Just like I'm not about you fucking Dylan once, and not telling​ me about it.” I shrug, watching the scarified look that takes over her face upon my words. “Both are in the past.”

“You know?” She asks, her voice barely audible over the loud music.

I shrug again. “Of course, I do.”

“Candice, I'm sorry-”

“I know. It's fine, really. It happened before I met you both, and I can't blame you. He's charming like that, and I'm–after all–one of his victims.” I laugh once, trying not to remember my intimate memories with him.

“I didn't want you to hate me.” She sighs. “You were horrified enough when I told you that I cheated on my boyfriend.”

I nod. “I guess we no longer have any secrets between us, do we?”

“Not really. That was my one and only.”

“Well,” I lean over, bracing my elbows onto the table. “I want a favor from you.”

She frowns. “From me? Sure, anything you want.”

“I want you to help me do something.” I start to explain, not really knowing where I should begin. “If I want something to be all over campus, with every single person, what should I be doing?”

Her frown deepens, creasing the space between her eyebrows. “Something like what?”

I hum, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “Something like a scandal, maybe?”

Her mouth falls open, before the side of her mouth tilts up in amusement. “That's interesting. Details, please!”

I shake my head. “Not now. This has to be between us only. That's why I want you to tell me where I should start.”

She nods repeatedly. “Well, I know the right person who'd help you with that, though I can't really be the one who asks him.”

It's my turn to frown now. “Who's that?”

“My ex-boyfriend.”

“The one you cheated on?”

She grimaces. “Yes, Candice. You don't have to remind me every single minute.” She rolls her eyes.

“Sorry.” I say distractedly, remember Trent's words at the lake, when he told me about how Melody's ex-boyfriend made sure the whole campus knows about her horrible deed. “I should talk to him soon. What what his name again?”

“Ryan.”

“Ryan who?” Alexa asks out of nowhere, invoking a surprised jolt from each of us. She braces her hands on the table, climbing onto her stool.

“The shots, Alexa.” I try to distract her.

“You two are hiding things from me.” She beckons to the both of us with her index finger, before she hops off her stool once more. “Guess I have to make you both drunk then.” She mutters.

“Cash us ousside.” Melody winks at Alexa.

They both giggle, and I join them, not at all foreknowing that it's going to be the last time I have fun, before hell is let loose.

_____________

“Are you sure you don't need a ride?” Steven inquires, traipsing over to his car with me by his side.

“Yep. You look worn-out already, and our roads are different.” I smile at him, situating my enervated body behind him on the sidewalk, ready to hail a cab.

He starts to say something, before he stops, his eyes zeroing in on something behind me. “Looks like your ride came anyway.” He shrugs, his face crimsoning, a signal of agitation.

I look behind me, already expecting the lambent, black Porsche that comes to a gradual halt in front of me, reflecting a vestige of me under the streetlights. The car window rolls down, revealing Dylan, whose back is reposefully resting against the back of his seat. His eyes fall on Steven first, narrowing slightly, before he nods at him, his attention moving to me straightaway, and I notice how they darken with a nebulous dimness that I fail to recognize. He merely motions with his head for me to get inside, before he looks ahead, his face turning enigmatic once more.

It's been almost a week since the baleful junction​ I had in class, and I can't deny the fact that I've been avoiding him, not because of that incident of course. It's what Trent disclosed that keeps infesting my head and emotions. I freaked out that day in the bathroom, when I found that white substance, but my worries were mitigated when he told my grandmother that he's been clean for months.

Now I'm caught in the middle, not dauntless enough to ask him, scared of more disappointment. I know his soul is tinctured, just like mine, but I can't​ risk being mottled with more blues. And I still can't bring myself to detach him, I can't help how fallen I feel already.

“See you tomorrow.” Steven mutters, his eyes looking at anything and everything but me, before he gets into his car, not wasting any time.

I saunter around, tugging the passenger door open, before I get in, my piteous heart unable to regulate its nonsensical beating. “Hi.” I simply say, tilting my head to the side.

What elaborates the whirl inside my head, is that he doesn't return my greeting. In fact, he doesn't even look at me, starting the car in silence. I stare at him, trying to catch on to what's wrong, but his face disports nothing, looking hazy and unreadable. It's not a surprise; he knows how to control his emotions and expressions, but he's never silent when it comes to me. Even our silence sings volumes of chords.

But now it's silence and somberness, devoid of any warmth or perception. He pulls into the driveway, his eyes pinpointed at the road. “You okay?” I ask, my voice revealing my concern.

He doesn't respond, and it feels like I didn't speak at all. “What's wrong? You're worrying me!” I exclaim, my eyebrows knitting. He abruptly takes a sudden turn, causing me to squeal, and brace one hand against the window, while I fumble with my seatbelt with the other. The car speeds and speeds, begetting my eyes to widen in alarm. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Dylan?” I fuliminate, my eyes wide.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He suddenly spouts, his sharp, discordant voice jolting me. The car stops with his austere question, and I discern my neighborhood when I look around. He turns in his seat so he's facing me, his vizard of obscurity slipping, replaced by cryptic anger. “Have I, by any chance, given you a consent to tell Trent or anyone else about shit in my life?” He blusters, his hazels combusting with wrath, at no one, but yours truly.

I open and close my mouth several times, speechless at his outrage, as well as my stupidity. “What are you talking about?” I ask, my voice brittle.

“Oh yeah,” He emanates a low laugh, which doesn't comfort me the least bit. If anything, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand in nervousness. “Play dumb with me.” He nods repeatedly, signaling to me to continue with his hand. “Do you think I'm that much of an idiot, Candice? There's only one person that was able to meet Cheryl and her friends. How would Trent know such a thing?”

I swallow. “I didn't mean to tell him anything. He was saying something about me being afraid of telling you- uh, he said something that Cheryl told me before, and I accidentally mentioned her name! I swear I didn't mean-”

“Afraid of telling me what?” He snaps.

I sit in front of him, speechless as he berates me like a little kid who stole a piece of cake without permission. “It's nothing important.”

“Of course. Another secret. I shouldn't expect less.” He shakes his head, looking ahead. “Get out, Candice.”

“What?” I whisper in shock.

“Does it really need clarification? Get out!” He beckons to the the door of the car. “Of the car, of my fucking life! Get out of them all!”

My mouth drops open, and I stare at him with disbelief. “Don't you realize that you're overreacting?”

“Overreacting, huh?” He queries, his eyebrows shooting up. “You know what? I was wrong earlier. I'm that much of an idiot, trusting you with every fucking thing in my life, while you were willing to give me nothing but a hole, and adding to that, you betrayed my trust and disclosed shit about me. I don't even know what else you've spilled behind my back!”

“That's it! Watch your fucking mouth with me! I said nothing about what you've shown me! Your fucking secrets are well kept!” I yell. “All I said is that a friend of mine said the same shit he did! I didn't expect him to know her. Actually, I didn't expect you to be a liar, acting like you're clean while you're not!”

“Clean or not, that's none of your fucking business!” He yells back. “Claire was right after all! You did nothing but destroy our fucking bond.”

“What a fucking hypocrite you are!”

“Just get the fuck out, Candice. I can't look at your fucking face right now.” He raves, hitting the steering wheel.

Swarmed by anger and hurt, I open the door. “Fine, Dylan. I'm getting out. Don't come to see me before you're done pmsing.”

“No, Candice. That won't happen.” His words stop me. “And don't consider going back to the tattoo parlor. I'm sure you can find another job, or maybe you should just get over your fucking self and put your billions to use.”

The words he's saying sound inconceivable, and I can't hear the crushing of my ego over the clangorous pain of my heart. I don't know what hurts more; his words, or the fact that I may not be able to interact with him anymore, to touch him, to aggravate him,

To love him.

He decimates the remnants of my heart and ego by the last statement he declaims.

“If one word slips about my mother, I won't hesitate to fucking ruin you, Candice. I'd crush my fucking heart, and never her.”

____________________

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

The prologue of Logan's book will be published soon on Radish! Stay tuned!

Also, don't forget to check out 'Empire of Dirt' on Radish Fiction! Your support will always be appreciated!

All the love xx.