That’s what he asks? Not where have I been? Why I left? No, just…what’s wrong?
A fresh wave of tears falls down my face. I shake my head. “I can’t do it,” I whisper. “I thought I could, but I can’t do it.”
Lex is quiet for a moment. “You can’t do what?”
“Come to school. Be normal. I can’t be here.” I push up from the ground, and Lex straightens. He towers over me. I’m not scared, though. Not of him. I look around. Shit, I don’t even know where I am. “Where am I?” I question aloud.
“You’re at NYU,” Lex says. “Addi, what’s happening right now? What’s wrong?”
“I need to find my dorm building.” I pull out my folded paper map. I didn’t explore the campus as much as I should have when I arrived yesterday. I had a plan: go to class and then go back to my dorm. Rinse, sleep, repeat. That’s all I was going to do, not end up in a park.
“Where’s your building?” Lex hasn’t stopped staring at me, and I’m having trouble meeting his gaze.
“Cora building,” I tell him.
He raises his brows. “Nice. I knew you’d get an amazing scholarship,” he says. “Come on, I’ll show you how to get back there.”
“What do you meanan amazing scholarship?” I ask, following after him.
“Cora building. It’s pricey as fuck. Filled with elite assholes. But it’s nice,” he says.
I chew on my bottom lip. I didn’t apply for the scholarship that I got. But again, I didn’t question it. I know it came from Lex’s family. I wonder ifheknows. “Are you mocking me?”
“What?”
“We both know your parents are the reason I’m here. I didn’t ask them to help me, Lex. I swear I didn’t,” I stutter out.
Chapter Nine
“What the fuck do my parents have to do with you, Addison?” I ask, my voice a bit harsher than I meant it to be.
I’m used to being angry all the fucking time now. But the way Addison flinches and takes a step away from me makes me feel like shit. Even if she did break my fucking heart, she’s the last person I would ever purposefully harm.
I glare at her. “Don’t act like you’re scared of me, Addi. You know I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I have to go.” She starts walking faster. Away from me.
I follow, catching up to her. “What did my parents do?”
“They helped me. After I left. Well, at least I’m pretty sure it was them. It’s the only thing that makes sense,” she says.
“How did they help you?” I don’t ask the question burning on my mind:why the fuck she left in the first place.
“They really didn’t say anything to you?”
“No.” But I’ll discuss that with them after I walk Addison back to her dorm building.
“Your dad came to see me. At my mom’s. Two days after I left school. And then, that same day, I got an email from the school telling me I could finish the year out online. Then your mom called me. And she continued to call me regularly just to check in,” I explain. “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask them for anything, Lex. I swear.”
“What do they have to do with you being here?” I know Addison wouldn’t ask anyone for help. She never asked me for a single thing the entire year we were friends.
“I didn’t apply to any colleges,” she whispers. “And then I got an acceptance letter for NYU offering me a full scholarship.”
“Why didn’t you apply for college?” Addison’s dream was to be college educated.To break the poverty cycle, as she called it.
“I didn’t think I could do it. Turns out, I was right. I can’t be here.” She walks even faster. I want to question her more, but I don’t.
“This is you,” I tell her, pointing at the building on the left.