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don’t remember him at all. I doubt we ever crossed paths.” She gave me a knowing smile. “Because you’d remember the hell out of that fine, psychopathic specimen, right?” I nearly choked on my chip. “So, I’m not the only one who thinks he’s got future serial killer written all over him?” “Maybe. But I’d probably get in his murder van.” I laughed. “I worry for you, Bex.”
“I’m disappointed. It’s so cliche. Boy from the wrong side of the tracks resents girl for being born with a silver spoon. I’ve heard this story before. I thought you were more interesting than that.”
“I’ll take you home. Doesn’t mean anything,” he rumbled. “It means you don’t want me to be murdered. At least not by anyone else.”
“Stay away from that boy. He’s angrier than the devil. Sophomore year, he and Nate Bergen got into a fight in the hallway. Bash walked away with a bloody lip and a black eye. Nate’s ribs were cracked, wrist broken, and his eyes were swollen shut. He had to sit out most of the football season, and Sebastian got sent to a school for troubled youth. He’s psycho.”
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Bex chanted under her breath. “The devil is defending you from the villain prince.”
Sebastian gave me a long look, like he’d burrow under my skin if he could.
Grace, Don’t run. I’ll find you anyway, and I’ll enjoy the chase. Sit with me at lunch. SV
This was my life. If I didn’t grab these happy moments by the horns, I’d drown in sadness.
“If anyone fucks with you, I need to know. Promise me you’ll tell me.” His tone brooked no argument, but that wasn’t anything new for Sebastian. He spoke in absolutes, as if his word was law.
Little did she know Sebastian was an overstepping lunatic and I seemed to lose all sense of self-preservation around him.
His eyelids were heavy with frustration, and it turned out Sebastian was even more beautiful frustrated than angry. It wasn’t right. A boy this bad should have had physical warning signs like boils or maybe a cavernous hole where his soul should have been.
Behind his violence and darkness, he was an artist. Artists stopped to look at the world when other people didn’t.
He went tense under me, his knuckles whitening from gripping the arms so hard. “I’m not that diabolical. In fact, I’d say I’m fairly simple. I think I’ve been quite clear I want you. Put two pretty girls in front of me, I’m gonna look. Doesn’t mean shit—not when the second you show up, you’re the only fucking thing I see.”
“Well, I might’ve caught a glimpse of what he’s packing when he stood up, and…uh...congrats and good luck. I couldn’t handle that, but you’re tall. You can do it.” Bex pumped her fist as encouragement while I burst out laughing.
“Oooh, a lover’s quarrel already?” Gabe pressed his hands to his cheeks. “What will I do if Mother and Father break up? I’m too sensitive to come from a broken home. Don’t do this to me!”
shook my head, still in disbelief the boy beside me had created this. But then, he was just as dark and beautiful as his art, so maybe it wasn’t so hard to believe after all.
I reached behind me, gripping Bash’s shirt. All of a sudden, I only wanted him. Big and scary and mean as hell, he seemed like the safest bet to ward off the heaviness of life.
Me: Sebastian. Me: Bash. Me: Wake up. Me: If you’re sleeping, open your eyes right this instant. Me: BASH$#@! Bash: Hey Me: Did I wake you? Bash: Almost. Notice I’m not giving you a hard time about it. Why are you awake?
Me: Good night. xoxo Bash: Hugs and kisses? Damn, you’re so into me. Me: No, those were dead eyes and gaping mouths. Turn your head sideways, you’ll see it.
Me: Bahahaha…sooo…what do you think about Elijah? Would he make a good boyfriend? Bash: For you? No, because he’d be a rotting corpse in the ground if he tried. Anyone else, sure, nice guy.
looked into his eyes that I once thought were black holes of emptiness. But that was just what he projected to the world. He didn’t want anyone to look deeper. I knew better now. They were unexplored caverns, leading somewhere fathomless and vast. The prospect of being the first to want to know Sebastian beneath the surface, to walk in the dark with him, was terrifying, but I’d already seen glimmers of what lay beyond the blackness, and it only drove my curiosity to see more, my safety and sanity be damned.
I was attached to this damaged boy. I had no illusions I’d be able to piece him back together, but I didn’t know that I wanted to either.
He’d started a fire inside me that craved danger with my pleasure. No one was more dangerous to me than Sebastian Vega, and I had never wanted anyone more.
I would own every second of your life if I could.
“There was an escape clause before. It’s been incinerated now. I hope you like me, because I’m going to be your shadow until you go to your grave, and then I’ll follow you into the dark, baby.”
“Am I Jack?” I whispered. “Floating around, missing the obvious?” He huffed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess so. You missed how much I fucking love you. That no one exists for me but you.”
And I need you to make crazy promises about our future no one will believe will come true, but we’ll know they will.”
“Grace, baby, what don’t you understand when I say I am incapable of not loving you? I’m obsessed, but I also wear your tag on every wall of my heart. I’m yours for life.”
We went on, whispering crazy, outlandish promises that sounded a lot like forever. Anyone looking in on us would say we were out of our minds to think our high school relationship would stand the test of time, but I didn’t really give a damn what anyone thought. Sebastian and I would never be normal, and to me, that was a good thing. He was my obsessive, stalker, lunatic boyfriend, and I loved that about him. He was twisted, but like he once told me, maybe I was a little twisted too.
As long as I had my girl, I didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought. ’Cause this was life. Our life. In the midst of all the chaos and messiness, Grace and I were twin sparks. When we came together, we’d started a fire no one would ever be able to put out. I’d burn a motherfucker down if they tried.
