The Lost Sister by Megan Kelley Hall Page B

how he continued to hover between anger and sadness. He was like a caged dog—his puppy dog eyes made her feel for him, but she sensed if she got too close he might bite. “I’m not aware of these puritanical issues that take place here in New England. My bad.”
    “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m sure there are a lot of things that you haven’t learned about this place. I’m surprised Maddie and my brother haven’t clued you in on them yet.”
    “Well, I’m a learn-as-you-go kind of girl.” She took another sip of wine from the bottle. She wondered where Reed was. She was sort of hoping that this was going to be a night of bonding between them, and not with his little brother. “So, won’t you get in trouble with Kate if she knew you were out here with me?”
    “Kate can kiss my ass,” he said angrily. “She’s a first-class bitch.”
    “Whoa, don’t hold anything back, there, Trevor. Tell me how you really feel.”
    “No, seriously,” he said, turning to her. “The way she’s been treating you. Shit, she doesn’t even know you and she hates you. I mean, it’s not like she hates you—”
    Cordelia put her hand up and shook her head. “No need to backtrack. She hates me. She’s made that pretty clear. I just don’t know why. I mean, I haven’t done anything to make her hate me. I’ve barely even spoken to her. Maybe she’s pissed at all the time that I’ve been spending with Maddie or something.”
    “Nah,” Trevor said vehemently, flicking his cigarette butt over the edge of the boat. “She doesn’t give a crap about Maddie. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Kate does what Kate wants and she doesn’t care who she hurts along the way.”
    His voice was harsh and tinged with pain. Cordelia wondered if they had broken up recently and if he had come out here to talk about it with his big brother.
    They sat in silence for a little while. Cordelia took another sip of wine and looked back toward the dock, hoping to catch a glimpse of Reed heading out to meet them. She suddenly wished that she was sharing this moonlit night with Finn and wondered what he was doing at that moment. The slight buzz of the wine made her warm and sleepy. She closed her eyes and imagined Finn by her side. “She screwed her sister’s boyfriend,” Trevor said flatly.
    “What?” Cordelia was pulled from her dreamy thoughts about Finn and realized that Trevor was opening up to her. “When? Why?”
    “Last summer or the one before that, I don’t know for sure,” he said angrily. “Sully told me about it. It happened at one of the parties at Fort Glover. I had my wisdom teeth pulled and I couldn’t go. Kate’s sister Carly had the flu or something. So that left Kate and John Clarke the time and opportunity to hook up. She always said that I was going to be her first.” He laughed—a dark, almost sinister laugh—and added, “She still tells me I’m her first.”
    Cordelia wasn’t surprised at all. But she felt obligated to comfort Trevor just the same, even though she could feel the anger burning from within him. Rebecca had tried to teach her how to read people’s auras, and she never thought she would be able to accomplish it. But here in the dark, still night Trevor Campbell’s aura was a dark, monstrous green. Her uneasiness grew, yet she tried to calm him. “How do you even know it’s true? How does Sully know? He could just be trying to stir up some trouble, you know?”
    “Nah, I know it’s true. There were others who saw them…” His voice trailed off, not needing to finish the statement. “Besides, that just lets me off the hook if I ever want to be with someone other than Kate, right?”
    “Absolutely.” Cordelia patted him on the back. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. Maybe she’s not even the one for you. No matter what your parents say. Don’t let them dictate your relationships.”
    “I’m not worried about it,” he snapped at her as he shrugged her hand off