"Your bump looks awful, Aiden," Karlie commented.
I froze, my blood running cold. "My bump?"
"Yeah." Karlie looked at the bruised swell above my right eye, right where my brow bone was, where I got punched just last night. Right. That bump. "I really thought you would be concussed after I saw Nathan's punch, you're so much stronger than I would be in your position," she continued.
"It's seriously nothing, I'm fine," I told her unthinkingly. At this point, it felt like I had repeated those words a hundred times. Even so, I couldn't help the relief that flooded me. "I grew up with Ash and his friends, they're much more brutal than you would imagine."
"I'm still really sorry about what happened, though."
"What was Michel's fight with Nathan about anyway?" I asked, steering the subject away from myself.
