CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Arc

Three days passed without the familiar sight of blonde hair and big brown eyes. The absence of Chelsea's bratty voice was unsettling. He couldn't quite put his finger on what he was feeling. Despite setting boundaries to keep him at arm's length, a lingering sense of melancholy had settled in. An empty feeling gnawed at his gut, leaving him perplexed.

Maybe Chelsea had finally written him off as a lost cause, a deformity he no longer wanted to bother with. Perhaps he'd boarded a plane to LA, returning to his life of luxury and leaving Arc behind. Maybe Chelsea had gotten what he wanted and was done with Arc. The thought stung, and Arc couldn't understand why he cared so much. If Chelsea was truly gone, Arc would simply need to find another way to secure Penelope's school funds. But the practicality of it all did little to ease the hollow feeling in his chest.

It was absurd. He barely knew Chelsea, and his tolerance for the other boy's childish antics was wearing thin. S