27. Maddy
27
MADDY
R ap music blared when I got to Traine’s mansion. I hadn’t called ahead, but I knew he had people over. He’d texted earlier today to see if I wanted to come. I hadn’t responded. I’d been focused on whether I should talk to my dad about what Aurelia had said the night before. Then we’d had our chat, and there was the weirdness leaving his office, and then when I got to the house, Uncle Mark’s chaos had spilled over. I thought Mom would call me when we were having dinner, but no one said anything. When I came up from the basement two hours later, everyone was gone.
I’d texted Mom and Dad, but neither responded.
Nash had finally let me know that Grandma and Grandpa took everyone to get ice cream, and then they were going to the movies.
My phone buzzed.
Mom: Honey! I’m so sorry. I thought you were with David and Malinda. Did you eat? I’m at Manny’s, but I can leave early. Do you want me to bring food back for you?
Me: Where’s dad?
Mom: He’s doing some business stuff with Logan. He won’t be home for a while. What do you want to do for dinner? I can come get you. You can hang out with us.
I rolled my eyes, because pass . Not that hanging out with my mom and her friends wasn’t fun. They actually were great, and I worshipped Aunt Heather, but… Mom wouldn’t let me slip booze, and they’d start ‘coding’ everything they said, and that’s annoying. Like I couldn’t handle whatever they’re talking about. I’ll be eighteen soon. I’m in high school. The shit we see? My mom would have a heart attack just knowing half the stuff I hear and see on social media during any given day. Oh well. I’d protect my parents from their heart attacks. I wouldn’t want them to worry, but that meant a night in the house by myself.
Hard pass on that too. The place was huge, and it was never a good idea for me to be by myself when I had all these feelings I was trying not to feel. I tried numbing myself to the grief, but I couldn’t. Every time I tried, it went bad. I kept getting myself into more trouble, so it seemed staying busy and distracted was the best option for me.
I considered texting Max to see if he wanted to hang out, but he was still on that ‘space’ kick. I figured I’d wait another day before tracking him down and tackling him. It was Max. He couldn’t stay mad at me forever.
Until then, I decided my best bet was to reconsider Traine’s offer. So here I was.
I let myself in. The music got louder. It was coming from the back.
I’d never asked what Beltraine’s deal was with his parents, if they were around and active or if he was a kid who basically operated on his own. My mom and dad gave me freedom, but there were rules. Structure , as they called it.
I paused, remembering that I was grounded. Here I was, violating that again. I shrugged. I was already here. Might as well indulge. Have as much fun as possible. They hadn’t known where I was last night. Of course Dad knew now because I told him, but the day had been weird. So much odd shit happened. My dad would remember, but for some reason, it wasn’t the first thing on his mind.
I frowned, wondering if I should be hurt by that.
Nah. Dad loved me. He was just distracted. His attention would come back to me. He and Mom would have a whole talk about me, and they’d descend on my ass until I was pleading for freedom.
I needed to enjoy this while it lasted.
I moved into the kitchen as a guy entered from the side hallway. Tall. Lean. Jet black hair. Dark brown eyes. He was shirtless and wearing swim trunks. Barefoot. He paused when he saw me. “Who are you?”
I snorted and turned to peruse the counter of drinks instead. It didn’t hurt my feelings that he didn’t know who I was, but I mean, come on. That was his loss, really. Once he found out who I was, he’d never forget. That was just a fact. Right now I’d enjoy this little bit of mystery.
He moved to the side, watching as I poured myself a strong drink. “You seem oddly at home in my bro’s house. Traine know you’re here?”
“Traine’s not your brother.”
“I don’t mean it in a literal sense.”
I made a noncommittal sound, reaching for another bottle. I had no idea what I was mixing. I operated under the rule that if it smelled good to me, I’d see how it tasted. Some whiskey went in there, but all the other liquids were sweet. I wasn’t worried. To top it all off, a good amount of rum joined.
“What’s up, man? You coming out or…” Traine trailed off, stepping inside and seeing me. “Hey! You came.”
I glanced over, grunting a greeting, and closed my eyes as I tried out my drink. It was…not bad. My nose wrinkled. It was a little too sweet. What could I do to balance that out? I grabbed some stuff from a green bottle and poured it in, taking another sip.
Both guys watched me.
The new guy was scowling.
Beltraine was grinning. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Experimenting tonight?”
It needed more of the green-bottle stuff. Once I got it just right, I took a good drag. Damn . That tasted good. I smiled broadly at the guys. “My feelings are hurt, Moreaux.”
His eyebrows shot up. “About what?”
I indicated the guy next to him. “Your cousin had no idea who I was. Where’s the love?”
Steele Manning was the last member of the male trio at the top of the social hierarchy at Fallen Crest Academy. I was under no illusions. They’d been nice to me so far, but of course they would be. Who’d fuck with me? I had no problem handling bullies. I enjoyed it. A stand-off made me feel alive. So, I guess, in a way, if people catered to me, that was disappointing.
That’s why I enjoyed Max so much.
Ugh. Just thinking about him, I remembered his text. He’d been shoxting me. Shouting at me through text. I hated it because I’d rather he shouted at me in person. That’d be more fun.
The guys were watching me.
Beltraine snorted. “You’re a trip, Kade.”
Steele’s head jerked toward him. “Kade?”
Beltraine stepped up to grab my drink. “Maddy Kade. Or, wait. What’s your first name? Everyone calls you Maddy, but it’s something else, isn’t it?”
He was about to take a sip of my drink when I said, “It’s drugged.”
He froze, his eyes latching to mine.
I stepped forward and plucked it from his hands. “Just kidding.” I laughed, taking another long drag and moving toward the patio. “And don’t worry yourself about my name. You boys can just call me Kade. Right, Moreaux?” I taunted as I stepped outside.
Gathered around a table by the pool was the rest of Moreaux’s friend group—Axel, Aurelia Avoy, and her two best friends, Nea Kyoto and Amber Spiel.
I took a deep breath for patience.
Nea and Amber were okay. Aurelia, though, was a different thing.
Axel grinned when he saw me, laughing to himself as he launched himself into the pool, pulling off an impressive backflip.
I glared at Aurelia. “You.”
Nea and Amber’s mouths dropped open silently.
Aurelia’s face twisted. “ You . What are you doing here?”
I took a seat at their table. “Traine mentioned it.”
“He didn’t tell us you were coming.” She sat stiffly, her eyebrows permanently stuck halfway up her forehead. It was a weird expression.
I had another sip. This drink was good . “Why? Wouldn’t have come if you knew I was here? Scared?”
Her face got red and she gripped the table. “As if. You don’t scare me, Maddy Kade. Your grandpa’s—” She choked on her words because my hand was at her throat.
There was a beat of quiet. No one expected me to grab her throat. It would take a minute before their brains could make sense of what they were seeing. I was going to make the most of their shock.
“You’re going to stop lying,” I told her, squeezing.
She began choking, trying to stand up.
I was strong. Like, really strong, and I kept her in place. I know, I know. Girls aren’t supposed to be that strong, but what could I say? When she tried to stand up, it was easy to keep her in place.
Then she forgot about trying to stand up and began tugging at my hand. Her nails scraped my skin, but I took a beat to have another sip of my drink.
Really good stuff.
Also, I wasn’t hurting her that much. She wouldn’t have bruises or anything.
Nea and Amber finally comprehended that I was choking their friend and they shoved to their feet, yelling at me, but they didn’t come over to me. They were too scared, and honestly, if I wasn’t myself, I’d be scared of me too. Or at least nervous.
This wasn’t a normal girl move. But again, story of my life.
Aurelia gasped for air.
A part of me, deep in the back of my mind, couldn’t help but note that maybe this was wrong of me to do. Of course this wasn’t right, but I wasn’t really thinking about it in those terms. I was more evaluating myself. Why did this feel so natural? Like it was in my DNA.
It wasn’t normal.
Was I a psychopath? A sociopath? I didn’t feel anything about doing this to Aurelia. She was annoying, and she was a liar, and she was a problem. I was just shutting her up. Literally. She’d think twice before shooting her mouth off about my family in the future.
That’s why I was doing this.
Huh.
She kept trying to dig her nails into my hands, trying to get me to let her go. Nea and Amber were crying now. I heard a splash of water and then, “What the fuck?”
There was a pounding of feet from behind me.
My fun was about to end so I gave her a last squeeze. Her eyes bulged out, but I was ripped away. A pair of arms encircled me, lifted me up and carried me away from the table. Beltraine was at Aurelia’s side, patting her back as she slumped forward, gasping for breath. He soothed her, but his gaze was locked on me.
Everyone was watching me, different expressions on all of their faces. The girls looked terrified of me. The guys… I couldn’t make out their thoughts. Traine gave me a look as if I just turned green in front of him.
I frowned to myself, feeling like I should feel something about that. Satisfaction? Regret? I felt nothing.
Whoever pulled me off Aurelia continued to carry me a good distance away before setting me down. It was Axel, I realized when he moved to stand in front of me, a hand on my arm like he needed to hold me back. Steele moved to stand between me and the girls, blocking my view. He scowled at me.
What was his problem? “What? Is she your girlfriend? You don’t want me to harm a hair on her head?” I rolled my eyes, lifting my drink back to my mouth. Satisfaction pulsed through me because hell yeah . I’d kept hold of my cup. That seemed like something to be impressed about.
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Steele moved toward me a step. “I don’t give a fuck if you stab the bitch. Choke her out all you want.”
A ripple moved through me, and I frowned, not totally recognizing what that ripple was. “Then what’s your problem?”
He didn’t reply.
Axel cleared his throat, letting go of me.
That’s when Aurelia decided to finally say something. “You bitch!” She shrieked. She flew at me, but the guys caught her.
Excitement raced through me. “Let her go.”
The guys’s mouths dropped.
I laughed, tipping my head to finish the rest of my drink. I flashed Traine a grin. “You’re right. This is fun.” I didn’t catch his reaction, but I eyed Aurelia’s neck. There was no mark from me. My mouth turned down.
I wish there was, just a little.
That was… Interesting.
I considered Max, the thought of leaving a mark on him and him wearing that around—holy fuck. I was drenched between my legs. Throbbing.
Yeah. I liked that idea a lot.
Maybe I was going to be into BDSM?
I had so much new stuff to Google about myself.
Aurelia was still shrieking, getting louder. She was sobbing, half clinging to Axel. “I should call the police! That was assault. You fucking whor—”
I took a step closer. “I wouldn’t.”
She stopped talking. Nea and Amber jumped at my movement. They hid behind Beltraine. His head was cocked to the side, his gaze dark. A corner of Traine’s mouth curved up. Axel and Steele shared a look. Axel’s lips twitched.
“What? Rethinking your invitation now that you’ve realized I’m a different kind of animal?” I said to him. “Found yourself in the wrong circus?”
The other end of his mouth lifted in a slow grin. “Nah. Thinking I like this circus a lot more than I thought.”
I couldn’t help myself. His grin was contagious.
Axel laughed, shaking his head.
“That’s it!” Aurelia seethed. “I’m going to call my father.”
“To do what?”
Her mouth opened and closed, but she said nothing.
I rolled my eyes. “What? You lied about my grandfather. The business is just fine.”
She got red all over again and huffed. “My dad—”
“Your dad’s saying a lot of shit that’s false. You need to shut the fuck up. I can’t stand liars, and that’s what you are. Just another fucking liar.” I gave her a onceover. “Ugh. Girls like you. Fake. Insecure. Needing to lie to make yourself feel better. You have to do that because you’ve got no substance. Nothing good. Just… fake . All fake.”
Nea and Amber had gone still.
Axel slowly dropped his hand from Aurelia. He was no longer shielding her.
Her shoulders hunched as she continued rubbing at her throat. “That was assault. I can press charges against you.”
I snorted. “Please. My godfather has his own law firm. Besides, you press charges against me and guess what that makes you look like?” I didn’t even need to finish, because she only needed to look at the guys. It was in their eyes, all three of them. Only one word would come to their minds, to everyone’s mind when she got to school the next day.
Snitch .
It’s what everyone would whisper in the hallway. She paled as she realized it too. I watched as the fight drained out of her. It happened so fast. She succumbed because being popular was what Aurelia cared about. She didn’t care about standing on her own. She should go to the police. I had assaulted her, but I hadn’t really hurt her. That’s what everyone would talk about. Just what I did. It would be a different story if I had actually hurt her. More people would rally around her. I never understood that. Why people only cared if there was physical evidence of harm? The emotional harm was done. That was the worst part. That’s the injury that would linger. The physical would heal and go away. Not the psychological. That’s what I wanted to inflict on her. I mean, yeah. I wish I could’ve left evidence on her neck, but I wasn’t altogether so rash that I didn’t think it through.
No mark. No evidence. The point went to me.
I’d done more than just violate her personal space. I showed her who would fight for her. No one. Her friends were too scared to approach me. The guys separated us, but that was it. They were amused by me. I surprised them. Guys like Traine, Axel, and Steele were catered to all their life. The same girls climbed into their bed. Cried. Whined when they were kicked out. I watched them in school, how the teachers catered to them there.
I wasn’t that type of girl. I was different.
I won. Plain and simple.
Her shoulders folded down. Her arms hugged herself. She stifled, turned away, but this battle was done. She’d come at me again, after she licked her wounds and probably in school. I had no doubt she’d try to bully me through other girls. Maybe spread rumors about me?
I couldn’t wait.
Maybe moving to Fallen Crest hadn’t been such a bad thing.
I missed Max.