Chapter 5 #2
Avery shakes her head again, draining the last of her coffee.
“Once the rest of the school found out that she’d hooked up with all three of them, her status rose.
She was so desperate to keep the little scrap of power it gave her that she didn’t even care that none of them wanted a relationship, and certainly not with her.
It just became known that if they wanted to chase someone they’d go out, if they just wanted sex, they’d go see her. She really was just… easy .”
I pull a face as I nod slowly, finishing off the last of my coffee and immediately getting up to make us both another one.
I shouldn’t be relieved to hear this but, fuck me, I am.
I’m also feeling incredulous now as well, but clearly for different reasons than Avery.
Annabelle was always so smug about being with them, and there were enough rumors going around to know the general consensus was that she was special to them, that she caught their eyes and was being offered some sort of commitment from them.
Knowing all of this might not change much about our plans, but I know one thing for sure; the bitch wouldn’t want to call me a stalker again.
Even after three coffees and the largest plate of pancakes I’ve ever had, I’m positive I only make it through my morning classes because I’m used to withstanding and overcoming pure, unadulterated torture.
It eats at me that Avery is still her usual, perfectly polished, aristocratic, queen bee self, while I look like someone backed over my dead body with a semi and then resuscitated me to force me to class.
I tell her that at lunch, pouting like a child, and she smirks into her grilled salmon like a bitch. She’s lucky I’ve decided to love her.
I refrain from telling her that, though, because Ash has joined us for lunch and he’s already sneering at me, so I choose not add fuel to his fire.
I ignore his shitty attitude as a peace gesture, but it only seems to piss him off more.
When it’s clear I’m struggling to eat under his irate surveillance, Avery immediately jumps in and runs interference like the pro she is.
I guess it’s easy for her, though, because the moment she starts talking, his attention shifts firmly onto her, and he forgets me entirely.
As I slowly dig into my food, she tells him about her classes, how her campaign against Lance is going, the pose she’s perfecting in her ballet class, and he treats her like she’s the center of his universe. It’s sweet.
When we leave him behind to head for our classes, she gives me an apologetic look, but I brush her off with a smile.
I know how much she hates the distance he’s put between them because of me, and his shitty attitude isn’t going to break me.
I mean, it won’t even ruin my day, because it’s become an inevitability I’ve gotten used to.
The sun will rise, the tide will turn, and Ash Beaumont will hate my every breath.
A bit dramatic, sure, but I’m running on empty today.
I drop Avery off to her literature class on the way to my own, enjoying the way the other students clear a path for me even once I’m alone. I’m still smiling about it as I turn down the hall to my class and find myself shoved into an empty storage room.
I’m about to start swinging when Ash snaps, “Calm down, Mounty, for fuck’s sake. I just want a word with you.”
You have got to be kidding me.
I turn on my heel and the arrogant look on his face steals the last of my patience. “We just ate together, you didn’t have to hurt me to speak to me.”
His gaze drops down to where I’m rubbing at my shoulder and he winces, his arrogance faltering slightly. “I didn’t think I pushed you that hard.”
He hadn’t. It was an old injury. I’m a walking mess of scar tissue, crookedly healed bones, and nerve damage. I just do my best not to let anyone know that. “Whatever. What did you want to speak to me about?”
He straightens, his shoulders rolling back which makes his chest seem to double in width, and the look in his eyes is the same one he gives me every day when he sees me with Avery. He loathes me, and he’ll cut me out of her life the second I prove disloyal.
“Stay the fuck away from Blaise and Harley. I don’t need you poisoning them with the same shit you’ve fed Avery. You’re a Mounty slut with an agenda, and I’m not falling for your little act.”
My brain breaks. Just straight-up blacks out.
Wow.
This guy is throwing this bullshit at me ?
I don’t know why I’m so shocked, but my mind is stuck on the words ‘Mounty slut’.
It takes a very long, very deep breath before I can answer him without screaming… or my knife being involved. “I’m not trying anything with them. I’m actually actively avoiding them both. And don’t you ever call me a slut again. I think the ongoing bet proves I’m not.”
He scoffs at me and crosses his arms. “That’s why you sit with Harley in every class? And Blaise was in your room last night? You really are working overtime to get them. Just because you’re picky about the dick you want doesn’t make you better than any other Mounty.”
Okay, it’s official; he’s lost his fucking mind.
I squint up at him as I look for any visible signs he’s had a break from reality. Maybe Joey’s hit him too hard too many times and his brain has finally decided to tap out.
“Seating in all our classes is assigned. He’s Arbour, I’m Anderson; we can’t change that unless he decides to go back to being an O’Cronin, and I think we both know that isn’t happening.
As for Blaise, I helped your sister carry him back last night.
Then I helped him out while he spewed. Should I have handed him over to Annabelle instead?
Are you cool with your friends being raped while they sleep by gold-digging tramps?
Or is it fine for her to fuck you all, even if you’re not conscious and consenting, because of who her family is? ”
Ash’s eyes have become scathing, but he doesn’t answer me.
I wait a moment before I scoff at him and storm out of the storage room right as Harley strides past. He frowns at me, then when Ash steps out after me, it deepens into a scowl.
He opens his mouth, probably to snarl some more bullshit at me, but I cut him off before he has the chance.
“You need to keep him the fuck away from me until he decides to get his head out of his ass.”
Ash huffs, stalking off down the hall away from us both, as he calls out over his shoulder, “Stay the fuck away from my friends, Mounty.”
I seethe so hard during the rest of my classes, I become the living embodiment of rage so violent that I know the most naive of students can sense the potential for death on me.
I’m sure of it, because even Harley starts tiptoeing around me.
He doesn’t try to speak to me or ask what the hell went down, instead he only looks at me when he thinks I won’t notice.
My skin itches and crawls with irritation, and I’m going to have to throat punch someone to calm the fuck down.
Mounty slut .
How fucking dare that womanizing manwhore call me that.
I’m a fucking virgin! I’ve kissed two guys, and only one of them by choice. Fuck him!
When classes end, Harley trails after me, still completely silent, and if I wasn’t so far gone, I’d probably enjoy the shift. We find Avery waiting at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the girls’ dorm with Ash, and when the asshole sees me with Harley, he turns on me.
“What the fuck do you not understand about staying away from him?”
Seething, I step up to poke his chest with my finger as I practically hiss back at him, “I don’t answer to you, asshole. You ever speak to me like this again and I’ll bury you.”
The students around us immediately scatter, and Avery darts in between us to put a gentle hand on Ash’s chest as Harley lunges at me, tugging me away from his cousin by the arm.
As he tries to wedge himself between the two of us, I wrench my arm out of his grip, stepping away and glaring at him.
He ignores me which only pisses me off more.
“Ash, you need to calm down and think about this,” Avery murmurs, and when he looks at her, he looks gutted, betrayed.
“She just said she’d bury me and you’re taking her side? Nice, Floss. Proves my point.”
Avery flings her arms around his neck and hugs him.
“She wouldn’t actually do anything to hurt you.
She saved me last year. If she hadn’t helped me, Rory would’ve raped and beaten me.
He could’ve killed me, Ash, we both know it.
Please just trust me. I’ve never been so sure of someone as I am of Lips, and I’m not giving her up. ”
His arms slowly rise to hold her, and I look away from them both to Harley.
He’s watching them with something close to envy, but it’s not a negative emotion.
It’s more like he loves them both so much and wishes he was their sibling, too.
My rage simmers back down to a manageable level, a productive one, and, at Avery’s reminder, I shift my ire onto the piece of shit who deserves it most; the would-be rapist.
When Harley looks down at me, he whispers, “We need a plan for Rory. I’m done sharing the halls with him.”
“Agreed.”
Avery wipes at her dry eyes like she’s worried the other students might see some sort of emotion from her and, after Ash fusses over her for another minute, we leave the guys there to head back to our room.
Because this nightmare of a day just doesn’t know when to end, we find Annabelle standing outside our door.
Seeing her is bad to begin with, but listening to her scream and sob as she pleads with a very tired-looking Blaise is enough to have me committed.
Propped up on the door frame, it’s only the disgust in his bloodshot and bleary eyes that stops me from losing it entirely.
When Annabelle spots us heading toward them, she falters for a second, and Blaise takes the opportunity to snap at her, vitriol and fire in his tone.
“Can you just fuck off? You had everything you wanted, then you fucked it all up. That’s it.”
A sob bursts out of her. “Please, Blaise! It’s not what you think!”
“What else would it be?” he shouts back.
The hallway is teeming with girls, and there’s more than a few phones recording. I wait for Avery to slow down and begin damage control, to start collecting them and wiping the evidence of this little display, but she’s smiling her evil little smile instead.
“I thought I was doing the right thing; I thought that’s what you guys would want.
I was going to talk to Harley about it as well!
You only think that I was being dishonest because of Avery, she’s been acting so jealous since she’s become friends with the Mounty.
The stalker has turned you all against me! ”
I really, really hate this bitch. Avery arches an eyebrow at me, and we push past the lovers’ quarrel to get into our room. I’m tempted to shove Blaise through the door to slam it on them both, but then he answers Annabelle.
“The Mounty you hate so much has never betrayed my trust like that. She’s kept promises when she should have told me to fuck off because I was an absolute dick to her.
I even offered to pay her for tutoring me last year and she told me to shove my money up my ass.
So, who’s the manipulative slut here? If you want a baby daddy to fund the life you want, go find one dumb enough to believe your lies. ”
Okay, I’ve reached my threshold of being called a slut today.
I’ve hit the limit, and I refuse to keep taking this on the chin.
I’m going to start stabbing people. Avery’s super senses must pick up on this and she joins Blaise to get Annabelle to leave.
I lock myself in the bathroom to try and scrub the anger out of my skin.
By the time I'm out, Avery is packing her ballet bag and Blaise is grumbling as he prepares to walk her down to her class.
“Better?” she asks, and I plaster on a fake smile
“I was pissed and I said something I didn’t mean earlier, but I’m not just running my mouth right now.
Avery, I won’t bury your brother, but if he ever calls me a slut again, I will castrate him.
Like I said, it’s in my skill set and I can actually do it.
If you ever want to be an auntie someday, you should probably warn him. ”
Any worries I might have had about telling her this are obviously misplaced, because Avery bursts out laughing.
Blaise, on the other hand, looks at me with horror as he shifts subconsciously to cover his groin.
There’s enough fire still running in my veins that I can wink at him without even thinking about the fact that he’s Blaise fucking Morrison.
Honestly, I’m proud as hell of myself for that one.
My phone pings in my pocket, startling me, and my stomach drops as I check it.
Have you forgotten about me, little Starbright?
My blood turns to ice, but I guess it’s a good way of stopping my attraction from becoming obvious. Avery watches my face carefully, and when I slump onto my bed to figure out how the fuck to answer Matteo without causing more trouble, she ushers Blaise out of the room like the actual saint she is.
Never. I could never forget you.