Chapter 4
FOUR
My head’s throbbing as I open my eyes. The light from the window hits me harshly, and with a groan, I roll over to the other side of the bed, snapping my eyes shut. My hand moves under the pillow, trying to locate my fucking phone. God, where the hell is it?
“Morning,” Ellie’s soft voice comes from beside me, and I turn to face her, forcing my eyes open. She’s wrapped in the white sheets, naked underneath. Her hair is messy, makeup from last night is smeared under her eyes.
“Morning.”
She smiles. “How did you sleep?”
“Like hell,” I groan, burying my face in the pillow.
The stupid party was the last thing I needed. I don’t even remember much of what went down after I drank a whole ass bottle of whiskey and fucked Ellie in the classroom. Somehow, she managed to sneak me into her bedroom, and it’s going to be a hassle trying to leave undetected.
Ellie laughs, then I hear her moving from the bed. I peek from the pillow, watching as she finds my phone discarded on the floor without clothes. She tosses it over, and I catch it with ease, turning around and propping the pillow under my head, leaning against the headboard.
Christ.
It’s noon.
“How the fuck am I supposed to leave?”
Ellie shrugs, a wicked smirk on her face. She approaches the bed again, crawling on top of me and kissing my chest. “You don’t have to. You could stay here.”
“I can’t,” my jaw clenches. “There’re already rumors about the two of us. I can’t risk it. Besides, I promised Kenzo I’d go to an exhibit with him.”
Ellie rolls her eyes. “We’re two consenting adults, it’s not like this is a crime.”
“Not a crime, but it is against the rules. If the word gets out, you will get fired, and that’s the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario? My mother finds out, uses her connections, and makes sure you never get another job in your life.”
That seems to catch her attention. Slowly, Ellie sits up, holding the sheets to her body tightly. “She wouldn’t go that far, would she?”
“You’d be lucky if that’s all she does,” I scoff. “My mother is a woman filled with vengeance. You wouldn’t survive her wrath.”
“Fine,” Ellie sighs. “What do we do, then?”
Sleeping with Ellie has been fun. She’s good in bed, she’s great to be around, but I’m not looking for a relationship, and she knows that. I made it perfectly clear I’d be looking for a hook-up from time to time, nothing more, nothing less.
She agreed to that off the bat. As long as she doesn’t start clinging to me, or God forbid, starts acting like Cassia, I’m fine with the arrangement.
“We can always put a stop to this,” I offer. I have no romantic feelings towards her, only sexual attraction. Finding someone else to fuck won’t be too difficult.
“What?” Her expression falls, and my brows narrow. “Why would we put a stop to this?”
“Because it’s the easier way out? Because then there wouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
“But, Soren—”
“Look, Ellie,” I interrupt, getting up. Her eyes follow my movements as I grab the clothes off the floor and start getting dressed.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize what her expression means.
She got attached and caught feelings. This just proves the two of us are no longer compatible.
“It was fun. But we both know it’s better to end it before it gets too much.
If anyone does find out about this, it won’t affect me in the slightest. You, on the other hand, will lose everything. It’s for your own good.”
“Unless…”
I lift a brow. “Unless, what?”
She shrugs, fiddling with the ends of her hair. “Unless we wait another semester until you graduate, and then make it official.”
“Fuck, no.”
Her brows crease. “Excuse me?”
“When we started this, I made it perfectly clear I wasn’t looking for a relationship. It hasn’t changed. If that’s changed on your end, I’m the wrong man for you, Ellie.”
I finish buttoning up my shirt and put on the belt. The shoes are neatly next to the door, and I grab my wallet, make sure the phone’s in my pocket, and reach for the handle.
“Wait, Soren.”
I turn to face her.
She looks almost vulnerable. Her eyes are searching for mine, almost as if she’s waiting for me to say or do anything that will change the outcome of this. Nothing will, because quite frankly, even if I were ready to settle down, it wouldn’t be with her.
“Nothing,” she sighs, but I don’t miss the expression of hurt that flashes in her eyes. Without another word, I leave her room, silently closing the door behind me.
It takes me a solid twenty minutes to sneak out. The entire building’s covered with security cameras, and if that’s not already bad, it’s Saturday. Everyone’s outside, and wherever I go, I’m bound to be seen in the clothes from last night.
Fuck, I shouldn’t have done this.
A hand appears on my shoulder, and I’m quick to turn around, my fist ready to knock out a tooth or two. Relief washes over me when I spot Kenzo and Aiden, both of whom are giving me odd looks.
“We’ve been looking for you,” Aiden says, glancing up and down. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“Are you my mother?” I scoff, taking Kenzo’s hand off my shoulder.
“Doesn’t matter,” Kenzo glances at his watch. “Go shower, you reek of alcohol. We’ll be late.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I groan. “Fine. I’ll be down soon.”
True to my word, it doesn’t take me long to shower and take off the scent of alcohol, mixed with Ellie’s perfume. The worst thing about this all is probably that I feel no guilt about ending things with her, even after witnessing the hurt in her eyes.
Oh, well. She’ll live.
Given the fact that Kenzo made it a point to tell me at least seven times over the past two days how important this exhibit is to him, I decided to put in a little effort into looking good.
Knowing him, the place is as bougie as it could possibly get, and I’d rather not risk getting on the media’s bad side again.
I chose an all-black outfit, dress pants with a long-sleeved shirt tucked into the pants and a leather belt, with some shoes I didn’t even know I owned prior to this. That’s definitely Mother’s gift.
My hair’s styled back, and before leaving the dorm, I make sure all of my tattoos are covered, and nothing is out of place. Not to be cocky, but I’m one good-looking motherfucker.
“The lady’s arrived,” Aiden drawls out, sarcasm in his voice. I ignore him, coming to stand next to Kenzo.
“What are we waiting for?”
“My driver,” he responds. “He’ll be here any minute.”
I nod, looking around the campus. Loud chatter grates on my ears, but I force myself to keep calm and not snap. There are plenty of students scattered around, some playing games at the tables outside, others in corners all around, whispering and having a good time.
My brows narrow slightly when I spot that dumb bitch across from me.
Sophia’s sitting on a bench with Grace — who is, yet again, sipping on those kids’ drinks — and on her right is Damien. He leans in, whispering something in Sophia’s ears, making her laugh.
Why the fuck is her laugh so obnoxious?
And when the hell did these two get close?
For the first time in a while, I finally get a good look at Sophia.
As always, she has some pink bows in her hair.
This time, however, instead of a massive one, she has a couple of smaller ones, hair clips, I’m assuming, that are scattered all over the front pieces of her hair.
The dress she’s wearing is satin, hugging her waist perfectly, with long sleeves and an open neckline.
Jesus Christ, have her tits always been this big?
Immediately, I scold myself mentally for even thinking about it.
Sophia Sloane is the biggest cunt I’ve had the displeasure of meeting, but even so, I can’t deny that she’s one of the most attractive women on campus.
She has that confidence that attracts men and women alike, and the fact that she’s unapproachable, with no romantic scandals behind her, only adds to the appeal.
There’s a scarf wrapped around her neck, hiding the mark from my choking. There’s twisted satisfaction in my chest at the thought of being the only man who’s ever left a mark on her, regardless of the context.
The goal wasn’t to hurt her — not much, anyway — but the bitch doesn’t know what boundaries are, and she’s using the line as a fucking jump rope, always testing the limits, jumping from one side to the other.
As if sensing my eyes on her, she snaps her head in my direction, just as Damien whispers again in her ear. Though she doesn’t seem to be hearing him. In fact, her focus is solely on me.
Her brows crease, and even from this distance, I can swear there’s a light smirk on her face.
How fun.
I guess the little princess finally found a way to get her revenge. The game we’ve been playing since we were children. She doesn’t realize that the main reason we’ve been fighting, arguing, and doing this shit to each other for as long as we’ve known each other, is our parents’ fault.
The two families’ feud goes way past the two of us. Our parents are sworn enemies, for whatever reason, and it transferred to us. I’ve been told since I started my academic years that she’s my enemy and that she should be put in her place. She’s been told the same, no doubt.
I lift a brow at her, my face remaining passive. Her eyes flick down, looking at me up and down before a look of disgust flashes behind her eyes, and she turns her attention to the motherfucker next to her.
What no one here seems to realize is that Sophia Sloane is nothing but a toy that I like keeping around. Soon enough though, the world will know that she belongs to me. In ways that no one would ever expect.
◆◆◆
Monday rolls around sooner than I’d want. The classes for the day end around noon, and something is fucking off. Wherever I go, I’m given odd looks. Even Cassia, who would already be clinging to me by now, seems to be avoiding me.
“You’ve noticed it too,” I say, slumping into the seat across from Kenzo, loosening my tie.
The men’s uniform consists of dress pants and a maroon blazer, with a matching tie and a white shirt underneath. The blazer has the school’s logo on the left side, with the golden embroidery of the highest quality.
“People have been looking at you like you killed someone over the weekend,” Kenzo lifts a brow. “What did you do, Soren?”
“Fucked if I know,” I mutter, glancing around. “I’ve been on my best behavior recently.”
“Except for choking the shit out of Sophia,” he points out. “Do you think she reported it?”
“No,” I snort. “If she wanted to report it, she would’ve done it that day. And she wouldn’t gain sympathy points by spreading the word around, because the bitch doesn’t just get even, she gets revenge.”
Kenzo sighs, playing around with the food on his plate. Today’s menu is a steak, with a sauce that I’ve never grown to like, some salad, and a piece of strawberry cake.
“Did you do anything in your drunken state last Friday?”
“No,” I roll my eyes, leaning back in the chair, staring down at some freshmen who dared to look at me with disgust on their faces. It’s all it takes for them to look away in embarrassment. “I went to the damned party, had a few, then went straight to—”
“Where?” He interrupts. “You weren’t in your dorm, Soren.”
“You know where I was.”
“Do you think she said something?”
I shake my head. “She has a lot more to lose than me.”
“Yeah, but you ended things in a not-so-nice way. Maybe she’s pissed.”
“Pissed? Perhaps. Definitely not stupid enough to tell anyone that she’s been sleeping with her student when it’s one of the forbidden things around here. She’d lose her job before she could blink.”
“Then that just leaves Sophia.”
“Perhaps,” I clench my jaw, my irritation with the girl rising. “But she’d be stupid to spread a rumor.”
“You mean, as you did with her exam scores?”
“Oh, that was harmless,” I scoff. “Besides, it’s not like anyone believed that. She’s always been a little Miss Smarty Pants.”
“Yes, but she’s known to get her revenge—”
He’s interrupted by Aiden. He sits next to Kenzo, across from me, with his face as pale as a sheet. He’s looking directly at me, unblinking, and barely moving.
“What’s up with you?”
“Uh, Soren,” he clears his throat, then pulls out his phone. I can all but feel the stares on the back of my head, whispers following suit. “There’s something you should see.”
I snatch the phone out of his hands. It’s already on the school’s gossiping website.
It’s an exclusive website, where people can submit all the gossip, all the newest things to talk about, mainly involving students.
You have to enter your student ID in order to be approved for the website.
It’s been running since our first year, and it’s still unknown who set the whole thing up.
There’s an email where you can submit the stories to, and they don’t care if it’s the truth.
The worst part about this is that even Saint Valley High School, which is miles away from here, has access. It’s one website for all the institutions, and although I don’t pay attention to people I don’t know, there are always interesting things to see.
“Uh-oh, seems like our lover boy caught himself in a compromising position,” I read the title of the article aloud, rolling my eyes at the absurdity.
“Open it, and you won’t find it as amusing,” Aiden says, and I see Kenzo taking out his phone, looking for the website.
I look down at my phone and open the video.
All blood drains from my face, and my body freezes for a moment. I stare at the scene that shows me fucking Ellie in the classroom last Friday, and I can’t form a single coherent thought.
My hand tightens around the device, and I can’t tear my eyes off the video.
Her face is blurry, as well as the rest of her body, but there I am, and you can tell it’s me.
Anyone who’s ever seen me can clearly be able to tell it’s my body, my tattoos, and the way she’s moaning my name loudly doesn’t help.
I swallow a knot that forms in my throat, my entire body is overwhelmed by a sudden fit of rage.
The video is a minute long, just long enough to tarnish my reputation, to make my name the headlines again.
Despite the website being exclusive, some of the students who see it will undoubtedly spread it around.
“Who. The. Fuck?”
My words are a dark hiss, my body shaking with rage. I look at Aiden who shakes his head furiously, and Kenzo glances up at me from the phone, his jaw clenching when he sees the expression on my face.
“We’ll find whoever was bold enough to send this.”