10. Juliet
10
JULIET
“T hey’re watching.” Roquel’s whispered giggle hits my ears, and I grin even though I feel less than amused. Her words and, more importantly, the truth behind them are the reason for my deception.
“That was the point,” I remind her. This is just part of a larger plan that I’m meticulously placing. A trap for the Scorpion Kings.
Part one was to disappear for a week—just long enough to drive them insane. Now that I’m back, the real work begins. They got comfortable because I made it easy on them. The three of them had me at their mercy. To make sure they don’t get too complacent, I need to be unattainable. They had me on their turf and on their terms. Now, it’s my turn.
Roquel whistles. “Girl, you are a lot more devious than I gave you credit for.” She shakes her head and taps her pen against the surface of her desk. Her lashes lower, but she continues to look at me from beneath their spidery web. “Maybe you do belong in Public. I can’t imagine that you were this way at that Prep school.”
No. I wasn’t devious at Silverwood Prep. I was worse. I was naive and catty. Maybe that’s why my friends and boyfriend were such shitty people. After all, what’s that old saying? You are what you attract.
“But…” Roquel’s quiet hedge has me glancing in her direction as she scans my outfit. “I think if you really want to make them sweat, you need to go full crucible on them.”
“Crucible?” I arch an eyebrow.
She nods, her lips twisting into a conniving little grin. “Everyone is already calling you a Scorpion slut,” she murmurs, bending closer across her desk. “Why not live up to the name?” Her eyes stroke the cheap, but comfortable sweatshirt I’m wearing as if she wants to peel it off me right there in the middle of class.
Dress like a slut? It’s an idea, one that might drive the three of them insane, and that’s my goal, after all. I lean forward in my seat, peering at the men we’re both aware of out of the corner of my eye. It hadn’t taken them long to switch their classes. In my old school, money talked. I have a sneaking suspicion that the same is true for Silverwood Public. The Scorpion Kings might not be obscenely wealthy, but it’s clear they have a currency few others do. Information. Respect. Fear.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell her honestly. She passes me a knowing look before adjusting in her seat and returning her gaze to the whiteboard.
The teacher at the front of the classroom drones on, his bald head catching on the fluorescent lighting and glinting a reflection off the ceiling. The bell rings, ending the period, and I move from my seat slowly, reaching for my new-to-me backpack—an extra Roquel had given me when I’d admitted that all my stuff was either lost in the fire or with them.
Together, she and I stride from the classroom and down the corridor, heading to the next hall over. Roquel might have drifted away from me for a while, but when I needed her, she came through. I have to admit that earns her a lot of forgiveness in my books. She pauses when I come up to my locker and begin to twist in the code.
“So…” She hedges, her back to the row of lockers. “There’s another party this weekend, but after last time, I wasn’t sure if you’d want to go…”
I pull the door to my locker open and swing my bag around to replace the books inside with the ones I’ll need. “Where?” I ask. “And when?”
Her attention is stable on me, but I don’t meet her gaze yet as I make my selections. “It’s a Prep party,” she admits. “It’s a little different.”
My lips twitch, and for the first time in a long time, I feel actual amusement curl in my gut. “A Prep party, huh?” I finish my task and shut the locker door before twisting the lock back on.
“It’s at one of their football player’s place on the Northside, some guy with the last name Adelman.” I glance at her and she smirks. “Recognize the name?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “I do.” Breck Adelman had been one of Bran’s best friends and he’d always had a crush on me. I grin. “I’m in. If I’m working, I’ll ask Mads to cover my shift and we can go.”
Roquel’s smile lights up her face. “You know,” she says. “You’ve become a hell of a lot more fun since the Scorpion Kings fucked with you.”
I shrug. “They just showed me that sometimes you have to fight fire with fire,” I tell her.
Her snort as she shoves away from the row of lockers echoes up the wall. “The rumors this whole situation has started have gotten insane. Someone suggested that you’re actually pregnant from one of them.” She eyes me and I roll mine.
“I’m not pregnant,” I deadpan. Even if Lex hadn’t used a condom, the one good thing my mom had done before she skipped town was ensure that I had an IUD. Sure, it’d been when we’d still had health insurance and the money to prevent issues like teen pregnancy, and it’d really been to make sure I didn’t fuck up the family’s reputation—oh, the irony—but I’m grateful for it regardless.
“Ugh, I knoooow ,” she says, giving the last word far more syllables than it normally has. “You’d be puking every morning if you were or sleeping all the time, and you’re up before me most days.”
We walk towards our next class together and I ignore the blatant stares and trash talk from the other students. Roquel looks like she’s amused by it all—at least she’s not fazed enough to kick me out of her house. Her parents have been fairly absent, and from what she’s told me, her dad works as a trucker and her mom travels with him, leaving her alone for the most part.
The bell rings again as we slide into our seats. I cast a bored look at Gio as he grabs a seat at the desk in the next row over. I would have thought that the school would be asking him about the bruises on his face by now, but no one has uttered a word. They’ve faded from nearly black to a lighter shade of eggplant with sickly yellowed edges.
“Prep Girl,” he tries.
I ignore the call and fixate on the teacher, and that’s how it goes for the entire day. Each of the Scorpion Kings tries to get my attention in their own way. Gio is the most direct, similar to Lex, and the two of them are easier to hurt. I simply ignore them.
Nolan, though. Nolan is a planner. He watches and he waits. When I catch him staring at me over the cafeteria at lunch, I arch an eyebrow his way. Unlike the others, I can’t treat him with blatant disregard. He won’t have it. Even if it makes a scene, he’ll get what he wants—my attention. So, I give it to him without restraint.
I watch him every bit as much as he watches me, and with each look that passes between us, I can sense his growing tide of anger. When the class I have with Mads arrives, I’m all too ready to clue her in on the situation, but when I walk in—there’s no sign of her.
I wait, expecting that she might be running late for some reason. The bell rings, though, and there’s still no sign of her. Frowning, I look over at Roquel. “Hey, have you seen Mads?”
Roquel bites down on the edge of her pen and absently draws an invisible image with her finger tip on the front of her notebook. “Hmmm?” She blinks and looks back at me.
“Mads,” I say again. “Do you?—”
The door opens and the teacher stops talking as none other than Madison Torres walks into the classroom. Her hair hangs in limp, wet clumps around her flushed cheeks. Despite the color riding high on her cheekbones, the rest of her skin is pale and clammy. She mumbles an apology to the teacher for her tardiness and hurries down the aisle to take her seat.
A series of choked giggles and laughter has me spinning in my chair. Megan White and her entourage sit at the back of the classroom, eyes sparkling with mirth. “What happened, Madison?” Megan asks, feigning concern as Mads’ scuffed sneakers squeak and squish over the tiled floor.
My hands clench into fists and Roquel’s earlier disinterest has sharpened on the scene. “You look like someone tried to drown you,” Megan states. “Is it raining outside?”
Mads doesn’t answer, but instead ducks her head and takes her seat, spinning away from Megan’s cronies. Her head lifts and her chin juts out, but I can see the humiliation in her expression. Cruel hatred twists in my gut, and when Mads’ gaze meets mine, she mouths the word “later” and shakes her head. Later, she’ll tell me what the fuck happened and later … I’ll get my revenge for her too.
This entire school needs to realize that the Scorpion Kings aren’t the only venomous creatures here.
School ends and Roquel and I meet up with Mads in the parking lot. By the time we get there, she’s somewhat dried off, but it’s clear from her shivering that her damp clothes are anything but comfortable. Without waiting for her to say a word, I drag off my sweatshirt and shove it at her.
“Put this on,” I order, glaring over her shoulder as I watch none other than Megan White exit the school building. Mads doesn’t bother to offer even a token protest as she drops her bag and drags on the sweatshirt over her upper half.
Roquel clucks over her. “What the hell did that bitch do to you?” she asks.
I keep the bitch in question in my sights as Mads sighs and removes her choppy hair from the collar of the sweatshirt. “Dumped a bucket of the janitor’s mop water on me while I was in the bathroom,” she admits. “I didn’t even hear them come in.”
My hands curl into fists. “I’m going to fucking kill her.”
Mads’ eyes widen as I take a step around her, more than ready to get it over with now no matter who’s watching. She dives in front of me, halting me with the barrier of her body. “You can’t!” she says quickly. “Giving bullies like Megan the time of day only encourages them.”
I switch my attention back to her. “Letting her get away with disrespecting you will tell her she can keep doing whatever she wants,” I inform her. I should know. Back at Silverwood Prep, I was Megan White. The bitch. The Queen. The bully. Oh, how the tables have turned on me now.
Backed into a corner, there are only two options—lie down and die or fight back, and I’m not the dying type.
Mads sighs. “Please, just… not today?” Her big blue eyes stare up at me beseechingly. “I’m tired, my head hurts, and I really just want to get home and shower before I have to go in for my shift.”
Her words are a reminder and I curse silently, taking a step back. “You’re working today?” She nods. “Can I catch a ride with you, I’m supposed to be working too.”
In fact, that’s what I’ve been doing all week even though I sent an email to Principal Long claiming illness—I’m sure she knew my claim for what it was. An outright lie. Though whether she expected that I was dealing with the aftermath of the apartment fire or something else, I hadn’t been called to her office all day, and I’m not in a situation to look gift horses in their mouths.
Mads’ shoulders relax. “Yeah, of course.” Her eyes go to Roquel. “You can come with me now and we can head over. I have to leave early, though. Bible study is tonight.”
I wince, but look to Roquel who grimaces. “Sorry, I can’t make it out there tonight,” she tells me before I even ask.
I wave a hand in her direction. “It’s fine.” My temple throbs. “I’ll take the bus back and walk to your place.”
Roquel moves towards the driver’s side of her Camry. “The extra key is under a rock by the back door when you get back,” she tells me. “I might be home a bit later.”
“Thanks.” I call after her as Mads and I turn and head towards her own car, an equally old clunker of a sedan with rusted undersides and chipped blue-gray paint.
“Do you need to borrow clothes for work?” Mads asks as she unlocks the vehicle and we both get in.
“I’ve got stuff in my locker on site.” The engine sputters to life, but as she begins to pull out of the parking spot, an SUV drives past, the windows down and three pairs of eyes watching us all the while.
I hear her breath catch. “It’s fine,” I assure her. “They’re not going to do anything.” Not yet anyway…
The SUV drives on, but I still feel the burn of their eyes on me as Mads finishes pulling out of her spot and heads towards the exit. When she drives past a smirking Megan White as she stops at the tail of a white Jeep, I add another name to my list of people to fuck over before I leave Silverwood.
When she was just after me, I didn’t care as much, but real friends are hard to find. Real friends don’t fuck your boyfriend behind your back. All the people I’d thought were my friends at Silverwood Prep are nowhere to be seen now that I’m dirt poor. Mads, though … she and Roquel are my people now, and no one fucks with my people.