7. Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Tai
"M an, I'm good. I got it," I say with a laugh, throwing my backpack onto the ground.
Rylan and Hunter look up at me, following me all the way down until I'm at their level.
"No shit?" Rylan asks, impressed.
I grin, stealing a quick glance to the familiar wolf statue beside us. I love the damn thing. It actually reminds me a little of Calvin.
Dad paid the donation for the construction of it two years ago. I lean over and give the little plaque on the sandstone a rub, proudly reading the words Donated by the Beckett Family like I’ve done hundreds of times.
When the sun is nice, like today, we sit outside in the courtyard. We had already planned to meet up since the three of us have a free period next, but I'm the last to arrive since I took a brief detour after English. Rylan had texted and asked me to go find the girls, saying they had a present for me.
And what a present it was.
Apparently, he ordered the cheerleaders to steal Bexley's bag while she was out running on the track.
Since he has gym too, it gave him the perfect view to make sure Bexley was distracted while they quickly grabbed it at the end of cheer practice and took off. After I got the bag from Peyton, I ducked into the restrooms to take a sneak peek, unable to help myself.
It was just the usual shit, and even though I didn't have time to jailbreak into her cell, I was able to open the camera and snap a pic of my ass. I can't wait for her reaction when she finds it in her gallery. Hell, maybe she’ll even flick the bean over it.
I was also able to see her list of ICE contacts. Even though it doesn't display their numbers, she stupidly saves them with first and last names like she’s trying to be a corporate professional. So now, it's just a matter of me doing some easy work on my PC later to find them. That idiot lapdog she was with is one of them, of course. But also a few other people I’m interested in learning more about. You know what they say—keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Best of all, I dialed my burner cell from inside the emergency settings, giving me her phone number. If she tries to call my burner back, she's in for a special treat. I hope she enjoys my little creation.I'd give just about anything to be a fly on the wall for that too.
By the time I had finished fucking around with her cell, Hunter texted me to say that Bexley had Liv in a sleeper choke hold in the courtyard and to be ready because she would be hunting down my ass any second. The guys were lucky enough to watch the whole thing from inside the building through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and I can't wait to hear the play-by-play.Liv might be stubborn as fuck, but even I'll admit she's out of her depth trying to take on Bexley without our help. It's a rookie move, but no doubt Liv's just even more motivated now to go for the kill. Oh, well—her mistake. At least it will be entertaining.
Don’t get me wrong, Liv is hot as fuck. But damn that girl drives me insane. I don’t know how Rylan can stand her. Apparently, she gives decent slop-top and puts out whenever he wants, so he puts up with her presence from time to time.
"I'll text it through to you both," I say, grabbing my cell from my pocket and sending them Bexley’s phone number. “Your little girlfriend doing okay?”
Rylan wrinkles his nose. “Not my girlfriend, T. But Liv is fine. Whined more about her nails than anything. I had to kiss her just to get her to shut up.”
“Of course,” Hunter sighs. “First world problems.”
I share a look with Hunter, thinking the same thing: "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."
"I'd stay on guard for some Cedar backlash," I murmur, leaning back on my hands as I bask in the warm sunlight. "Spencer is pissed."
"When isn't she?" Hunter snorts. "That's been her whole personality this week."
Rylan finishes saving her number and puts his cell down. "I assume you did more than steal her number."
"Let's just say I need to make a quick trip to the library after this."
Hunter snorts. "Well, I took a visit to Dad's office and accidentally obtained a copy of her schedule. And I may have switched a few of our classes starting next week."
That thought makes me excited but Rylan groans.
"Small sacrifices to make," he grumbles. "But you better not have touched my business management class. I need that for college."
Hunter shakes his head. "You're all good, brother. I switched you to advanced English—where you should have already been."
Rylan narrows his eyes. "Smythson makes me want to claw my eyes out with Liv's acrylics. That's why I refused to take her class."
"You'll survive," Hunter laughs. "Smythson is actually considering a small break so that one of the Cedar Heights staff can fill in."
"That's even worse!"
I shush him playfully. "What about me?"
"You've switched from Statistics to Algebra."
This time, it's Rylan who cackles while I scowl. They know how much I detest that stupid bullshit class. It makes no sense. Why did they have to add letters into the mix? I've tried to avoid it for as long as possible, even if I knew it was inevitable since it's a core part of the college course I want to take. Letters and numbers in coding are easy. In math equations? Blasphemy.
"I might actually hate you now."
Hunter holds up his hands defensively. "I tried. All the other math classes were full. The Cedar twits have made it just a bit more difficult moving things around. Apparently, we can't pull them from their enrolled subjects. We have to be the perfect hosts. "
"Fuck that," Rylan mutters to himself.
"Or fuck Liv," I offer.
He raises an eyebrow at me. "Go for it."
"I'll pass, thanks."
"Anyway," Hunter says, cutting us both off. "One of us will be in most of her classes. But as a special treat, I did put us all together in graphic design."
My ears prick as I perk up. "Another computer class?"
He grins. "See—Don't say I don't do anything nice for you."
I tap my jaw, thoughtfully. "I won't even need to destroy textbooks for that one. I'll just be able to hack into the server to access her saved work."
Ahh, yes. If you think I'm finished with you, Spencer… You're in for a rude awakening.
When I get home that afternoon, I head straight to my bedroom to start the fun stuff.
I've been counting down the minutes until I could get here, excited to see what I can find.
Is it wrong of me to stalk Bexley Spencer? Probably. Do I care? Absolutely not.
Turning on the PC, I swing around in my chair, lazily checking the room while it fires up. The four curved screens flash as the multi-tonal keyboard lights up. The light reflects off the dark gray walls as my eyes fall onto my bed at the other end of the room. Pushed against the wall in the center, it appears Mary made my bed this morning. Dammit. I've told her countless times not to worry about it, which forced me into the habit of doing it myself. But the early start to the day had me rushing out the door and I figured she wouldn't check since she hasn't had to make it in months.
I should have known. She never misses anything.
Mary's been looking out for me since I was four. With Dad traveling a lot for work, it's just me here. So, he decided we needed a housekeeper. And eventually, Mary wormed her way into our hearts—well, mine anyway. Dad is pretty indifferent to the help as he calls them, but to me, she filled the void after Mom passed.
She even dotes on Rylan and Hunter, constantly fussing over us.
I'm making sure I don't forget my bed tomorrow.
The welcome screen appears, and I type in my password, opening Facebook first. I head straight for the Cedar Facebook group, reading through the new messages. My lips curl into a grin when I spot a post from Bexley herself, warning people to keep an eye on their bags at all times.
But still refusing to ask for help. She probably thinks she's seen the last of me.
There's no mention of my little paper art display, though I have no doubt they all know. It wasn't exactly like I was subtle.
Next, I start typing in the names of her ICE contacts. Archer is first, and while we already know about him, I still take a few minutes to stalk through his details. The smart cookie has his profile locked, but a search shows a few different groups, and when I switch to Google, I also find an article about his father. Interestingly enough, it happens to be one about the Cedar Heights Academy fire.
Ahh, good memories.
When I punch in the next name, I recognize her boy-toy in the pictures straight away. And this idiot has nothing hidden. His whole entire profile is on public mode.
Steele Turner.
Plays football, likes to drink, ripped his groin muscle two seasons ago—typical stuff. But there's a few photos of him and Bexley together, posing with big smiles and 'peace signs'. I save a copy and move onto the third and final name.
Surprisingly, nothing comes up.
At all.
Zilch.
I try a few different methods such as LinkedIn, Google, other socials, even government related sites and still find nothing concrete.
Annoyed that I can't find anything, I'm too focused on the screen that I don't sense the person creeping in behind me. It's not until two soft hands rest on my shoulders that I jump six feet in the air, spinning around.
"Mary! Jesus. I'll have to start calling you Scary Mary. When did you get so stealthy?"
She smiles down at me, wrinkles crinkling around her cheeks and eyes. Her chestnut hair is fading with silver streaks, but she's still as beautiful as ever.
It's not fair that she's wasting her life here when she should be out living it. But even when I turned eighteen and begged Dad to let her go, it wasn't just him that refused.
"Oh, Tai. Maybe I'm just learning from the best," she jokes. "Or you're too busy to hear little old me."
I grin. "The first one, definitely. I like to think I have some good influence in your life."
"You're the best influence in my life, Bear."
That sense of maternal warmth floats through me as I watch her chocolate irises dance. Even after all these years, I never forget the day she saved me.
Mary had only been with us about a month when Mom passed. The final week before she died, we were able to move her back home from palliative care so she could be comfortable with family. Even though I sometimes wish Dad had stopped me, I stayed by Mom's bed, holding her hand while she slept longer and longer. Mary stood by my side the entire time, and when Mom left this Earth, I was gifted with a white teddy bear by my new friend. It even had one of Mom's old dresses repurposed into a miniature version, with our names embroidered across the bear's chest. Apparently, her and Mom worked together to surprise me, so that I'd always have something to remember.
Poppins is still in my room to this day. But he's in his special box, just in case Calvin gets any funny ideas.
"You didn't have to make my bed," I playfully scold, crossing my arms.
"Oh, enough of that," she smiles softly. "You barely let me do anything these days. Which reminds me; dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes."
"Okay," I beam back. I may not want her to make my bed, but dammit Mary makes a mean dinner. I can't cook to save my life, so it's our little tradition that Mary cooks, we eat together most nights, and I wash up.
Well, she tries to fight me on that too, but I'm incredibly quick with my food.
I watch as Mary leaves, and when the door closes, I turn back to the enigma on my screen.
Who are you, Lark Kory?