Chapter 48
Ren
As soon as Ivy went to the front to talk to Mr. Sharpe, I turned to Zigzag.
“So, what have you found?”
“Not much, I got the number easy enough, but it’s a burner. The last time it was used, it pinged off a tower near town and then went dark. I can’t even get it to turn on remotely.”
“So, they know what they’re doing, at least to some degree. I think that worries me more,” I said, wringing my hands. “Was there anything on our phones?”
He shook his head.
“Clean, and I put a few extra security measures in to notify me if something changes.” Zigzag leaned closer and looked in Ivy’s direction. “Do you think I screwed things up, telling her why I don’t trust Sabastian?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” I said, sighing. “She normally tells me everything, but she’s been really quiet about this.” I looked him in the eyes. “I know you love her, and I sort of get why you broke up with her. But why double down on the hurt and flaunt girls in front of her?”
Zigzag crossed his arms.
“I don’t know. I’m stupid. I thought dating other people was what I needed, but then I liked seeing the jealous look in her eyes, so obviously it wasn’t helping.”
“Yeah…you’re stupid.”
He pressed his lips together, brows drawing down low over his eyes.
“What? It’s true. You gave Sabastian all the room he needed to win Ivy over.”
“Will you help me?”
“Oh no, no, no. I’m staying out of this. Sabastian and I are already working through our own family drama, and besides, you made this mess. You’re the one who needs to figure out how to fix it,” I said.
“Fix what,” Ivy asked, appearing at the table like an apparition.
I glanced down at the project and tapped his idea.
“He needs to fix this to make it more insightful.”
Zigzag kept his eyes on Ivy.
“Yeah, that’s it. I’m just not going deep enough with the problem.”
“I don’t believe either of you, but whatever. I don’t even care,” Ivy said, dropping down into the seat beside Zigzag and putting her latest report on the table. “I’m almost failing this class. We need to ace this project so that I can graduate.”
Tears welled in Ivy’s eyes as her bottom lip trembled.
“I suck. This is the third class that I’m bombing, and I thought I was doing well. Shows you what I know.”
I had no idea that Ivy was struggling in her classes. We didn’t spend as much time together as we once did, but it felt like this was something I should’ve known about.
Zigzag put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’ll help you study if you need.”
“Are you kidding me?”
We all jerked and turned around as Sabastian stomped in from the door closest to us at the back of the classroom.
“I come here early to surprise you after class, and I find you snuggled up to him?”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Zigzag said, standing and stepping around the desk. “Can’t you see she’s upset?”
This wasn’t good.
“Hey, what is going on back there?” Sharpe shouted from the front of the classroom, but no one paid him any attention.
“Sabastian, it’s not what it looks like. Zigzag is telling the truth. He was just consoling me,” Ivy said, standing.
“Seriously, are you blind? Of course, he is. He wants you to lean on him and lure you back in. It’s all a ploy.”
Each word was laced with anger.
“Are you serious? I’m not the one with a scam artist for a father who takes advantage of vulnerable kids. Pretty sure if anyone is running a ploy here, it’s you, and your screwed up family,” Zigzag yelled, pointing at Sabastian.
Mr. Sharpe pushed past the students blocking his way as he tried to reach the back of the room.
“Guys, this is not the place for this discussion,” I said, getting out of my seat. “This is a private family matter.”
Sabastian’s glare turned toward me.
“Please, give me a break. The only reason why you care what is proper is because you’re worried more dirt from your family will be announced.”
“Pretty sure my family’s dirt is public knowledge by now,” I said.
“Sabastian, please listen to me,” Ivy said, moving toward him.
“No, I believed you when you said the kiss was a one-time thing and he initiated it. But then he’s been up in my face ever since.
Then you tell me that you were in his room the other night and now this.
So, forgive me if I don’t believe your oh so sweet innocent act,” Sabastian snarled, and stepped back from Ivy.
“That is enough,” Mr. Sharpe said, but no one was listening.
Zigzag stomped toward Sabastian.
“I told you not to talk to her like that,” he ordered.
I grabbed Ivy and pulled her back as the two of them got nose to nose.
“Don’t do this again,” Ivy tried to reason with them, but it was no use.
“You’re a fucking parasite, leeching off of my family,” Sabastian growled and pushed Zigzag.
“Fuck you! You’re nothing but an ignorant pile of shit who doesn’t know his asshole from a hole in the ground,” Zigzag snarled.
“Guys don’t fight. I mean it.”
Ivy tried to push me off, but I wasn’t letting her go. The two guys were so lost to their rage that they didn’t notice anything else.
“Stop this right now!” Mr. Sharpe yelled.
And like the flick of a switch, all hell broke loose. I pulled Ivy back to the wall as Zigzag jabbed Sabastian in the nose. He followed it up with a right cross that had Sabastian stumbling back.
Sabastian grabbed his jaw and snarled like a dog as he lunged at Zigzag, tackling him to the floor. The two of them rolled around, exchanging blows, while the classroom erupted in cheers and calls for one or the other to win.
Ivy sagged in my hold.
“This is all my fault,” she said. “All my fault.”
I winced as Zigzag managed to get the upper hand, his fist hitting so hard that Sabastian’s head slammed into the ground and completely dazed him.
“Your father is a user, and a fucking prick, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Zigzag raged.
“Enough! Both of you, enough!” Ivy screamed at the top of her lungs.
Everyone paused, and the room went silent as they looked our way. I slowly let Ivy go.
“I always thought it would be fun to have two guys wanting me and fighting for my attention, but I was wrong. I can’t do this.”
She ran from the room, but Mr. Sharpe blocked my path before I could go after her.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“After her. She’s my friend.”
“Yes, well, your friend and these two are going to the office with me,” he said, and then pointed at the two guys who were both spitting blood on the floor.
Sharpe must have called for guards, because two of them pushed their way into the classroom and hauled Zigzag and Sabastian up.
“Take them to the dean. I’ll be there with Ms. Morrison in a moment. ”
“Let me come, I can help explain,” I said.
He hit me with a dark glare.
“Oh, you think so? I think you’ve done quite enough for one day, Ms. Genovese,” he said, emphasizing my last name.
“What does that mean?”
The bell rang, announcing the end of the day, and Sharpe walked away without saying another word. He was being so weird lately.
Blake walked in just as everyone was leaving, chatting animatedly about the fight.
“What the hell went on in here,” Blake asked. “I was gone like five minutes.”
I shook my head.
“Zigzag and Sabastian got into it over Ivy, but it seemed like there was more to it. Like it had to do with what Christov did to Zigzag. Does Sabastian even know about that?”
Blake shrugged. “No clue.” He looked around as the classroom emptied. “Where’s Sharpe?”
“He went with them to the office.”
“Perfect.”
Blake marched up to the front of the classroom, but all I wanted to do was go to the office and make sure that Ivy was alright. He grabbed Mr. Sharpe’s briefcase off the floor and placed it on the desk. The snaps clicked as they unlocked, and he started moving papers and unzipping pockets.
“What are you looking for?”
“Burner phone.”
“You think my texter is Mr. Sharpe? I know he’s been a dick, but a stalker? I don’t see it,” I said.
Blake glanced up at me.
“It’s always the one you don’t suspect. Trust me, I should know. No one would’ve pegged me for a virgin with a drug problem.”
“Touché.”
“No phone, but…” Blake held up keys. “Come on, we are going to go snooping later.” He closed the briefcase and set it down in the exact spot where he picked it up.
“We can’t take those. He’s going to know someone was snooping. There is no plausible reason for them to have fallen out,” I said, as Blake marched back to our desk, stuffing the keys in his pocket.
“Doesn’t matter as long as he doesn’t think it’s us.”
He gave me an evil grin.
I was going to end up suspended. I could feel it. My backpack was ridiculously heavy with Ivy’s stuff added. I zipped it up and pulled on my jacket.
“Here, let me help you,” Blake said, holding my straps so that I could slip my arms through. It felt like it weighed as much as I did.
Blake swiped Zigzag’s books and bag, and we headed out. We reached the breezeway and saw Mr. Sharpe, trying to make his way back to the building through the blowing snow. His arm was up, covering his eyes.
“Whoa, follow me,” Blake said and darted back inside. He yanked open the stairwell door, and we ducked down to wait.
“Why are we hiding?”
“If we don’t want to look like prime suspects, he can’t see us leaving.”
I stared at him suspiciously.
“When did you get to be so sneaky?”
He smiled, flashing all of his sexiness in one devastating grin.
“I think I’m just embracing it. Shh, here he comes.”
He put a finger over his lips as the inside door banged a little with the air flow from the breezeway.
A moment later, another one opened, and we held perfectly still.
I watched Sharpe’s shadow pass underneath while Blake peeked through the window. Then, as silent as a mouse, he opened the door. With a nod, we were off and outside, heading for the main building.
“Blake O’Brien, you constantly surprise me,” I said.
He nudged my shoulder. “As long as it’s a good thing.”
“Oh, it is.”
Worry for Ivy sat heavy on my chest, and the knowledge that Blake and I could get caught pressed right up against it. But beneath it all was a dangerous spark of excitement. The kind that came from choosing the unsafe route instead of showing restraint.
Being careful had never really kept me safe anyway, so why not try something new?