Chapter 8 #2
I snort and give Harley an incredulous look.
“You think I want to date anyone at this pompous school? You’ll all live in the perfect little worlds your parents have already carved out for you, then you’ll go on to have kids and set them up into your billion-dollar empires, while I scrape by to make sure I can afford to eat and keep the lights on each month.
Fuck you and fuck your assumptions. I’m just here to graduate and get scholarships for college. ”
I’ve caught Avery’s attention, which is the worst thing I could do, but I can’t even glare at the psycho because Harley has me pinned to the spot with his own malevolent glare. He looks at me like I’m a piece of shit, which is so damn confusing, but I’m over them all at this point.
“Yeah, well, fuck you and your assumptions about me, too.”
Because my week hasn’t been bad enough, I have to sit through another choir class watching Ms. Umber fawn over Blaise Morrison. Someday, he’ll lose his shine enough for me to drop his last name when I think about him, but today is not that day.
Choir and voice development is the only class I hate going to, and I sometimes fantasize about faking a recurring head cold to get out of it.
I tell myself I hate it so much because she’s a teacher and at least thirty years older than him, but I think I also might be a little jealous that he smiles at her and jokes along with her. It’s fucking pathetic of me.
We break up into our groups to run through our warmups, and Avery slips into the class.
Her lips look pouty and bruised, like she’s been making out for hours and only just come up for air, and she smirks at Blaise.
He gives her a look in return, and if I had to guess, I’d say he was pissed off.
Ugh, he’s probably in love with her and I’ll have to deal with them getting together, running off into the sunset and having beautiful, talented, rich babies.
I need a drink.
Maybe going to this party won’t be the worst idea I’ve ever had.
Lauren is nice enough to take the lead in the warmup, and I can fake my way through. Dahlia is too busy watching Blaise to contribute much, but I don’t blame her. The second I hear his voice, my skin prickles with goose bumps and I mentally weep over my misfortune of going to school with him.
“Ash is going to murder Rory. Well, if Rory is lucky, it’ll be Ash. Otherwise Harley will do it, and Rory will actually die,” Lauren whispers to Dahlia, and they giggle together.
“Who the hell is Rory?” I ask.
Ms. Umber is busy teaching one of Avery’s flunkies proper breathing techniques, so I’m not worried about my class marks.
“He’s Avery’s new boyfriend. He’s in our grade, but he’s—well, not as smart as you, so you wouldn’t have any classes with him. He plays football.”
A jock. Of course, she would date a football player. I glance over at Avery and find Blaise frowning at her and talking in hushed tones. I can clearly read the disapproval in the tense lines of his shoulders.
“Why will they kill her boyfriend? That’s pretty misogynistic; they all date too.”
Dahlia and Lauren share a look, then lean in toward me.
“First of all, the guys don’t date, they sleep around.
And secondly, Avery is the center of her brother’s life.
He does not cope with any sort of sharing, unless it’s Harley and Blaise.
Last year, she kissed one of the upperclassmen at the end-of-year party, and Ash broke the poor fool’s jaw. Broke it.”
He doesn’t seem like the type to rule over his sister.
It’s actually jarring to think of him acting like that.
He speaks respectfully about her always.
I’ve seen them bicker once, and he never even got close to directing his frustrations at her.
He treats her like she’s made of glass, only they’ll both break if something were to happen to her.
She’s an absolute menace in her own right, so it’s kind of laughable… and endearing. God help me.
My face must give enough of my thoughts away, because Lauren gives me a half-smile.
“Cillian was a dickhead. He told his friends he would bag her and her fortune, and it got back to Ash. He was already pissed about the kiss, and when he heard that, he took Cillian out. When Cillian came back to school this year, Harley had a… ‘chat’ with him, and then Cillian changed schools.”
Fucking rich people.
I shake my head at them in disbelief. Imagine the arrogance, to be able to affect another kid’s whole life just because they hurt your sister’s feelings.
The things that had happened to me without any sort of justice were staggering.
My mom’s neglect. Her death, beatings in foster care, seeing the Game as the only way out.
I look over at the perfect princess Avery, and I’ve never hated the girl more.
“Don’t look at her like that unless you want to die, Lips!” Lauren whispers urgently.
I school my features into something more placid, and we start taking notes from Ms. Umber again. When the class finally ends and I’m packing up, I hear a gasp behind me right as another body slams into my own.
My bag spills out onto the floor. I glance behind me to see who the hell knocked into me and find Harlow, the girl who stood up to Ash.
“Get out of the way, Mounty trash! Bottom-feeding scum like you should know your place and stay away from the students who actually matter.”
It takes every ounce of my willpower, but I don’t react to her at all. After a full minute of me just staring at her like she’s the piece of shit she is, Harlow makes a noise low in her throat and flounces off. The room empties while I pick up my books and move on to my next class.
Nothing seems amiss, right up until I get back to my room to change for dinner.
My stomach hollows out when I see my keys sitting in the lock on my door. I know I didn’t leave them there. Someone has once again had access to my room.
It takes until the early hours of the morning before I’m confident nothing has been taken or left in my room.
I hate this fucking school.