Chapter Twenty-Eight
Amelie
Valentine’s Day was perfect – even if I didn’t get to fuck anyone with a cactus – and the days following were equally good.
We all seem to be getting along, finally.
I’ve decided to give the guys the benefit of the doubt until I know the deal with The Order stuff.
I need to know all the facts before I decide if I fully forgive them or not, and a girl can have some fun in the meantime.
Jasper trails behind me to lunch. I’ve tried asking Baxter how much longer I need to be followed, but he said until he says so, which led to an argument about him being so damn childish and stubborn.
I need to pee before we have lunch; Kalen found me in class and insisted I try some new fruity juice crap he has made, declaring he is on a cleanse. It was actually really good, but my bladder is now paying the price.
I slip inside the bathroom, the one place I get some kind of privacy as Jasper waits in the hallway near the door.
“Scream if you need me,” he says and I may or may not have tested that theory out a few days ago, and yep, he came running, but so did the guys.
Apparently he has an emergency button he hits.
I thought it was hilarious. Everyone else, not so much. Onyx declared they should just let the students eat me alive, that it would teach me a lesson on crying wolf.
I’m startled by the presence of Marcia and a handful of other girls, but I don’t scream out for Jasper. I’m a tad curious as to what their problem with me is, besides the whole ‘I spilled your secrets to the entire school’ thing. They really should get over that. I have.
“Have you spoken to your little friend today?” Marcia asks, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“She’s meeting me for lunch,” I answer, cautiously watching them circle around me, penning me in.
“Is she, though?” another girl with fiery red hair laughs.
“If you’ve hurt her...” I threaten.
“You’ll what? Tell everyone what I did to get sent here?” Marcia scoffs. “Wait, you already did that.”
“Get over it already!” I snap. “Eighty percent of you are rich brats who fucked up and had to have some kind of punishment. I hardly think it’s that big of a deal if people know you set off an explosive in your ex boyfriend's car.”
“Are you that stupid? No one will want to do business with my family's company knowing that! My father is planning to marry my sister off to the Wilsons; it was supposed to be me, and my sister is a troll.”
“Wow, I have no words. But I need to go and check on my friend.”
“I would hurry; after she torched her family, I heard she was suicidal...something small could push her over the edge.”
One of Marcia’s friends throws something very thick and very cold over my head before they all take off running out of the bathroom.
I hold back a scream and march out of the room. Jasper takes one look at me, his lips pull in and I point at him. “Don’t even think about laughing! Just move your ass. I have some bitches to confront.”
As we head into the dining hall, laughs and whispers fill the room.
I spot Elsie first, sitting at our table.
She is shocked when she looks up at me, but before she can ask, the room goes dark as everyone's tablets bleep.
Elsie pulls hers out and places it on the table.
The room falls silent while the video plays: newspaper articles, news reports, psych evaluations fill the screen on some sort of video or slideshow loop.
I look at Elsie and she is frozen. They’re all about her.
Shit! I move to her side and pull her into my arms. She screams. That’s when I notice the room is filling with smoke.
Everyone in the room tries to run, but the doors are locked.
Jasper jumps into action telling us to stay put, and I rock with Elsie wrapped firmly in my arms. I will fucking kill those bitches for this.
“It’s okay, you’re safe,” I croon to her.
The loudspeakers in the room start to crackle. “We are at this school with murderers… Do we feel safe with them walking amongst us?”
For fuck’s sake! I really didn’t think it through when I posted everyone’s business. I see that now. There are currently three killers in the school: Elsie, Baxter and myself. And we’re about to be targeted. Hard.
Jasper comes running back over. “The doors are open and it’s just a smoke machine.”
He takes Elsie and lifts her into his arms. We get three steps and the twins and Kalen make a wall in front of us.
“Are you hurt?” I shake my head no at Slate’s question.
“Who did this?” Onyx shouts to the room but everyone is in a panic. Kalen wraps an arm around me, pulling me to his side.
“I’m pretty sure it was Marcia. The only people who knew why Elsie is here are myself and Baxter. Unless Elsie told her about her past.”
“You can ask her later. I’m taking her to her room and calling Frost in to help. Are you guys okay to watch Amelie while I'm gone?” Jasper demands.
“Wait, I’m not leaving her alone.”
“You need a shower and a change of clothes. Kalen, you go and call Sawyer and Dad, tell them what’s going on.”
“Why me?” Kalen complains at Onyx’s demand.
“Just do it!” both the twins snap at the same time. Kalen huffs and storms away.
The anger coursing through my body makes me shake. Marcia walks past us and flicks her hair.
“Did the carpet licker really think I would date her?”
I see red.
I lunge at Marcia. My whole body collides with hers. I swing as hard as I can, and a loud crunch has me semi-satisfied that she’s at least a little hurt. I can’t tell if it’s her blood or whatever I’m covered in that’s on my fist when I pull back. I want more though; she needs to hurt.
“Watch your back. Everywhere you go. There are three killers in this school and we’re all friends. The odds are not in your favour,” I whisper just as I’m dragged off her.
“Let's get you cleaned up before I get any more turned on.” Onyx laughs, taking my hand and walking me from the room. Teachers have now managed to get the scared students sorted.
The entire walk, I curse the ground that bitch walks on.
The twins just let me be, allowing me to let it all out.
Onyx doesn’t let go of my hand and Slate walks on my other side.
I don’t realise until it’s too late that we are walking through the door of the twin’s bedroom.
Immediately I notice their laptop is lit up and the screen is open on a view of my room.
I turn and see them watching me, gauging my reaction.
My anger rages like an unruly inferno in my gut.
“What is wrong with everyone at this school?! Criminals walking around like it's some day camp, and you lot, with all your secrets. I suppose this is just another one you can’t tell me about.”
Tears start to fall, my anger seeping through my tear ducts, frustrating me more. I’m not sad. I’m mad. And I’m not weak anymore.
My fists ball, shoulders and jaw tense as the twins close in on me slowly.
“This, we can tell you about,” Onyx says, placing a hand on my arm. “I’m a dick…”
I snort; he said it, not me.
“I have trust issues. I mess up more than I don’t, that’s just me, it’s how I’m wired.
When I’m threatened, Slate gravitates to my side, we wreak havoc on anyone in my way.
I am so sorry I thought you were a threat, even though I’m certain you will be my downfall.
I need to know you’re safe and it’s the only way I know how.
” They are both so close, my anger at them ebbs away, as if it’s being syphoned out through them.
The rage at Marcia and her bitches remains though.
“So spying on me without my knowledge is your way of keeping me safe?” I whisper.
Slate leans in, his lips close to my ear. “You knew we were watching.” He calls me on my bullshit. “The little act you and Elsie put on, then at night, we didn’t miss our names falling from your lips.”
Onyx starts to unbutton my shirt while Slate whispers in my ear. When my shirt falls to the floor I see it’s covered in red liquid. “It’s not blood, Elsie is fine,” they reassure me. “Jasper and Kalen are taking good care of her, relax and let us make you feel good.”
“If we do anything you don’t like, just say no and we will stop. Let us prove to you that you don’t have to be scared of us,” Onyx says, slipping my skirt and stockings down my legs.
I let him, I let them both, because I need this. Does it mean all is forgiven? Hell no. But will it help me right now? I need an outlet for the fury burning through my body on Elsie’s behalf. But...Elsie. What kind of shit friend am I if I stay here while she’s so upset?
“Don’t,” Onyx warns, reading my mind. “You can’t go to Elsie like this. You need to shower and get cleaned up, and Elsie needs you calm and strong. You can’t go to her in this state.”
It’s true. I nod to agree to Onyx’s terms, and slowly relax under their burning touch as they strip my ruined clothes from me. Whatever was thrown over me has seeped through my uniform, and my skin begins to itch. I need to get clean.
Onyx leads me to the shower, Slate follows closely behind, both of them touching my naked flesh.
Onyx is the first to let go of me, stripping naked and starting the shower. Slate whispers for me to remove his clothes and I do as he asks, then we both join Onyx under the warm water.
All the anger starts floating down the drain with the sticky mess from my skin.
Onyx pulls me back against his firm body and I feel just how hard he is against my back.
Slate bubbles up a loofah and gets to work on cleaning my body, and his soft feathery touches have my nipples hardening in no time.
He takes his time sliding it over my skin.
Squatting down, he runs the loofah up my leg to the apex of my thighs, before slipping it past my pussy and up to my stomach, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind.
“Do you trust us yet?” Slate asks in a low voice, circling my breasts with the soft material.
“No,” I whisper, but it’s drowned out by a moan.