Chapter Two #2
I shouldn’t be surprised. I don’t know why I didn’t expect it.
Everest was always circling, waiting for an opportunity to get one over on me.
When the sports budget was cut, only the teams which proved profitable to the university were kept going.
His male lacrosse team was scrapped, given that us ladies were wiping the pitch with any opponents we faced.
And yeah, maybe I rubbed it in his face at every opportunity, but so would anyone in my position. Mr. Privilege, aka. Golden Balls, needed to be knocked down from his pedestal, and I was only too happy to be the one to do it.
So in hindsight, I might have deserved this cruel trick of karma, but that doesn’t stop the rage from simmering beneath my skin. I bet he didn’t wait more than five minutes after I’d disappeared to swoop in, slipping into my spot like he’d been planning it all along.
I become lost in my thoughts, revenge plans and scenes of beating the shit out of Everest filling my mind, until my shoulder is brushed.
At first, I think someone is trying to see how far I can be pushed before murder is an option, but in reality, it’s just a fellow student who is interested in the lacrosse flyer.
My jaw ticks. Tearing the flyer down, I scrunch it in my palm.
“Freshman, right?” I ask with a heavy dose of accusation.
The girl nods, her eyes wide and slender shoulders trembling slightly.
I wish I could reassure her that I’m not an absolute raging lunatic, but I can’t even convince myself of that these days.
Fishing the envelope out of my pocket, I hold it up for her to look at.
“I’ll give you twenty bucks to take my bag to the room on this envelope. ”
Her head nods slightly, the fear in her expression subsiding at the mention of money. I quickly remove the key from the envelope and then give it to her.
“Wait for me there. This won’t take long.” I walk away, leaving a stranger with all of the belongings I have left to my name. Relentless fury tends to hinder logical thinking. Whipping out my phone, I place a quick call to Thiago.
“Hey Thi, do me a favor?”
“Name it,” the response comes instantly. His lack of hesitation almost falters my own steps.
Thi is someone I met at my lowest point, and who has decided he likes me enough to pick up my calls on the first ring.
Not even the girls I used to call friends do that.
There is someone who would be overjoyed to hear from me, but I can’t bring myself to talk to her yet.
My biological twin, my bestie, and the reason I was kidnapped.
“Meg? You there?” Thiago asks. I blink, finding myself halfway across the quad I was trying to avoid. The glances and whispers don’t bother me now. My face is flaming hot for another reason.
“Yeah, sorry. Can you watch the cameras for a girl with black hair and thick eyeliner? She’s got my bag.”
“Wait, what? Did she steal it?”
“No, no.” I shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’m paying her to take it to my room. I’ll explain later. I’ve got some business to take care of first.”
“Business, huh? Something I can help with?”
“It’s fine, I’ve got a handle on this. Catch you up later.” I hang up before he can argue, tucking my phone into my pocket. Glancing at the stadium up ahead, I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the shitstorm I’m about to unleash.
I haven’t been back here since the night I was taken.
Blinking against the images that assault me, I push forward but my stubborn resolve flees.
Phantom pain returns, my scalp aching where fists tore through my ponytail, dragging me backward.
I can still taste the copper tang of my own blood in my mouth.
How my voice felt raw and wasted on the wind.
How my body folded, limbs becoming heavy and thoughts slurring.
They cornered me on the pitch, running late-night drills alone, using a gun to get me onto my knees and then the butt of it to split my temple. Dazed and confused, I only caught flashes of the hallways, the blood that streaked the floor, the car and the rest is lost to me.
I stop just short of the door, my fingers shaking slightly around the handle. But then I remember I’m the daughter of a therapist. I’m the master of suppressing my pain and filling the void with something else. In this instance, rage.
The stadium lights glare down like spotlights on center stage, a sea of unknown faces in the bleachers as I step onto the field.
Nervous energy surrounds the pitch, bodies fidgeting as they wait their turn in front of a table of judges.
Amongst those trying out, I recognize some of my old team members.
My best players, in fact, now going head to head for the chance to stay on the squad.
I set my jaw, turning my eyes to the guy in the middle of the judges, not bothering to suppress a yawn and barely watching the tryout happening before him.
Everest looks exactly the same. Sandy blond hair, perfectly styled back from his angled face.
I know from previous verbal sparring that when he smirks, his incisors are sharply pointed.
I see the appeal, but I’m not going to simp at his feet like all of the other girls do.
I’d rather bring him down a peg by wounding his prestigious pride.
Storming across the field, ignoring the play happening behind me, I stop right in front of the table and slam my hands on the surface.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?
!” I seethe. Everest’s green eyes drift lazily upwards, the obnoxious lights catching the flecks of brown set within them.
His gaze roams over my face, not a trace of fuck’s given in his expression.
I scoff out a laugh, my fingers twitching to strangle the life out of his throat. He’s high as fuck.
“If you’re looking to try-out, you’ll need to get in line,” he drawls. I snatch the clipboard out from beneath his hand and toss it across the grass. It was that or slap him across the face with it.
“I know you recognize me, asshole.” There’s a beat of stillness, the play happening on the field having ceased and everyone in the bleachers holding their breath.
Everest’s influence over people was always strong, but the aura around me now is suffocating.
I swear I can hear myself blink as the silence stretches on.
“Meg?” Everest raises a blond brow, and then starts to laugh. Those damn incisors are on full display now, but I’m not swooning. Blood rushes to my face, heated rage pouring from me. “Fucking hell, I thought you were dead.”
I will myself not to react, but as usual, Everest sees the exact moment he’s got me cornered, my throat bobbing as I grapple with a response.
His following laughter grates under my skin, crawling like barbed wire around my ribs.
The people around us might as well vanish.
All that’s left is Everest and the sound of my own pulse pounding between my ears.
The person I was before always had a comeback, never faltered, or let his words affect her. Somewhere, somehow, I find a sliver of that tenacity as if I have a special reserve held back with his name on it.
Leaning forward, I come to a stop just centimeters from his personal space.
“Well then, it looks like I’m back to haunt you, Everest. Get the fuck out of my seat.
” I retort, voice practically dripping venom.
His laughter dies in an instant, and his face grows hard.
Pushing himself to stand, he attempts to use his height to intimidate me, as if being at perfect throat-punching height isn’t a good thing.
“It’s Captain Calloway, and this is my team now. You’re welcome to try out Meg, but I seriously doubt you have what it takes to meet my standard.” For a moment the old dynamics slip back into place. Him, with that damn cocky grin, and me trying not to throttle him for simply existing.
“Ironic, since your standard is what got your team cut in the first place. You couldn’t hold your own then, and you won’t be able to now. You don’t have what it takes to be a leader.”
“And you do?” he says coolly. The glassy haze across his eyes is clearing, whatever he’s smoked filtering out of his system.
“You disappeared. The place was swarmed with cops asking questions. No one knew where you were or if you were coming back. By the time we heard you were in rehab, your team had slipped to the bottom of the league. They were begging me to take over, and now you’re back, I’m honestly giddy for you to sit on the sidelines and watch me catapult us to victory. ”
There’s a roar of cheers behind Everest, those in the front row of the bleachers all holding acceptance letters.
It takes me a beat to realize they’re all men, and behind me, the women are standing on the pitch, looking at their shoes.
My jaw tics. I wasn’t prepared for this, believing I could keep my head down and fade into the background of campus.
But I should have known I wouldn’t be able to let something like this happen without interfering.
Pushing my tongue into my inner cheek, I nod and take a step back. “Fine, Everest.” I say loud enough for all to hear. His smirk makes a reappearance, but it’s short-lived. “I’ll try-out for your position. Tomorrow lunchtime. Bring your A-game because I’m going to wipe the pitch with it.”