2. Tristan
2
TRISTAN
T he back of my neck prickles. It feels as if someone is staring at me. I crack an eye open, but I’m only met by the clear blue sky and the beaming sun above. The semester starts tomorrow, so I figured I would enjoy this final day of peace before I have to start juggling both my engineering program and the highly illegal job that allows me to pay for it.
Sitting up in my chair, I twist slightly to adjust the backrest. The chair is old and doesn’t work properly, so it takes two tries before the mechanism clicks into place. I blow out a sigh while tuning out the sound of Paul and Amir discussing some game or other on the other side of the table, and then I sweep my gaze over the street ahead.
My heart jerks.
Blinking, I do a double take and then snap my gaze back to the two women who are walking down the sidewalk.
There is a blonde girl who I’m pretty sure is in one of the sororities two streets over. We don’t run in the same circles, though, so I don’t know her name.
But the girl next to her…
My heart pounds in my chest as I stare at her. What the hell is she doing here?
Because it is her.
There’s no mistake about it.
Elle Summers.
The mayor’s daughter.
She has gone from a teenager to a young woman in the two years since I saw her last. Her body is more defined. Sleek, toned legs. Perfect curves. Confident posture.
But apart from that, she looks exactly like she did back in high school.
Her wavy light brown hair is pulled up in a ponytail. And despite the fact that winds ripple down the street, there is not a single strand of hair out of place. She’s wearing a white skirt that ends halfway down her thighs, an elegant top in a pale pink color, and a pair of white flats with tiny bows on them.
Electricity flickers through my veins as I catch full sight of her face when she glances over her shoulder.
Two years ago, she was pretty. Now, she is devastatingly beautiful. Her brown eyes glitter like gold in the sunlight while her luscious lips are parted slightly as if in surprise. And there is a faint blush on her cheeks.
Back in our hometown, one word was enough to describe Elle Summers.
Perfect .
Nauseatingly, artificially perfect.
And looking at her now, it appears as though nothing has changed.
People still see her like that. Like the perfect, popular girl who is always nice and polite and proper .
Rage burns through my blood, and I curl my fingers around the armrest so hard that the wood groans.
If they only knew what a fucking rat Elle Summers really is.
Before I even know what I’m doing, I’m on my feet and reaching for my shirt.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Amir asks as he and Paul pause their discussion long enough to blink at me in surprise.
I shrug on my t-shirt. “Nothing. I just need to check something.”
Before they can say anything else, I stride right across the lawn and towards the sidewalk. Elle and that blonde girl have almost reached the crossroads up ahead. I follow them.
Keeping a discreet distance from them, I trail them down another road while my mind churns.
What the fuck is Elle doing here? Don’t tell me that she’s a student at Bercester U. The odds of that are?—
My stunned thoughts are cut off as Elle walks into the sorority house that I’m pretty sure the blonde girl belongs to. I sneak up to the building. Jumping a short fence, I skirt around the house and glance through the windows.
A jolt shoots through me when I see Elle in one of the upstairs windows.
For a few minutes, all I can do is to stand there and stare at her.
But the more I stare, the more it becomes clear that she is unpacking a suitcase. The room she is in is her room. She’s a student here. At Bercester U. Living just two streets away from me. Walking around in her pretty little skirt as if she didn’t ruin my entire life two and a half years ago.
I flex my hand as cold fury rolls through me.
If she had just kept her fucking mouth shut, or simply said that she didn’t see anything, I would be a normal engineering student at Bercester U right now. Studying. Partying. Having fun experiences. And a bright future to look forward to.
But because of her, because she just had to rat me out, I’m now trapped under a fucking mountain of debt and bound in servitude to a crime lord.
The rage inside me twists into wicked anticipation as I watch Elle move around inside the room upstairs. A cruel smile curls my lips.
Maybe this was fate. Maybe this was the universe finally giving me a lucky break after years and years of misfortune.
Out of all the universities in this country, Elle Summers picked this one. My university.
And now, the power scales are very different.
The mayor of Bercester is not her father. In fact, her influential parents are four entire states away from here. And she is no longer surrounded by her loyal group of equally rich and powerful friends like she was back in high school.
And most importantly, I am no longer a quiet and well-mannered student without friends or anyone to back me up. I no longer let people walk all over me.
Quite the opposite. I have become someone who takes pleasure in asserting my own power over others. Someone who enjoys watching people break down and beg for mercy that will never come.
Elle Summers ruined my life.
And now, I’m going to show her exactly what I do to snitches.