Chapter 2
Briggs
I feel like shit for the way I treated Ella, but it’s the only way I can protect her.
She needs to give up the valedictorian title before my father finds out she’s first in the class.
If she won’t agree to it, I’ll have to find a way to take it from her.
But I don’t know how, or even if I can do it.
I’ve fallen for Ella and don’t want to take away what she’s earned, but if it means saving her from my father, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything to protect her.
When my father threatened to take out the person ahead of me, I didn’t know what he meant.
I still don’t, but the look in his eyes when he said it was enough to scare the shit out of me.
It’s the same look he gets when he’s drunk and enraged and throwing punches at me.
He’s been getting worse, and I don’t know if it’s because of the divorce or something at work.
I think it might be both. He used to love being at the office, but lately he’s seemed stressed whenever we’re there.
“You going to Finn’s tonight?” Parker asks as we take our stuff from the lockers.
We just finished up at the gym, and I’m exhausted. I just want to go home and sleep.
“I can’t,” I say, grabbing my gym bag. “I need to study.”
“Forget studying. Finn got some new weed and his dad just stocked the liquor cabinet.”
“It’s the middle of the week. That shit needs to wait until the weekend.”
“Since when? You never had a problem drinking during the week.”
“I do when we have a game coming up. You shouldn’t be doing that shit during the season. We suck enough as it is. We don’t need to be making it worse.”
“You suck,” he mutters. “The rest of us don’t.”
I grab his shirt and yank him up to my face. “You want to repeat that a little louder?”
“No,” he mumbles.
“I didn’t think so.” I let him go and slam my locker shut. “See you tomorrow.”
“Briggs, wait!” Parker says as I’m leaving. I turn back and see him looking at his phone. “We got another one.”
I check my phone. There’s a new text that reads, Your next assignment is to sit with someone at lunch. Someone you’ve made fun of. Do it Thursday. I’ll be watching.
“They’re watching,” I say, “which means it’s someone at school. Who the fuck could it be?”
“I don’t know, but there’s no fucking way I’m doing that,” Parker says, slinging the strap of his gym bag over his shoulder.
“Why the hell not? It’s the easiest thing he’s asked us to do. Just sit with someone at lunch. Big deal.”
“And ruin my reputation? Fuck that!”
I stare at him. “Seriously? You’d rather go to jail than sit with someone you look down on at school?”
He shrugs. “Maybe. Depends on who it is.”
Our phones ding. I look at mine and see a text from Finn. The fucker sent me another text. Did you get it?
“You going over there?” I ask Parker.
“To Finn’s? Yeah. Why?”
“I’ll meet you there.” I leave and go out to my car.
We get to Finn’s house just after seven. I don’t want to be here, but it’s better than being at home and risking running into my father. If I could, I’d move out of that house today, but I have nowhere to go, and I need to play along with the obedient son act until I graduate and get my car.
“What the hell you doing here?” Finn asks as I walk into the house with Parker. Finn’s got a joint in one hand and a drink in the other.
“He’s gonna try to talk us into sitting with some loser at lunch,” Parker says, taking the joint from Finn.
“Hey!” Finn yells. “Get your own!”
“Where is it?” Parker asks.
“Forget the fucking weed,” I say, going past Finn. “We need to talk. Let’s go out back.”
“Can’t,” Finn says, finishing his drink. “My brother’s out there fucking some girl in the pool.”
I sigh. “Then where can we go that’s private?”
“Game room,” he says, heading down there.
Parker and I follow him. Finn’s house is huge, even bigger than mine. It has a home theater, a game room, a gym, and at least eight bedrooms, maybe more.
“Why’s your brother here?” Parker asks Finn as we go to the game room.
“His place is getting painted,” Finn says, flipping on the light. He goes to the bar and refills his drink. “What do you want?”
“Jack, straight up,” Parker says.
Finn pours the whiskey into a glass. “Briggs?”
“I’m good,” I say, but then I think about my day and all the shit going on and say, “Give me whatever’s left in the bottle.”
Finn holds up the bottle of whiskey, which is almost half full. “No shit?”
“Just fill up the glass,” I tell him.
He pours me my drink and brings it over. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
“What the hell you talking about?” I take a swig of the whiskey. “You know Aubrey and I broke up.”
“He’s talking about Ella,” Parker says, getting his drink from the bar.
“She’s not my fucking girlfriend,” I say, finishing my drink.
I return to the bar to fill my glass. Talking about Ella is making me want to drink.
I hate that I hurt her. I hated seeing her face when I told her that sex with her meant nothing to me.
It wasn’t true. It wasn’t just sex. It was so much more than that — something I can’t even put into words.
When I held her today, I didn’t want to let go.
There’s something that feels so damn right when she’s in my arms. Nothing in my life ever feels right, except when I’m with Ella.
I don’t know what it is about her, but whatever it is, it’s addictive, like a drug that both excites me and calms me.
Why does she do this to me? Why does the one person I need to destroy make me feel this way?
“Something happen between you two?” Parker asks, taking a seat on the leather couch.
“No,” I say, sitting on the chair across from him.
“Then why isn’t she here?” Finn asks, playing with the pinball machine that’s along the wall. It’s an X-rated pinball machine, covered with drawings of naked women. His dad had it custom-made.
“She doesn’t need to be,” I say. “She’s not getting the texts.”
“That hasn’t stopped her from being here before,” Parker says.
“We’re not talking about Ella,” I say. “We’re talking about the text we got. Finn, get your ass over here.”
He remains at the pinball machine. “I’m not having lunch with some fucking nerd, so don’t even waste your time.”
“So you’d rather go to jail? That’s what you’re saying?”
“Fuck yeah,” he says, walking to the bar. “Being seen with some tech geek would ruin me for the rest of the year.” He grabs a bottle of vodka and brings it over to the couch, taking the cap off as he sits down.
“You guys are fucking idiots,” I say, my eyes going between them.
“Having lunch with a tech geek isn’t going to change anything.
People will think we’re doing it as some kind of prank.
If anything, it’ll make us look like even bigger assholes, not like we’re trying to be nice to the geeks.
And it doesn’t have to be one of the tech nerds. Pick someone else.”
“Like who?” Parker asks, before swigging his drink.
“Charlotte, or one of the other shy girls.”
“And have everyone thinking I’m interested in her?” Parker shakes his head. “Not happening.”
“Are you doing it?” Finn asks me.
“Yeah. This is easy. A lot easier than giving away ten grand.”
“You’ll lose your power if you do this,” Parker says. “People will lose respect for you.”
“They’ll think what I want them to think,” I say, looking him in the eye. “I determine what people think of me, not the other way around.”
He looks away. “Whatever. I’m still not doing it.”
“Me either,” Finn says, gulping down his vodka.
“I still think Ella’s the one doing this,” Parker says.
“It’s not fucking Ella,” I say, hearing the anger in my tone. “She was with us that night. If she turns us in, she’ll be going to jail too.”
“Not if you protect her.” Parker moves to the edge of the couch, setting his drink on the table. “Deny it all you want, but Finn and I know you’re fucking her. I don’t know what she’s done to you but you’re not the Briggs you were a few weeks ago. Ella changed you.”
“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re whipped,” Finn says. “You do whatever she tells you.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” I huff. “Ella’s scared shitless of me. You should’ve seen her today.”
“Why?” Parker asks. “What’d you do?”
“Took her behind the bleachers. Reminded her to keep her mouth shut.”
“Did you touch her?” Finn asks, smiling.
“Just enough to scare her,” I say. “Trust me, Ella won’t be a problem. I’ve got her under control.”
“If it’s not Ella sending the texts,” Parker says, “then who is it?”
“Someone at school,” Finn says.
Parker rolls his eyes. “Obviously, but who?”
We’re all silent for a moment as we think.
“A teacher,” I say. “It’s gotta be. Either that or someone else who works at the school. Some do-gooder who doesn’t like seeing people being bullied.”
“Like that old lady bitch in the cafeteria,” Finn says. “She’s always yelling at me for cutting in line.”
“She wouldn’t know how to text us,” I say. “She’s too fucking old.”
“I could see a teacher doing it,” Parker says. “But which one?”
“I don’t know.” I rub my jaw. “I need to think about it.”
“Are we done?” Finn puts his feet up on the table. “I want to get wasted.”
“Go ahead.” I get up. “I’m leaving.”
“You just got here,” Parker says.
“Yeah, and now I’m leaving. I have to study. My dad’s getting on my case about being valedictorian.”
“I thought Ella was valedictorian,” Parker says.
“It’s not for sure. I could still beat her.”
Parker laughs. “She’d be so fucking pissed. She’s probably been working her whole life for this, sitting home studying every Friday night while the rest of us are out partying.”
That’s exactly what she did. She’s worked her ass off for this, and now I have to take it from her. I wish things could be different, but they’re not, and Ella’s just going to have to deal with it.
I walk to the door, then stop and turn back. “Parker, I wasn’t joking about the game on Friday. You need to get your shit together or we’re gonna lose.”
“I’m not worried about it,” he says, taking a joint from Finn.