Chapter 3 #2
He says again because I tortured Ella during sophomore year.
I called her names, got people to turn against her, threatened to do shit to her.
She was so scared of me that she’d run the other way when she’d see me in the hall.
But by the end of the year, she started not giving a fuck what I did or said, which took away all the fun of torturing her.
Ever since then I’ve left her alone but things are about to change.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” I say to Parker. “And you’re gonna help me.”
“How? What do you want me to do?”
“Show her who’s in power. Make it crystal clear that she does what I say or we don’t stop. We’ll make her life a living hell.”
He stands in front of me. “I thought we were done wasting our time on this shit. Everyone knows we run the school. Can’t we just forget all this and spend our last semester drinking and getting laid?”
“This isn’t a waste of time. She’s out of line.
She needs to know who’s in charge here.” I stare down the hall at Ella, who stopped to talk to Ms. Higgins, our AP Chem teacher.
Nobody except Ella talks to the teachers outside of class.
She’s always sucking up, but it won’t do her any good.
The valedictorian title is based strictly on grades, not how much ass kissing you do.
“What’d she do to piss you off?” Parker asks.
“None of your damn business.”
“So what exactly do you want me to do?” I turn and see him staring at Ella, his lips creeping up. “I could take her around back. Feel her up.” He chuckles. “I bet a guy’s never even touched her.”
For whatever reason, it pisses me off to hear him talking about touching Ella.
If anyone’s going to touch her that way, it’s going to be me.
I almost did yesterday when I had her all alone behind the bleachers, but then decided to give her a chance to think about my offer.
But she made the wrong decision, so no more holding back. She’s mine now — mine to destroy.
“I don’t want you touching her,” I say, watching as Ella goes into the classroom. “I want you to make her fail. Get one of the geeks to hack into her school account and delete her homework. Do shit to make her late to class. Do whatever it takes to destroy her grades.”
“Why do you give a shit about her grades?”
I grab his arm. “Just do what I said. And don’t get Finn involved in this. He’ll take it too far and ruin everything.”
“What are you saying about me?” Finn appears, throwing his arm around Parker’s shoulder.
“Nothing, shithead.” Parker shoves Finn’s arm off him. “Where the hell you been?”
“With Trina.” He slowly grins. “The girl’s got talent like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I don’t know how you do it,” Parker says.
“Do what?”
“Get girls to want you. Briggs and me, it makes sense. We got muscles and shit. But why the hell would anyone want your skinny ass?”
“I’m not skinny!” Finn shoves him.
Parker shoves him back — so hard that Finn stumbles back. “That’s what happens when you have muscles. When you shove someone, they actually move.”
“You fucker!” Finn charges at Parker.
I get between them, grabbing Finn by the shoulders.
“Calm the fuck down!” I say in a hushed voice as people walk past us.
Everyone’s used to Finn’s temper but usually it’s directed at others, not his best friends.
The three of us fight all the time, but not in front of people.
When we’re at school, we need to appear united. It’s how we keep our power.
Mr. Lander, one of the English teachers, walks up to us. “Everything okay here?”
“We’re good.” I smile at him and yank Finn under my shoulder. “Just joking around.”
Lander’s eyes go to Parker, then Finn and me. “You boys should get to class. The bell’s about to go off.”
“Yes, sir,” Parker says, trying to sound respectful.
He’s totally playing the guy. He does it with all his teachers.
It’s why they think he’s the good one in our group, the one most likely to follow the rules.
Finn’s the immature one who can’t stay focused and is always finding trouble.
And I’m the serious one who gets good grades but doesn’t like being told what to do.
I can turn on the charm when I need to, just like Parker can. I just don’t always choose to.
“Have a good day,” Mr. Lander says, walking away.
I lean down to Finn, putting my face up to his. “Get your shit together or I’ll do it for you.”
He glances away, his jaw tightening. He doesn’t like taking orders from me but he will because he knows I’m in charge.
“The fucker needs to keep his mouth shut,” Finn says, glaring at Parker.
“Go,” I say to Finn, keeping my voice down. “People are staring.”
Finn turns and goes down the hall, catching up with Trina and grabbing her ass.
I look over at Parker. “Why couldn’t you just leave him alone?”
He shrugs. “He’s fun to mess with.”
“Yeah, well, mess with someone else. You know the rules. Nobody sees us fight. Ever. You want to mess with someone, mess with Ella.” I check my phone. “Shit, I gotta get to class.”
I take off, heading to AP Physics. Every damn class I have is AP, thanks to my controlling father, who met with my advisor to pick my classes.
I’m counting the seconds until I graduate, cash in my car, and can finally do whatever the fuck I want.
My father will still try to control me but his threats won’t work because I’ll be on my own.
“Briggs.” Ms. Whittaker stops me in the hall, shoving her glasses up and smiling at me. “I spoke with your father yesterday and—”
“Can we talk about this later? I’m late to class.” I say it just as the bell goes off.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll walk you in and explain to Ms. Rollins that we were talking.”
How does she know I have Ms. Rollins next? Did she memorize my schedule? My dad probably paid her to, then paid her to track me to make sure I show up to class. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he did.
“So you talked to my dad?” I ask, adjusting my messenger bag on my shoulder.
“Yes, he had some concerns.” Her smile fades as her expression turns serious. “Perhaps we could go to my office.”
“I’d rather just do it here.” I grit my teeth, anger coursing through my veins. I hate my father for doing this, for getting himself involved in my school. I don’t show up at his company and tell him what to do. Why can’t he just leave me the fuck alone?
Ms. Whittaker takes a step closer. She smells like really bad perfume, like dead roses mixed with cedar. It’s the type of scent an old person would wear but she’s not that old. I’m guessing she’s thirty, or around there.
“Your father is concerned about your grades,” she says, lowering her voice. “I think you’re doing quite well, but like most parents, your father wants you to do your best so he asked me to talk to you about your options.”
“Options for what?”
“Options to boost your grades. For instance, extra credit projects. As I’m sure you’re aware, extra credit could boost you beyond your 4.2 grade point, which is what you’ll need to—”
“Be valedictorian,” I say, finishing for her because I’m about to explode if she continues talking about this. Any other parent would be thrilled their kid has a 4.2 GPA, but not my father. Nothing’s good enough for him.
“I’m sure you want that too,” Ms. Whittaker says, smiling. “And I’m happy to help you get there with whatever suggestions I could offer to bring your grade point up.”
“I have no problem with my grade point,” I say, my jaw so tight it’s about to snap.
“Well, yes,” she says with a nervous laugh. “Obviously, you’re doing quite well but there is someone ahead of you.”
“Ella Quinn.”
“I can’t confirm that. I can only—”
“I know it’s her. She told me. So what would it take to beat her?”
Ms. Whittaker adjusts her glasses. “Well, as I mentioned, you could consider doing some extra credit.”
“That’s it? Just extra credit?”
“Since you’re both taking an equal number of AP classes, that’s pretty much all you can do.”
“What if something happened to her?” I blurt out, then realize how bad that sounded. I smile. “I didn’t mean it that way. I meant if she got in trouble for something. Or if either of us did, would that count against us?”
“No. The valedictorian title is based strictly on grades.” She tilts her head, eyeing me. “Why are you asking about this? Has Ella done something I need to know about?”
I could make something up and get her in trouble, but it wouldn’t do any good if grades are all that matter.
“It was just a question,” I say. “Are we done here? I don’t want to miss more of class.”
“Of course.” She heads to the classroom.
“I’m good going in alone,” I say, following beside her. “If I need a note, I’ll just get one later.”
She checks her watch. “I do have a meeting to get to, but yes, come see me later if you have any issues.”
She walks off and I continue down the hall. When I get to class, Ms. Rollins stops what she was saying as everyone looks at me.
“I was talking to Ms. Whittaker.”
Ms. Rollins smiles. “Have a seat.”
She continues with her lesson, not even questioning what I told her. It just proves the power I have here, not just with the students but with everyone. But power and popularity won’t make me valedictorian.
I need to be first academically and there’s one person standing in my way. If she won’t agree to lower her grades, I’ll do it for her.