7. The Opening
The Opening
Luke
Moves and countermoves. That’s why I ignored Mr. Wick this morning during first. It’s why I checked in with some of our allies when I could.
It’s lunchtime now. We can’t just go out.
We have to be present. We have to look into the eyes of the people who are trying to take us down and let them know we’re still here. We’re still fighting.
Our biggest enemy at school is Zach Gray.
I can’t just go up to Zach Gray and fuck him up. Even though I want to. It would be satisfying to drive my fist into his gloating face over and over. But that’s where my control works for me. Going to him would give him the power.
No. I need to make him come to me. Make him present himself at my table. Easy to do with almost anyone else, but Zach isn’t just some random guy.
He’s a leader in his own right. He’s got the most popular girl in school sucking his cock. How much of a hand did Sidney play in the nominations of the Homecoming Court? Or was Zach secretly behind it all? If he’s been working against us behind the scenes, this could be his moment to shine.
He may be manipulating Sidney, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes to take down Harper.
Maybe, before, she didn’t know about his attempted rape, or maybe she didn’t want to know, but on some level she has to know he’s a fucking creeper.
She has to see the looks he gives Harper, but maybe she’s too busy looking at me to notice.
It doesn’t matter. She picked her side. They go down together.
I walk into the cafeteria with Jack beside me. We don’t really look at anyone in particular but take in the whole. We missed the parties this weekend. Not normally a big deal, but we rarely miss parties.
The guys I talked to told me about Tanner’s appearance. How chummy Zach and Tanner appeared.
People will expect repercussions for Tanner showing up. They want us to hold the line. They want us to lead so they can follow. So they don’t have to make decisions.
I sit at our table and look out over the others. Zach sits with Sidney. One of his guys, Trace, has his arm around Ashley while he talks to someone else. She looks annoyed, but that’s not unusual for Ashley.
Eli’s right. She makes the most sense to raise up when we take Sidney down. As long as she doesn’t think she can get her hooks back into Eli. Something tells me Ashley is bored of all this. High school can’t end fast enough.
Emma and Hannah aren’t at the basketball players’ table. They’re sitting with the other cheerleaders, closer to us. Emma waves to Jack, who gives her a nod. When he turns to me, I lift an eyebrow.
“It’s not against the rules to have friends who are girls.” Jack picks up his sandwich and takes a bite. “That’s all Emma and I ever were. Friends who would fuck. She’s never tried to claim me like Sidney does you. That’s not our thing.”
“We should definitely review the rules.” I rub my jaw.
Things are changing so quickly. I’m not planning on fucking another girl, but I may have to push one away or threaten one.
My gaze goes to Sidney. She smiles when she notices me looking.
Yeah, there has to be a way to make her finally understand she’s not it.
She never has been. But somewhere along the line she must have thought she could be more. Where did she get that idea? I’ve always gone back to her because she was convenient, but I’ve never given her a hint of more.
Her mom is on the board with my dad though. My father may be the reason she thinks she has a chance. He’s controlled me all my life. It would track that he would try to set me up with someone as a life partner.
Someone he approved of. Someone he could control.
The air shifts, and the loud voices hush a little. I turn to watch as Caden walks in with Harper. He has his hand on her back. Her gaze darts around before it settles on mine. She straightens, drawing her strength from me.
I can’t help the smile that comes over me. My heart feels lighter. It’s dangerous as fuck to love her, but I couldn’t stop it if I tried. She’s mine. She’s ours.
When they round the table, I hold out my hand to her. With no hesitation, she takes it and lets me draw her down onto my lap. She sits sideways so we can see each other.
“Where’s Eli?” she asks. Caden goes to get their lunches.
“Checking in with people.” I brush her hair over her shoulder and a little shiver races through her.
She glances around the cafeteria.
“Not in here, princess.”
She turns her face back to mine and searches my eyes. “What people?”
“Later,” I assure her. “I’ll tell you later.”
Because right now, this room is not the place to talk about anything important. Too many ears strain to listen to what’s being said. Eli is working on figuring out who we can trust and working the ones we don’t. That’s what he does best.
Our job in here is to maintain the status quo. Having a horseman taken out at a game makes us look weak. Even if it’s a normal consequence of sports. We rallied around him like we should, but we didn’t show up this weekend to show our strength.
Into that vacuum, Zach slid. From what I’ve heard, he took charge at the parties like they were his to rule. We need to fix that. Which means I need to do something to bring the balance back to us.
That means controlling the variables. Friday night after the game, the party will potentially be at Caden’s. His parents have been in town for a while. Hopefully that will end soon.
Caden sets down two lunches, and Harper kisses me before sliding into the chair next to me. The kiss was casual, almost an afterthought, but it burns on my lips.
I would tear down everything we’ve built if it meant keeping her safe.
Everything we worked for would mean nothing if she gets hurt because of us.
The lunchroom is full and the conversations have picked back up. Students glance at our table and Zach’s, wondering when something is going to happen. Eli comes in a side door and eases into his seat.
He nods, letting me know Tanner is definitely off campus. Good.
“Now, Jack.” My words are soft, but Jack begins typing on his phone. Phones buzz and ping all over the cafeteria. Conversations stop as they pull up the video.
We worked hard to edit the video in a way to disguise the woman, but she graduated last year. Eli sent a quick message to her to let her know it was coming out and even sent a copy for her to approve.
She’s the one who told us what Tanner was up to.
That he recorded her and others without their knowledge.
That he then used those movies to push them to do more, so it wouldn’t be leaked.
She asked us to delete his cloud file of her.
We made sure the copy was corrupt if he ever went to check on it, but she also wanted to help bring him down.
We knew the day would come that we’d need ammunition. But we didn’t want to harm anyone innocent in the crossfire. High school is brutal as it is.
There’s a tag at the end of the video.
REASON ONE
People whisper behind their hands to each other as they probably try to guess the identity of the girl in the video. Some girls pale as they try to determine whether that was them.
Jack pushes another text.
Unknown:
She’s aware of this video, but wasn’t when it was made
This isn’t the only video
Some girls visibly relax. Sidney glares at her phone before glancing at me. I don’t meet her gaze. I’m waiting for Zach’s reaction, but he just laughs and jokes with his buddies.
It doesn’t matter. We need people to be aware of what Tanner is capable of. The reasons he’s no longer allowed to participate in our society.
I nod to Jack to send the next text.
Zach’s phone is the only one that vibrates. Harper slides her hand into mine, but I keep my gaze on him as he reads it.
Unknown:
If we tell the principal to check your locker for drugs, what would he find?
Zach’s gaze narrows on his phone, and then he meets mine. I smile and lean back in my chair. It’s a warning shot. If he wants to play with our girlfriend, we’ll take everything away.
I don’t know if he has drugs at school. If they’re prescription drugs, he might have them in bottles labeled specifically for him. Drugs of any kind aren’t typically allowed at school, but I’m sure they’d make an exception for him. Or his parents would make sure there was an exception.
Zach smirks and leans in to show Sidney the text. Her eyes widen, and she darts a look at me before leaning in to Zach and whispering something in his ear.
Ashley stands and walks away from the table.
“Hey,” Trace calls after her, but she throws back the middle finger before disappearing out into the hallway. Trace resumes his conversation with the others.
Emma and Hannah follow after her.
“Did you talk to her?” I meet Eli’s eyes.
“As long as what I have planned goes through, she’s ready to do what needs to be done.” Eli glances at Harper. Her eyes widen. “What you said to them drove a wedge.”
We gave Harper the ammunition she needed to make Sidney back off. That included a conversation where Sidney tore down her followers. Harper didn’t even have to pull out the big guns and only played that conversation for Sidney, Ashley, Hannah, and Emma, but it was enough to shake her power.
She glances at her hand and then over at the table where Sidney dines alone with the basketball team. “Good.”
“We have tonight and tomorrow before the festivities begin with Homecoming.” I draw my attention back to Harper and brush my fingers over her jaw. “Tonight, we’re going to go look.”
She swallows because the plan is to go to the quarry. We discussed it briefly last night but didn’t set anything up because we needed to figure out what was happening with everyone else. See if we can find anything that might look like a sign. And we have every intention of taking Harper with us.
We intend to communicate with the friend on the computer too, but after we go to the quarry. We just have to figure out the safest place to talk to them. Also, maybe they know something about Jennifer’s whereabouts.
Harper’s eyes soften as she meets mine. “Okay.”
The lunch bell rings, and we all rise to head to our next class. Caden puts a protective arm around Harper, because we all know what’s going to happen next. Moves and countermoves.
Zach is casual as he makes his way over to me. Caden and Jack continue on with Harper as Eli and I fall back, making sure she’s safe, away from this asshole.
“Nice with the camera work on Tanner.” Zach falls into step with me and we walk toward the back of the crowd. “The soft focus reminded me of some of the old Playboys my old man keeps locked up as collector items.”
I arch an eyebrow at him. Eli keeps an eye out for his crew as we stop next to the doors to the cafeteria. I lean against the wall and wait for Zach to say what he needs to say.
“Tanner is a bit of a trip, isn’t he?” Nothing about Zach’s body language tells me he’s nervous. He’s confident. He thinks he can handle me the way he handles Tanner.
“He’s not a person of interest,” I comment when the last person leaves. “Though some say you get along well with him.”
Zach chuckles. “Just because I talk to the guy at a party doesn’t mean I do what he does.”
I rub the side of my mouth. “Are we talking about the videoing women when they aren’t aware or...”
Zach glances around. “Don’t think I’d be stupid enough to stash anything in a locker at school. Tanner’s an idiot for a lot of things.”
I nod. “You might want to decide who you keep as friends, Zach.” I step away from the wall and smirk. “And who you want as enemies.”
Zach nods his head in acknowledgement. “I know who my enemies are.”
“So do we.” I walk away from him. Eli closes in beside me as we make our way to our lockers. Harper leans back on the locker with Jack standing over her. Whatever he’s saying makes her cheeks flush with color.
She glances my way, and I hold out my hand. She touches Jack’s jaw and pushes up on her toes so their lips meet. He smiles down at her and has all her attention for that moment.
I’ll get my time, but there’s something special about being in that moment with Harper. That’s something I’m willing to share with my brothers. Something we all need.
She flashes a smile at Eli and trails her hand across Caden’s stomach before stopping in front of me and taking my hand.
I don’t say a word as we all fall into step and head to our next classes. They all break away from us until it’s just me and Harper. When we reach the door, I push her against the wall and close in on her.
Her smile is wicked as she rests her hands on my shoulders. “What now, Death?”
“You picked me.” I lean down and graze my lips over hers, feeling the sparks ignite between us.
“I did.” Her fingers toy with the ends of my hair.
“Makes me want to reward you.” There’s so much shit going on around us that these moments mean the most to me. When it’s just me and her and the rest of the world can go take a flying fuck.
“I thought I was the one who’s supposed to reward you?” She cocks her head and arches an eyebrow.
I want to distract her from the madness swirling around us. I want to drown in her soft sighs and smiles. She needs to be safe.
I rest my forehead against hers, and she touches my neck. She mouths to me, I love you.
My insides burn. I’ll do anything for her.