Chapter Five
Kiaro
Raven black pin-straight hair that’s usually matted and tangled is like a fucking beacon to us. It’s easy to pick out Rosalie in any photos of her that surface online. It’s all the same snapshots over and over again.
An old picture of her from the one time she went to camp.
A Facebook photo of her posing with a distant aunt who doesn’t seem to care about the poor thing’s home life.
In all of them, bright green eyes, the color of gemstones, are full of suffering and pain. She never smiles, and I like it that way.
Something about her agony is entertaining to me. Call it the fucked up portion of my mind that revels in anything sick, or the morbid fascination of just how far I can push this girl. Whatever it is, I can’t take my eyes off of Roman’s computer screen as I flick through the same photos.
My friends are seated in front of Roman’s flat-screen in his room, playing a game that requires a lot of focus. I can hear the shots ringing out of the TV’s speakers, but I’m not nearly as interested in that as I am this.
“You’re going to turn to stone if you keep looking at her,” Roman calls out to me over the sounds of his player dying for a second time.
Maddox is quiet, his attention trained on the screen. He’s still alive and well in the game, and now pulling the first-place spot as he guns down another online player.
Truth be told, Rosalie isn’t an ugly duckling. She’s fair-skinned with delicate features. Her button nose and plump, pale lips could draw anyone’s attention to her, and if she put a good brush to the mop on her head, it would transform her.
She’s pretty.
But looks alone can’t save her from what we have in store for her. All of our agendas are different in their own ways, but we share one common interest.
Break Rosalie Beckett.
We don’t know when the infatuation started. It was like something clicked in our heads one day, and we couldn’t bear the thought of her existing without pain. It’s what brought us closer together, and she’s been at the center of it all.
It’s as infuriating as it is intriguing.
Roman’s door opens, smacking into the opposite wall as we all shoot up from our chairs.
In the doorway, Roman’s dad, Sergeant Major Briggs, scans over us with a cold stare.
His usual frown is twisted into displeasure as he takes up the entire threshold.
He’s big and imposing, and if his look is anything to go by, he’s pissed, too.
“Why the fuck did I just get a call from your principal, son?” Sergeant Major sneers.
Roman rolls his shoulders. “About what, sir?”
The sergeant’s jaw ticks. “Don’t play the idiot, boy. You aren’t good at it.”
My friend’s eye twitches, a clear indicator that he’s trying not to laugh. “Can’t play when I don’t know what you’re—”
The sergeant is across the room before I can blink. He gets right up in his son’s face, pointing a thick finger as spit flies with each word. “If I get one more god-damned call about you tormenting the Beckett girl, I’m shipping you off.” His burning eyes find Maddox and me. “All of you.”
His threat hangs heavily in the air, blanketing over us and cementing a fate we already know our parents would be more than overjoyed to bestow upon us.
The sergeant has kept my parents and Maddox’s parents updated on enlistment, leaving the avenue open once they finally decide to cut the dead weight from their lives.
Maddox’s mom and dad are harder to crack, but my old man keeps leaving the pamphlets all over the kitchen like he’s trying to embed the idea in my head before it happens.
“Yes, sir,” Roman says monotonously before giving a half-assed salute.
His father scoffs. “Sorry, excuse of a soldier. At ease.”
He flies out of the room, leaving us alone before we all fall back into our chairs.
“That bitch got us in trouble,” Roman spits before tossing his controller down.
Maddox rubs a hand over his mouth before I see an idea spark behind his eyes. “Do you have those photos saved?”
I snort. “No. Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Save them to the desktop,” he commands as he rises from his chair.
I shrug before downloading the two I usually shuffle through. Maddox pushes me out of the way before pulling up the Tor Browser he’s obsessed with. Roman joins us, lifting a brow as our friend hunts for a deep fake website.
“Oh, that’s fucking horrible,” I smirk.
“If we’re going down, we’re taking her with us,” Maddox says ominously.
For being so quiet, he really is the most fucked in the head. Roman is our default leader due to his quick thinking and problem-solving. Where they both lack natural social skills, I fill in the gaps for us.
But Maddox can be a mastermind when he really puts his mind to it.
And this is just what we need.
“Did you send it?” I nudge Roman as we walk into school the next day.
“Just did,” he sniffs. “First priority, be there when Dirt sees it.”
Maddox scans the hallway, his eyes halting near the East wing of the Mystic High. “There.”
Across from us, Dirt stands beside her friend, Charlotte?
Maybe it’s Sherrie? Whatever her name is.
Dirt looks out of place as she shifts from foot to foot.
Her eyes track the movement around her as if someone is going to jump out of the swarm of students and attack her as she waits for her friend to finish grabbing her things from her locker.
Our target is dressed in her usual rags, the bulky jeans riddled with holes and two sizes too big, hanging loosely off her hips. The baggy, well-worn sweatshirt she usually sports swallows her petite frame, hiding the bruises and scars I know lie beneath the thick fabric.
As Sherrie (don’t care what her real name is) puts her last book into her backpack, she reaches for her phone that’s vibrating with an incoming text. As are half the students in this building.
When she holds up the video and presses play, multiple phones can be heard with the slightly distorted audio of our deep fake.
“I love you! Please, Kairo! Just one kiss!” Dirt’s mimicked voice pleads through a few speakers. They’re all off beat, but it does the damage we’re intending.
There are a few cackling snorts from nearby girls, and deep laughs from the football team as they all huddle together to watch the video.
Charlie’s face falls before she flashes her phone screen to Dirt, and we watch as our victim’s soft features twist into horror.
Her pale cheeks turn crimson red as she snatches the device out of her friend’s hand.
She stared down at the deep fake, tears welling in her large eyes. Sick pleasure races through my veins, egging me on as I step into the hall.
“Kairo, Please!” I mock loudly with a cruel smirk. “Just one kiss!”
Howling laughter cracks across the halls, echoing into every fucking corner of this school. I stare Dirt down, waiting for the moment she looks up.
But Roman beats me to it as he stalks towards her, dark intent swirling around him like a cloud. His hard features are devoid of emotion as he glowers at Dirt like she’s a bug beneath his shoe. “If my dad gets one more fucking call from this school, you’re dead.”
He pushes past her, bumping into her shoulder roughly as he continues down the hall.
Sherrie watches him with narrowed eyes before taking the phone from Dirt with gentle hands. “Rose—”
Our victim takes off running in the direction of the girls’ bathroom as tears stream down her cheeks. I only get a sliver of her agony, but it’s enough to have satisfaction settling into my core.
There’s more where that came from, Dirt.