Although, going to school with so many boys makes me substantially less interested in having a harem of my own.
I tuck my stuff away and stand up, stretching my arms above my head. There are a few more boys in here now, studying quietly at the row of desks, or arranged in study groups around one of the tables. I ignore them, heading for the door, when a thought occurs to me.
I wonder if they have old yearbooks on hand? I'd love to know more about that girl I saw in the class photo. I was so mad at Dad this morning that I forgot to ask about her, but surely I can do my own research?
Mr. Dave shows me where to find the yearbooks, and while I wouldn't call him nice by any stretch of the imagination, he's at least professional. That is, until I tell him what I'm looking for.
“I'm interested in the graduating class from ten years ago,” I say, and I swear, something dark passes over his face.
“Why.” It's barely a question, more like an angry statement.
“Um, just because …” I start, because I really don't have to give him an explanation, now do I?
“Well, it's not here,” he says, pointing at the two yearbooks from the year before and the year after. “And you're not going to find it floating around the library.”
“Why not?” I ask as Mr. Dave turns and starts to move away with long, powerful strides. He ignores me, and I purse my lips, turning back to the shelf and looking through a few of the other yearbooks. There's nothing about a female student, not even in passing. Maybe they started her as a senior and she graduated or something?
But why was she the first and only female student?
Sighing, I put the other yearbooks back and lay the mystery to rest. For now.
Curiosity might've killed the cat, but I've got sharp claws; I'll be okay.
Or so I think.
Striding into the bathroom after midnight, I do not expect to find all five Student Council boys at the sinks, brushing their teeth. Ranger looks back at me with his toothbrush in his mouth, a blue towel draped over his head. His dark hair is wet and dripping into his face, drawing my attention to those sapphire eyes of his.
Crap.
My heart gives one, big, hard thump, and I feel this tingling sensation shoot through me. I'm crushing, hard. Not cool. I mean, physically crushing. He's a hottie, for sure, but his personality leaves a lot to be desired. My eyes scan across the other four boys, and I shiver when I find Church smiling at me. Part of me is convinced he's like, a psychopath or something. He acts all friendly and nice, but then this cold darkness just takes over him.
“You guys even coordinate brushing your teeth together? That's pathetic.” The words burst from my mouth before I can stop them, and I cringe. I don't mean to come across like a total jerk, but it's my only defense mechanism.
I want to turn and flee back to my room, but I also don't want them to think I'm scared of them either. Lifting my chin up, I stride into the bathroom and across to the last empty sink, putting my things down on the porcelain edge and pretending like I don't feel five sets of eyes staring in my direction.
“Are you always so unpleasant?” Church asks, still smiling at me. “Because it's quite off-putting.” He winks at me and goes back to brushing his teeth, standing shirtless in front of the mirror in nothing but a pair of cream-colored sweatpants with the Adamson Academy logo on the side. “If you were this unpleasant back in California, it's no wonder you thought to move across the country.”
“If you're this unpleasant all the damn time, it's no wonder you have to bully and intimidate people to have any friends around.” I squirt toothpaste onto my brush and stick it in my mouth, pretending like I don't notice the twins in their matching button-up pjs, or Spencer in gray boxer briefs. Yeah, like literally underwear. Underwear. He’s got quite the package.
Ack, Charlotte, gross, don’t look.
I mean, despite the fact that he's the bully here, I feel like a perv staring at his crotch. There's a huge bulge right in the front there, like way bigger than Cody's. Not that I've seen much of his, but the few times we've gotten a bit hot and heavy, I caught or felt a glimpse. And yeah, Spencer is definitely bigger.
Stop it, Chuck, I growl to myself, turning back to the mirror and brushing my teeth with a frenzied motion. It's the only outlet I have for my feelings right now. A hot flush colors my cheeks, and I do my best to pretend I don’t see my embarrassment mirrored back at me from my reflection.
“You sure run fast for someone who has medical issues,” Church says, still smiling. When he frowns at me, I shiver.
“You sure don't act like a Student Council president. More like a bully.” I spit and rinse my mouth, pulling out a pink headband to hold my hair back. And then … I realize they're all still watching me. I'm not stupid enough to actually think pink is tied to the female sex, but society still has outdated gender expectations. Surreptitiously, I stuff the headband back in the bag, and decide against washing my face.
“That wasn't three minutes,” the twins say in unison, flicking their toothbrushes in my direction.
“Dentists recommend you brush for at least three minutes,” Micah says (and please understand, it's always a guess when I name a twin) as he saunters over to stand on my right.
“You don't want to get cavities now, do you?” Tobias continues, taking up on my left. They reach for me, and I duck underneath their arms, stumbling out of the way. I'm so frenzied to get away from them—I really don't want a toothbrush shoved down my throat—that I leave my bag.
There are tampons in there. And a pantyliner.
If they open it, they'll know.
I dive forward to grab my bag, and they let me have it. Neither of them makes a move to grab me this time. They just stand there and watch me as I finish packing my stuff. But they're definitely standing too close. I swear, I can smell them, this bright fresh scent, like newly mowed grass and spring flowers, a little earthy with a hint of sweet.
“You're the weirdest boy we've ever met,” they add, perfectly in unison. How they do it, I have no idea. It's almost eerie.
“I'd rather be weird than boring,” I say, turning and raising my eyebrows as they both just stand there, blocking my way. “Well?” The twins part and let me through as Spencer glares at me, rubbing his lower back with his right hand while he brushes his teeth with his left. Just before I exit the bathroom, I pause. I'm not friends with these guys, not by any stretch of the imagination, but at least we're on speaking terms. Sort of. I don't know anyone else at this stupid academy. “Do you guys know anything about the graduating class from ten years ago?”
The tension in the room changes dramatically, from petty bullshit to cold fear.
“Why on earth would you want to know about that?” Church asks, turning around sharply. He levels an ice-cold look on me that turns his honey-amber eyes to stone. Ranger pulls the towel on his head over his face for a moment and then chucks it into the sink.
“I … just heard a rumor,” I start, and then Ranger is spinning on me, moving forward and grabbing me by the front of my shirt. He jerks me toward him and gets in my face, cold and scary and quiet in his rage.
“From who?” he asks, and his voice is so dark that I shiver from the sound of it.
“I don't know, just some guy,” I choke out, reaching up to curl my fingers around his wrist. As soon as I touch him, his eyes widen, and he pushes me back. I stumble, but I manage to keep my feet. “Why does it matter?”
“Don't go digging into shit you don't understand,” Ranger whispers, and then he's storming past me and out the bathroom door. It slams shut behind him, and I take in the grim faces of the other four boys. There's this darkness in the air that I don't like.
“What did I do?” I say, and my voice echoes in the fancy marble bathroom.
“You should go.” Church is staring at me with a flat gaze that makes my skin crawl.
For a split-second there, I almost protest, just out of natural orneriness. The twins don't give me a chance, stepping fo
rward and grabbing me by either arm. They unceremoniously toss me onto my ass, their green eyes dark as they look down at me, rubbing my lower back and cursing.
“What the hell is going on here?” I snap, and the two of them exchange a look.
“Only idiots talk shit about Ranger’s sister, Chuck,” they reply, sticking their tongues out at me and flipping me off at the same time. The bathroom door is slammed in my face, and I'm left to sit alone in the dark to contemplate.
The things my mind comes up with … are far from pleasant.
But Ranger’s sister? Interesting …
The next day, I find myself back in the library, digging through all the old yearbooks as I look for any sign of another Woodruff attending Adamson Academy. The only person I can find however is an Eric Woodruff from almost two decades earlier than the missing girl.
“Are you back here slinking around again?” Mr. Dave asks me, appearing like a shadow at the end of the aisle. I jump, a cold chill traveling down my spine as I clutch Eric’s yearbook against my chest. I'm going to take pictures of the pages with my phone. Why, I'm not exactly sure. Something inside of me says that I should just walk away and leave this whole thing alone.
But … I don't like secrets, especially ones that make everyone else so damn nervous. What are they hiding and why are they hiding it? I thought I was the first girl to attend Adamson, and now I find out that's all a lie. Only … there's no trace of the last girl anywhere. Not in the old yearbooks, not even online.
Last night, I spent hours stalking Ranger's social media, looking through his family and friends, and I couldn't find one mention of a sister anywhere. There's something so wrong about that. Like, how can a person disappear so completely?
“I'm just doing some research for a paper,” I reply, staring the man's dark gaze down without flinching. “I just need another five minutes or so to make notes, and I'll be out of your hair.”
“Hmm. Just remember we close in twenty minutes,” he barks at me, and I jump. I'm not the only student in the library staring at the librarian in a sheer panic. He's freaking terrifying. A few of the other boys look down and bury themselves in their work for fear of catching his attention.
I nod, and he disappears again, leaving me enough time to take pictures of the pages with my phone. I grab some shots of the years before and after the missing Woodruff girl’s graduating class. Maybe if I can find some of them on Facebook or something, they’ll have more information. Surely some of them knew her, and maybe even have their own copy of the yearbook.
Later that night, when I head back to the girls' dormitory, I compare the photos of Eric Woodruff to the girl in the picture.
They have the same dark hair, same sapphire eyes, and high cheekbones. Now that I'm looking for it, it's easy to see that Ranger's related to the other two. Based on my online snooping, it seems Eric Woodruff now goes by his mother’s last name Warren, following some sort of scandal. Apparently, he’s some bigshot business mogul with shady political ties—he’s also Ranger’s dad, though you wouldn’t know it at first. It doesn’t appear they have much to do with one another.
On my way back to the boys’ dorm that night, I hear chatter in the woods again, and find Spencer and his buddies counting out money. I watch them briefly from between the trees, but I'm not interested in getting involved in whatever crap they've got going on. Looks like they’re selling weed, but what do I care? Pot should be legal anyway; it is in California.
Tiptoeing back through the trees, I end up running right into the silver-haired dickwad on the path. He's got his arms crossed over his chest, clearly waiting for me.
“How did you get over here so quick?” I whisper, and he shrugs.
“My brother taught me everything he knew about these woods, long before I ever enrolled in this school. Don't think there's a place on this campus that I'm not fully aware of. I know you've got your little hidey-hole in the abandoned dorm.”
My throat tightens up, and I have to swallow past a lump.
Spencer's turquoise eyes glitter in the dark like a cat's as he makes his way over to me, putting his forearm on the tree trunk above my head. I can smell him now, this woody warmth that's as rough as it is cultured. Provocative. Salivating. Ugh.
“There's something off about you,” Spencer says, looking down at me with that penetrating gaze of his. “I mean something other than the off-putting bravado you try so hard for.”
I scoff, and go to duck under his arm when he grabs me by the shoulders and pushes me back against the tree, knocking the breath out of me. Spencer leans in and studies my face, taking in my uneven breathing, and my pounding heart with interest. “I'm going to figure out what it is, asshole. Mark my words, Chuck: whatever you're hiding, I will sniff it out.”
“You can fucking try,” I snap back, knowing it's probably a bad idea to piss this guy off when we're all alone in the dark with two of his cronies within earshot. “But I'm not hiding anything worth knowing. Why don't you tell me why everyone freaked out when I brought up Ranger's sister?”
Spencer's eyes narrow to slits, and he leans in close to me, exhaling sharply and stirring my hair. The motion makes me shiver, and I feel my nipples hardening to points beneath the tight wrap of my bindings. My breasts are near desperate for freedom at this point. I can almost imagine Spencer sliding my jacket off, fingers pulling the edge of the bandage loose as he turns me around in a circle and …
His eyes widen slightly, and a smug, male chuckle escapes his beautiful lips. Before I can figure out the source of it, Spencer's grabbing me by the chin and tilting my face up to his, a smirk working its way across his mouth. He's limned in moonlight, making his ash-colored hair glow with silver sparkles.
“It all makes sense now,” he breathes, his mouth far too close to mine for comfort. I try to pull away, but he's got a hard grip on my right arm, fingers digging into my flesh. “I don't know how I didn't see it before; it's too obvious.”
My turn to have my eyes widen, my heart pound. No. He knows my secret. He knows. He freaking knows. I open my mouth to protest, to beg him to keep it a secret, when he continues talking.
“You're gay, aren't you, Chuck?” he asks, and my lips part in surprise. Spencer trails his fingertips down the side of my throat, and I smack his hand away just before he gets to my chest. I have a feeling that if he touches me there, he'll know.
“I'm into guys, so what?” I snap, because that's not a lie. “That doesn't mean I'm into you.” I go to knee him in the balls, when he puts a leg between mine, using his body to press me into the tree. I grit my teeth, but I can't stop my heart from racing, or my body aching. Do I like him touching me, really? I refuse to admit it.
“Is that why you've been such a jerk, huh?” he asks, breathing against my ear. “All the sneaking around, and the standoffish behavior?” I close my eyes, but I can still smell him, a trickle of sweat working its way down between my breasts. I need to get back and take the damn bindings off. Then again, if I wasn't in such a rush to get down here after school, I would've done it earlier, and then maybe Spencer would've noticed something by now. Lucky me.
“Leave. Me. Alone.” My voice comes out in a growl, and Spencer grins, releasing me so suddenly that I stumble and end up on my knees in the leaves.
“If you had a crush on me, all you had to do was say something,” he adds with a laugh, tucking the fingers of his right hand into the pocket of his blue academy blazer. “Seriously, Chuck. You haven't made any friends at this school, and that's your own fault. Nobody cares if you're gay: we only care if you're an asshole.” He turns back toward the direction of the bonfire and disappears, leaving me with sweaty palms and a pounding heart I can't explain.
I suddenly miss Cody with everything I have.
“Dumbass,” I grumble, but honestly, the whole gay thing is plausible. I may just roll with it. Then again, one of the main reasons I want to stay hidden is because I'd like to avoid being hit on. If I come out as gay, I might have a few suito
rs. Like, imagine Ross lusting after me? Gross.
Spencer seemed a bit excited by the idea, I think, cheeks flushing. Although how stupid is that? If he is gay, then he wouldn't actually be interested in me at all once he found out, now would he? Not that I want him to be interested. Not that I care.
Not one bit.
There's no curfew on Halloween, but it's also sort of a moot point for someone like me who doesn't have a car. While most of the other students pile in limos or fancy sports cars and take off, I'm left at the academy virtually by myself.
“Dad, please,” I beg, holding his keys in my hand. “Just let me go into town for a couple of hours.”
“So you can go to a party and get drunk?” he asks, standing in the kitchen with a single jack-o-lantern glowing in the window behind him. “Absolutely not. You don't know anyone here, and you have no friends to go with you.” Wow, Dad, way to rub it in. I frown, but he's nowhere near done with his lecture. “Besides that, you're still in hot water with the Student Council, and you haven't exactly behaved in a manner befitting someone who deserves a night out.”
“Seriously?” I ask, my mouth hanging open in shock. Sure, Dad was strict back home, too, but not like this. For Halloween last year, I went with Monica and Cody to this private beach party that her cousin was throwing. Yeah, we got drunk, but the worst thing we did was spray paint a giant dick on the lifeguard sign down the way. That, and Cody and I laid in the sand while the sun came up and made out. “You're going to make me hang out in this ghost town all by myself?”
“Charlotte, I've got work to do, and Halloween is just another day for me. I'm sorry if it means that much to you, but you should have thought of that before refusing to help Church with his project, or racking up so many detentions.”
I toss the keys onto the counter and throw my hands up in frustration, heading back outside and slamming the door behind me. I'm fuming mad now, totally and completely pissed off. Monica and Cody won't even answer their damn phones, leaving me to wonder what the hell they're getting up to tonight that I won't get to be a part of.
The Secret Girl Page 6