“Well, um… thanks again,” I replied, brows rising.
“I’m sorry, too, Laney.”
I whirled around to see Jessica Fitzgerald standing near me. She looked like she was about to cry.
“I shouldn’t have said that horrible stuff about your dad. And the stuff in your locker…” She shook her head and trailed off for a second. “I guess I was trying to impress the Princes, but—”
Trina cocked an eyebrow and cut her off. “If you’re really sorry, you’ll stop,” she said. “But I bet when we go back to school on Monday, nothing will have changed.”
Jessica held up one palm. “Look, I can’t control everyone else in the school. But I really am sorry, Laney, and I promise I’ll leave you alone from now on. And if you ever need somewhere safe to sit in the cafeteria, you can sit with us. No stupid blood pranks or anything. I’ll make sure of it.”
I swallowed hard. “Thanks, Jessica. I appreciate it,” I said, even though I wasn’t ready to forgive her either. I really did appreciate her effort, though, and I had to admit it took courage to approach me after the awful stuff she’d said in the past.
“I guess we were right,” Trina said with a grin as we headed back over to Adam a moment later. “Everything’s fine. People are actually apologizing to you!”
“I know. I can’t believe it.”
“God, even Jessica Fitzgerald said sorry!” she went on. “Trust me, she doesn’t do that very often. She’s usually a huge snob with an ego the size of Everest.”
Once we made it back to Adam, we did some people-watching from the edge of the room, and when the music got louder, we headed out to the dancefloor. The lights had dimmed now, and a dry ice machine was pumping out colorful swirls of blue, pink, and white.
“It’s finally a real party!” Adam shouted over the music. “Fuck all that formal shit!”
I laughed and joined him as he danced and pumped his fists to the beat. Trina did the same, and we swayed and gyrated until our feet ached and our foreheads were beaded with sweat. It was the most fun I’d ever had.
About half an hour later, I spotted Talia making the rounds in a gorgeous red gown, collecting donations with a mobile credit card terminal. I caught her eye and waved, and she hurried over to us.
“Hi!” she shouted over the music, wrapping her arms around me. “I’m so glad you changed your mind about coming! Love the dress, by the way.”
“Thanks. This place looks amazing,” I replied. “You did a really good job.”
“Yeah, it’s great,” Trina added. Adam nodded in agreement.
“You guys are too nice,” Talia said, casually waving one hand. “I just hope we raise a decent amount this year. Last year’s charity was the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, and we only raised two hundred thousand for them.”
My eyes almost popped out on stalks. I never thought I’d hear someone use the word ‘only’ to describe two hundred grand.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said, smiling diplomatically. “I mean, everyone loves elephants, right?”
She winked. “Let’s hope they show that love with their wallets,” she said. “Anyway, did anyone come over and explain the donation lottery system we’re doing this year?”
I shook my head. “No, not yet.”
“Oh. Because we didn’t raise much last year, we figured we needed a system to encourage more donations. So we’ve set up a lottery. Whenever someone makes a donation, they get a number,” she said. “In an hour or so, I’ll pull one number out of a random dispenser, and whoever’s number gets picked wins five percent of the total donation sum. The other ninety-five percent goes right to the elephant charity, obviously.”
“How does that encourage donations?” Adam asked, furrowing his brows.
“Well, say we only raise the same amount as last year—two hundred thousand. If someone has donated two thousand, and they end up winning the lottery thing, they’ll get five percent of two hundred thousand. That’s ten grand. So they’re getting their entire donation back plus an eight grand bonus.”
“Oh, I get it now,” Adam said, nodding slowly. “It’ll encourage bigger donations, too, because the higher the final sum is, the bigger the lottery win will be.”
“Exactly!” Talia said. She leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Also, we’re giving the winner their prize in cash. So they can still claim their donation on their taxes as a charity deduction from the card transaction, even though they’ll technically get it all back.”
“Smart,” Trina said.
Talia held up the credit card terminal. “So do you guys want to donate?”
“Sure,” we said in unison.
She beamed. “Okay, so the minimum we ask for is a thousand, but if you want to make a bigger donation than that, go ahead! The bigger the better.”
My smile faded, and my hands started to feel clammy. I had no idea there would be a thousand dollar donation minimum. I was only planning on giving fifty dollars, which was all I could reasonably afford.
I still had some of the scholarship stipend in my bank account, along with some savings from my old weekend job in Silvercreek, but after the last few days, it was seriously dwindling.
My mom’s car broke down on Tuesday and needed several hundred dollars’ worth of repairs, which I offered to pay for when she called to tell me about it, and then she fell ill with a bad case of gastro on Wednesday. She felt so sick that she thought it was something more serious, and she went to the emergency room. After a series of tests, she was given the gastro diagnosis and a three thousand dollar medical bill.
I felt awful, firstly for not being there while she was sick, and secondly because I knew there was no way she had three grand in her bank account to cover the hospital bill. So I paid it for her.
Even if I hadn’t done that, there was no way I could drop a thousand dollars at a charity gala. I just couldn’t risk it. There would always be another bill, another car breakdown, or another emergency in the future, so I had to keep as much money as I could squirrelled away just in case.
Talia seemed to realize her faux pas at the sight of my blanched face, and her eyes widened. “Oh! I should’ve said you can donate whatever you want,” she said. “Sorry, Laney, I keep forgetting you’re one of the scholarship kids. I mean, that dress… that face… You look like a freaking queen!”
“It’s okay,” I said, forcing a smile. I knew she didn’t mean to make me feel bad, and I knew she didn’t mean to imply that non-wealthy people were less attractive, either. She was just a bit awkward with the way she worded things because she’d grown up in a gilded world and hardly ever interacted with anyone below her social class.
“I’ll cover Laney,” Trina said, whipping out a black and gold credit card. “One thousand for me, and one thousand for her.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I whispered, tugging on her arm. “That’s way too much.”
She leaned closer to me and murmured in my ear. “I hate to sound like a spoiled brat, but a thousand bucks is nothing to my family. So don’t worry about it,” she said. “Besides, it’s for the animals, right?”
I smiled weakly, knowing she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
“Put me down for five thousand,” Adam said, pulling out his own card. “I love elephants.”
Talia made the transactions, and then she reached into her purse for a little raffle ticket booklet. “Okay, Trina, you’re 83,” she said, handing Trina a strip of paper. “Laney, you’re 84, and Adam, you’re 85. Make sure you hold on to the tickets!”
She went off to solicit more donations, and we returned to people-watching on the edge of the ballroom. Several more students came up to me to hang out and apologize for being mean to me over the last week, and before I knew it, I felt genuinely accepted by everyone, just like I did on my first day at RFA.
That feeling vanished as soon as I saw Hunter step into the ballroom, trailed by his friends.
He looked as handsome as
ever, and every girl within a twenty foot radius stopped and stared as he passed, jaws dropping and eyes shining with fervent admiration. I couldn’t blame them. Hunter was physically perfect. It was just a shame that the undeniably gorgeous veneer hid such an ugly soul beneath it.
I kept my head down to avoid attracting his attention, but he turned and headed right in my direction anyway. My heart immediately plummeted, and my mouth dried up like someone had filled it with cotton.
I tried to move or say something to Trina and Adam to get their attention, but I was immobilized by fear. I could only imagine what he was going to say or do to me.
It turned out that I didn’t need to worry. He looked right past me as he drew closer, like I didn’t even exist. Somehow that actually hurt more than all the times he looked at me with malice simmering in his eyes. He might’ve hated me then, but at least he acknowledged me.
Don’t be stupid, I told myself as he walked past me. Be grateful that he’s ignoring you for once.
He wound up standing near the drinks table with the other Princes, assessing the party with a stony gaze.
As I looked over at him, my knees went weak, and my cheeks flushed with warmth. I hated him for what he’d done to me, truly despised him, but he was completely irresistible. I couldn’t tear my eyes away no matter how hard I tried.
Even the hardened, slightly-hostile expression on his face was hot. The intensity of it made shivers race up and down my spine; a strange mixture of fear and anticipation that stirred a flurry of butterflies in my stomach.
I saw Talia approaching him a few seconds later, forehead creased in a frown as her lips moved furiously. Then she made her way over to me.
“I’m so sorry, Laney,” she said. “I don’t know why he’s here. He wasn’t invited, I swear!”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, nervously twisting my hands.
“He didn’t say anything to you when he came in, did he?” she asked.
“No. He totally ignored me.”
“Okay, good. I just went and told him that this is a charity event, and his blacklist shit isn’t welcome here. We’re just trying to have fun and raise money for the animals.”
“What did he say to that?” Adam asked. He and Trina had noticed Hunter’s presence as well, and they’d moved to stand on either side of me.
“He just nodded vaguely and grunted at me,” Talia replied, rolling her eyes.
Adam scoffed. “That’s probably the most you’ll get out of him.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She turned her face to me again. “As long as he leaves you alone, it should be fine, right? You’ll stay?”
“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” I said, risking another glance at Hunter. He was still pointedly refusing to look in my direction.
Talia’s face fell with relief. “Good. Anyway, I better go. Some people still haven’t donated yet.”
Around half an hour later, the lights turned all the way up again, and a screech arose from the stage on the other side of the room. I glanced over to see Talia fiddling with the microphone, trying to stop it from making that awful sound. Letitia and Grace were behind her, smiling awkwardly.
“There we go,” Talia finally said, holding the mic near her chin. “Hi, everyone! Thanks for coming out tonight.”
Every head in the room had turned toward the stage now, watching her.
“We’ve just figured out tonight’s final donation sum, and you’ll never guess how much we raised for the elephant sanctuary,” she said. “$302,000! Isn’t that fantastic!”
The crowd cheered and clapped. I grinned enthusiastically and joined in.
“Thanks so much for making this happen,” Talia went on. “The sanctuary is going to be so grateful, and it’s all because of your generosity!”
Another cheer went around the room.
“Anyway, I know what you’re all waiting for now. The lottery!” Talia waved at Grace and Letitia. They brought over a golden bingo cage and set it on a table next to her.
“Five percent of tonight’s donations will go to one lucky person. That’s $15,100…. or a new Hermès bag,” she said with a dramatic wink. “And remember, it’s all cash, so you can still claim the deduction. I promise I won’t tell the IRS!”
Everyone laughed at that, and Talia started turning the gold crank on the side of the bingo cage. The white balls inside it spun and bounced all over the place until the random ball selector dropped one into the base.
Talia picked it up and returned to the microphone. “The winning number is 84!” she called out. “Who got that ticket tonight?”
“Laney, that’s you, right?” Adam whispered, nudging my shoulder.
My brows shot up. He was right. I was 84.
My mind started racing as adrenaline pumped through my veins. Fifteen thousand dollars could do so much for me and my mother.
I could get her another car, so she wouldn’t have to worry about her old one breaking down all the time, or I could pay the rent on our house in Silvercreek for the next year upfront. I could even set up a weekend away at a nice B&B on the coast, so she could finally have a vacation after so many years of work without a break.
It might be a miniscule amount of money to the other students in here—or just another Hermès bag, like Talia said before—but to me it was a life-changing amount.
I reached into my purse and grabbed the ticket. “I’ve got it!” I called out.
Talia squinted from the stage. “Who is that?”
“Me!” I said louder.
“Oh, Laney! Congratulations! Come up here for your prize, please!”
Several people in the crowd whooped and cheered as I took a deep breath and walked up to the stage. Every eye in the room was on me.
Even though the night had gone perfectly, I couldn’t help myself from briefly looking up at the ceiling to make sure there weren’t any buckets of blood dangling up there, ready to drop on my head.
There was nothing there. I was safe.
I headed up the steps on the side of the stage and met Talia by the microphone. She squealed and hugged me. “Congratulations!” she said. “This must be so exciting for you!”
She drew back and clicked her fingers at Grace. “Go and get her prize, please.”
Grace disappeared into a small back room for a moment, and then she returned to the stage with a stuffed white envelope. She held it up to show everyone, and the crowd clapped and cheered again.
“Here you go, Laney. Enjoy. You deserve it!” Talia said. She opened the envelope and held it out to me.
As soon as I saw what was in it, my heart dropped to my feet.
It was Monopoly money.
6
Laney
I was too shocked to move or speak. I couldn’t even blink.
“Don’t spend it all at once, Laney,” Talia said, plump red lips turning up in a smirk.
It felt like a knife had been thrust right into my ribcage. Heat flushed through my body, a vein pulsed on my left temple, and every muscle quivered.
I dropped the envelope at my feet.
“What… what is this?” I choked out. Dizziness was overcoming me now, and I felt like I might drop to my knees and hurl all over the stage.
Talia smiled wickedly, too-white teeth bared like a lioness moving in for the kill. “I can’t believe you actually fell for it,” she crowed into the microphone, amplifying my humiliation for everyone else in the room. “Did you really think we’d hand over one red cent to a piece of trash like you?”
“But…”
She turned her head to face the dancefloor. “Did you see her face?” she called out. “She really thought she won something!”
Laughter rose in the crowd. Cruel, throaty cackling, like a coven of witches. It seemed to echo through the ballroom and into the halls beyond, reaching every nook and cranny of the hotel. I pictured guests upstairs joining in as staff members whispered behind their hands about my shameful moment.
“Why?” I whispered, more to myse
lf than Talia. Even though the ballroom was huge, the walls seemed to be closing in on me. I started gasping for air, legs wobbling.
They planned this. They all planned this together, just to humiliate me as much as possible.
I should have listened to that little voice in the back of my mind; the one that warned me over and over, like a flashing red light above an alarm. But no, I chose to be optimistic for once. I chose to believe these smug rich kids could actually be kind and accepting to someone like me.
Now I was paying the price.
I thought it was bad on Tuesday, when I was embarrassed in front of everyone at the cafeteria, but this was so much worse. This time the other students led me to believe they actually liked me and wanted me here, only to pull the rug out from under me as soon as I stepped onto the stage, where my abject humiliation could be put on full display under the bright lights.
I stood soaking in the vicious laughter, head spinning. “You don’t even like Hunter,” I murmured. “You told me that.”
Talia smirked. “And you were stupid enough to fall for it, Trash,” she replied. “Did you really think any of us would turn against the Princes for some Walmart-shopping new kid?”
I kept shaking my head, wrapping my arms around myself as my shoulders hunched up. I wanted to curl into a ball, disappear into myself, only I couldn’t move properly. My legs and feet were still frozen to the stage, refusing to cooperate.
“By the way,” Talia said. “That dress? No one with even a modicum of taste would buy or wear it. It’s so tacky I literally want to vomit.”
Over her shoulder, I could see Hunter stepping up onto the stage from the other side. Five of his Prince minions were with him—Kairo, Jake, Asher, Justin, and Elijah. To the right of them, I spotted Trina and Adam frantically cutting through the snickering partygoers, heading toward the stage as well.
Hunter strode right up to me, a dazzling smile illuminating his handsome features with cruel amusement. My stomach clenched at the sight of him.
“Have you got the message yet, Trash?” he asked. His voice was low and dark. Cold and angry like a rolling storm. “We don’t want you here. You need to get the fuck out of this town.”
Savage Prince: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Royal Falls Elite Book 1) Page 9