20
Laney
All was strangely quiet on the RFA battlefront.
The last several days at the academy had been uneventful, which was the polar opposite of what I expected to happen after Monday’s confrontation at the lockers with Hunter.
I was still wary of every corner I turned, on high-alert all the time, but absolutely nothing happened to me. No one tripped me in the quad, no one stuck gum in my hair or on my freshly-pressed uniform, and the cruel texts from random people had completely dried up.
Hunter was noticeably inactive and silent, too. We crossed paths quite often, but he acted like I was completely invisible.
On top of that, the students who had previously turned a blind eye to my bullying—neither hurting nor defending me—had started talking to me in classes, clubs, and in the halls like we were old friends. Even some of the kids who outright bullied me before were being… well, I wouldn’t say nice. Civil, though. When they passed me in the hallways, they did that casual head-nod and faint smile thing that acquaintances always do when they see each other, like nothing ever happened. They didn’t whisper nasty stuff under their breath when I went past them, either.
It was bizarre.
Talia, Jessica, and a few of the Princes still made snide comments and cast scathing looks at me when they spotted me—I guess some things never changed—but aside from that, things had really settled down. High school was finally beginning to be a pleasant experience for me.
The best part of it all was that I no longer had to hide out in my room for lunch. I could walk right into the cafeteria after the bell rang and no one said or did a damn thing.
“It’s so great being back here again like a normal person,” Trina said, stretching out luxuriantly in her seat. A half-eaten quinoa salad sat in front of her. “Not that I minded bringing you lunch in your dorm, Laney,” she added hastily, straightening up.
I smiled. “It’s fine. I get it. It’s nice to be back.”
Adam looked around. “It feels kinda weird to me,” he said. “I actually got used to spending all my lunchtimes in Blair Hall.”
“Well, we’re back now, and everything’s fine, so I guess that means Hunter finally got the message. He must’ve taken Laney off the blacklist,” Trina said.
“Was there anything about that in the blacklist group chat?” Adam asked.
She shrugged. “No idea, sorry. They kicked me out of it as soon as they realized I was staying friends with her. Just after the charity gala, I think.”
His face fell. “Oh, yeah. I forgot.”
I caught the eyes of several members of the Medusa Club across the room, heading over to the espresso bar for drinks. They smiled and waved, and one of them gave me a thumbs up and mouthed something that looked like ‘good job’.
Trina followed my gaze, brows knitted in a frown. “Do you think they did something to help get you off the list, or do you think it was just our essay prank that did it?” she asked.
I slowly shook my head. “Honestly… I don’t think I’m off the list at all.”
Her forehead crinkled. “What? Why not?”
“This just doesn’t feel right,” I said, casting my eyes around the room. “It’s like the calm before the storm.”
She laughed. “You should totally join the drama club.”
“No, really. I think Hunter is plotting something seriously cataclysmic to get revenge.”
She waved a hand. “I don’t think so. I think he just finally realized that you can make him suffer if you want to, so he gave up on trying to hurt you.”
Adam frowned. “I don’t know. I think Laney might be right,” he said reluctantly. “We really messed with Hunter’s head with the whole essay thing, and he’s never been the kind of guy to take things lying down.”
I let out a low groan and put my chin in my cupped hands, elbows balanced on the table. “Do you think we should’ve just left him alone?”
“No. We did what needed to be done to teach him a lesson.”
“You really don’t think we went too far?” I said, brows furrowing. “I mean, we wrecked his chances at getting into his dream college. For all I know, he’s planning my execution right now.”
“No, I’m pretty sure he’ll still get into Alton once my dad makes some calls on his behalf,” Adam said, rolling his eyes upward. “The whole point of it was to make him realize that you can strike back and hurt him if you want to, like Trina said before.”
“I guess so.” I pushed my plate away, no longer interested in my sandwich. There were too many nervous butterflies flitting around my stomach for me to be hungry.
Adam nudged me. “Trust me, Laney. You really don’t have to feel bad for what we did. I’m his brother, and even I don’t feel bad. He’s treated you like total shit and made others treat you like shit too, and he’s never given anyone a reason for it. So as far as I’m concerned, he can fuck off. If he wants me to treat him like family again, he can stop acting like such a dick.” He paused to take a long, deep breath. “Seriously, if he wants to try and hit back at you again with something else, I’ll just come up with something even bigger and better than the essay prank. I won’t let him get away with hurting my friends, and he needs to know that.”
I gave him a faint smile. “Thanks, Adam.”
Trina crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward. “I can’t believe it’s been a whole month and we still don’t know why he did any of this,” she said. She bounced her gaze over to Adam. “Have you tried asking him again?”
He nodded. “Yup. Same old bullshit about Laney supposedly knowing what she did. No straight answers.”
Trina’s lips pursed, and she looked at me again. “You’ve asked him too, right?”
“Yeah. Twice. The first time, Coach Reilly cut off our conversation, so he didn’t have the chance to answer.”
“And the second?”
I frowned, trying to recall Hunter’s exact words on Friday night. “Something about me reminding him of a bad time in his life. Or a bad person. He wouldn’t elaborate, though.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not,” she muttered. She leaned back in her seat again, putting her hands behind her head. “I’m going to say something, and it’s going to sound totally irrelevant, but I promise I have a point.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“I watched a movie the other night where the two main characters absolutely despised each other. It was really stupid and annoying, because it was all over a big misunderstanding. I swear, if they just communicated like adults even one time throughout it, there wouldn’t be a plot.”
“Hold on. This isn’t Laney’s fault,” Adam cut in indignantly. “She’s tried asking Hunter why he put her on the blacklist. We were literally just discussing that.”
Trina shook her head. “I’m not saying it’s her fault. I’m saying it’s his fault for failing to communicate. For all we know, he might think Laney said or did something that she never actually said or did, and she’s been tortured for the last month over nothing.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Seriously, he’s acting like a fucking child,” Trina went on. “I’m sick of it.”
I shrugged. “Me too, but what can I do about it?”
She frowned and rubbed her chin. “Honestly… I think you should go and ask him again,” she said slowly. “But this time, don’t let him weasel out of it or give you some bullshit answer. Go and confront him, guns blazing, and tell him he’s not getting away from you until he tells you the whole truth.”
“You really think that’s a good idea?” I asked, tipping my head to one side.
“Yes. It needs to be done. Otherwise you’re going to spend the rest of the year looking over your shoulder, always wondering if and when he’s going to hurt you again,” she said. “I mean, that’s exactly what you’re doing right now, isn’t it? You’re sitting here freaking out about whatever he might be plotting against you.”
I nodded slowly. “That’s
true.”
“I think Trina’s right,” Adam said, patting my shoulder. “He’s way more likely to give you a straight answer than me or anyone else, seeing as you’re the one who supposedly did the terrible thing.”
“Yeah. Seriously, you should go and do it right now,” Trina said. “Maybe then this whole thing will be over before the end of the day. If it actually turns out to be a misunderstanding, that is.”
“Hm. I guess I could try,” I said reluctantly, pulse quickening at the mere thought of approaching Hunter. “But… I don’t know where he is. So maybe I should just leave it for now.”
Adam glanced at his watch. “Lunch is over in ten minutes, and he’ll probably need to grab some stuff from his locker before his next class. You could go and wait near there and try to catch him when he does that.”
“I really don’t know if I should,” I said, heart racing even faster now. “He seriously looked like he wanted to strangle me the other day.”
Trina rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine. He’s not going to strangle you in front of everyone in the school.”
I chewed my bottom lip for a moment. Then I finally let out a sigh and nodded. “All right. I’ll go. Will you come with me?”
“It’s probably better that you talk to him alone,” Adam replied. “Like I said before, he’s more likely to give you a straight answer than us, so if we’re all there, he might shut down and refuse to say anything again.”
“Fair enough.” I stood up on shaky legs and took a deep breath. “Wish me luck, then.”
“You don’t need luck. Just channel some of that awesome Laney-bravery,” Trina said with a grin. “It got you through Friday night with him, right?”
That wasn’t exactly bravery, I thought to myself. More like stupidity and sudden, completely-unwanted horniness.
“If he kills me, I’ll haunt both of you forever,” I said, giving them a weak smile.
“Totally understandable,” Trina said. “Now go get ‘em, tiger!”
Adam groaned. “Sorry, T, but you really can’t pull that off.”
She laughed. “I know,” she said, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Anyway, go, Laney! Don’t let Hunter get away with any more bullshit non-answers.”
“I won’t.”
I left the cafeteria and briskly strode through the maze of hallways, heading for the senior lockers. Just before I turned the corner, I heard two familiar voices, and I stopped in my tracks, forehead creasing.
It was Hunter and his father.
“I’ve been hearing some rumors about you and Laney Collins,” Charles was saying. “Is it true?”
“Is what true, exactly?” Hunter asked.
I peeked around the corner to get a look at them. They were standing right by Hunter’s locker, and the rest of the hallway was completely clear.
“Are you giving her a hard time? Because that’s what I’ve been hearing,” Charles said. “I ran into her last time I was here, too, and the poor girl looked petrified.”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing. Just normal school drama.”
“Well, put a stop to it. I don’t want you causing any more trouble for her.”
“Why?”
Charles folded his arms. “Because I set up her scholarship,” he said. “So obviously, I can’t have one of my sons harassing her. It makes me look bad. You can understand that, can’t you?”
My brows shot up. I was wrong the other day. It was Charles Connery who arranged my scholarship. Not Hunter.
But why? Why now? If he cared so much about the children of his employees, why wouldn’t he arrange a scholarship before their final year of school?
It wasn’t that I was ungrateful at all—even one year at RFA was an incredible boon. It just seemed odd that he’d choose to do something so generous now, even though Mom had been working part-time at his house for years and never received so much as a minor pay-rise.
Perhaps he saw it as some sort of long-service reward for her, or something along those lines. Then again, if that was the case, why keep it a secret? Why not tell Mom what he did for us?
“You got her the scholarship?” Hunter said incredulously, echoing my thoughts. “Why?”
Charles bristled. “That’s not your concern,” he said. “Now, tell me you’ll leave her alone, or I’ll reconsider making that phone call to sort out the misunderstanding with your Alton application.”
Hunter glowered at him. “If you knew what she was really like, you wouldn’t care what I say or do to her,” he said. “You’ll find out soon, though. Everyone will.”
Charles slammed a hand against the lockers, and the sudden loud crack made me jump. Hunter didn’t react, though. He was obviously used to this sort of abrupt, violent behavior from his father.
No wonder he smashed his computer the other day, when he found out about the Alton thing. That was the behavioral model he’d grown up with, so that was how he dealt with anger now, mirroring the things he saw his father do when he was a child.
I frowned as I mulled it over, wondering how he ended up like that while Adam turned out completely normal and non-violent. Did Hunter protect his younger brother from seeing their father overreacting and smashing things when they were kids, so he could have a chance to grow up into a happy young man? Did he do the same for Lindsay while she was still alive?
I had no idea.
All I knew was that I felt slightly bad for Hunter now.
Ugh.
“Leave her alone, or I won’t make that call for you,” Charles finally said, his voice cool and calm again. “I’m not messing around, Hunter.”
“Fine,” Hunter muttered. “I’ll leave her alone.”
Charles smiled thinly. “Good,” he said, his tone suddenly pleasant again. “Anyway, I have to go and meet with the headmaster now. I’ll see you at home for dinner.”
He strode away, and Hunter’s lips pressed into a thin line as one hand curled into a fist at his side. He looked like he wanted to hit the locker, just like his father did, but then he spotted me peeking around the corner.
“What the fuck are you staring at?” he snarled.
I took a deep breath and stood up straight. “I need to talk to you,” I said as I stepped over to him.
“Why? What the fuck could you possibly want from me now?” he asked, crossing his arms as he stared down at me, eyes lit with fury.
“I want you to tell me why you put me on the blacklist.”
He let out a derisive snort. “This shit again?”
“Yes. Tell me,” I said, lifting my chin higher.
“You already know why.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit.” I took a step closer. “I don’t know anything, so I need you to say it. Right now.”
Hunter’s lips parted slightly, and his brows lifted. “Are you seriously telling me you don’t know?”
“Yes.”
He moved his face closer to mine, lips curling into a smile. There was no mirth or happiness in the expression. Only cold amusement. “You really haven’t figured it out yet?” he said. “After all this time, you still can’t think of a single reason why I might hate you?”
“No, and I’m tired of the guessing game,” I replied, narrowing my eyes. “So tell me right now. I won’t let you walk away from me until you do.”
He rubbed his chin, and the smile twisted into a cruel smirk. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I know about you, Laney Collins,” he said, voice threaded with violence. He leaned even closer, breath ghosting over my right ear. “You’re a murderer. A filthy fucking murderer.”
I leapt back, eyes bulging wide. The hallway seemed to press in on me from either side, and the air was suddenly hard to breathe, like someone had sucked every ounce of oxygen out of it.
I turned away and fled down the hall, heart hammering painfully as pure shock ricocheted through my system.
Not because Hunter was wrong.
Because he was right.
21
Hunter
In a flash of dark hair, pale skin, and tartan, Laney was gone.
My body froze, fury erupting in my stomach as my veins filled with fire. For a moment I couldn’t even breathe as I replayed our conversation in my head, over and over.
Murderer.
Filthy fucking murderer.
“Shit,” I muttered to myself, jerking my head upward as something suddenly occurred to me.
I may have just made a terrible mistake.
When Laney first showed up at RFA, I thought she’d gone out of her way to apply for a scholarship so that she could smugly parade herself around the campus and the town, right in front of my family. The family whose daughter she shoved right off a building a year ago.
I thought she got some sort of sick pleasure from being around us, knowing that even if I—or anyone else—ever suspected anything about her involvement in Lindsay’s death, it didn’t matter, because we didn’t have any solid evidence and the death was never treated as a suspicious case anyway.
When I promptly added her to the blacklist, I thought she would eventually break down and realize how unwelcome she was in my town. Then she would slink back to the little Silvercreek shit-hole she came from.
Now I knew better.
For one, she didn’t clamor for a scholarship here at all. My dad fucking handed one right to her, for god knows what reason. Secondly, she had absolutely no idea that I suspected her involvement in my sister’s death. Not until I told her two minutes ago.
That was my big mistake.
Now that I’d called her a murderer right to her face, confirming that I knew all about it, she might think I actually had solid evidence against her. The sort I could take to the cops.
That meant she could be getting ready to run right now. Not just back to Silvercreek with her tail between her legs—she could be going anywhere.
Fuck.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. If I actually had solid evidence, I would’ve taken it to the cops already and had her ass hauled off to jail months ago. What I needed was a confession, and that was what I’d been working towards, slowly but surely.
Savage Prince: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Royal Falls Elite Book 1) Page 25