by J Bree
“Fuck you, hold still.”
That doesn't sound…consensual. Without hesitation, I creep forward, just a quick peek to make sure the girl is ok, and my eyes connect with Avery Beaumont.
She's fucking terrified.
Rory has her bent over the sink awkwardly, one hand over her mouth and his body pinning her arms behind her back, while he fumbles with his pants. Her panties are torn and on the floor. She's bleeding from her head, her nose looks swollen, her phone is in pieces on the floor, and that fucking dick Rory is about to rape her.
I don't even take a second to think.
I lurch forward and take Rory by surprise. As my shoulder connects with his chest his breath is knocked out of him and he falls backwards against the cold tiles. Avery scrambles away from him and behind me. I expect her to leave, to run away and leave me to deal with this horny rapist whose dick is just bobbing in the breeze but she doesn't. She looks at me like she's looking at a ghost and then she croaks, “Help.”
Rory recovers and staggers at us both. He's easily twice my size and a football player so naturally stacked with muscle. Someone you don’t want to fight without a plan. He may have the advantage but I was raised in nothing and I fought my way to where I am. I duck and kick his knee, ignoring the shooting pain from the pins holding my legs together, and then I slam my knee into his stomach until he drops. I want to kick him right in the dick, I want him to piss blood for a week, but he’s hunching so I can’t get to it. He manages to get a fistful of my hair on his way down and flings my head around until I smash my face into the mirror but then Avery gives him a quick jab to his ribs and he goes down, groaning. She swears and shakes out her hand, shifting her weight like it will help. She’s obviously never had to punch someone before and she’s tucked her thumb in. Silly girl. I’m feeling a little dazed as I think to myself, I should really teach that girl to punch properly.
I pick up one of my text books, the history tome that's a hardcover and weighs more than a brick, and then I use every ounce of strength in me to slam it into his face.
He's knocked clean out.
I'm heaving like I've run a marathon and Avery isn't much better. Her shirt is ripped open and she looks down, clutching at the halves to hold them together. She's clearly in shock and I know I must be as well. My brain feels like a ball in a pinball machine, like it's been shot around my skull a few dozen times. I can't think of anything to say or what to do now.
“He fractured his ribs during a football game last week. It was a lucky guess they were still sore.” She says, looking down at him. He's breathing but I’m not sure I'm happy about it.
“Fucking lucky. Piece of shit.”
She hums in agreement and then steps forward to stomp on Rory's phone that's landed on the floor. I hiss at her, worried he’ll come to with all the noise but she turns a baleful look at me.
“He has photos of me.”
Then we stop to look at each other.
The queen and the pauper.
There's blood dripping down her nose, her eyebrow is cut open and I can see the fleshy muscle that lies underneath. It will scar. I wonder for a minute if it will diminish her incredibly good looks and then I remember that she can afford a plastic surgeon to fix it.
“Why did you help me?” she says abruptly and I have to wipe my own bleeding nose on my sleeve.
“He's a dick and a rapist so why wouldn't I?”
“Oh, I don't know, maybe because I've spent the whole year torturing you, turning everyone against you, helping my brother and his friends turn your whole life to shit? Give me a good reason why.”
This girl is unbelievable. I just saved her and she's standing there demanding answers from me!
“The appropriate thing to say is thank you.” I hiss at her instead.
I turn to walk away and she grabs my arm instead. Her hand is shaking so badly I can feel the tremble up my arm. We stare at each other in silence for a minute. I can't tell what she's thinking, she's as unreadable as ever even with the shakes. Rory starts to groan on the floor and Avery flinches then she stomps on his phone one last time and bends over to grab the chip out of it.
“I have a guy that can get the photos out. I don't need anyone getting there hands on them, I have enough problems in my life as it is.” She explains as she tucks it into her bra.
She tugs me out of the room by my elbow and we set a brisk pace back to the dorms. I wince as my leg begins to protest the speed we’re going but I don’t slow down. When we get back she stands and waits for me to unlock the door to my room and follows me in.
I have never been ashamed of how little I have until suddenly there's this girl who has the whole world at her feet looking around curiously. Her room is a palace in comparison. My cheeks flush and I shake myself. What did it matter what she thought? Three more years until I was free from all this shit. Avery turns and I know the look on her face. It was the exact one she always used to clean up after Ash’s exploits.
“I don’t know what agreement you and Harley came to but I will pay you to keep this quiet,” she starts and I snort at her. She raises a perfect eyebrow at me. “I know you need the money. Name a price and I’ll pay it.”
“Fuck your money. Just because I have nothing doesn't mean I need to be paid for being a decent fucking person. That's what's wrong with you lot, you're all so busy stabbing each other in the back that you've forgotten how to be human.” I start to rummage around in my desk until I find my first aid kit. After the year I've had it's in dire need of a top up but I crack two of the instant ice packs and wait until they're cold. Avery takes one gingerly, like she's never seen one and then copies my movements to press it against her head. I’m starting to worry she has a concussion.
“Well what do you want then? Everyone wants something, name your price.”
“I don't want anything! You being nice to me just because I helped you means nothing to me!”
She looks at me like I've grown another head. I sigh and slump back onto my bed, glancing down at myself to take stock of the damage. My stockings have holes in them now and I wince because they're my last pair. I'll have to get through the rest of the week with them and just deal with the taunts for the other students. There’s blood on my white shirt but I think I can get that out. I have a fair bit of practice with blood removal.
My arms and legs are starting to ache, I can feel the pins holding my leg together and the bone throbs around them. I realize how regularly I’m having to fight people and put my body on the line here. So much for this school being a better place.
Avery sighs and turns to the door to let herself out but she hovers for a minute in the doorway. Her eyes are dry but her mouth is turned down in a little miserable frown.
“If you're willing to do that for your enemy then what you do for your friends must be really special.”
It's… a genuinely nice thing to say and my eyes well up despite it. I’m struck again how much I wish I had what she has. I wish I had people who love me and watch out for me. I wish I had real friends. I wish my life wasn’t empty.
“I wouldn't know, I've never really had any.”
She gives a sharp nod and closes the door tightly after herself. I get up and lock it then I crawl under my covers and try to ignore the pain I’m in.
When I open the door the next morning there is a brand new uniform hanging from my door handle, stockings and all.
It fits me perfectly.
I'm not so naive to think that the universe will suddenly stop shitting on me just because of my good deed.
I make it to the chapel for the full school presentation of awards and I find that seating is assigned. I'm between Avery and Harley and that is when I decided that karma cannot be a real thing because how did I deserve that torture? Avery had probably recovered well enough from the assault and would have something to say about my uniform. Would Harley tease me for taking it? Or will he just continue to ignore me for dragging him into my twisted, bullshit world? I’m s
till walking with a limp after using my bad leg to kick Rory.
Ugh. Rich dicks.
I take my seat and Avery isn't there. I should feel relieved but my stomach drops like a stone. Is she ok? What if she did have a concussion? Fuck, I should have walked her to the nurse.
After a minute of stewing by myself Harley takes his seat and he looks at my bandage with calculating eyes. “Who the fuck beat you up this time?” he says, frustrated and angry which throws me. He must have not heard from Avery yet. I can't tell him, not with this many students around us. Even if we were alone, I don't think I can tell him. Is there a girl code about this kind of thing? Did it count of the girl loathed your very existence?
Fuck.
I don't know.
“Doesn't matter. I'll survive.” I reply. His eyebrows tug into a little frown but then the lights are dimming and the stage is lighting up. I think that will be the end of it but he slumps down in his chair until he can whisper in my ear. “It does fucking matter. I’ve made it clear no ones allowed to touch you and I’m yours now aren’t I?”
He says it sarcastically and I flush. There it is, the resentment for what I did to protect him. I should feel angry at him for blaming me but mostly I just feel guilty and miserable. Ok, I’m a little angry that he didn’t care about being ‘mine’ when I confronted him about Ash getting me thrown out of school. Fuck, I need some time to clear my head. I need a plan for next year.
I swallow and whisper back, “That just means no one outside of these walls can touch you. You don’t owe me anything.”
He scoffs at me, “Thank god because I sure as hell can’t afford the diamonds your favors cost.”
His leg is pressed against mine so I feel it when his phone buzzes. He ignores it until it stops. Then it buzzes again. And again. And again.
He curses under his breath and discreetly slides the phone out of his pocket. I look away because I have no interest in snooping. Ok, I do but I’m also afraid it’ll be a girl texting him and I don’t need anymore pain from this guy right now. He nudges me gently and turns the screen so I can read it.
Courtyard after the assembly. Bring the Mounty.
It’s from Ash.
I suck in a breath. This is it, he’s going to make his move and get me kicked out. He’s probably already done it but Mr Trevelen wouldn’t pause an assembly just to kick me out. I’m going to walk out there and face the humiliation of my expulsion.
I screw my eyes shut and try to fight the panic that’s squeezing my chest so hard I think my heart might explode. I start to count in French and I miss every word Mr Trevelen says in his speech. I clap robotically when everyone around me does and then when Harley stands he looks down at me with cold eyes.
I have no choice but to follow him out to face Ash.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ash is furious.
He’s standing with Blaise in the middle of the courtyard surrounded by groups of students who are all eyeing him nervously. Harley frowns when he sees him and then moves quickly to stand with him so I’m faced with all three of them at once. I stare at Ash, refusing to even glance at the other two, and he looks at me like I’m worse than nothing.
“How the fuck did a little Mounty manage to hack my accounts and clear all of the video files? I’ll have your fucking head for this. There’s no way you can talk your way out of this with the principal.” he snarls at me.
I have no clue what he is talking about. He’s right, it is outside of my abilities, and I didn’t do it. I squint up at him and I must look like the dense Mounty they all think I am before it hits me.
Avery.
She wouldn’t even need to hack in, she had all of his account details and passwords. It was the only way his data could have been wiped so thoroughly. It was a steep price she was paying for my help and if Ash found out he would be crushed by her betrayal.
I could just tell him. I could tell him every intimate detail of his sisters assault. Just how close she had come to being raped but when I open my mouth nothing comes out.
After two years in the foster care system I have seen so many kids who had been molested and it was truly horrifying. How far away from my humanity would I fall if I use this against Avery? They may all be monsters, and I know I am too, but I don’t want to be. Someday I will be a fully fledged adult out in the world and I refuse to let this school turn me the way it has every other student.
“Get fucked, Beaumont.”
Silence. The entire room holds its breath.
Ash opens his mouth to rip me to shreds but then it snaps shut. His face shutters closed, the anger dissolving. His eyes dart to my left and narrow but not it the same vicious way he'd been directing it at me.
Blaise crosses his arms over his broad chest and Harley straightens. I realize Avery must have arrived because no one else gets the boys attention so completely. She steps up beside me and her fingers wrap around my wrist gently, using her body as a shield so no one else can see. Her hand is cold and clammy but her voice is firm.
“Lips didn't clear your accounts. I did.”
Gasps ring out across the courtyard. I look around and see we have the attention of the entire class. The gaggle of girls that usually follow Avery around are darting quick glances between the twins, unwilling to get on Ash's bad side, and I want to snap at them. Gutless. I know in my heart she’s right, none of them would have rushed in to help her. They would have let Rory rape her and then gossiped about it later.
“Avery what-” Ash starts forward, his eyes haunted, and I glance over to see the white bandages over his sisters face. They look professionally applied, nothing like the amateur job I did with my scraps. Ash doesn't care about the accounts at all now he's faced with his injured twin. It would be totally sweet if he hadn't just been on the edge of ending my school career and my opportunity at a decent life.
“You would know if you had answered your phone but you didn't so now you can deal with the consequences. Lips is mine.”
Blaise’s eyes dart between us and my face begins to flush. Someday I will be able to handle his eyes on me but clearly today is not that day.
“What the actual fuck?!” Harley sputters out and I try not to laugh at the sound. I had never heard any of them sound unsure and yet all three of the boys were gaping at us both.
“Ok, I get it. I should have answered, you don't need to take on trash just to get back at me, Floss.” Ash says, gently, aiming to placate her. His hands are outstretched towards her like he wants to pull her in to him and hold her in the safety of his arms. My angry shield cracks a little at the sight.
Avery's eyes narrow when he uses her nickname and instead of answering she slips her arm fully into mine where everyone can see. I try not to flinch because I know if I push her away now it will only make things worse for me. She doesn't get the chance to destroy him though as the far door leading into the courtyard opens and Rory walks out.
Ash does a double take when he spots the scratches down his cheeks and the black eye. He looks back and I watch as he takes inventory of all of the marks on Avery and then, as if an afterthought, the ones on me. I watch as everything clicks into place in his head. It's clear to everyone what has happened. Harley’s face turns thunderous. Blaise’s cool and unaffected mask finally drops and his jaw clenches.
I watch as Ash’s entire body begins to shake, the need to break and smash and destroy whoever has touched his sister so strong that the other students begin to back away slowly, and Blaise steps up to join him, his eyes dark swirling pits. Harley calls out to Rory and when he turns fearful eyes on them he signs his own death warrant. The guilt is written on every fibre of his being.
“Where did you get those from, dickhead?” Harley said, gesturing at the scratches. He has always hated Rory but now his voice was dark and taunting. There was blood in the water and sharks were beginning to circle.
“We had a misunderstanding. It's not a big deal.” Rory sounds arrogant, even with the quaking look on his fac
e, and it makes me see red.
“I hope your broken ribs puncture your lungs and you drown in your own blood,” I hiss at him. I would say more but Avery starts tugging me away. She never did enjoy watching her brother mete out his physical punishments. I’m not sure if Rory will make it out alive.
“I told you, I don't want your protection.” I murmur. I can't be too loud about it in case any of the students hear and it gets back to Ash.
“This isn’t payment, it’s a white flag. And an olive branch. I want to be your friend.”
I stop dead in my tracks. I can hear screaming and yelling starting in the chapel and I flinch. Memories of my time in the Game surface and shove them away, I don’t have time to deal with my own issues right now.
“What?”
“I don't have friends either. I want one and I want one as fierce as you.”
“You can't just- Blaise is your friend.” She shakes her head dismissively and I roll my eyes at her. Had she not just seen their reactions to her injuries? I’d kill to have them defend me like that, to have my back and expect nothing but friendship in return.
“No, he’s Ash’s friends and he both loves and respects me well enough but he will always defer back to him. I want a real friend that's mine.”
“You can't just claim me, I'm not property.” I sputter and my voice is louder than I intend on being. I glance around but the halls have deserted. Everyone wants to watch Rory die. I kind of do too. Mostly because there’s something about watching justice being served that makes my dark heart sing. Plus, the boys were hot at the best of times, watching their fists fly and beat Rory bloody? Um, yes please. I just need a pair of earplugs to drown out the yelling and I’m good to watch the whole damn thing.