by Ruby Vincent
“Val, don’t say things like that!”
I was unmoved. I heard her concern. Understood it. But still it couldn’t reach me. “This is why I have to keep you out of it. I will make them pay for what they did to me from the Knights, to the Diamonds, to the Spades, and that entire fucking school.” Looking her dead in the eye, I stepped closer as hers got bigger. “Sof, I love you, but we’re not friends.”
Her chin trembled. “I don’t think you understand what you’re doing...”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.” I took her hand. “You have to trust me, and we have to come up with a lie that people will believe.” I tried for a smile. “Consider it your birthday present to me.”
“I was going to give you dinner from a famous sushi chef and a private show from the Undisturbed,” she replied, cheeks red. “Instead, you want me to support a suicide mission. Not an even trade-off.”
I gaped at her. “You’re getting the Undisturbed? Sofia, that’s—”
“Was,” she snapped. “Not anymore.” Sofia sidestepped me and marched off. Sighing, I ran to catch up to her. “...what Jaxson did to you was awful.” Her rant was still going full steam. “What they all did to you was awful, but you can’t fight them by yourself. And finding out who the Spades are? No one knows who the fuck they are! That’s the point!”
“Sofia...” I trailed off. I didn’t know the words that would calm my irate best friend which is why I held off on telling her what I was going to do.
“I thought you were feeling better this summer and—”
“And what?” I ran out in front of her and pulled her up short. “Even if I came back pretending nothing happened, they would still be coming after me! Last year, I played nice and wound up with a concussion, broken wrist, dislocated knee, and the whole school finding out that I— That I got a—”
I doubled over, clutching my chest as I gasped. Phantom fingers ran across my body, wrapping around my wrist... and clamping down.
“Val?” I jerked when she touched my shoulder. “Val, I’m sorry.”
Taking a deep breath, I calmed my racing heart. “Don’t be sorry,” I rasped. “It’s not your fault.” After a while, I straightened. Her eyes were dripping with even more concern than normal but I didn’t need that right now. “But I need you to understand that I have to do things differently if I’m going to end this once and for all, and I can’t be worried about you the whole time. Walter McMillian tried to protect his friend and was killed; I won’t let them hurt you.”
I saw her neck bob as she swallowed. “Val, I’m going to say this once—just once. Why don’t you drop out of Evergreen? I know you hated your old school, but literally anywhere has to be better than this.”
I shook my head. “A diploma from Evergreen and I can send in blank applications to any university in the country, and get in with a full ride. You know where I’m from. Kids in my neighborhood don’t bother to dream of getting out. They accept that it’s not happening. I have this opportunity, and no one is going to take it away from me. They can’t. I have... people depending on me.”
She chewed her lip, staring at me for a long time, then she nodded. “Okay. I get it.”
“Thank you.”
She linked her arm through mine and we kept walking. “But I want to help. Tell me what to do.”
“First, we have to make people believe that we’re not friends. Then we have to find out more about the Spades.”
“That’s going to be hard. We don’t know who or where to start.”
“Yes, we do,” I stated as a memory formed in my mind in crystal clear picture. “Last year, Halloween night. The masquerade ball. We find the person who started all of this.”
“YOU LOOK LOVELY.”
I lifted my gaze and caught her smile in the mirror. I might have offered one back, but smiles didn’t come as easily these days. “Thanks, Carmen.”
Although, I would have given more credit to the dress than me. It was a stunning, tea-length emerald green gown that Madeline had taken one look at, said matched my eyes perfectly, then told the attendant we were buying it before I even had a chance to look at it properly. Unsurprisingly, her taste was spot on.
“And thank you for taking care of Adam,” I added. The baby snoozed on her shoulder with no care to her being a perfect stranger. “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble today.”
Sofia’s former nanny was much younger than I was expecting. Apparently, she had started working for the family when she was nineteen, but it was still hard to buy that she was in her thirties.
“This one could never be trouble.”
I stifled a snort. She didn’t know Adam during his teething phase.
“I was happy to help,” she continued. She crossed the room and carefully placed the baby in his bassinet. “I haven’t seen my Sofia in months. They shouldn’t lock you up in that academy like that. That’s just too long to go without seeing my favorite girl.”
Carmen came over to my side and reached for the emerald necklace on the nightstand. I lowered my arms so she could put it on. “At least your birthday is during the summer so you’ve been able to have a real party. The best part is all of your friends can still be here.”
I tensed. Having my birthday outside of Evergreen was a plus, until Madeline brought all my friends to me. I had no idea how tonight was going to go, but I did know one thing...
I met my reflection’s eyes. In another life, they might have scared me. The sharp, glittering coldness was something that was always held in his eyes, and being anything like that monster was reason to worry. But not now.
“Thanks again,” I said after she hooked the clasp. “He should sleep through the night, but if not, come and get me.”
“No, no, no. You’re his sister, not his mother. The only thing you need to do tonight is have fun.”
Now I smiled. “Oh, I’m going to have fun tonight. Mark my words.”
I put on the final touches and then left our room. A thumping reverberated through the mansion, beckoning me outside to the party. It had started half an hour ago, but I decided to be fashionably late.
A lot could be said about Madeline Richards, but none of it could be that she didn’t know how to throw a party. She told me they had gone with a jewel theme and I had no clue what that was supposed to look like, then I stepped onto the veranda.
My mouth fell open.
Emerald and silver had become the official colors and they graced the simmering tablecloths topped by crystal centerpieces. Lights had been strung up along the massive backyard with bulbs in the shape of diamonds. As for the guests, there were no polos or jeans in sight. Girls in jewel colors, and guys in suits that probably equaled the cost of a handful of jewels.
This was amazing. The sweet sixteen a girl always dreams of... if it wasn’t for the hostile eyes that fell on me the moment I stepped out.
“My mom forced me to come since she does business with Madeline.” I turned my head and spotted Penelope and Lola. Summer had been good to them. Both girls were sporting new haircuts and fresh tans. Penelope spoke to her friend, but looked right at me as she said, “I told her I didn’t want to party with a diseased slut, but she said I have to play nice for at least an hour.”
My eyes slid away from them and I made to step off the veranda.
“Don’t run off, birthday girl.” I heard footsteps gaining on me and then a hand fisted in my dress. “Did you ever take care of those STDs? Just want to make sure it’s safe to touch things.”
I spoke without turning around. “Penelope, you remember I said I’d knock out all those bleached teeth if you didn’t stop running your mouth? I think the real question is do you feel safe touching me?”
Suddenly the hand on my dress was gone, and I took off without another word.
“Disgusting bitch!”
I kept moving. The party had been set up in a kind of rectangle. The food table was on one end, a stage was on the other, on the sides were small stand-up tables for people
to eat. In the middle was the dance floor, but there weren’t many people on it.
I looked around and spotted Sofia standing at a table with Eric, Paisley, and a guy that was either Paisley’s boyfriend or Eric’s. I didn’t know these things anymore since after apologies and promises never to hurt me again, my old friends went right back to tormenting me when Jaxson called the fake truce off. Eric had been the first one to upload the video of me running off stage when the whole class found out I had chlamydia.
I grabbed a plate off the table and dropped random nibbles on it as I drifted closer to their table.
“...insane,” I heard Eric say. “Why didn’t you tell me Moon was staying here? Is that why you kept dodging me when I asked to come over?”
“What was I supposed to do?” Sofia asked. “I knew you’d flip shit and go on about obeying the Knights and not messing with tradition.”
“Of course, I would have,” he hissed. “Are you trying to get marked too?”
“No, Eric, which is why I didn’t go broadcasting it. Isn’t that obvious?” Sofia was all bubbles and sunshine on a regular day so it made it weird to hear her “rich bitch” voice. She had one, and she knew how to use it, but it made me tense just remembering those months when I had been on the receiving end of it. “We were friends before she got marked, and when her mom left for vacation, she asked mine if she could stay. I had no idea she was coming until Madame Madeline announced my ‘surprise’ at breakfast.”
I popped a smoked salmon hors d'oeuvre in my mouth and listened closely. Please believe her. Please believe her.
Paisley scoffed. “I swear your mom is so freaking clueless about your life.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You just better hope the Knights don’t think you’re still friends.” There was an edge of hesitation in Eric’s voice that I didn’t like.
“Trust me, we’re not friends. The girl stays locked up in her room all day and I go about my life. Mom threw her this party because she felt bad for her mom ditching her on her birthday. It’s not a big deal.”
I shoved a mini empanada in my mouth. She was doing good. She would get them to believe her. I turned away—
—and smacked right into a hard body.
“Damn, girl. That’s some dress.”
The breath whooshed out of my lungs with the force of a sucker punch. I stumbled away and smacked my thigh into the table. Jaxson Van Zandt grinned into my wincing face.
“It’s been way too long, Val.” His eyes swept my body. “You look great. Did you miss me?”
I planted my hand on the table to steady myself and my fingers brushed against cool metal. I looked down. Resting beneath my fingertips was a carving knife.
My heart picked up speed as I glimpsed my reflection in the polished surface. I slowly drew the knife to me and wrapped my palm around the handle.
“Because I missed you.”
Jaxson’s voice brought me crashing back to reality. Shaking myself, I tried to cool the hot spike of rage swarming through me as I released the blade. “I missed you”—I looked him in the eye—“like I miss the chlamydia.”
Jaxson lifted a brow. “Ouch.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I lurched forward, getting right in his face. “Are you out of your mind? Why would you come to my party?”
The smile hadn’t left his face and it only served to piss me off more. I never understood this guy. What kind of asshole reveals your medical history to an auditorium full of people, then asks if you’ve missed him? Everything is a big joke to him.
It only made it worse that he looked so incredible. The start of freshman year had seen him with a buzz cut, but now his golden hair fell to the tips of his ears, and the five studs he now had adorning each one. His blue eyes glittered in the diamond lights, drawing me to them even though I kept trying to look away. Although looking at his eyes was better than following the trail down his open shirt to his exposed chest. Jaxson had worn a suit, but the tie and belt were nowhere to be seen. He wore the overall can’t-give-a-shit attitude as well as he wore everything else.
I never denied that he was handsome. They all were. But there was malice like most have never seen behind each one of their eyes.
I swallowed as another thought came to me. “Are the rest of you coming?”
To my relief, he shook his head. “Ricky doesn’t like parties. Ezra has some boring awards dinner to go to with his mom, and Ryder hates you,” he stated bluntly. “But you know that.”
I placed my hand to my throat. Yeah, I knew that.
“So it’s just you and me tonight.” Jaxson reached up and swept a lock of hair behind my ear. Goose bumps erupted all over my body. “I like the new hair.”
The new hair was a short bob that barely reached my shoulders. My long chestnut curls had disappeared after Jaxson delivered the final blow.
I smacked his hand away. “I asked you what you were doing here?”
“Calm down, mama. I’m not here to mess with you—”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“—I’m here with the band,” he went on. “When they leave, I leave.”
“Or you could skip to the part where you leave now.”
He chuckled, completely unfazed by my anger. “You know, I really did miss you. Things got heated at the end of the year, but I did what I had to do to make you leave.” He sighed. “But clearly it didn’t work.”
“I told you there was nothing you guys could throw at me that would make me drop out. You’ll have to do better than that.”
Jaxson cocked his head. “Better than telling the whole school you lied about being a virgin and actually fucked your way to an STD? Better than getting the whole thing on a hundred cameras and making you the trending video on YouTube? That wasn’t good enough for you?” He whistled. “Shit, baby. I’m starting to think you like punishment.”
My nails dug half-moons into my palms; I clenched my fists so tight. The pressure was building in my body. Anymore and I would burst.
“I’m not your baby,” I spat.
“Want to know why I waited and let you have a few weeks of peace?” Jaxson closed the scant amount of distance between us. We were so close the tip of my nose brushed his chin. “People in the music business know that timing is everything. Ride the right moment, and you can take someone from nobody to sensation with one show.
“I could have revealed what I found in your records from the beginning, but then it wouldn’t have been in front of the whole class with all their phones out, and you all unsuspecting and trusting because we gave you a little time off.” He laughed. “And they think I’m the stupid one.”
I didn’t speak. Standing there, jaw clenched, I did everything I could to not bury my fist in his face.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly until I trusted myself to speak. “So you lied too,” I whispered. “You said you didn’t want to do the things you guys did to me, but you put in a lot of thought into hurting me for that to be true.”
Jaxson’s smile dimmed.
“You know I thought you liked me... before everything happened.” I lowered my eyes. “My friends would tell me I should take you into the stairwell and get your pants off.”
His tongue darted out, swiping across his lips. “Why didn’t you?” he breathed.
I shook my head. “I wasn’t ready to be with anyone then, but still I thought one day, I would be ready for you.”
I lifted my hand and tangled a finger in his hair. Jaxson peered at me through hooded eyes. His breathing picked up speed, almost as fast as my racing heart.
“But it was all a trick.” I ran my fingers along his scalp, making his eyes flutter shut. “You never liked me. Never wanted me as badly as I wanted you.”
“That’s not true.” His voice was so soft I barely heard him over the music. A hand snaked around my waist and pulled me as close as two people could possibly be.
I shook my head. “You can’t trick me again. I know I wa
s a bet. I know you enjoyed humiliating me in front of the school.”
“I did what I had to do.” Jaxson pressed his lips to my forehead. “You don’t belong at Evergreen.” He kissed between my brows next. Then the bridge of my nose. He was leaving a burning trail along my face that was cracking my resolve. It was with mixed feelings that I remembered the kisses I shared with Ezra, Maverick, and even Ryder, but I’ve never kissed Jaxson.
“You have to drop out.” His warm breath ghosted over the tip of my nose before he kissed that too. “And believe it or not, I was being kind. There are much worse things that can, and have, been done to get rid of the marked.” Jaxson kissed the small space between my nose and lip. There was only one place left for him to go. “Don’t let it get that far. Transfer out, Val. End this.”
Jaxson brought his lips down on mine. I twisted at the last second and he caught my cheek.
“I will end this,” I said. I rose up and put my mouth to his ear. “I’m coming back and I’m going to make every single one of you pay. No mercy, just like you showed me.” Jaxson stiffened in my hold. “You’re going to regret the day you sat down next to me in homeroom, baby.”
I slipped out of his arm and walked off. I felt the eyes on me as I strode across the lawn; I imagined his were boring into me fiercest of all.
Good. I hope he spreads it to his friends too.
“Hello? Hell—” Speaker feedback cut through the party, deafening everyone nearby. Madeline fluttered. “Oh, dear. Excuse me.”
Sofia’s mom looked even more glamorous than me, but in her case, I figured it was effortless. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and the ruby-red wraparound gown fit her like a glove. She caught my eye and beamed at me from the stage. “I hope everyone is having a good time,” she said into the mic. “Now, before we kick things off, let’s have a round of applause for the birthday girl.”
A weak smattering of clapping followed that but Madeline didn’t let it get her down. “Valentina is a special girl who deserves every happiness in life and it is my pleasure to celebrate her sixteenth birthday with her. It is also my pleasure to announce her favorite band...”