Ruthless Idols: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 2)

by Michelle Hercules

  “Because I wanted her to remember when I do fuck her into oblivion. I did make her scream though. It turns out she’s quite sensitive around her nipples.”

  Watching Rufio through slits, I count to ten in my head to avoid doing something I’ll regret.

  Phoenix jumps off the couch in a hurry. “You know what? Fuck you two. Now I have a boner and am in desperate need of a cold shower.” He stalks out of the living room, banging his door so hard that it rattles the picture frame on the wall.

  “Son of a bitch.” Morpheus rests his head in his hands. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

  Ignoring Morpheus, Rufio stands from the couch as well. “I have zero interest in torturing Daisy now, so don’t go getting premature wrinkles on your forehead, brother.”

  “Oh yeah? You’re simply going to let go of all your hatred toward Norms?”

  Rufio smiles ruefully. “No. I still believe Norms are vermin. But Daisy—” He pauses to lick his lower lip. “—is not a regular Norm. The Knights want her alive, and the god we’re sworn to wants her dead. She may be a pawn, but I’m betting she’s a queen, and I always fuck the queen.”

  With that statement, he walks out.

  “It seems you got competition,” Morpheus points out.

  Narrowing my gaze, I reply, “Who says I’m playing?”

  6

  Daisy

  Alone in my room, I allow myself to freak out completely. I can’t believe Bryce and I got caught by those three. It was a herculean effort not to let Rufio know how guilty I felt. And the worst of all is that I don’t have any reason to feel guilty. He’s nothing to me, a blip in my life at Gifted Academy that I wish I could forget.

  The thought that I was somehow betraying Rufio when I was in bed with Bryce didn’t even enter my mind. So then why the hell do I feel dirty now?

  Suddenly, my room seems confining. The walls are caging me in. I head for the bathroom and take the quickest shower known to man. Then, once I can no longer smell Bryce on my skin, I get dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I’m heading out.

  I stick my head out in the hallway first to make sure the coast is clear, then sprint toward the stairs and out of the building. On my way to the bus stop just outside of the campus gates, I call Toby. He was freaking out about his parents’ visit, and I want to make sure everything is okay.

  The call goes straight to voice mail. Crap. I hope he’s okay.

  I call Rosie next, but she doesn’t answer. I remember then that she should still be in school. I park my butt on the bus stop bench and look out in the distance, thinking how my life has done a one-eighty on me.

  A moment later, the sound of an approaching vehicle calls my attention to the road. A black SUV is approaching. The windows are tinted black, and I can’t see who is inside. The car slows down when it passes in front of the bus stop, and I have the eerie impression that the driver is staring at me. I clutch my backpack tighter against my chest, using it as a shield.

  The SUV speeds up again before stopping at the gates of Gifted Academy. In that precise moment, my bus arrives.

  I pay for my ticket and veer for the closest set of empty seats near the front. I don’t feel safe sitting in the back of the bus; more often than not, that’s where bullying occurs. The bus is almost empty, and the few passengers are all adults. None of them bat an eye toward me.

  The drive from Gifted Academy to the Saturn’s Bay city center takes a little over an hour. During that time, I look out the window and take time to reflect on my predicament. A teacher tried to kill me, and I don’t know why. I slept with Bryce, and it was the most exhilarating experience of life, which still doesn’t diminish my attraction for his brother. Oh, and I also lost my lightning-glass dagger.

  I nibble on my lower lip. That part worries me the most. Who found it? And whoever did, will they know what it is? I pull the thick tome the librarian lent me from my backpack. I haven’t lost the place Bryce marked, the one where it explains what I must do to keep Phoenix from messing with my head. It turns out acting on it will be more difficult than finding the solution itself.

  But I think maybe I should read the whole thing from start to finish. Bryce seemed very interested in the book when he saw it. What other important information about the Idols does it contain?

  The lettering on the cover is faded, but even so, I angle my body so I’m concealing most of the book from the woman sitting across the aisle. I can’t take any chances. By the time the bus approaches my stop, I’ve read roughly 10 percent of the book and found nothing that really jumped out. It doesn’t matter. I’ll keep reading until I’m done.

  I stick the book back into my backpack and hop off the bus. It’s warmer here than it is at Gifted Academy, probably because of the traffic, and soon sweat begins to trickle down my back and between my breasts. I walk fast, sticking to the side of the curb that’s under the building’s shade. Looking at my phone’s clock, I see Rosie’s school will be out in ten minutes. My former high school is just around the corner. I should be able to catch her before she takes the bus home.

  When I round the corner onto the school’s street, the first thing I see parked in front of the building is Toby’s car—Purple Delight. As I get nearer, I catch sight of Toby’s bright red hair. He’s leaning against the car, facing the building. Students are already milling out. Before I can get to him, Rosie walks out. She lets out a squeak and runs into Toby’s arms.

  Whoa. When did they move from awkward side glances to that?

  I slow my pace so I can observe them without being spotted. Rosie’s chin dips. She must be looking at Toby’s cast. She lifts her face a moment later and cups his cheek. I freeze, not wanting to be the older sister who interrupts a tender moment. Rosie rises on her tiptoes and kisses Toby on his lips. I don’t know if that’s their first time or not, but their lip-locking gets intense pretty quickly. Okay, now’s the time to interrupt them.

  With quick strides, I reach the side of Toby’s car, but they’re too engrossed in each other and oblivious to my presence. I clear my throat.

  Rosie steps down and turns toward me with her face flushed. Her eyes become as round as saucers when she sees me there.

  “Daisy, what are you doing here?”

  If it’s possible, Rosie’s cheeks are now redder than a tomato. Toby’s face is not doing much better either.

  “I had to get out for a while. So… when did this happen?” I wave my index finger between them.

  Toby scratches the back of his neck and glances down.

  Rosie pouts. “Just now, if you must know. Thanks for ruining the moment, by the way.”

  I shake my head. “Yes, it was totally on purpose.” I turn to Toby. “I called you to ask how things went with your parents. It went straight to voice mail.”

  Toby pinches his lips, furrowing his brow. “I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.”

  “Anyone besides my sister, you mean?”

  Rosie slides closer to Toby and links her hand with his. “It’s what good boyfriends do.”

  The frown disappears from Toby’s face as he gazes at my sister. “I’m your boyfriend?”

  “Well, aren’t you?”

  “Well, I-I guess so. That is, if you want me to be your boyfriend.”

  I turn my gaze skyward. “Boy, you’re dense.”

  “More so than ever. I’m leaving Gifted Academy,” he says.

  “What?” Rosie and I say at the same time.

  “Why? They didn’t expel you, did they?” I take a step forward.

  “Why would Toby be expelled?” Rosie looks from me to him.

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Toby says, “Can we go somewhere to talk? I don’t feel like having this conversation standing in the middle of the street.”

  We slide into Purple Delight. Rosie takes shotgun, naturally. It feels strange that my baby sister now has a boyfriend. But a sense of unease is growing in my chest. I’ve come to care deeply for Toby in the few weeks we’ve known each ot
her, but I still don’t know anything about him, only that he pretended to be a Fringe for two years. How did he even pull it off?

  “Where should we go?” Rosie asks.

  “Anywhere but Poppy’s Joint,” I reply quickly. I can’t deal with Poppy or Felicity right now. I’m still trying to process everything that happened.

  Rosie turns around in her seat. “I never got to ask you how your surfing lesson went. Toby told me he took you to Echo Cove on Saturday.”

  “Uh, I…. “I search for Toby’s gaze in the rearview mirror. I can’t believe he didn’t tell Rosie what happened at the beach.

  “It was a disaster,” I finally reply. “I don’t think I’m meant to be a surfer.”

  “Really? You’re quitting after one lesson?” Rosie chuckles. “Did you expect to be a pro from the get-go?”

  “No, it’s not that. It just didn’t live up to my expectations. I thought I was going to enjoy it more. It’s not a big deal. At least I’ve done it. Besides, it’s not like I’d have the time to practice.”

  Rosie turns to Toby. “Are you going to tell me how you broke your arm or not?”

  “I got into a fight with an Idol.”

  “Toby! Are you crazy?” Rosie’s voice rises to a shrill. “Why?”

  “To defend me,” I say. I don’t want Toby to lie to Rosie on my account. “Some bullies were seriously hurting me.”

  Rosie’s turns to me again, her blue eye blazing with fury. “I told you Gifted Academy would be dangerous.”

  “Oh, Rosie, we’re Norms. Anywhere is dangerous to our kind,” I reply.

  “Not only Norms. Look what those bastards did to Toby.” Rosie’s gaze drops to his cast.

  “Uh, Rosie, I actually need to tell you something,” Toby says meekly.

  “What is it?” Her voice becomes tight.

  “I’m not a Fringe.” Toby keeps his eyes glued on the road ahead.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m a Norm, just like you and Daisy. I’ve been pretending to be a low-level Fringe for two years. Since I was accepted at Gifted Academy, to be exact.”

  “Why?”

  Toby lets out a heavy exhale and spares a quick glance at Rosie. “For two reasons. One, I knew that being the only Norm student in a school filled with Idols and high-level Fringes would be a nightmare. And two, my dream is to attend the top medical school in the country. Do you want to know how many Norm students they accept each year?”

  “I guess not many,” Rosie replies in a small voice.

  “Zero. There hasn’t been a Norm student at Prism City University in over ten years. Ten fucking years!” Toby hits the steering wheel hard.

  Both Rosie and I wince at his outburst. I’ve never seen him lose control like that.

  He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He glances at Rosie apologetically. “It’s just so damn frustrating that because we’re Norms, we don’t get the same chances as Idols and Fringes.”

  Rosie reaches over and covers Toby’s hand with hers. “You don’t need to apologize. We know more than anyone how unfair life is. I wish all Idols would be blown off the face of the Earth. I hate them like I’ve never hated anything in my life.”

  Rosie’s confession is not new to me. I used to feel the same way. But she sounds way harsher now, as if her hatred for Idols has grown exponentially in the last year.

  “You aren’t mad that I didn’t tell you the truth sooner?” Toby asks.

  Rosie pulls her hand back. “A little, but you told me now.”

  “How did you manage to convince those Idols you weren’t a Norm?” I ask. “They can sense our lack of powers.”

  “Science. The biggest challenge was masking the fact that I didn’t possess any gift. I told you that my father works for one of the Idols who isn’t hateful, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Anyway, I asked him how he could tell the difference between Fringes and Norms. It’s all in the energy surrounding the person. When you meet an Idol, the first thing they do is scan you. It’s the same way for us. We know when we’re in the presence of an Idol because their energy is too powerful to be ignored. Norms can’t easily sense Fringes, especially if they’re low levels.”

  “So, did you build an energetic field around yourself?” I ask.

  “Sort of.”

  We stop at a red light, and Toby lets go of the steering wheel to pull a necklace from under his shirt. “This pendant is actually a magnetic field generator. It emits waves that mimic the energy a low-level Fringe exudes.”

  “Wow, ingenious,” Rosie says.

  “And they never wondered what your gift was?” I ask.

  “I knew that at some point, I’d have to demonstrate what I could do. So I picked the time and place where there would be enough students around.”

  “What did you do?” Rosie asks.

  “I made some drinks explode in the cafeteria. I placed special cups among the regular ones. They had a fake bottom, and inside I hid a mechanism that would pump pressured air against the liquid via remote control.”

  “That’s impressive. I wish I could’ve seen it,” I say, bitterly remembering when Drusilla dumped orange juice over my head in the cafeteria.

  I wonder what’s going to happen to the odious girl and her friends. In a perfect world, they’d be kicked out of school, but there’s no such a thing if you’re an Idol.

  Distracted by the conversation, I don’t realize where Toby is going until he turns on a familiar street. Rosie looks out the window and says, “Oh, I thought you wanted to do something.”

  “I can’t. I’m sorry. I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. My parents are freaking out about what happened to me. Well, mostly my mother, but she’s the loudest. It’s the reason I’m not returning to school.”

  “Wait, are they pulling you out? How is that fair?” I ask.

  “It’s not, but my mother doesn’t think a diploma from Gifted Academy is worth losing my life, and my father doesn’t have the cojones to go against her wishes. He’s whipped.”

  “Where are you going to go now? Maybe you can enroll in my school?” Rosie’s tone becomes hopeful.

  Toby parks the car in front of our house and lets out a heavy sigh. “I wish. Unfortunately, I live outside your school zone.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  Toby unbuckles his seat belt and leans over to Rosie’s side. She does the same and they meet in the middle for, damn, more kissing.

  “My eyes, my eyes! Could you please wait until I’m out of the car?”

  I slide out in a hurry and veer for the front door. My landlord opens it before I can fish my key out of my bag.

  “Daisy. What a surprise.” The woman hugs me tightly, making me tense in an instant. She’s never done that to me before, and only on a few occasions with Rosie. What gives?

  “Hi, Mrs. Wilmot. How are you?”

  “I’m well, child.” Her gaze travels past my shoulder. “Is that Rosie?”

  “Yeah, she’ll come in a minute.”

  Mrs. Wilmot is now sporting a frown as she stares at Purple Delight.

  “So, what’s new?” I ask her.

  “Same old. Oh, I almost forgot, a package was delivered for you earlier today.”

  She turns on her heels and walks in. On the small desk by the entry hall, there’s a courier envelope waiting for me. Strange. Who would send me anything?

  I immediately scan the sender’s address. My blood runs cold. It’s a PO Box address from Hawk City.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?” Mrs. Wilmot hoovers too close to me.

  “Yeah, later.” I stick the package in my backpack, not missing the glint of disappointment in her eyes.

  Rosie comes in then, all flushed.

  “Did Toby leave?” I look out the door. Shit. He’s gone. I wanted to talk to him more without Rosie around.

  “Yeah, he said he had things to do, like sort out his academic stuff.”

  Rosie heads fo
r our bedroom, and I follow her.

  “Can I get you girls anything to eat?” Mrs. Wilmot offers. “You must be starving.”

  We both turn to find her right behind us. What’s up with her today?

  “Uh, no. We’re good,” I reply.

  The woman just hangs in the hallway with the look of a dog that just lost her bone. I shut the door, but I know she’ll hang around to eavesdrop.

  “Has Mrs. Wilmot been acting weirdly lately, or is it just today?” I ask.

  Rosie sits on the bed, resting her back against the headboard. “She’s been nicer to me, for sure, but I just assumed it was because you were gone.”

  I bite my lower lip. If she had started acting friendlier a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have thought much about it. But now, after everything that’s happened to me, I can’t help the worry that fills my heart. Mrs. Wilmot is a Norm, but that doesn’t mean she can be trusted.

  7

  Bryce

  It doesn’t take long for me to discover who Daisy is. All I have to do is type in ‘Hawk City’ and ‘Rodale’ in the search engine. The first article that pops up is about the murder of her parents, Paul and Anna Rodale. Paul was the editor of the Hawk City Gazette, a newspaper known for controversial articles. They weren’t afraid to poke the powerful Idols in Hawk City.

  I click on the link, which is surprisingly not from the newspaper he used to work for. It's from a more traditional publication, Hawk City News. It says Daisy's parents died in a tragic fire in their apartment, along with their children, Daisy and Rose. I lean back against my chair, rubbing my chin.

  Daisy didn't want me to know anything about her past. It was Rosie who told us her parents had been murdered. It happened seven years ago, which begs the question: Where did Daisy and her sister go after those events? I get the impression that she doesn’t have any other family, but again, she could be withholding that information as well.

  Despite her deceit, I can't bring myself to be angry at her. No, the feeling that's swirling in my chest is the opposite of anger. I won't dare give a name to it yet, but just thinking about her makes me want to see her again. Damn it. Weren't cravings supposed to stop once you got what you wanted?