by Angel Lawson
“Funny,” she says, walking into the kitchenette to grab a snack, “It’s the opposite for me. The more I get to know the assholes at this school, it’s easier for me to hate them.”
She tosses me a bag of pretzels and we sit on the couch, flipping on the TV. We spend the afternoon together, easing back into one another’s company, and it’s strange how normal all of it feels.
Monday starts the two weeks of studying and finals. A weird hush settles over the school at times, reminding me of being here alone over the break, but then I’ll walk into the main hall or the dining room and remember we’re still on this hamster wheel.
There are no new assignments. Everything is structured study halls, group sessions, or tutoring, until the actual exams begin.
Rochelle and I have taken to studying in the lounge—neither of us feel safe in the library, not with Trip lurking around. The lounge is open, crowded but quiet. Morgan, Stella, and a few other girls join us and we chip away at our study guides.
“Did you hear about Trip’s party?” Stella asks one night.
“The post-exam blowout?” Rochelle doesn’t look up from her notes. “Yeah. It’s one of his top-secret location things.”
“Are you going?” Morgan asks, looking between me and my roommate.
“I doubt it,” I say. “I just can’t with him right now.”
“I thought he was hanging out with you and the guys?” Stella asks.
I shrug. “He was, and they can do what they want, but Trip’s a creep, no better than his cousin, and if Dor—Mr. Miller’s class has taught me anything, it’s listening to your gut and not putting yourself in dangerous situations.”
I mean it. Thanksgiving break gave me a lot of time to think about it. As much as I want the information about Hope, after the incident in the library where Trip made it clear about what I had to do to get it, I can’t bring myself to be around him.
It feels disloyal to not only myself, but the growing bond between me and the guys. I’ll have to figure out another way to get the information I need about Hope.
“Maybe we should have our own party. Like girls only.”
Stella looks uninterested, but that’s because she has a boyfriend.
Morgan nods in approval. “I like it. A lot of the bullying and stuff has stopped since Camille left, and I think that self-defense class has brought everyone together.”
“Oh, how about we have a party celebrating the end of that class?” Ro suggests. “No dudes, except Mr. Miller, of course.”
I can’t help but laugh. Dorian would probably die if he knew the girls had such intense crushes on him. “That may be fun. We wouldn’t have to worry about someone drugging us or cornering us in a dark room.”
“Or taking creeper photos to blackmail us with later.”
“How progressive,” Morgan says rolling her eyes.
I look at Rochelle. “Want to do it?”
She smiles. “Definitely.”
I’m walking back to the dorm when I hear Gray’s voice in the stairwell, low and quiet, but I know it’s him. Maybe that’s what happens when you’ve been intimate with someone, they become impossible to miss.
“Are you sure I won’t get busted?”
“None of my clients have had any problems. Satisfaction guaranteed.”
My heart, that had kicked into gear just hearing Gray’s smooth, sexy voice, stalls as I turn the corner. It’s not him I see first, but Mitch, with his smug, privileged face. Next, I see the money, folded and transferring from Gray’s hand to Mitch’s.
Both guys look my way. Mitch gives me an easy smile and rakes his hand through his hair. “I’ll catch you later, okay?”
The money has vanished. I’m not even sure who has it. Gray looks down at me, guilt flickering from his eyes to his tight grin.
“Yeah,” he says, “later.”
I wait until Mitch is gone.
“You’re cheating?”
“I’m trying to pass, Princess.” He turns to face me. “The only benefit of being in this hellhole is a diploma.”
I stare at him.
He stares back, and I see the exact moment it strikes. “Wait, no. Not the only benefit. That’s not what I meant.”
I push past him and head up the stairs. I’m not sure what makes me angrier, the cheating or the fact I’m not really that important to him.
“Eden, wait.”
I don’t, walking down the hall toward my room. I open the door, enter, then slam it in his face. I throw my bag on the couch and go in my room. A few moments later, he opens my door and leans against the frame.
“You know I wasn’t talking about you.”
“Do I?” We stand across from one another and I will the hurt away. It doesn’t budge. “I shouldn’t be surprised that you feel this way. You have the attention span of a gnat. It’s all about the chase. Gaining the unattainable. I was just another token for you to collect.”
“That’s not true.” His tone his hard. “Not even close.”
“Then prove it, Gray. Prove there is more to stay here for than just a diploma you stole or conned your way into. Work hard. Ask for help. Challenge yourself.”
His jaw works, knotting at the back of his jaw, and I spot something I’ve never seen in his eyes before: fear. He exhales, running his hands through his hair, and says, “If I’m going to pass, I need help.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“I need your help.”
“And?”
“And,” he looks around like he’s trying to figure out what comes next. “Oh, I’ll turn that test in to Dorian. Let him deal with Mitch.”
I smile. “I think that’s a good start.”
He walks over to me, his expression shifted into the one that makes my heart skip a beat. His hands cinch my waist and his lips move to my neck.
“You’re going to ruin my reputation, you know that?” he says, breath hot against my skin.
“Then that means we’re even,” I laugh, tilting my head and capturing his mouth with mine. We should be studying, but first? First, we’ll blow off a little steam.
30
Eden
“I’m headed down to get some coffee, anyone need anything?” Hawk stands in the door of the lounge. I’m sitting at the table alone, the rest of my study group bailed at least an hour before. My eyes are tired, and I’ve re-read the last paragraph at least six times. Not one word penetrated my exhausted brain.
I rub my eyes and say, “I’ll come with you.”
He nods and I close my notebooks before meeting him at the door.
The dining hall has a section set up during exam week. It’s a pretty awesome arrangement of healthy snacks, sugary treats, and an endless supply of coffee.
“I’m surprised you're still up,” I say as we head down the hall.
“Why’s that?”
I shrug. “You’ve got an A in the class. I doubt you’ll fail the exam.”
I’d been doing okay in the class, too, but I screwed up on a paper and got a lower grade that dropped me to a B. I need to ace this to get it back up. I look at Hawk, but he hasn’t answered my question. He opens the heavy dining hall door and holds it for me. That’s when it clicks.
“You’re babysitting me.”
“What?” he says, unconvincingly. “No.”
“Sure you are. One of you has been around all week.”
We walk over to the bar with the coffee setup and I grab two cups, handing him one. He fills his with decaf, which seems to be entirely pointless.
“Gray told us something happened between you and Trip in the library before the break and whenever he comes up, you get a little twitchy.”
“Gray doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” I push the spigot and a rush of warm, brown liquid fills my cup. “And I’m not twitchy.”
Hawk leans against the bar, all long legs and broad shoulders. He sips his black, pointless coffee, and gives me a look that tells me he thinks I’m full of shit.
“He sai
d after you stormed out of there, Trip walked out of the reference room with a bruised neck and a pissed off attitude.” His eyebrow lifts. “You’re saying he did that to himself?”
“Trip needs to learn to shut his mouth.” I attempt to drink my coffee. It’s scalding. “Just like Gray.”
“I know we agreed to play this game—he’s one of us—but saying or doing inappropriate things to you is not part of the deal.”
“I can take care of myself,” I tell him, not wanting to admit what Trip had offered—information on Hope if I, ugh, “serviced” him.
“Obviously, but it shouldn’t go that far.” Now he’s getting angry. Hawk’s temper is never far away, but I’m too tired and burned out to deal with his emotions on top of my own. I think that’s what makes me snap.
“He has information about Hope.”
That slows him down. “He told you that?”
“Yeah, it’s information he’s willing to trade, you know, for the right price.”
And like that, the anger is back, along with an emotion in his eyes I can’t place.
“I’ll fucking kill him.”
I grab his arm. “No, you won’t. I’m trying to figure out how to handle this on my own.” He glares at me and I glare back. “And no, not by doing whatever disgusting thing he wants. I told him what I felt about that—or showed him, really.”
“Do you really think he knows where she is?”
“He knows something and I just…I have a feeling she’s alive and okay. I don’t know why. It’s just something in my gut.”
He grimaces and runs his hand through his hair, clearly wanting to say more, but he downs the rest of this coffee, crushes the cup and tosses it in the trash. “I don’t trust him, Eden, and I know how much you want to find your sister, but it can’t be worth making a deal with him.”
“Neither do I, but all I’ve run into is dead ends. It may be my only chance.”
“How much are you willing to sacrifice to find out the truth?” he asks. It’s the million-dollar question. Everyone, including Trip, wants to know my answer. I get the feeling though that there may be more than just my dignity on the line here. The K-Boys? They expect loyalty, it’s part of the deal.
“We’ll find out soon enough.” I say, tossing my cup in the bin. I ignore the disappointment in his eyes. “I have three more chapters to read.”
He frowns, looking tired. “Come on, I’ll help you review.”
I’m know there’s no reason to argue, so together we go back to the lounge. Hawk may be disappointed in my comment but it’s the truth, and another truth is that I don’t feel like being alone right now.
31
Hawk
The message came after my last exam, and I head to Dorian’s office. The other guys aren’t there and neither is Eden. I wait anxiously in the lobby until the secretary instructs me to go in.
“Hey, man,” Dorian says, bumping my fist. He nods to the chair across from his desk and I sit. “Thanks for coming in.”
“Sure,” I reply. “What’s going on?”
“I should have checked in with you a while ago but things have been busy with the 'real' job.” He pushes aside a stack of file folders on the desk and stands. It’s a dominant position, standing while I sit. I don’t have an issue standing down to Dorian. He earned his status. “Any update?”
“Trip’s having a party once exams are over. We’re waiting on instructions.”
He nods. “And Eden? She said you guys had a good break together.”
“I think we all got to know one another better.”
His eyebrow raises.
“Is that a problem?” I ask. There’s a hierarchy here, one I’ve allowed to loosen. I know that Eden and Gray have been together, that she and Theo have been building trust. Not sex—it’s a boundary we’ve agreed not to cross. The reason? I’m staring at him.
“No,” he says. His tone implies something different. I’ve had an inkling that he wants her, which means our hands, well our cocks, are tied.
“We’re watching her and doing everything to keep her safe, but she’s stubborn and hell bent on trouble.” I know I should tell him what I know about Hope, but I had my chance to be honest with her in the dining hall the other day and didn’t do it. When she finds out—if she finds out—there’s going to be hell to pay.
Clocks hang outside every classroom, the old-fashioned kind with a long, red, ticking second hand. Theo and I wait outside Gray’s classroom. After she finished her Lit exam, he and Eden had studied relentlessly, trying to get him prepared.
“What do you think happens if he fails?” Theo asks. We’re sitting on a hard bench in the academic hallway. Most of the exams are over now and students are either packing to go home or hanging out in their rooms.
“Dorian may just alter the grades.” I lean back. “But that’s not the point. He needs to do this on his own.”
Eden was right to stop the cheating. Gray is constantly taking the easy way out. We all came in here with habits that will lead us to a dark future; Gray’s manipulation, Theo’s addiction, my temper. More and more I think Eden’s weakness is her sister, which is why I haven’t told her that I’m convinced I saw her at the party that night.
“God, she’s going to hate me when she finds out,” I mutter to myself, running my hands through my hair.
Theo raises an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“Eden. When she finds out that I saw Hope that night at the party and never told her, I’m pretty sure she’s going to kill me.”
“You thought it was in her best interest. Finding Hope may make things worse, especially if she’s tied up in Trip’s bullshit. I mean, why hasn’t Hope come to find her?”
That’s the big question, one I’m not sure Eden is prepared to hear the answer to.
“None of that matters now that I know Trip is holding the information over her head. What if she caves?”
“To Trip?” Theo snorts. “Unlikely.”
“I’m going to have to tell her.”
He doesn’t argue.
The classroom door opens and students spill into the hallway. I’d expect relief on the faces of the students but there’s a palpable tension. Everyone looks stressed and under strain.
“Can you believe that?” one guy asks as he passes by. The girl he’s talking to shakes her head.
Gray walks out looking exhausted and worn out. He spots us and walks over, and Theo asks, “How did it go?”
“I think I did okay. I messed up on a few equations but overall I felt prepared.” His eyes dart to the side. “But it’s a good thing I didn’t use the test from Mitch. Right before we started, Mr. Parker explained that he’d been informed of a rumor that the exam had been leaked. He made a new one. You could smell the panic.”
Theo frowns. “Someone turned Mitch in? Any idea who?”
Gray’s lips curve into a tiny grin but he shrugs. “Not a clue, but maybe whoever did it made a promise to a girl that he’d stop cheating and taking the easy way out.”
I laugh, knowing what it’s like to want to impress that girl. It’s nearly impossible to do. “Good job,” I say, bumping his fist. “There’s going to be a lot of pissed off parents when report cards come home.”
“Who knew there was a benefit to not having parents?” he says, and for some reason, that’s way funnier than it should be. Gray’s good mood carries over into the afternoon and when Trip comes into the suite, we’re able to keep an even attitude. It may help knowing that everyone is going to want their money back on the bad test.
“Hey, man,” Theo says when he walks in. We’ve all kept a wide berth from him for the last two weeks. Exams kept us busy and he hasn’t asked us to do any work. From the look on his face, that’s about to change.
“You guys heard about my party tomorrow night, right?”
“Sure,” Gray says, focused on the video game. “We’ll be there.”
“I really need some help getting a few things from town,
you think you guys could make a run to my supplier?”
“Tonight?” I ask.
“Yeah. The car will be out by the road, like last time. You’ll bring the stuff back to the cabin. We’ll store it there overnight.”
“Okay,” I reply. “I heard about the test. You think someone sold you out about the party, too?”
He shakes his head. “I’m blaming that one squarely on Mitch. He got lazy and oversold it. There’s a percentage game here. I guess he needed a little extra cash for the holidays.” He scoffs. “Too bad he has that guarantee, right? Hopefully he didn’t spend it all yet.”
Trip seems pretty unphased by the test situation, but knowing him, he’s focused on the party. Drugs are his biggest moneymaker, and everyone will want to blow off steam tomorrow night as well as stock up for the break.
“What time will the car be here?”
“Nine. Plenty of time for you to be back for lights out.” He smiles. “Unless you want to sample the merchandise. In that case, wait until you get back on campus.”
Theo shoots him a glare and when Trip leaves the room, I ask, “Think you can handle going tonight?”
“You could stick back with Eden,” Gray says.
“I need to show him I’m in or he’ll get suspicious.”
Even though he’s probably right, I don’t like Theo around the temptation. Gray and I share a look. We’ll figure something out. I pull out my phone.
“Who are you texting?” Gray asks
“Dorian.” My fingers fly over the keys. “There’s no way I’m leaving Eden alone with him on campus. We have to play his game, but I sure as hell don’t trust him.”
32
Eden
“Close your eyes,” Rochelle says from the other room.
“Okay,” I say, covering them. She’s cooked up some kind of surprise for the party tomorrow night. Needless to say, I’m terrified.
I hear her walk into the room. “Okay. You can open them.”