I pull back, purposefully giving a deep smirk and Chloe’s eyes darken.
This girl craves power and gets off on getting what she wants. Her hand lifts and she runs it down my chest.
Again, my stare locks on Raven’s.
Hers tighten around the edges, but then quickly jerk right, and mine follow to find Leo watching her.
What the fuck is going on with these two?
I shrug Chloe off, now that Raven’s attention is elsewhere, I bound forward, but she feels me coming and shoots up straighter, a smokescreen dropping over her eyes.
Collins knocks his locker shut and grabs her hand, pulling her down the hall, but I catch up and yank her by her free wrist, dragging her back to me.
She jerks from Collins’ grip, letting me pull her against me.
“Rae,” he barks behind her, but she doesn’t fight my hold in any way. She takes a deep breath and looks me right in the eye.
She blinks slowly and my pulse kicks.
“I’m watching you,” I force past clenched teeth, pushing even closer to her. “Every. Fucking. Move.”
I swear her lip tips up slightly before her eyes sharpen, and she whispers just for me, “What makes you think that’s not exactly what I want?”
My brows crash together, and she uses the moment to free herself of my hold.
She walks backward, turning when she reaches where Leo stands and steps right in his face.
He stands tall, lifting his chin and a slow smirk stretches across her lips. She laughs in his face then looks back to me.
“Rae,” Collins snaps and she spins, falls in line beside him and together, they walk away.
And I’m stuck where I stand.
“Nothing to see here people, move your fucking feet,” Royce shouts and everyone around scurries off, the bell had already rung for first period.
Captain steps in front of me with a frown. “Yeah, you got it under control, huh?”
I shrug past him. “Fuck off.”
I storm out the double doors and head for the outdoor courts.
Fuck class right now, and fuck Raven.
I grab a ball from the wet cart and charge down the court. I jump up to slam it into the net, grip onto the sides of the rim, and pull my body up only to drop back to my feet.
I growl, moving to grab another ball.
What the hell was that about? And what the fuck did she mean by maybe she wants me to?
Am I playing right into her hand?
Does she want me to pay close attention for another reason?
Fuck!
I move forward, stopping for a three-pointer, making the shot with ease.
Goddamn, I sound like a little bitch. I don’t let my mind get run by others, and I sure as fuck don’t plan on starting now.
Problem is Raven fucking Carver’s not just in my mind, she’s the resistance in every muscle in my body, fighting against every move, denying my push farther, closing me off to progression. She might as well grip me by the fucking balls and squeeze.
I pull my phone out and text the burner my dad has in his cell, asking him to call me tonight if he can swing it.
My dad’s tone conveyed he was wary of Raven getting close to us, but he asked us to keep her from Graven.
Perkins is involving himself in our business more and more, not that he isn’t always snooping, but specifically now where Raven is involved.
Maybell is being left out of the loop.
There’re too many fucking things that aren’t sitting right.
I need answers, but I don’t even know the right questions to ask anymore.
She could very well be the poor girl who took the money and ran and there’s nothing to figure out.
I mean, fuck, all we offered her was a temporary place to lay her head, right?
I laugh at myself, that’s fucked if she felt that way.
She was more than that.
More than we ever could have thought.
More than we ever could have wanted.
Everything us three cold-hearted assholes needed.
I stuff my phone away and grab my backpack off the ground, heading for class.
Raven Carver is mine.
One day.
Day fucking one and I’m ready to beat these bitches’ faces in.
I’ve never possessed so much self-control in my fucking life.
Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I didn’t even know I had self-control.
Every class was a damn nightmare, but I didn’t once look up from my papers – thank hell for dumb ass district testing week.
It’s lunch now and the floozies are flying high and coming hard.
And I’m pretty sure I’ll explode if I don’t do something about it.
Right when I think it, like the flashing sign I needed, shiny black and teal in the form of an oversized bow catches my eye as Chloe sashays in the cafeteria like my mother when on the hunt.
I glare, tracking every swing of her step. Her steps carrying her straight to the boys’ table.
I jerk from my chair before Collins can stop me and swiftly move toward her.
I purposely step forward as she does, causing her to bump right into me, not missing the way the noise dies down the second I do.
She’s jolted back, and I’m nudged to the side slightly, but I recover easier than her.
Her cheer bag falls from her shoulders and she growls, looking from it to me, but her eyes widen just the slightest when she sees I’m the one she ‘bumped’ into.
“Watch out,” she snaps, but I smirk when her fingertips instinctively move to the tips of her itty bitty ponytail.
“How you likin’ the short look?” I goad her.
Her hand swiftly falls to her side and she stands tall. “Love it,” she lies through a nasty grin. “Thanks for the cut.”
“Anytime,” I say back, but I feel my eyes hardening the longer we stand here.
I take a step closer, and a zing shoots up my back, wrapping around my shoulders and making my head buzz.
Yes, I missed this feeling.
Her pupils grow, I can only imagine how my eyes have changed to evoke fear in the ice queen.
I’ve got a lot built up and haven’t let it out in a cool minute.
My body is tingling to, begging me to snap so it can crash – the troubles of virtually no sleep in days.
“Back off, Raven,” she whispers, her body leaning away while her feet stay planted.
I should. She only knocked into me, and because I made sure it happened while also making sure it looked like it was her fault, but we girls are as smart as we are dumb. They’ll understand.
“It’s Rae.” I snatch her bag off the floor and toss it in the garbage can beside me. “And I can’t do that.”
She gasps and darts forward, but I slide in front of her.
I stuff my hand in the side of my dress, pulling what I need out of the waist of my bottoms, making sure to close my fist around it so she can’t see. I hold my hand out over the garbage can.
“What are you doing...” She edges closer but freezes when a darkness passes over me. “My uniform is in there.”
Without taking my eyes off hers, I slide my lighter up and blindly flick the flame on.
Her stare snaps between me and the flame as she nervously licks her lips, attempting – and failing – to give a careless shrug. “Whatever, I’ll just pull out a replacement.”
I nod lightly, hiding my annoyance for not considering that beforehand, but when she shifts from one foot to the next, I tilt my head.
“No harm, then, hm?” I bait her quietly, my hand dropping an inch closer.
“Yeah, but—” She reacts before she can stop herself, clamping her mouth shut before more can be said.
A chill runs through me, and I drop my hand until the flame touches the edge of the bag folded over the edges.
She fights it, I give her that, but her bravado cracks, her shallow breathing giving her panic away. “Wait! Our si
gns are in there! Our music, props, everything we need!”
When I give her nothing, her eyes grow glossy, both anger and frustration front and center.
She’s angry because she knows she can’t stop me. “We fly out tomorrow night. There is no way we can replace all that in time!”
A better person would feel bad, pull away and let her digging in the trash be enough to get the point across.
He’s mine.
“We worked all four years toward this!” she shrieks, shifting forward but freezing in place when my glare intensifies.
The smell of burnt plastic fills my nostrils, and I inhale deeply. It only takes another second for a napkin to catch and in an instant, the entire thing is on fire.
There’s shouting and screeches across the room, but I simply put the lighter back in my waistband, wait another minute until the crackling of the metal zipper can be heard as the flame fights its way through her bag, and then step aside.
She darts forward, but she can’t do anything, it’s as good as ash.
“Should have said, please,” I mock her, and she growls through her angry tears behind me.
She knows it wouldn’t have mattered.
Principal Perkins bounds around the corner as if he was already close by and watching, headed right for me, but to my surprise, he drops back when he sees Collins step up first, not even flinching when Collins is gripping my upper arm hard enough to leave a bruise. “You’re gonna pay for that, Carver.”
“Kiss my ass, Graven.”
A hostile chuckle leaves him, and he hisses in my ear, “Oh you’ll be kissing something, in seconds in fact. I know what the fuck you just did and why. Reassurance is needed now.”
“I don’t—”
I’m cut off when I’m shoved into the lockers and a hard right hook shoots across Collins’ jaw.
He falls back, banging against the metal beside me.
Collins spits and rushes for Maddoc who holds his hands out, inviting him in.
Students hear the commotion and rush into the hall, but Captain and Royce create a brick wall, forcing them back and slam the cafeteria doors closed.
When I hear a deep groan, my eyes snap back to the two.
Collins nails Maddoc in the gut, but he laughs and bends slightly, gripping Collins under the leg and behind the shoulder. He lifts him, slamming him sideways into the wall before letting him crash to the floor with a loud thud.
“Grab her like that again, motherfucker and I’ll break your arms.”
Collins’ eyes fly to mine quickly, and it’s written across his face.
Fix this.
Damn it.
I bite through the soft flesh of my cheek, hard and quick, until blood trickles down my throat. My cheeks will be raw by the time this is all over.
Maybe if my body bleeds, my heart won’t.
“He can grab me however he wants,” I say, and I’m surprised it’s come out so strong when in my own head it feels like a filthy fucking whisper.
Maddoc swings around, his eyes wide and wild. He has to convince himself I’ve just said what I did.
Royce and Captain are now taking slow steps closer, deep frowns directed at me, and I didn’t miss Perkins slide in on the other side of the hall.
I’d swear he wears a smirk.
Maddoc’s shoulders tense, but he moves toward me.
Anger and uncertainty.
God, what am I doing? This wasn’t supposed to hurt them like this.
I release a deep breath and take a half step toward him, but Collins jumps to his feet and steps forward.
Maddoc glares down at me, his hands twitching at his sides.
Students have shuffled in now.
“Rae...” Collins calls, the fakest tenderness I’ve ever heard ringing through loud and clear for all these fuckers to witness.
Can I do this in front of all their people? With the enemy?
Do I have a fucking choice?
I drop my eyes from his, unable to look him in the eyes this time, and step past, but of course, his hand shoots up and he stops me at his side, shoulder to shoulder, my front facing one way, his the other.
We both shift to look at each other.
His grasp shakes against me as his nostrils flare.
I see in his eyes what I feel.
This is torture.
“Madman,” Royce says quietly.
It works, Maddoc snaps out of it, a shield suddenly hiding his eyes from me, and I’m released. He storms down the hall.
Collins steps forward and I grind my teeth discreetly as he grips my hand and feathers my fingers over his lips. He pulls me away with a gentleness he fights hard to keep.
Fake ass bitch.
As soon as we’re around the corner, he shoves me into a dark classroom and gets in my face.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” he growls, slamming his hand against the wall beside my head like he expects me to jump.
I don’t.
“Why do I keep having to remind you to keep your ass in line?” he seethes.
“Because I’m shit for a listener.”
“Well you better fucking learn, or else the video will end up not only on the damn school website but on the evening fucking news.”
“You don’t have the balls.”
“If you believed that, you wouldn’t be here.”
I shove him away.
“I know you do, baby,” he says randomly, quickly moving in. He whispers, “Stay still, and do not look, Bray number three is about to be watching.” His hand finds my waist and squeezes.
Bray number three?
He’s a fool. There is no number three, there are only three number ones – each as strong as the next, none weaker than the other. If he’s hoping to find a kink in their line, he’ll be disappointed.
“I’m going to lean in, and you’re going to let me. Do not push me,” he warns quietly.
“You’ll pay for all this eventually, Graven. In one way or another,” I hiss.
He chuckles against me, his breath growing closer to my neck, his grip on my waist lifting higher.
I dig my nails into his bicep, enough to leave a mark and he tenses like a bitch.
“I promise, baby,” he says purposely. “He barely touched me, don’t worry.” His lips slide across my jaw and I close my eyes so I don’t have to see his face.
His mouth comes down on mine, and in the same instant, there’s a loud bang in the hallway, followed by retreating footsteps.
I shove him away before his lips make full contact, my chest feeling like it’s caved in on itself, and Collins laughs, moving to hit his knuckle beneath my chin.
“Good job, Rae.” He smiles and walks out.
I drop my head back on the wall, slamming my palm against it, and allow myself a minute of misery.
I take a deep breath, and exit the classroom, freezing when I find Bass standing outside the door with his arms crossed, glare in place.
He spins his lip ring as he studies me.
“What the fuck do you want?” I snap, annoyed with everything and everyone.
He tosses me my backpack – he must have grabbed it from the cafeteria for me.
His eyes flick between mine a minute before he starts shaking his head and walks away.
Well, fuck him too.
I move toward my next class, a class Maddoc happens to be in, and push inside with my head held high, but my steps falter slightly when I find he’s entertaining one of Chloe’s minions.
I take another step, and her eyes snap up and meet mine.
A little shot of panic flashes in her baby blues and she quickly averts her gaze, pulls her phone out and waves it at Maddoc as she moves for her seat.
A sudden phone call, huh?
I smash my lips together to keep from laughing.
Right.
Maddoc leans back in his chair as I grow closer.
I slide into my seat and replay what’s just happened in my mind.
I
knew these girls were smart.
Yes, ladies, that’s right. I may not be at his side, but you won’t be either while I’m still forced to watch it.
The rest of the day sucks a little less, even if I am coming across as a shady ass bitch.
Raven’s really fucking sitting there, in a dark ass corner not five feet away, pretending we’re not in perfect line of sight.
She keeps feigning busy drinking her beer, but it’s been in her hands for the last hour – it’s got to taste like warm piss by now.
Graven played this well, knowing we wouldn’t run him out as long as she was in sight.
The only reason I haven’t beat his ass tonight is because he stepped out back with a phone glued to his ear twenty minutes ago and she hasn’t moved her ass once.
A couple people have tried to stop next to her to talk, fishing for something, but she dismisses each one who gets within two feet with the wave of a hand – even the chick from the home that somehow ended up here tonight.
The girl looked a little sour over it, but Raven didn’t bat a lash.
A girl steps in front of me and the second she does, Raven’s eyes finally swing my way.
I knew she was watching.
I don’t recognize the chick, but her greedy stare tells me she knows exactly who I am.
The girl puts her elbows on the table, dropping her tits closer to my face like I’m some desperate motherfucker who can’t control himself and has to look.
Raven’s stare meets mine and she straightens in her seat.
You just gonna sit there, baby...not gonna come claim what’s yours?
A crease forms between her eyes.
She knows exactly what I want from her, but of course she does the opposite and slowly sits back.
With a subtle shake of my head, I stretch my neck back to look at the girl in front of me.
Her eyes light up now that she finally has my attention and a smile breaks over her face.
She’s not lacking in looks in any way, but she’s desperate and trying too hard.
I lift my chin slightly, letting her know I’ve got something to say and she bites into her bottom lip like a typical girl fighting to entice when she’s got no natural pull or appeal.
I keep Raven’s eyes locked in as the girl shifts, bringing her ear to my mouth as requested.
Trouble at Brayshaw High Page 5