The Second Move: Rogues of Everly Prep Book Two

by Wendi Wilson

  He was disappointed in me? Was he fucking serious? He knew what Mason and the others did to me. They’d done it to him, too. If anything, he should have felt some gratification that I’d given them a little payback. What they did could have ruined his career. What did he think I was going to do when I’d basically manipulated him into making Mason my partner?

  And just like the rest of the administration at Everly Prep, he wanted to let them slide with a slap on the wrist.

  If anyone was feeling disappointment, it was me. In him.

  The anger felt good for a while, filling up the empty hole in my chest where my heart used to be. Just as the strong emotion started to fade, I caught a glimpse of Mason’s grade sheet when he picked it up to stuff it in his backpack.

  He received an A-plus.

  Mother. Fucker.

  I was steaming hot for the rest of the period, not hearing a word of Jasper’s lecture as my blank stare burned a hole in the top of my desk. I didn’t move a muscle until the bell rang and students began gathering their things.

  I flung myself from my chair, grabbing my bag and grade sheet before stalking toward the front of the room. I crumpled the paper in an exaggerated fashion and hurled it into the trash can with much more force than was necessary.

  I was about to make an outraged exit when Jasper’s voice rang out, calling my name. My steps faltered and I froze, quickly debating my two choices. I could continue with my glorious exodus while flipping a middle finger over my shoulder, or I could turn and face my teacher.

  Either way, I was bound to get myself into trouble, so I opted for plan B.

  I spun on a heel and stomped toward him, the clod of my boots on the tile floor echoing as the room emptied and grew quiet. I expected Jasper to look at least a little intimidated by my aggressive approach, but the only emotion I saw on his face was determination.

  “I’m sorry you’re upset, but I couldn’t just let you ruin your presentation and get away with it. There had to be consequences.”

  “Consequences?” I shouted, unable to stop myself from exploding. “Consequences? Like there were consequences for those assholes when they tried to ruin us with lies and deceit? You mean those kind of consequences?”

  “Chaz—”

  “No,” I cut in before he could give me more justifications. “I’ll take the grade. After all, you could’ve failed me. I’m sure Headmaster Swain is searching for a way to expel me after all the trouble I caused his precious Rogues. Failing a class would’ve given you all the perfect excuse to get rid of me.”

  His silence spoke volumes, and I knew I was on the right track. I cocked my head, some of my anger at Jasper draining out of me.

  “Did Swain tell you to fail me?”

  “Not in so many words,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But he saw your presentation—someone was filming it and posted it online—and inferred that my job would be on the line if I didn’t dock your grade. He suggested that this was a perfect opportunity to put you in your place…without actually crossing a line and saying it.”

  “And you gave me a B-minus?”

  He shrugged, one corner of his mouth tugging up.

  “Headmaster Swain insisted on receiving copies of my grade sheets for this project. I refused to fail you just to appease him. It was a great presentation up until that last part—and I really do understand why you did it and expected nothing less. But I had to make it somewhat believable, which is why I wrote that bit at the bottom.”

  “So, you didn’t mean it?” I asked, the last dregs of anger slipping away.

  “I just wanted you to know,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  It wasn’t much of a thank you, but I was too confused and emotionally wrung out to do any better. Jasper accepted my thanks with a nod.

  “You should head to gym. I hear you’ve been skipping and making excuses to not participate. Be careful, Chaz. He’s watching your every move right now. Those boys are from powerful families—families that make things happen.”

  I swallowed against the knot that popped up in my throat. Jasper made those rich snobs sound like mobsters or something. I nodded quickly and turned to leave. I’d only made it a few steps when Jasper called my name again.

  “Yes?” I asked, spinning back toward him.

  “Is it over? Are you done?”

  “Yes. It’s over,” I replied, knowing he was asking about my vendetta.

  “Good,” he said, nodding. “Try to be happy, okay?”

  I turned and left without responding. How was I supposed to be happy? My revenge didn’t satisfy me the way I’d hoped, I hurt my closest friends, and I was all alone again.

  Happy was something I was sure I’d never feel again.

  27

  When I got home from school, I went straight to my room and took a shower. I’d run Coach Barkley’s incessant laps during class, but I’d snuck into the locker room two minutes early to grab my stuff so I could jet as soon as the bell rang.

  Charlotte had been giving me the stink-eye for most of class, and I was not in the mood for a confrontation with her in the locker room. And I also refused to put myself in the vulnerable position of being naked in the shower, where she could exact some revenge on me.

  Once clean and dressed in some loose jeans and an even looser t-shirt, I threw my hair up into a messy bun and headed downstairs. Mom and Atticus were standing in the foyer where she was placing an intricate flower arrangement on a white pedestal.

  “These look divine, Trisha-baby,” he purred, nuzzling her neck.

  Mom giggled, and while I expected to feel grossed out, I actually got a little misty-eyed watching them. At least someone was happy.

  “Oh, Chaz. Hey, baby,” Mom said, pulling out of Atticus’s embrace when she spotted me. “Come tell me what you think.”

  I strode forward, inspecting the arrangement from all sides. It was big and over-the-top ostentatious, but I had a feeling it meant a lot to her.

  “It’s beautiful,” I gushed, and her cheeks bloomed with color.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’ve been taking classes, and I think I’m getting pretty good.”

  “You made this?” I asked.

  She nodded, blushing even brighter. I smiled and told her I loved it. I caught Atticus’s eye over her shoulder and he winked at me with pride. I’d given the response he’d wanted.

  Whatever made Mom happy.

  I walked away before the tears stinging my eyes fell. Mom lived a hard life, but never lost hope and never stopped believing in love. Atticus swooped in like some prince charming on a white stallion, pulled her from the muck, and treated her like a princess.

  And none of it seemed to be an act. They were really in love. Sappily, disgustingly, gloriously in love.

  I wandered into the television room and skidded to a halt when I saw it was already occupied. I took a couple of creeping steps backward, freezing when a voice rang out.

  “You don’t have to leave.”

  I stood frozen, debating what I should do, then put on my brave pants and walked forward. I sat on the opposite end of the couch from Seth and trained my eyes on the TV. He was watching a superhero movie with the volume down low.

  I could feel his eyes on me, and taking a deep breath, I turned my head to meet his gaze. He looked…sad.

  “So, what’s next on the agenda?” he asked, his frown deepening.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been systematically taking us all down,” he said, matter-of-fact. “What’s next? Or is the satisfaction of watching us squirm too much to tell me?”

  I stared at him for a moment. He didn’t sound angry. Or nervous. Or any other emotion I might have expected. His tone was simply resigned.

  “Nothing,” I said. “I’m done.”

  He nodded thoughtfully, turning his attention back to the movie. I kept my eyes on him for several moments before speaking again.

  “You should be happy. Unle
ss you guys have big plans to retaliate, it’s over.”

  “We have no plans, Chaz,” he replied his voice low with dejection.

  “Then what’s wrong?” I demanded, suddenly and irrationally angry. “You can go back to your normal lives, ruling the school with your queen bitches by your side. I’m nothing but a blip in your rearview mirror.”

  “For someone so smart, you can be incredibly stupid.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes widening with shock. I opened my mouth to blast him, but he held up a hand to cut me off.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  I pinched my lips and cocked my head. “How did you mean it, then?”

  “Nothing. Forget it.”

  “Oh, no, Seth Kincaid. Tell me. How am I being stupid?”

  “I know what Stella told you,” he muttered, throwing me off guard.

  “What?”

  “You don’t listen, Chaz. She told you to lay off. She told you things aren’t what they seem. But you refused to believe her, and now everything is shit.”

  I was getting more confused by the second, and I didn’t like it.

  “So, what? I was supposed to take her cryptic advice and turn the other cheek? Just let you guys get way with what you did?”

  “We didn’t—” he started, then cut himself off. “I can’t do this.”

  “Yes, you can. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “No, I can’t,” he insisted. “But you should know something…you hurt Stella right along with the rest of us.”

  “No, I didn’t,” I argued. “I left her off the list.”

  “Because she helped you. I know. You’d be surprised at how much I know. All of us do. But regardless, you hurt her.”

  “How?” I asked, feeling a little panicked.

  “Because you hurt the people she loves.”

  “Mason’s a big boy,” I said, my tone flippant. “He’ll get over it and be back with Charlotte within a week.”

  Seth’s hand slapped down on the coffee table in front of him, startling me. I watched him with wide eyes as he finally showed some emotion. He was practically fuming.

  “Mason doesn’t love Charlotte. He can’t fucking stand that whore. And I don’t like Amelia. At all. And I think we both know Theo doesn’t have feelings for Isla.”

  “But—”

  “I can’t,” he said, cutting off my question. “You can do what you want to me and the others. But if you hurt Stella any more than you already have, you and I are going to have a problem.”

  With that, he got up and left.

  I watched the doorway long after he passed through it, my mind running a million miles per second. What in the hell just happened?

  I was more confused than ever, but one thing was perfectly clear. Seth didn’t like Amelia.

  Because he was in love with Stella Bellamy.

  I hid out in my room the rest of the day, not even going down for dinner. I knew it was the coward’s way out, but I didn’t care.

  My conversation with Seth had gone off the rails, and I was still processing everything he’d told me. Or more specifically, what he hadn’t told me.

  For some unknown reason, the Rogues were pretending to date the Roguettes. That much was obvious—and I wanted to know why.

  Snippets of conversations came back to me as I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Mason telling me he wanted me, but had to continue to keep up appearances with Charlotte. Stella telling me, more than once, that there was more going on than I knew. Everything Seth told me just a little while before.

  I sat up in a rush, a memory clicking into place that I’d completely forgotten about. I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my camera roll, searching for what I needed. Finding the video I took of the Rogues and Roguettes admitting to setting me up, I tapped the play icon, then scrolled forward to the part I wanted to see.

  I’d just released the video of Charlotte sucking off Randall Walsely, and they were arguing about when the video had actually been filmed. Charlotte had tried to claim it was older, but Stella had called her out on her lies.

  “Enough,” Mason said, placing a hand on Stella’s shoulder and pulling her out of Charlotte’s face. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. We all know these so-called relationships aren’t real. Charlotte can do whatever she wants.”

  I tapped the pause symbol as I sucked in a harsh breath. Not real? I remember being confused, but I was so high on the thrill of finally getting their confessions, I’d totally forgotten this part. I tapped play to continue.

  “But…Mason…” Charlotte stuttered, looking devastated. Throwing her shoulders back, she demanded, “So what are we going to do about her?”

  “Nothing,” Mason commanded.

  “Nothing? What do you mean nothing?” Charlotte screamed. “We can’t let her get away with this.”

  “We can, and we will,” Mason said. “We’ve hurt her enough already. Let this go, Charlotte.”

  “Mason,” Cooper said, his face devoid of its usual smile, “you can’t blame yourself for—”

  Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off by Charlotte’s screeching voice. God, how I wished she would have shut the fuck up and let him finish. Why shouldn’t Mason blame himself?

  “So, we uploaded a doctored video of her, making it sound like she admitted to fucking Jasper Lockwood when that’s not what she said. Big deal. It doesn’t matter. She’s nothing.”

  “Correction—you uploaded it, Charlotte,” Stella deadpanned.

  “So, what? I just told you it doesn’t matter. Just because she denied fucking him doesn’t mean she actually didn’t. I mean, lying comes second nature to trailer trash like her.”

  Stella’s eyes darted to the grate, landing there for only a fraction of a second before chasing back to Charlotte.

  “We have to do something,” Amelia said.

  “No,” Mason said. “We do not retaliate.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Charlotte warned, then grabbed her bag and stomped from the room.

  Isla and Amelia followed her out, but Stella stayed with her brother, wrapping an arm around his waist.

  “There’s nothing you could’ve done,” she said, her voice filled with sadness and remorse.

  “I could have stopped it,” Mason replied, his tone edged with anger.

  “No. You couldn’t have, man,” Seth cut in.

  “It’s too late now, anyway,” Theo said. “Whatever we had, it’s over. We have to fall in line and stick to the plan.”

  The video ended, and I stared at my phone in wide-eyed silence for a long time. After thinking things through and coming to some painful conclusions, I dropped the device and threw myself back against the bed.

  Seth was right. I was stupid.

  I had this vision in my head of these awful people doing awful things to me. Lies, betrayal, pain…that’s all I wanted to see, and my anger wouldn’t allow me to view the bigger picture. My mind had wiped out the entire memory of this recorded conversation because it was more convenient for me and my plans if they were all just juvenile assholes.

  But I was wrong. There was something very strange going on here. Some plan that was out of their control, yet they felt they had to stick to it.

  “I could have stopped it.”

  Mason’s angry words rang in my ears. That anger was self-directed and very real. He never wanted to hurt me. He wished he could have done something to stop it.

  “I love you.”

  His whispered confession during our presentation replaced the angry statement in my mind, making my eyes leak tears as my whole body shook with emotion.

  Mason loved me. He wasn’t behind the acts of betrayal, yet had for some reason felt compelled to take the fall. To bear the brunt of my vengeance in silence.

  I cried in earnest as the truth crashed down on me. I loved him, too. That’s why I’d been so hurt. So angry. So hell-bent on making him pay.

  A woman scorned, and all that
.

  I sat up and wiped my tears as I shook off the despair. It wasn’t too late. I could fix this. I knew I could. It would take some work, but I would make things right again with the boys, Stella, Josh, and Simone.

  I didn’t have any other choice.

  28

  I left my room and rushed down the hall, throwing Seth’s bedroom door open without knocking. I obviously didn’t think things through as he was in the middle of undressing, but had luckily only shed his shirt before I unceremoniously barged in without invitation.

  “I’m sorry,” I huffed.

  He arched a brow at me as he pulled his shirt back over his head.

  “It’s okay. Just knock next time.”

  “No. Not for that. I mean, I should’ve knocked. Sorry. But that’s not what I meant.”

  “Chaz, slow down,” he said as the words spilled from my mouth in one steady stream.

  I paused to take a deep breath, then stepped further into the room so I could close the door behind me. He hadn’t thrown me out yet, so I assumed he was open to hearing what I had to say.

  “I’m sorry I gave you laxatives, took that stupid video, and posted it online.”

  “You did what?” he yelled.

  “Took that video?” I hedged, rubbing a toe across the carpet.

  Shit. I guess he never figured out his tummy troubles had been my fault to begin with. His next words confirmed it.

  “You gave me laxatives?” When I didn’t respond, he barked out a laugh. “You are pure evil, you know that?”

  He was still smiling, so I took that as a compliment and dipped my head in acceptance. He grinned for a moment more before letting it drop.

  “You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. “I deserved that. We all did.”

  “No, you didn’t. I heard everything, Seth. I just didn’t understand it at the time, but I think I do now.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and queued up the video. Turning the volume up, I held the device toward him so he could see the screen.

  “I cut this part out when I cleared my name last semester. It made no sense, and I honestly forgot all about it until I was thinking about our talk earlier.”