Empire High Betrayal

by Ivy Smoak

  “Sir Wilfred is not a peasant,” she snapped and pulled him away from me. “God, now he’s dirty.” She dropped Sir Wilfred back onto the ground like he was diseased from my touch.

  This had to be animal cruelty. “Isabella, I don’t think Dad would…”

  “Let me just stop you right there. Daddy doesn’t care what you think. At all. He loves me most. And he’ll always believe me over you.”

  I couldn’t pull a prank on her. But I could stand up to her. She may have been a better Sandy. But that didn’t mean she was better than me. And it certainly didn’t mean our dad loved her more. He couldn’t possibly. And it was about time I pushed her off her high horse. But I didn’t have time to think about what to say. Because suddenly Old Time Rock and Roll started blaring through the speakers right behind us.

  And Matt literally slid into the ballroom in his socks. He was wearing a dress shirt without any pants.

  He didn’t dress up as Danny Zuko!

  “Oh my God, he’s doing the Risky Business dance!” Kennedy said.

  Matt spun around and pretended to sing into a candlestick. Then he ran over to one of the huge fake pumpkins and jumped up on it.

  Everyone was cheering and clapping. I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. Kennedy was snapping pictures of the whole thing.

  I stepped around Isabella to get a better view.

  Matt jumped off the pumpkin, landing on his knees. The fog on the ground dispersed around him as he pretended to play an air guitar.

  And when he got up, he locked eyes with me. He tossed the candlestick to the side of the room before sliding across the floor, grabbing me around the waist, and dipping me low.

  Everyone was whistling and applauding like crazy.

  And I was laughing so hard that it hurt. I kept laughing as he lifted me back up and pulled me into his chest.

  “You look beautiful, baby,” he whispered in my ear.

  “You’re not wearing any pants,” I said through my laughter.

  He stepped back, keeping our fingers intertwined. “Huh. How ‘bout that?”

  “You’re amazing.” I smiled up at him. Matt had all the confidence in the world. And I was pretty sure if anyone else had dressed up in the same outfit as him, he wouldn’t have cared. “That was quite the entrance. I thought you were lying about needing one.”

  He laughed. “I know how much you like when I make a fool of myself.”

  “You never make a fool of yourself. Everyone in this room loves you. But I love you most.”

  He smiled down at me. “I love you most.”

  I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head and captured my lips with his. A few people whistled again. Matt was definitely winning best male costume. And I didn’t care if I won too. I’d already won, because I had him.

  “Come on,” Matt said. “Let’s dance.” He grabbed my hand and Kennedy’s hand and pulled us onto the dance floor.

  He didn’t acknowledge Isabella’s Sandy costume. I wasn’t sure if he just didn’t notice because he was too busy dancing with me and Kennedy. Or because he really cared about Isabella so little. Either way, it was a win for me.

  Matt broke out a weird robot dance move and then pointed to Kennedy. She moved her arms robotically too and then pointed at me. I took a few straight-legged steps and bent over, doing the best robot I could.

  And the three of us couldn’t stop laughing.

  Matt was a great dancer. Me? Not so much. But I’d never had so much fun. Tonight couldn’t be more different than homecoming. That disaster of a night, I’d been torn between Matt, Miller, Felix, and even James if I was being honest. But tonight? I only had eyes for Matt. I didn’t just have a boyfriend now. I had a fiancé. I was going to marry the boy pretending to rain water on my head in the middle of the dance floor. And I’d never smiled so much in my life.

  A slow song switched on and he pulled me in close.

  “Brooklyn, you’re the most beautiful girl in the room.”

  I was tempted to look to see where Isabella went.

  It was as if he could tell because he put his hand on the side of my face. “Always.”

  I smiled up at him. And I realized I almost forgot to tell him the good news. “Justin agreed to help us with our wedding.”

  Matt smiled. “That’s great. I know you really wanted his help.”

  I literally couldn’t do this without Justin. I had no idea what needed to be done. And Justin knew everything. “I’m going dress shopping in a few days.”

  “Can I come?”

  I laughed. “No you can’t come dress shopping with me. It’s bad luck.”

  “I think the two of us have had enough bad luck. Just smooth sailing from here.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so. Hey look.” He nodded his head toward his left.

  I followed his gaze. Kennedy and Felix were slow dancing together. Finally! “They’d make a cute couple, wouldn’t they?” I asked.

  “And it would mean Felix would stop flirting with you.”

  “He’s already stopped. We’re just friends. I only have eyes for a certain someone who isn’t wearing any pants in public.”

  Matt laughed. “Speaking of pants…are you hungry? I’m starving.”

  What kind of segue was that? He’d had me laughing so much all night that my cheeks actually hurt. “I’m starving.” I had completely forgotten about eating tonight. “Let’s go track down a zombie.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him over toward one of the waiters.

  Matt had no sooner lifted up one of the hors d’oeuvres when Kennedy came over and grabbed it out of his hand.

  “Thanks, I’m so hungry,” she said and stuffed the whole thing in her face.

  “What is it with you and always stealing my food?” Matt said. “There’s trays of them going around everywhere. Get your own, woman.”

  “But it’s so much easier to take yours,” Kennedy said.

  They both laughed.

  I remembered when Kennedy had insisted that Felix, me, and her were the three amigas. That hadn’t exactly worked out. But Matt, me and her? Yeah, we kind of were. I was glad that they got along so well. Because I wasn’t sure what I would do without either of them. Together they had somehow pieced my broken heart back together.

  Someone tapped on the microphone and we looked up at the cauldron stage.

  Mrs. Caldwell was standing up there in her towel with even more fake blood dripping down her shoulders than before. “We hope everyone’s having a great night!”

  Adults and kids alike cheered.

  “The votes are in, and it’s time to announce the winners of our costume contest!” She lifted up two gold envelopes.

  I looked up at Matt. “I didn’t see anywhere to vote.”

  “Because we were dancing. There was a voting box over by the pumpkins.”

  Shit. What if Isabella had won by just a few votes?

  “And the first winner is…”

  My heart felt like it was beating in my throat.

  Mrs. Caldwell tore open the envelope. “…Robert Hunter as Rocky!”

  I could hear Rob laughing from somewhere.

  “Seriously?” Matt said. “He’s just half naked.”

  I laughed as I looked at Matt’s pants-less legs. “You’re one to talk.”

  He smiled down at me.

  “But seriously…you definitely should have won. You even put on a performance.”

  “Right?” Matt spun in a circle.

  I shook my head at him. I did believe he should have won. But I was secretly glad he hadn’t. Because the odds of Isabella winning over me were very high. And James had told me Isabella had rigged the homecoming voting. I wouldn’t have put it past her to do again. But now if Wizzy won, she’d have to dance with Rob. Which would be hilarious because they hated each other.

  I held my breath as Mrs. Caldwell opened the second envelope.

  “And the second winner is Kennedy Alcaraz as Princess Jasmine!�
�

  “Oh my God, really?” Kennedy said as she grabbed my arm.

  I laughed. Kennedy looked amazing. And she deserved to win. But I kind of thought that maybe it was Mrs. Caldwell that had rigged the voting this time. To get Rob and Kennedy together. Mrs. Caldwell was diabolically wonderful. Or maybe Kennedy and Rob had actually won and it was fate.

  I looked up at Matt. I was becoming quite the believer in fate.

  “Let’s get Kennedy and Robert up here for a dance!” Mrs. Caldwell said into the microphone.

  “I can’t believe this is happening!” Kennedy said. She released my arm from her grip and made a beeline to the stage.

  I looked around, hoping to see Isabella’s reaction to losing. But I didn’t see her in the crowd. My Sandy lookalike was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully she’d left when she’d realized that no one wanted her here. And hopefully it would be the last event at the Caldwell mansion she was ever invited to.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” Matt whispered in my ear as Kennedy and Rob started dancing.

  I looked up at him. “We live here.”

  “I just want to steal you for a few minutes. Or maybe more like thirty minutes. We’ll see what happens.” He pulled me toward the ballroom doors before I even had a chance to respond. But I knew what was on his mind. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on my mind too.

  Chapter 30

  Saturday

  I was holding Matt’s hand so tightly that I was sure I had to be hurting him. But he just laughed as we ducked under spider webs in the hallway.

  I screamed as a vampire popped out of the coffin.

  “It’s all fake,” Matt said as he tucked me into his side.

  “Even the blood?”

  He put his fingers through one of the fountains. “It’s just red food dye.”

  I knew that. And yet…it was all still creepy. “Your house was pretty much made for Halloween parties. I’m surprised this isn’t always the décor in here.” I jumped when a spider fell from the ceiling.

  “Are you really scared?” Matt asked.

  “I’m terrified.” I held his hand even tighter.

  He stopped in the middle of the hall and pulled me to his chest. “You have nothing to be afraid of. Not when you’re with me, Brooklyn.”

  A fake scream echoed from somewhere down the hallway and I flinched.

  Matt walked me backward until my butt collided with the side of a smoke machine. “I’ve got you,” he said as his lips brushed against mine. “And I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.”

  It didn’t seem nearly as scary in this hallway when I focused on him. Tonight had been perfect. He was perfect. Halloween was quickly becoming one of my favorite days of the year. “So this is what you wanted to steal me away from the party for?” I asked. “To make out behind some spider webs?”

  He laughed. “No, not exactly. I was hoping I could get you pants-less like me.”

  “Very smooth.”

  He winked at me and then pulled me away from the fog machine. We started running down the hall. I only flinched one more time, which I considered a win.

  “I can’t run in these shoes!” I yelled to him.

  We were both laughing as he picked me up and ran out into the foyer. He didn’t waste any time as he carried me up the stairs to his bedroom. He somehow managed to open the door while holding me. And he kicked it closed. He skipped the lights, carried me right to the bed, and threw me down into the middle of it.

  And my excitement quickly turned to disgust. “Matt, why is your bed so wet?” I blinked, trying to make my eyes adjust to the dark room. Oh God, it smelled gross too. What was that?

  “Huh?” He leaned over me. “What the fuck?”

  My hands were definitely wet. But I couldn’t see a thing. Ew. My back was wet too. Oh crap, all the curls in my hair! I reached up to touch the back of my head and realized my mistake. Whatever was on my hands got even more into my hair. Gross.

  “Let me go get the lights.” Matt crawled off of me. He flicked the lights.

  The first thing I noticed was that his hands and forearms were covered in…blood? “Matt!” I screamed. There was even some blood splattered on his shirt. I looked down at myself and screamed even louder. I was covered in it too. I wanted to laugh it off. The house was oozing with fake blood. But this wasn’t water with red food dye. It was thick and sticking to my hands. The whole bed was soaked in it. It was everywhere.

  “What the fuck?” Matt said.

  I crawled backward on the bed and my hand touched something soft. I looked down and screamed again. There was a dead dog in Matt’s bed. No, not any dog. A sob escaped my throat. It was Isabella’s dog, Sir Wilfred. Her adorable little puppy had his stomach sliced open. Oh God. His guts were pouring onto the bed and his white fur was matted with blood. I covered my mouth with my hand so I wouldn’t puke. But the blood smeared across my face, spreading the horrid smell of blood right under my nose. I was going to be sick. I started gagging, but nothing came out.

  Matt ran over to the bed and pulled me off, holding me tight. “Don’t turn around,” he said as he led me away from the bed and toward his bedroom door.

  It was a little too late to protect me from seeing Sir Wilfred dead on his bed. I hadn’t just looked at the poor dog, I’d practically bathed in Sir Wilfred’s blood. How could someone do this to a sweet little animal? My stomach rolled. I looked up at Matt as he opened the door. And I realized he wasn’t staring at the bed. He was staring at the opposite wall. I turned to see what he was looking at.

  On the wall above his dresser were the words, “You’re next,” written in Sir Wilfred’s blood.

  You’re next.

  The words rolled around in my head.

  Isabella’s going to kill me.

  My heart started racing. You’re next. As much as Matt’s arms comforted me, I didn’t need Matt right now. I needed my dad. He was the only one that knew what to do with Isabella. I needed to get to Miller or Donnelley so they could call my dad. I pushed myself away from Matt and ran out the door.

  “Where are you going?” Matt yelled as he ran after me.

  I barely stepped out of his room when I ran straight into Freddy Krueger. I screamed so loud that I was pretty sure they could hear me in the ballroom downstairs. Freddy Krueger grabbed me. “What the hell is going on?” he yelled down at me. His scarred face looked even more grotesque in real life.

  “Get off me!” I screamed and tried to shove him off.

  He just gripped my arms harder.

  “Miller!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Donnelley! Help me!”

  “Jesus, Brooklyn, it’s me,” Mason said and pulled his mask off. “What’s going on?”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, which only made the blood fill my nose. I pointed behind me and then made the mistake of covering my mouth again, smearing more blood on my face.

  Mason stared into the room. “What the fuck is that?”

  “How long have you been up here?” Matt asked. “Have you seen anyone go into my room?”

  “The only person I saw go in was Brooklyn like twenty minutes ago.”

  “I was downstairs twenty minutes ago,” I said.

  Mason shook his head. “But I saw you…”

  “Isabella’s dressed like me. I mean, she’s dressed liked Sandy.” God, she hadn’t just dressed like me to annoy me. Well, I was sure that was a fun bonus. But she’d done it so she could sneak into Matt’s room and murder her poor dog on his bed. Isabella had done a lot of terrible things to me. But this was fucking insane. And I didn’t need the evidence that a person dressed like Sandy had gone into Matt’s room twenty minutes ago. I knew it was her. “It’s Isabella’s dog,” I said. “It was Isabella. She wants to kill me.” Saying the words out loud made it even harder to breathe. This wasn’t a game. I’d tried to ignore Isabella ever since homecoming. But it wasn’t working. Not fighting back was going to get me killed.

  “Shit,” Mason
said.

  Matt clenched his hands into fists. “I’m going to fucking kill Wizzy. Stay with Brooklyn.” He turned to go find her.

  I wanted to call after Matt, but he was already running down the stairs.

  “Shit,” Mason said again, his eyes still trained on the words on the wall.

  I felt a little safer with Mason standing here with me. But I didn’t need a babysitter. I wanted to find Isabella too. I was going to fucking kill her first. I ran after Matt.

  “Wait!” Mason called.

  I reached the bottom of the stairs before I realized there was no air in my lungs. I pressed my hand against the wall.

  “Are you okay?” Mason asked as he lightly touched my back.

  “No.” Tears started to stream down my face.

  “Here, sit down,” Mason said as he pulled me down to sit on the step.

  I leaned forward. I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up or faint.

  Mason abruptly stood up. “Isabella!” he yelled.

  I looked up to see Isabella standing in the foyer. She smiled at me and then disappeared back into the spooky hallway. Mason took a few steps toward her and then stopped and looked back at me. I knew why he wasn’t running after her. Matt had asked him to stay with me.

  “Go,” I said. “I’m fine.”

  He cursed for the millionth time tonight and then took off running.

  Matt and Mason could take care of finding Isabella. I needed to find Miller. I needed my dad. He was the only one who would know what to do with her once the Caldwells found her. I pushed myself up. My legs were shaky as I made my way toward the front door. My security was still forced to stay outside. And they’d be out there somewhere. I opened up the door.

  James was standing on the front step. He immediately pulled something out of his mouth and threw it onto the ground, grinding it into the gray stone with the heel of his dress shoe. Smoke swirled around his face and he coughed. He waved his hand through the air, trying to disperse it. “Oh. It’s just you,” he said with a laugh. But then he lowered his eyebrows as he took in my appearance. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Isa…” I gasped for air. “Isabella.”

  He grabbed my hand without waiting for a response, pulling me into his chest. “Just breathe,” he whispered into my ear.