Wicked Mercy

by Mae Doyle

  Flexing her legs and extending her arms above her head, she posed, then nodded off the side of the stage. There was a soft click as the music turned on and then it started to play.

  Immediately she could tell that something was wrong. It was obvious by the way her eyes widened as she tried to catch the beat. A few measures passed and she still stood there, blood slowly draining from her face.

  The dance teacher, Mrs. Barthel, ran out onto the stage to talk to her as someone turned off the music. Sara turned to her, gesturing wildly, her face now growing red. Brett shifted in his seat next to me, like he was going to stay something to me, but I didn’t move or look at him.

  My eyes were locked on Sara. I wanted to see her face public humiliation, and I was getting my wish.

  After a moment, both Mrs. Barthel and Sara were nodding, and the teacher ran off the stage while Sara struck her pose again. The music started again and Sara closed her eyes, obviously trying to feel the beat.

  But it was so much slower than what she had practiced that I knew she was going to struggle. She threw herself into it, though, trying to control her movements as she slowed down what she had done in practice.

  I watched, my eyes bright and wide, as she failed time and time again to hit her beats with the music. She simply couldn’t slow down well enough while still keeping her form, and she looked like she’d never practiced a day in her life. Halfway through the song, she burst into tears and ran from the stage, her long skirt flowing behind her.

  The audience didn’t move. I swear, you could hear people trying to hold their breath as everyone worked to figure out what had just happened. Sara was known for being the best ballerina in the area, and to see her crash and burn so hard was unheard of.

  Finally the announcer came out on the stage, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, it appears that we’ve had a problem with the music, which, unfortunately, means that she’s disqualified since she was not able to complete her performance. We’re going to, uh, move on with the next piece. Let’s have a round of applause for Sara, though, to let her know that we are thinking of her and that we love her.”

  He started clapping and slowly the momentum grew though the auditorium as people began to clap for her, but even then it was scattered and light. I couldn’t move my hands from gripping the armrests. It had worked.

  I’d managed to humiliate Sara without touching her.

  “Was that you?” Brett’s face was pale when I turned to look at him. “You did that?”

  Slowly, I nodded, then I got up to leave. I didn’t care to watch the rest of the competition. Sara was disqualified, and that’s all that I cared about.

  The rogues followed me outside. Once the door shut behind us, I sighed and took a deep breath of air, enjoying the way it filled me. Seeing Sara fail spectacularly on the stage was every bit as sweet as I thought it would be. She wouldn’t win the competition, and since she had been disqualified, she wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the graduation competition.

  She had one thing that she loved more than anything in the world, and I took it from her. I had to admit, it felt amazing. I’d do it all again, if I could. My only regret was that I hadn’t been filming it, but other people had, and I had no doubt that it would be online before the morning.

  “You.”

  The voice cut through my thoughts and I opened my eyes, turning fast enough to see Sara as she lunged at me. Brett moved faster, though, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back.

  “You did this to me! How did you do it, huh? What did you do to my music?” She snarled, her teeth bared at me as she lunged against Brett’s grasp. “I’ll kill you, you fucking bitch! I swear to God, you’re dead!” She spat at me, but I jumped back in time, slamming into Jackie’s strong chest.

  He instinctively put his arms around me and I relaxed back, feeling him comfort and protect me.

  “What’s wrong, Sara? Feeling back that you fucked up on stage? It must suck to realize that you’re really not as good as you thought you were, huh?”

  “Probably the same feeling that you get every time you look at your slut of a mother, huh? That why your dad died? He probably wanted to kill himself rather than live with you two.” Her eyes were still bright but she’d stopped straining against Brett’s grasp.

  Taking a deep breath, I lunged from Jackie’s arms towards her. Jackie tried to hold me back, but I twisted out of his arms. I loved my rogues, but I almost wished that they weren’t involved right now. I wanted to be able to handle this on my own.

  Her face was twisted with rage and was bright red from the effort of trying to pull away from Brett, but she didn’t scare me any longer. Any power that she thought she might have had was gone. I’d taken it and then enjoyed watching her flail and fail on stage in front of everyone. “Listen, Sara, you fucked up when you tried to get me to leave Taylor Prep. I deserve to be here more than you do, and you finally got what was coming to you. You want to make yourself useful? Go and tell your other little harpy friends that I’m coming for them, too.” Reaching out I grabbed the edge of her ballerina skirt and tugged. “It really was unfortunate that you weren’t able to perform, Sara. I’m sure that you had some college scouts in the audience, didn’t you?”

  Her face paled and I knew that I was right. Of course, I was right. Any student who thought that they may be good enough to dance in college would have someone there watching them. Sara was probably hoping for a scholarship, and I’d taken that away.

  It felt amazing.

  “How many scouts did you have here tonight, Sara? How many colleges had you on their short list but don’t any longer?” I saw Brett’s face darken while I taunted her, but I couldn’t stop myself. Not after everything that she had put me through.

  “I hate you.”

  Shrugging, I turned around. As much as I wanted to just stand here and watch her continue to melt down, I knew that hanging around much longer wasn’t very smart. At any moment the other harpies could come streaming out of the auditorium to comfort her, and I’d be screwed if they caught me with her, even though I did have my boys with me.

  “Just wanted you to get a taste of your own medicine, Sara. See you in class Monday.”

  I heard her gasp and pull against Brett again, but I kept walking. There wasn’t any reason for me to turn around and see what she was doing. It was time for me to leave Sara behind me and focus on what was next.

  Kelly.

  Chapter 11

  “Why didn’t you tell us that that was what you had in mind?” I’d made it halfway across the quad before the rogues caught up with me. Kaleb and Jackie slipped up to my sides while Brett got in front of me to stop me. “Don’t you think that Sara will want to kill you even more now?” Brett was breathing hard, and I could tell that he had to run to catch me after calming Sara down.

  Instead of being scared, though, I just laughed. “Are you serious? She’s crushed, Brett. There’s no way that she’s going to come back from that, so, no, I’m not scared. And now the rest of the harpies should have figured out that I’m coming for them.”

  “She’s not just crushed, Rose. She’s completely destroyed, and you did that.” Brett’s dark eyes searched my face.

  “So?” I spat the word back at him. “Don’t you think that I was almost destroyed last year when everyone at the school was out to get me? This is what she and her friends had coming, Brett. Don’t you see that?”

  He opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but then paused, dropping his head down. His shoulders slumped and he looked positively broken for a moment. I wanted to reach out for him and pull him to me, but I was scared.

  Even though we had managed to find each other through all of the drama, I was still nervous about where we stood. I knew that Jackie, Kaleb, and I were all okay. We’d built a strong footing, but Brett? I was still a little nervous about losing him.

  Stepping forward, I reached up and rested my hand on his chest. His heart pounded beneath my touch. In
stead of the usual button-up shirt, he’d changed into a long-sleeve shirt for the concert, and the thin fabric made it possible for me to easily feel the heat from his skin.

  He was on fire, and just touching him like this threatened to make everything fall away around us. If I wasn’t careful, I knew that I could easily get lost in Brett. That was the problem since we were little, and it seemed like nothing had really changed.

  “Talk to me. What’s wrong, Brett?”

  After a moment, he lifted his head to look at me. He looked so much like he had as a younger boy that I gasped and then leaned in, wrapping my arms around him for a hug.

  He mumbled something into the top of my hair, and I stepped back. “What did you say? I missed it.”

  Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the other rogues for help, but neither of them spoke. “I said that I worry that you haven’t really forgiven me. I know that you needed to get back at Amelia so that you could heal, but I don’t want you to feel the same way about me. I can’t…I can’t lose you, Rose.”

  “You’re not going to lose me.” Even as I said the words, I could feel how honest and true they were. It didn’t matter to me what Brett did or what had happened in the past. “I thought that we had worked this out, Brett? Why are you worried about it now?”

  “Because. Because I saw that you destroyed Sara and you loved it, Rose. And I don’t blame you for it one bit, but part of me wonders if you want to do the same thing to me, even though you say that we’re okay. Even though it seems like everything’s fine and you say that it is, I can’t help but wonder if sometime in the future you’re going to wish that you’d gotten your revenge on me for turning you into the council and making your life hell at first.”

  “Of course I won’t.” My stomach dropped and twisted at the pained look on his face. “How in the world could you think that I would want to do something like that to you? I love you, Brett. I’ve loved you since we were little and we found each other. You’re nothing like Sara and I thought…well, I thought that we were fine.” I dropped my hands from his arms and stepped back, staring up into his face. “We’re fine, okay? We’re fine.”

  He nodded and looked at me, his dark eyes clearing a little. Brett had the most amazing storm clouds in his eyes when he was upset, but I knew that they would clear a little in time. We’d be okay, the two of us, we just had to remember the strong basis that we had for our relationships.

  “I promise, Brett,” I whispered, taking his hand. He nodded and I turned around, reaching for my other rogues. “I promise you all, nothing is going to tear us apart. I have to do what I have to do with the rest of the harpies, but there’s nothing that will be able to turn me against you three. You’re what I need to survive not only Taylor Prep, but the rest of my life.” Taking a shaky breath, I made sure to look them all in the eyes before I continued.

  “I swear to you all that I will never hurt you. I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe and show you how important you are to me, okay? We’ve gone over this, but you have to understand that I need to do this with the harpies. There has to be closure, and I’m the only person who can fight to make that happen.”

  For a moment, they were all silent, and then Kaleb nodded his head. “We understand, Rose. We may not like that you have to do this to feel whole and to heal, but we get it.”

  “We’ll help you, Rosita.” Jackie’s voice pulled my attention from Kaleb. He smiled at me and then reached out to run his fingers across my cheek. “We’ll make sure that everything is taken care of with the harpies, okay? You’re not alone in this.”

  My heart soared but I shook my head. “No, I can’t let you do that, Jackie. Amelia’s is your cousin, and I don’t want you…”

  He cut me off by leaning down and giving me a gentle kiss on the lips. “She may be my cousin, Rosita, but you’re my life, okay? I’m on your side of this, now and forever.”

  Now and forever. The words gave me chills, and I nodded at him. “Now and forever, all of us, okay?”

  ***

  “Wait. The reason you wanted to go to the performance so badly is because you knew that Sara was going to crash and burn in front of everyone and you wouldn’t tell us the truth? I can’t believe we missed it!”

  Maggie’s jaw was hanging open. She and Harper were curled up on my bed. I had my head on Harper’s shoulder and Maggie had been leaning on me until she sat up to star at me.

  “I seriously can’t believe that we missed that. Tell us everything. Again.”

  Laughing, I sat up and described the look on Sara’s face when she realized that she was simply dancing too fast. “She lost it and ran off the stage,” I told them, between giggles. “She’s really pissed, you guys, so it may be good that you guys weren’t there for it. I don’t want you two to get pulled down into the drama if we can avoid it.”

  “What did the rogues say?” Harper was laughing just as hard as Maggie, but she had a serious look on her face. “Were they mad?”

  I tapped a finger on my knee before answering. “Honestly, they weren’t totally pleased at first, but they get it now. I think that they’re worried that I’m going to get hurt or that this will all come back to bite me in the ass later, but I can’t care about that right now, you know? I just…I need to show them that they aren’t allowed to hurt people like this.”

  “Don’t you think that Amelia will strike back? I mean, she and Sara are really close, and if she thinks that you’re trying to hurt her or her other friends…” Amelia trailed off and Harper nodded.

  “I think that you need to be more careful, Rose,” Harper agreed. “I think that they could try to come for you now that you’ve shown them that you’re not going to back off. Don’t you think?”

  Shrugging, I tried to look nonchalant. “It’s totally possible,” I agreed, “but I can’t just sit back and let them walk all over me for the rest of the year.”

  “I get that, Rose, I really do,” Harper said, “but you just ruined Sara’s chance for a dance scholarship. She’ll be out for blood.”

  “She has more than enough money to pay full tuition at any college in the world,” I shot back. “Are you guys really mad that I’m standing up for myself?”

  “Not mad,” Maggie interjected, talking over Harper, “but we’re a little worried about you, Rose. We don’t want this to get worse for you.”

  “It can’t.” I struggled to stand up and then turned to face my friends. This was not how I thought that they would react. I understood that they would be a little worried, but I didn’t want to have to deal with them giving me grief over standing up to the harpies. “I don’t think you guys understand, but it seriously can’t get worse. Do you not remember when they threw out all of my stuff last semester?”

  Maggie looked embarrassed, but Harper tipped her chin up to me. “Just be done, Rose. You got your revenge on Sara, and we know that it felt really good, but I think that it’s a good idea if you just call it quits.”

  “No.” My voice was stronger than I meant it to be, and my friends both looked surprised. “I can’t back down now, you guys. Not when they know that I’m coming for them. If I don’t see this through then they’ll just think that they’ve won, and if you guys aren’t cool with that then feel free to keep your distance. I don’t want you two getting hurt, and it’s okay to be afraid.”

  Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I was almost afraid to open them, afraid that my friends would have disappeared, but when I looked again, they were still there.

  “We’re not going to abandon you, Rose. We did that once, and it sucked. You just need to understand that we are both really worried about you.” Harper stood up and pulled me into a hug. As much as I wanted to be strong, I felt myself melt into her.

  “Just trust me. I’m going to be fine.” Even as I said the words, however, I wondered if they were true. I could hope that everything would work out, and I could take all precautions to ensure that I didn’t get hurt and that my friends weren’t
pulled into something dangerous, but I still couldn’t guarantee their safety.

  As smart as my friends were, they knew that, and yet they didn’t walk away.

  As smart as I was, I still let them stay.

  I just hoped that that wouldn’t end up being a mistake.

  Chapter 12

  Dodging the harpies over the weekend was easy enough since I made sure to stay with the rogues every waking second. Nobody came up to my room at night, but even if they had, I made sure to keep the door locked tight so they couldn’t get in. I didn’t want any visitors, and I certainly didn’t want anyone to break in and steal my things. Again.

  Monday morning, however, brought its own challenges. The rogues walked me to breakfast, which was the first time since Friday night that the rogues, the harpies, and I had all been in the dining hall together at the same time. We pushed open the double doors and Brett led the way in. I followed him, with Kaleb and Jackie at my sides.

  As soon as we walked in, the entire dining hall fell silent. The harpies all stood up, Amelia crossing her arms and staring at us. Sara stood next to her, looking paler and thinner than she had last week.

  She probably hadn’t eaten anything or gotten any sleep over the weekend, and the sent a stab of joy through me. Good. It was what she deserved.

  Ignoring the daggers they were throwing us, the four of us walked to the line to get our food and then sat down at a table with Harper, Maggie, and their boys. Nobody else in the dining hall moved, but then Amelia walked around the table to us.

  I watched her from the corner of my eye and slowly stirred maple syrup and roasted almonds into my oatmeal. She was coming over to intimidate me, I was sure of that, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. When she stopped directly in front of me, though, I didn’t have a choice but to look up and acknowledge her.