by Ruby Vincent
“Adam!”
I reeled back to slap him when a tiny blur raced across my vision.
“Leave my mommy alone!”
I had enough time for my eyes to bulge before Adam raised his fist and hit the only thing he could reach.
“Argh!” Darren doubled over, clutching his crotch. “What the hell?! Where’d this kid come from?”
He lashed out and seized Adam’s wrist.
“Don’t touch him!” I surged forward. Darren released him just as I placed my hands on his side and shoved. He stumbled over his feet and went down hard.
I scooped up Adam and held him securely to my chest. My heart pounded against my rib cage as I lifted my eyes. The former Diamonds looked at me with twin looks of shock, and one look of glee.
Natalie’s face twisted into a horrible expression as she feasted on Adam. “What did he just call you?”
I trembled. I wanted to come clean, but not to these people, and certainly not right now. I clutched Adam tighter. They could do what they wanted with me, but I wouldn’t let them mess with my son. If they did, I would be responsible for three more deaths.
“You heard what he said,” I rasped. “You have a problem with it?”
“Problem?” Her smirk grew wider. “Why would I have a problem?” I could see the pieces clicking in her mind. “You’re that kid’s mother which means you had him... in middle school? Am I right?”
Isabella and Airi just kept staring like they were doing the math themselves.
Natalie shook her head. “That’s quite a secret you’ve been sitting on, but I can see why. Everyone was right about you. You’re nothing but a sl—”
“Stop.” Airi whipped out and caught Natalie in the stomach. Her expression was blank as she said, “Not in front of the kid.”
Airi turned her back on me and walked off. Isabella was right behind her. Looking confused, Natalie was slower to follow her friends.
Mom ran up to me just as Darren scrambled off the grass and took off. “Sorry, Val. He got away from me. Is everything okay? I saw the little scrapper got in a shot.”
“He did. Even though we do not hit, do we, Adam?” I smiled at him, taking the sting out of my scolding.
The toddler pouted. “He was mean.”
“He was very mean.”
Olivia looked after the new Knights. “Did Adam call you...”
“Yes, he did. It’ll be all over the school in an hour.”
“I’m sorry, Val.”
“Don’t be. I don’t have anything to be ashamed of. If anything, I should be proud I have a son who has my back.” I snuggled into Adam’s cheek. “Don’t you? Don’t you have Mommy’s back? Don’t you, baby?”
Adam’s giggling chased his pout away. Our little scrape would have no lasting effect on him which I cared about a lot more than the effect it would have on me.
“I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” Olivia said. “I should get him home.”
“You’re right.”
Together we crossed the lawn for the parking lot. I could have imagined it, but I swore I felt the weight of a hundred pair of eyes.
Apparently, it takes less than an hour for news of a teenage mother to spread around the school.
I was glad Olivia was taking Adam away from all of this.
We went out to the car and I buckled Adam into his seat. I kissed him a dozen times, told him I loved him a dozen more times, then I hugged Mom goodbye. It was good that I had full faith in Caroline because I was going home to see them whether Evergreen liked it or not.
I waved them off until their car disappeared down the hill. There was no way I was going through the crowd that lingered on the lawn so I took the back path for my dorm. I sat down on the steps with a strange feeling hanging over me. It settled into my bones as I noticed someone had the same idea to get away.
“Hey.”
“Hi, Ezra.”
The dark-haired boy took a seat next to me on the stoop. We were quiet for a moment as we watch the last dredges of the seniors leave for their new dorm.
“They know about Adam.”
I shifted my gaze to him.
“Natalie was down there shooting her mouth off,” he continued. “I’m sorry. If you were keeping it a secret—”
“I’m not. Not anymore. I don’t like that Natalie is the one sharing my business, but people were going to find out one way or another. I want things to be different from now on, Ezra. I want to tell the truth. It’s the only way I can move forward with... the people I love.”
“So what is the truth, Val?”
“I feel like you’ve guessed,” I whispered. “That’s why you’re so upset.”
Ezra’s expression didn’t twitch. “Do I look upset?”
I reached out and took the hand resting on his knee. “I know you, Ezra. I know when you’re angry. Your mother did a great job teaching you to be the unbiased reporter, but you can’t hide from me anymore.”
He was quiet for so long I thought he wasn’t going to reply. When he did speak, his voice shook. “It may be a good thing in this case that I’m holding back my feelings. What is the truth, Val? What couldn’t you say in front of Adam?”
Tears collected in my eyes. They weren’t for me. Somewhere along the way, I had begun to heal from the trauma of what was done to me. These tears were for Ezra. For how I knew this would hurt him. For all the healing he still needed to do after what Scarlett did.
“I was raped, Ezra.”
A horrible keening noise ripped from his throat. It wrapped around my heart and squeezed as he sank his head into his hands.
“Please.” The tears spilled from my eyes. “Please, Ezra. I’m okay. It’s all o—”
“Who? Who did this?” His body shook violently. “I’ll k-kill him.”
I threw my arms around him. “Ezra, he’s gone. He’s dead.”
He jerked his head up. The mannequin blankness was gone. Everything he felt was shining in his eyes for me to see. “Dead?”
I nodded. “The man who did it is dead. He can’t hurt me or Adam or anyone else. Please, don’t let him into your thoughts because I’ve made up my mind to do the same. I’m focusing on the good in my life. I have Mom, Sofia, Adam, Maverick, Jaxson, Ryder, and you. No matter how bad it gets, I’m okay as long as I have all of you.”
“You’re so strong, Valentina.” Ezra brushed the tears from my cheeks as I pulled him closer. “I never understood how you could be so strong.”
“I told you. It’s because I have you.”
Ezra slid an arm under my legs and put me in his lap. We sat there for a long time, holding each other in a perfect, quiet moment before the chaos could descend.
That strange feeling clung to me as we sat on that porch, but it told me I was doing the right thing. All of those people had given me a piece back when I was broken. They helped put me back together.
I would destroy Ace and the Spades before they could hurt them.
Chapter Two
I stayed in my dorm for the rest of move-in weekend. I didn’t want to hear what people had to say about me being a teenage mom. I’d get enough of it during the school year.
On our first day of classes, I was awake before the sun broke the horizon. My phone’s buzzing woke me from a light sleep. I felt around in the dark until I found it.
The light blinded me at first so it took me a minute to register what I was seeing. When I did, the haze disappeared.
Ace: I warned you. You’d better not blame anyone but yourself for how things have turned out. It’s because of you that I had to mark the Knights. It’s because of you that they betrayed the Spades.
I shot up in bed, fingers flying across the keys in the dark.
Me: So you finally admit that you’re a Spade.
Their reply came in seconds.
Ace: I am not a Spade. I am THE Spade. There is no point in hiding that fact. We both know who I am. My only regret is that I didn’t mark you again at the start of junior year. I let the Knights
get away with defying the Spades and they got bold. That won’t happen again. Now all five of you are in your place and you’ll stay there because I still have the video.
Me: What’s in this for you, Ace? Do you have a clue why I was marked in the first place? Do you understand what was happening in that video? Did you ever think that the Knights defied the Spades because THEY HAD NO CHOICE?
Their response did not come back right away. A minute passed. Then two. Then ten.
I leaned over to put my phone on the nightstand when it vibrated in my palm again.
Ace: What is that supposed to mean?
Me: You say you’re THE Spade so either you knew what Scarlett was doing and why she wanted me out, or you had a traitor in your ranks and you had no clue. Either way, it’s your fault how all of this turned out. Not me.
With that, I powered off the phone and tossed it on the pillow next to me. I wasn’t losing sleep because Ace either supported a predator, or they were clueless of one. Either way, the Spades were the enemies in my story.
Hours later, I was awake, dressed, and speaking to Kai from the landing.
“To think I didn’t believe you when you said how insane this place is.” Kai leaned against the banister, watching me from the open door. “You know Mom and Dad almost didn’t let us come back.”
“Really?” I quit throwing things into my backpack long enough to look at him. “What happened?”
“Zane was raging after what happened to Sofia. He let it slip to Dad and it all came out. The marks. The bullying. The Knights. The Spades. They had no idea about any of it. They wanted us to transfer, but Zane refused to leave Sofia alone, and I refused to leave all of you.” He picked himself off the rail and came to stand in the doorway. “But they did call up the headmaster and threaten to sue him and the school down to the last eraser if anything happens to us. Maybe that will help.”
“It’s great to have anyone on our side,” I replied as I hitched my bag on my shoulder. “But I don’t know how much it will help. I’ve been thinking about it, and the genius of the mark is that the real people involved never get their hands dirty. You can sue the students who hurt you or the teachers who didn’t get involved, but you never touch the Spades.”
“That’s why people are so scared.” A small voice behind us made Kai turn. Paisley stepped to his side. “Not to mention the silent war they wage against your family, businesses, and you. You see what is happening to Honey Hair. There’s a reason people obey the Spades rather than fight back.”
“But you fought back,” said Kai.
She cracked the tiniest smile. “That’s another thing people don’t know. How much you hate yourself for being a bullying coward. I did it once. I couldn’t do it again. Not after Valentina forgave me when I didn’t deserve it.”
“I wouldn’t call you a coward.” Kai clasped her shoulder and her lips blossomed into a full smile.
I hid one of my own. “You guys are super cute right now, but I need to get out of my room.”
They sprang apart like I caught them doing something naughty. Paisley mumbled under her breath and took off down the stairs.
“I’ve got to watch you, Moon. You’re bad news.”
I laughed. “You’re just figuring that out.”
“Come on. Everyone is waiting for us downstairs so we can walk in together looking all tough and cool like one of those slow-motion movie scenes.”
I gathered the rest of my things, smoothed down my black skirt, and trailed Kai out of the door. The good thing about my friends being kicked out of the dorm was that it was easy for us to sit down and plan how we would face this year. They didn’t know all of my plans, but they were confident about theirs which was good. I didn’t want to lose any of them to the mark and the bullying. They had to be strong enough to face what was surely coming our way.
Together, the nine of us crossed the grass for the courtyard. We weren’t alone. Gus’s staff swarmed the place installing cameras. I still felt like he could do more—much more—but at that moment, I was glad that he always did what he said he would do. Though Scarlett wasn’t around, I would hate to think of someone else ambushing us in the courtyard like Darren had tried to do to me in the library.
The main building was awash with noise when we walked in. Freshmen scurried about the place looking like chickens with their heads cut off. We skirted the chaos and headed for the elevators. Paisley pulled out her badge and waved it in front of the scanner.
It flashed red.
“That’s weird.” Paisley tried again. “Mine isn’t working. Kai, use yours.”
Kai scanned his badge and got another red light. It quickly dawned on me what was going on.
“I have a feeling none of our badges will work,” I said. “We’ll have to take the stairs.”
Ryder and Maverick tried anyway and got nothing. We’d be spending our senior year hoofing up and down four flights of stairs.
“This reeks of Isabella,” I said when we hit the second landing. “This is how she operates. Get your passcode to destroy everything in your room. Steal your towel and make you walk around naked. Put up flyers saying you’ll give out two-dollar blowjobs. She’s all about the mental torture. Making you feel helpless. She’s gotten you booted from the dorm and I have no doubt we’ll find out she has used her power to take away more privileges.”
“This is her dream come true,” Sofia added. “She’s been trying to elevate the status of the Diamonds and now she, Airi, and Natalie are as high as it gets.”
I nodded. “She told me yesterday that there would be changes.”
“And we won’t like any of them.”
We fell silent as we continued up the stairs and then paused in front of the double doors.
“There’s no going back now,” I said. I stepped forward and pulled them open. We weren’t hit with a wall of noise this time around. After three years of finals, breakdowns, expulsions, and quitting, this was the smallest class in the school. A little more than three dozen people in the senior class, and except for those next to me, they were all coming for me.
“Where are your lockers?” I asked as we walked into the hall. The hostile eyes turned on us immediately.
“I’m 219.”
“367.”
“498.”
“523.”
“600.”
“710.”
“845.”
“999.”
“I’m 1027,” I finished. I balled my fists when I realized what was happening. “None of us are close to each other. They are splitting us up.”
“It’s not going to work.” Ryder stepped to my side. The back of his hand brushed against mine making goose bumps erupt on my skin. “We stick together like we planned.”
In groups, we went off to our lockers agreeing to meet back in front of homeroom. Ryder had been assigned locker 999, so he came with me.
The walk to our lockers was loaded with filthy looks, but no taunts. Somehow, that was worse. I didn’t like it when they were quiet. It made me feel something worse was around the corner.
We stopped at Ryder’s locker first.
“Give me good news,” I said as I rested my back on the cool metal. “Did your mom manage to persuade Evergreen?”
“I think she did. She didn’t give me all the details, but she said she got him to bend.”
I scoffed. “Evergreen is as bendy as a steel pipe, but if anyone can change his mind, it’s her.”
“Sheas have donated a lot of money to the school over the years. We are the largest financial backer.”
I blinked at him. “You are?”
“Yes.” Ryder spoke without looking away from what he was doing. “I told you I’ve been in meetings for the past few weeks. The partners have been filling me in on our holdings and asking which investments I’ll continue to make. The donations we’ve made to the school are nothing to sneeze at. I’m pretty sure we’re responsible for the building of the stadium and the sports complex.”
“Wow. No wonder Evergreen refuses to upset her.” A thought occurred to me. “You know, Kai said getting the parents involved might help us, but it seems Caroline is in the best position to do that. She could—”
“No.”
There was a hard edge to his voice that pulled me up short. “No? Why?”
“My mom isn’t going to fight our battles for us. She’s not well. She needs to rest.”
“She’d do anything to protect you, Ryder. She’s well enough for that.”
Slam!
I jumped as his slammed locker drew more eyes to us.
“I said no,” he forced through gritted teeth. “And don’t you dare go behind my back and talk to her.”
My face twisted into a frown. “First: you don’t tell me what to do. Second: I wasn’t going to go behind your back. It was just an idea.”
“Good.”
“Fine!”
I spun around and gave him my back. My body was vibrating with anger. I heard him behind me cursing and roughly throwing things into his bag.
“Is it always going to be like this?” he burst out. “We’ll never stop fighting and pissing each other off.”
“No,” I shot back, “because you’re irritating as fuck.”
I was shocked to hear him laugh. “Then why do you want to be with me, Moon?”
“Don’t try to get me to say nice things about you right now. You’re annoying. You’ve always been annoying. But you’re stuck with me, and lucky you. You won’t find anyone else like me willing to put up with your crap.”
Suddenly, his body was pressed against my back. His heat seeped into me as his chuckles reverberated through me. “You’re right.” Ryder rested his chin on my head. “I won’t find anyone else like you...”
A flush crept up my neck. I had been waiting a long time for Ryder to say things like this and touch me this way. He was all the things I said, but still, I wanted to get through those walls.
“...just as irritating as me.”
Heating up, I elbowed the asshole and took off to the sound of him guffawing. Why I liked him was a good fucking question.
Ryder ran to catch up and strolled next to me looking pretty pleased with himself. I rolled my eyes every time I looked at him.