by Ruby Vincent
The boys looked at each other. A silent communication passed between them in a language I still hadn’t learned. That was okay. I liked that they were so close.
“Okay.” Ryder handed back my phone. “Thirty minutes of normal.”
That was what they gave me. The boys walked me to the dorm and then went back inside for our dinner. When they returned, I had laid out a blanket and pillows in the front room. We began the night with just the five of us, but our noise brought the others out of their rooms. They saw what we were up to, ran to get their own food, and joined us.
Thirty minutes stretched into five hours. No text came from Ace, but I barely remembered the phone in my pocket. This was one of the best nights I ever had at Evergreen. My friends and the boys I loved together and being what we never got to be—a couple of regular teenagers.
Jaxson walked me upstairs when the night winded down. “I’m going to do it one of these days.”
I looked at him across the stairs. “Do what?”
“I’m going to break the cameras, get you in your room, and have my way with you.”
Peals of laughter burst out of me.
“I’m serious. While he’s scrambling, we’ll have plenty of time to get a little freaky.”
We stepped onto the landing and stopped in front of my dorm. I faced him with a smile. “I’d love it if you pulled that off, but getting a weekend pass might be safer.” I trailed my hand down his chest. “Then we wouldn’t have to rush.”
He growled low in his throat. “Good point. You doing anything this weekend?”
“Yes.” I hooked my finger through the part in his buttons and pulled him closer.
“What about next weekend?”
“Busy then too.” Rising up, I gave him a scorching kiss that pulled another growl out of him. I smirked at him when I stepped back. “I’ll just have to pencil you in, playboy.”
One last wink and I let myself into my room.
“I’m definitely breaking those cameras,” I heard him mumble as I shut the door.
Chapter Four
I woke the next day to an empty inbox. There had been no messages from Ace. I kicked off the covers and started my routine in a sort of trance. My body went through the motions while my mind was elsewhere.
Why haven’t they said anything? They must know. Even if they weren’t in the cafeteria at the time, the news would have spread. Everyone in that school must be aware that I’ve accused Scarlett LeBlanc as being a predator and a Spade. There will have to be some kind of response.
A knock broke through my thoughts. “Val? Are you up?”
I went to the door and let Sofia in. She got me in a hug milliseconds after she came inside.
“How are you? I wanted to talk to you last night, but we were having so much fun and I figured we both needed it.”
“We did.” I squeezed her back. “It was nice to have a break from the craziness for a while.”
“Do you want to talk about what happened with her?”
“Yes.” I stepped back and met her concerned gaze. “I’ve been wanting to tell you about it for a long time.”
We sat on the edge of my mattress. I told her the same thing I said to Evergreen. I wished I could be completely honest with her, but if she was ever questioned, I didn’t want to put her in the position of saying things she knew were lies. There was also the fact that some of these secrets weren’t mine to tell.
“That is so much to deal with by yourself.” Sofia put her head on my shoulder. “I wish you had told me sooner, but at least I know now.”
“I wonder what is going to happen next,” I mused aloud. “Evergreen said he is going to bring in the police and then there’s Ace.”
“Evergreen didn’t call the police when someone— when Scarlett tried to set you on fire. This is serious.”
I sighed. “It is serious. It’s also time to face it. We should go.”
Sofia nodded against my arm. She went to get her things while I finished packing up. The rest of the group were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. It was the opposite of the night before. No laughing or joking as we made for the main building.
I had told myself that the whole school would know by morning and it was confirmed when we set foot inside. Freshmen students stared openly at me while I passed by. Closing the door on them was a relief.
“It will be okay, Val,” Kai said softly. “Whatever happens, we’re here.”
My heart filled with a rush of gratitude when they all echoed him. “I know you are.”
I held on to the feeling as Jaxson held open the doors for the fourth floor. There was a group of girls idling in front of their lockers. They snapped their mouths shut when they saw me. Penelope snagged one of her friends and pulled her away. The group escaped down the hall, moving faster than they did in gym class.
I let out a breath. “I guess that answers the question of if I’m still being freezed out. I underestimated how afraid people are of the Spades. They won’t go against the mark.”
“This changes nothing,” Ryder announced. “If Ace wants a war; they’ve got one. We’re not backing down.” Ryder took my hand. “Let’s go. We don’t want to be late for class.”
We split up. I didn’t speak as we walked toward our lockers, but I saw Ryder looking at me from the corner of my eye.
“Are you upset?”
“No. Yes.” I tossed my head. “I don’t know. I just can’t believe news like this isn’t enough to shake the hold of the Spades. I’m starting to think that nothing will.”
“We will. The problem is that we’ve been fighting people we can’t see. If we knew who they were, we’d know how to end it. We’ve spent too much time trying to get ahead of Ace when we don’t know if they are in front or behind. We have to step up our attempts to find them.” He pulled up and I realized we were in front of his locker. “We have the list of suspects. We had no way to narrow it down before, but tonight we should look at it again—the five of us. Something might jump out.”
A smile spread across my lips as he spoke. He noticed it when I didn’t reply. “What? Why are you smiling?”
My answer was to slip my arms around his waist and rest my head on his chest. That was what I liked about him. He always had a plan. No matter how awful things appeared to be; he was thinking of a way out.
“That’s a good idea. We’ll do it tonight.”
Eventually, I let him go and we dumped our things for homeroom. I began the walk to the classroom without a problem, but as I neared the door, I got slower. I was lagging a foot behind Ryder when Roundtree’s room came into view.
He peered at me over his shoulder. “You up for this? We could skip class again.”
I shook my head. “Putting it off won’t make it easier. Besides, it’s not me who should hide.” Saying that infused my spine with steel. I picked up the pace and grabbed the knob before he could reach it.
I threw open the door and walked into a class that was already quiet, but the silence became absolute as everyone turned to me. I moved into the middle of the room and paused, meeting their eyes. No one spoke as I traveled up and down the rows of faces looking for what I expected to see.
I frowned. Wait—
Natalie moved her backpack out of her lap and got to her feet. I braced myself for the vileness that was going to pour out of her mouth. “Professor Roundtree. Can you give us ten minutes?” There was no expression on her face to give her away. “Knight business.”
I heard a sigh from behind me. “I know how this works. You’ve got ten minutes and no more.” Roundtree crossed in front of my vision and walked out, leaving me alone with my class.
Isabella, Airi, and Darren got to their feet with Natalie. They faced me down while the class held so still, they might have been frozen.
My friends and the other boys had made it to class before me. They were all seated apart from Ryder who came to my side.
I swept over the four of them. “Well? Say something, Knights.”
Isabella opened her mouth.
“Is it true?”
I twisted my head around as one of the guys shot out of his seat. Eric Eden looked back at me. The artificial lights shone on the sweat collected on his brow and the button he missed when getting dressed. I could see from where I stood that his balled fists shook.
“Is it true, Val? About Professor LeBlanc. About why you were marked? Was what you said really why this happened?”
I looked at the guy whose friendship I had gained and lost twice with the appearance of a card. “Yes.”
A hush spread through the space.
Penelope shot to her feet. “But that can’t be true!”
That broke the spell.
“How can you say it’s not true?!” Genesis Smith yelled at her. “Why would she lie?”
Penelope snapped back and then the whole class was off—yelling back and forth in an unintelligible mess that I couldn’t make out. I didn’t know who believed me and who didn’t. The noise reached dangerous levels until I got fed up.
“Stop it!” I bellowed. “All of you! Be quiet!”
This was the one time the new Knights and I were on the same page because they were shouting the same.
“It’s different now,” Eric’s voice could be heard when the room started to settle down. “Valentina was innocent. She didn’t do anything that would deserve her getting thrown out of Evergreen.”
Juliet Cochran, Darren’s co-host, pushed herself up on legs that wobbled. “My older sister was s-sexually assaulted. I don’t care what they do. I’m done listening to the Spades.”
Penelope leveled her finger at me. “We only have her side of the story. She’s probably lying to get the mark lifted again. She’d do anything.”
“She wouldn’t lie about that!” The person who spoke in my defense was none other than Lola, Penelope’s best friend. “You heard her! She found out that woman was a pedophile and LeBlanc marked her.”
“We didn’t hear anything.” Isabella’s tone was measured as she moved from her desk and put a hand on Penelope. She pushed her back into her seat. “We don’t know the full story, so tell us, Valentina. We’re listening.”
I glanced at Ryder. She sounded sincere. I figured I would have to tell my story many times. I would share it now if it would bring this to an end.
“Okay.” I shifted to face the class. “It started the night of the freshman masquerade dance...”
No one interrupted or so much as coughed while I told them what I said to Evergreen. When I finished, I got the opposite of silence. I was pelted with questions.
“Who is the student?”
“Do you have proof?”
“What is Evergreen going to do? He let a fucking pedophile teach us. What if she assaulted other students?”
“What about the mark? You can’t just mark people because they find out you’re a twisted sicko.” This came from one of Darren’s crew. “Juliet is right. I’m not following that mark.”
“Do the Spades know?”
“The Spades?” A sickly pallor was cast on Claire’s face. She looked like she would throw up. “Is this what the Spades are really about? Are they a group of horrible people like Scarlett and the ones they’ve marked over the years were those that found out the truth about them?”
“Hold on.” Ciara grasped Claire’s forearm. “We don’t know that. I’m sure that’s not—”
“You’re sure?!” She ripped her arm away. “How?! It’s not like they haven’t hurt innocent people before. They killed Walter McMillian and he did nothing wrong. Everyone knows he did nothing wrong! This is what the Spades really are and I-I hurt one of my friends to protect a pedophile!” Then she clapped her hand over mouth. Claire raced to the front of the room and heaved into a wastebasket. Her boyfriend ran to her side, bending over her as he rubbed her back.
It was at that moment that Roundtree came back inside. He surveyed the chaos and said, “Damn. Whatever had been going on, it’s time to give it a rest.”
There was no continuing after that. Roundtree made us take our seats and pull out our homework. I tried to read my Psychology textbook but the words swam on the page. It was hard to concentrate with Claire sobbing a few desks down.
What would happen now?
Kai repeated the question on my mind when homeroom ended. “People believe you, Val. You heard Claire, Lola, Brian, and Eric. Maybe the Spades believe you too.”
I looked toward the phone box while I threw the psych book in my bag. “All we have are maybes. We’ll see if anything really changes.”
THE REST OF THE FIRST week of school passed quickly, but not quietly. The new Knights kicked Roundtree out of class three more times and there were more shouting matches that went nowhere. I was hit with questions on all sides while my boys looked like they were barely restraining themselves from stepping in.
I knew it was killing them seeing what I was going through, but I didn’t want them being put through this inquisition. This wasn’t how someone who had dealt with assault and violence should be treated, but decency was thrown out of the window under the shadow of the Spades.
Who were they? What was this secret society truly about? Protecting the legacy of Evergreen Academy? Or hiding its dark shameful secrets? Lines were being drawn and I honestly did not know which way it would go. The entire school was breaking apart at the seams.
I stepped out of Evergreen’s office that Friday evening never more relieved that it was the weekend. The Shea family car was idling outside the gates and I was happy to hop inside and drive far away from this place. There was only one more thing I needed to do.
“Thank you for speaking with me, Valentina.” Officer Plymouth followed me out into reception and shook my hand. Evergreen had warned me the police were going to drop in and interview me so it wasn’t a surprise when I found him and Officer Plymouth waiting outside my final class of the day.
Officer Plymouth was kind and patient as I told my story. She listened without interrupting and only asked a few questions to clarify. I could sense she wanted to help me.
If only her suspect wasn’t lying at the bottom of a cliff.
“I appreciate how hard it must have been to come forward. I want you to know the search for Scarlett LeBlanc has already begun. We’ve put the word out to former employees. We’ve also contacted friends. Finding her is our top priority.”
I halted with my feet pointed toward the door. “What happens if you can’t find her?”
Plymouth’s phone trilled in her pants. She took it out and answered me with one eye on it. “Hmm. Oh. We will. I have no doubt she will be located and charged. Justice will be done.” Plymouth looked up from the screen. “I’m afraid I have to go, but you’ll be kept informed. Goodbye, Miss Moon.”
She blew out of the door before I could get another word in. I let her go. There was no point pressing her about it. As long as a certain video never surfaced, no one would find Scarlett LeBlanc.
Time to go, I thought as I grabbed my overnight bag off the chair. The list of Ace suspects was tucked away in my pocket where it had been since the five of us stayed up going through it. We had not been able to cross anyone off, but I had been keeping it with me and scribbling things in the margins.
Ryder honked when I stepped out of the gates. I slid into the passenger seat and tossed my bag in the back. “I’m glad we’re doing this. I needed a break.”
“My house will be chill. Mom’s been in a good mood and she’s excited we’re coming. She has the chef cooking us a feast every night and she’s brought out all her favorite old movies for us to watch together.”
“That sounds perfect.” My first smile of the day appeared on my lips. “So what will you and I do together?”
“I’ve got plans.” He left it there and wouldn’t say more even under my pestering.
The ride to Shea Manor was short. Twenty minutes later, we were pulling into his driveway. One of his staff came out to meet us and took the keys off his
hands while he opened my door. His car sped off in a spray of gravel as Ryder led me inside.
“You and Mom are going to the bank tomorrow morning, but tonight, she thought we would start the movie marathon. She has the Maltese Falcon queued up in the theater.”
“Ooh. Maltese Falcon. Caroline has great taste.”
He laughed. Ryder was loosening up before my eyes. The stiffness to his jaw eased and the taut line of his shoulders went away. He had been looking forward to this too.
“Are you hungry? Chef can serve dinner whenever you’re ready.”
I shook my head. “I’m not hungry yet, but let’s eat before the movie so I won’t stuff myself on popcorn.”
“Cool.” He grabbed my hand. “Let me show you to your room.”
“My room?” I let Ryder tug me along after him. “I thought that we would—”
Ryder peered at me over his shoulder and raised his brow. “You thought we would be sleeping in the same bed?”
“Yes,” I replied, even though my cheeks were hot.
“I’m all for it, but my mom is right down the hall.” He winked. “Don’t worry. We’ll have time to ourselves. I told you I have something planned.”
“Okay. Guess I’ll have to trust you,” I teased.
Ryder gave me a mini-tour of my room. It was a few doors down from him and could fit my entire house inside. It was a gorgeous space with plush carpet that swallowed my toes and a massive bed that sadly wouldn’t have him in it. I didn’t come on this trip for that but I did want our relationship to move forward.
Ryder left me to clean up before dinner and I sunk into my bath with him running through my mind.
A relationship with Ryder was never going to be easy. There was too much history there. But I chose him. I need him to know that he’s worth that choice.
The soaker tub tried to claim me for its own, but eventually, I forced myself out. I changed into a comfy pair of jeans and a loose top and went in search of Ryder and Caroline. My feet remembered the way, and I found them in the dining room without a problem.