by Ruby Vincent
I rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “What about you? Did you talk to your father?”
He nodded.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
He nodded again.
I waited. The silence pressed in on us as Jaxson gazed into the night, but I didn’t rush him. I promised I would be there for him and that’s what I would do.
When he spoke, his voice sounded strange. “I’ve only seen my dad cry once before this weekend,” he whispered. “That was when Mom died. He wouldn’t stop, Val. I didn’t know how to make him stop.”
“Jaxson,” was all I got out before I was crying too.
Jaxson didn’t cry, but that night we fell asleep on the floor beneath the window. I couldn’t bring him into my room, but neither of us could be parted from each other. I fell asleep feeling warm and safe in his arms. I hoped he felt the same in mine.
Chapter Five
Weariness clung to me as we climbed the four flights to the senior floor, and it wasn’t only because I went to bed late.
Walking into Roundtree’s class felt like stepping onto a battlefield, but as we put our phones away and found our seats, I saw there was no war coming.
The class worked quietly on their homework, and whenever someone made a sound, Roundtree shushed them. There would be no screaming matches today.
I tried to do my Individuals and Societies homework, but every minute or two, I lifted my head to search the faces around me. Was Ace in this room? Were they the ones who made the decision we were waiting to hear?
The bell jarred me out of my thoughts. I put away my half-finished homework and followed my friends to Lit class.
“Good morning, everyone,” said our professor. “Next class, you will be choosing your book for your midterm assignment, but today, we’re going over the elements of a great college essay. We’ll go over examples, and then you’ll craft your own using sample topics. Any questions?”
No one had questions so class got underway. I copied the notes even though I had done and redone my essay a dozen times. Somerset applications had opened a week before school started, though they weren’t due until October. The essay topic chosen for the upcoming freshman class was almost fate.
What is the greatest hardship you’ve faced? How did you overcome it?
Where did I begin? Being raped, ending a life, becoming a teenage mother, entering the academy, finding that card in my locker, endless taunting, hounding, and bullying. I could have written them a book.
Deciding what to talk about hadn’t been easy. I went back and forth until I had an essay I was pleased with, but depending on today, there could be more hardships to add.
I spoke about moving forward in my essay. I hoped that today would we would do so.
I sensed the same feeling buzzing through the group. Kicked out of the library, we spent our study period in the dorm. After, we went back to the main building for lunch. Jaxson leaned into me when we reached the fourth floor.
“Val.” He bumped my shoulder. “With everything that’s going on... I needed last night. Can it just be you and me again tonight?”
“I’d like that.” I was desperate to know what was going on with Ezra and Maverick, but I respected that they needed their space. They would call me when they were ready.
Jaxson and I walked into Roundtree’s classroom holding hands.
The professor waved his half-eaten apple at us. “No food in here. You’ll have to hit the lunchroom.”
That was no surprise. I pulled ahead of them, leading the way to the cafeteria, but Ryder and Jaxson were right on my heels. We stepped into the lunchroom and a ripple went through the room. One by one, people fell quiet under the effect my presence seemed to have.
I looked toward the dais and found the new Knights where I expected them to be. Isabella cut a piece of lasagna, brought it to her lips, and chewed delicately. After she swallowed, she dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
Anxiety twisted my gut into a tight knot as I waited.
Finally, she dropped her napkin down and pushed away from the table.
I thought she would address me. Isabella didn’t look my way while she walked to the edge of the dais. “I know you all have questions—”
“Is the mark lifted?” Lola demanded.
“It has to be over,” Juliet said. “Valentina didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Valentina Moon told us that she was marked because she discovered the former art teacher was a pedophile.” Isabella swept the room until she landed on me. She looked me in the eyes and said, “She lied.”
“What?! I did not lie!” I shouted, but I was not the only one.
“Why would you say that?” Claire cried. “How do you know it’s a lie?”
“Of course it’s a lie,” said Isabella. It bothered me how calm she was. She spoke as though she was recited an English paper. “If she was innocent from the beginning, she could have said so. There was no reason for her to keep quiet, especially after LeBlanc left the school.” Behind her, Natalie and Darren got to their feet. “Valentina wasn’t marked to hide someone else’s secret; she was marked because the Spades discovered her own.”
I reeled back. What the hell is she talking about?
“Rather than leave, she fought us, attacked us, turned the old Knights on the school, and then made up a story about a teacher that wasn’t here to defend themselves to get the mark lifted.”
Anger boiled my blood. “That is a load of flaming horseshit, Isabella! LeBlanc is who I say she is.”
“Is she?” She lifted one perfectly plucked eyebrow, remaining the picture of calm. “Well, that load of horseshit came to me... from the Spades themselves.”
Gasps went up around the room. The name “Spades” was on every mouth as they looked at Isabella in shock.
“I don’t care what they told you,” I announced. “They’re wrong.”
“If they’re wrong, why hasn’t this unknown victim of Scarlett LeBlanc materialized? They could prove your story, but no one has because they don’t exist.”
“They do exist, dumbass.” I stalked toward her until I was a foot from the dais. “They’ve already gone to the police and told them everything.”
Isabella’s calm cracked. Surprise flickered across her face as her lips parted. “They have—”
“Gone to the police,” I said again. “They have also told Evergreen the truth. So what do your precious Spades think about that? Who is lying now?”
Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.
“What are they going to say, Isabella?” Claire pressed. “The victim has gone to the cops and the headmaster. Everything Valentina is saying lines up.”
“It sounds like they’re the fucking liars,” said Brian, one of Darren’s friends. “What the hell are they trying to do? Why are they protecting her? You spoke to them. You know them. Tell us who they are so we can ask ourselves!”
“Yeah!”
The cry echoed in the space as Isabella’s head whipped this way and that. “I-I don’t know them.”
“You’re lying!” Genesis Smith roared. “She’s protecting them too!”
She lurched to her feet and most of the class did too. I took the tiniest step back. I could sense something brewing in the air and it was turning nasty.
Isabella backed up too until she ran into the table. “I’m not protecting them. I don’t know who they are. They— They sent me texts anonymously.”
“You believe some anonymous person over Valentina?” Claire asked.
“We believe them”—Natalie shot forward and stood next to her friend—“because they told us the real reason Valentina was marked. She’s the one who lied. She is doing all of this to hide the truth.”
“What truth?” I snapped. “What are you talking about?”
Natalie leveled her poisonous gaze on me. “Why won’t you give the innocent act a rest? It’s all out now so why keep lying?”
I threw up my hands. “You’re
still batshit stupid. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Fine. If you won’t spill it; I will.” She spun to face the room. “Valentina was marked in freshman year because the Spades found out her secret. They discovered she was hiding a kid that was fathered by...”
Every fiber of my being went still as those words came from her mouth. No. They can’t know. They can’t—
“...her middle school teacher.”
I was far away when the end of her sentence reached me, or at least, that was what it felt like. The roaring in my ears was drowning everything out as my brain tried to make sense of it.
Fathered by... who?
“That’s not true!” Ryder’s shout broke me from my fog. “They’re the ones making shit up!”
“Really?” Natalie challenged. “Then why has Valentina been hiding her kid for all these years?”
I didn’t need Ryder to defend this one. “Because he’s none of your fucking business.”
Her smirk widened. “Just like you’ll say the father is none of our business, but why is that? Why won’t you tell anyone?”
I swallowed hard. My body shook as I glared at her.
“Go on. Tell us who your kid’s dad is.” The chaos had finally settled. No one was yelling or arguing as Natalie faced me down. “Ace said that you wouldn’t—that you couldn’t. You’re the one who has been protecting a pedophile. You seduced Mr. Garret, got knocked up, and hid it so he wouldn’t end up in jail.”
My chest heaved from the force of my ragged breaths. My middle school teacher’s name had been Mr. Garret. He was kind, thirty years old, and moved out of the country before I graduated. He was long gone and there was no way he could be used to disprove their story. Ace had certainly done their homework.
“Mr. Garret is not the father of my son,” I forced through gritted teeth. “He was a nice person who never laid a finger on me and you and your Spade buddies should be ashamed for dragging an innocent man into this, but this is what they do. They aren’t above disgusting things like this to get what they want.”
“If that’s true, tell us who the father is.”
“He’s none of your—”
“I’m the father.”
My head snapped around. Ryder moved to my side, silver eyes locked on to Natalie. “Adam is my son.”
Natalie’s confidence took a hit for the briefest moment as she lost her grin. “What? You?”
“That’s right. I’ve known Valentina since before the academy. She got pregnant and gave birth to my son. We didn’t tell anyone because we don’t have to. Our kid isn’t your business.”
I gazed at Ryder as he took my hand. I can’t believe he’s doing this for me—for us.
Natalie looked unsure for a moment, but then the snarl slammed back into place. “If you’re the father, you’ll be on the birth certificate, or better yet, a quick paternity test will prove it.” She scoffed. “You think I buy your boyfriend’s little confession? The kid doesn’t even look like him. He’s making it up. Just like whoever you’ve got singing to the police is making it up.”
“You’ll believe what you want to believe.” I turned from her and addressed my class, looking over the confused, angry, and sickly faces. “This is the truth. Scarlett LeBlanc was a horrible person who used her authority to hurt children. When I found out, she used her power as a Spade to hurt me. I don’t know why the Spades would defend someone like that—”
“They’re not!” Natalie cried. “The Spades are about one thing and one thing only: protecting the academy. We’re the best school in the country, and we stay that way because Evergreen only allows the best. The Spades didn’t want a slutty, old-cock-loving afternoon special ruining our reputation.”
I gave her a hard look. “Are you finished?”
She scowled, but didn’t reply.
“As I was saying,” I continued as I turned back around. “The Spades have decided to protect their own, but the problem is they are using you to do it. They speak through the Knights like puppets. They ask you to drive the marked out while they hide in the shadows with their motives. You decide who you will believe. You decide how you’re going to act, but I’ll tell you this: I’m not going anywhere. I won’t be driven out because those fuckers have gone too far.”
My eyes passed over the crowd. “You shouldn’t have brought my son into this, Ace. You’ve made it my mission to hunt you down, expose you, and beat your ass. The truth will come out and you’ll remember this moment as your biggest fucking mistake.”
Hot with rage, I turned my back and stalked to the door. Sofia had just put her arm around me when a noise from behind stopped us dead. The sounds didn’t make sense to me, and when I peered over my shoulder, the sight didn’t either.
Half of the class had gotten to their feet and they were following me out. Across the room, Airi Tanaka finally rose from the table. She looked at Darren and her friends, then without a word, she climbed off the dais and fell in behind Juliet.
The door swung shut on Natalie’s and Isabella’s shocked faces.
“IT WAS INTENSE. THE whole thing was unreal. Half of the students showed their support for me.” I blew out a breath. “I still can’t believe it.”
“I can’t believe that they all didn’t walk out,” Ezra countered.
Walking back to the dorm and discovering Ezra had texted lifted my mood. I called him right away. It was great to hear his voice after everything that happened.
I leaned back onto my pillows and curled my legs under me. “It sucks, but Eric, Claire, and Ciara did. Even Lola and Brian and they acted like beasts when I was marked. I guess there was good hiding behind their fear of the Spades. They’ve finally been pushed too far.”
“Val, that’s good but... you know it’s not over, don’t you? Ace has come back and hit you hard. I can’t imagine what they’ll do now that half the class has been turned against them.”
My mood was sinking faster than an exploded blimp. I knew he was right, but today had been a victory. If this was war; I needed more allies. “They’ll strike back, but I’ll be ready for it. The list is getting shorter, Ezra. No matter what happens, I’m going to find them and end the Spades for good. No one will suffer under their hands again.”
“I’ve learned never to doubt you, Valentina Moon. If anyone is going to do it; it’s going to be you.”
The smile returned to my lips. “Let’s stop talking about Ace. Tell me about you. How is your mom?”
“She’s doing better—coming to terms with it. She wanted me to stay home for another week, but I’ll be back at school on Monday.”
“Jaxson told me you’ve gone to the police.”
“She insisted, and if it gets people to believe you, then I’ll do anything. Even though we both know their investigation will lead nowhere.”
“I don’t know...” A thought detached itself from my subconscious. Something someone said had been nagging away at the back of my mind. “Their investigation won’t go anywhere... but ours might.”
“What does that mean? Do you know something?”
“Nothing for sure.” I shook my head. “Hey, we said we were going to give this a rest for a few minutes. About this weekend. Are we still—”
“Yes,” he answered. “We are still on for this weekend. I’ve been waiting too long to be with you. We’re not putting this off for another second.”
A smile played at my lips. “I’m glad to hear that. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. I’ve got the whole weekend planned. I promise you’ll love it.”
“I know I will.”
“Ezra?” Amelia’s voice came through the phone. “Sweetie, are you almost done? I need to talk to you.”
“I should go,” said Ezra. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I hung up and placed my phone on the nightstand. It had been a long day, but sleep was way off. I padded out of my room and down to the first floor. Jaxson’s door was open. I stepped in front
of the entrance and found him on his bed, talking on the phone like I was.
I drank him in. Jaxson Van Zandt was truly gorgeous. His pants were low on his waist, allowing the band of his silk boxers to peek through. He wore no shirt which let my eyes travel over the bumps and ridges of his torso. I thought he was cute when he was fully shaved, but the style he sported now was perfect on him. His blond locks fell into his eyes and begged me to brush them away.
It was hard to steal time with the boys with everything that was going on, but it was worth it to have even five minutes with them.
“I know, Dad,” he said. Jaxson glanced up and waved when he saw me. “No, I want to be here. She’s gone. Right. Okay. I’ll talk to Evergreen. Good idea. Alright. Love you too. Bye.”
Jaxson sighed as he hit end. “He’s been talking to Marcus and Amelia. He thinks he should have pulled me out of school too.”
“Do you want to stay home? Get away from the craziness for a bit while you sort stuff out?”
“Getting away from the craziness means getting away from you. I definitely don’t want that.” Jaxson heaved himself off the bed and snagged his shirt from the floor. “They’ve also been talking about hiring private investigators. They don’t trust the police to track her down themselves.”
I stepped in as far as the ever-watching cameras would allow me. “We don’t want her to be tracked down.”
Jaxson crossed the room and took my hands. They dangled between us as he leaned in until our noses brushed. “We started something that can’t be stopped. If we try, it will look suspicious. There’s no reason to think any investigation will lead to the cliffs.”
“Unless Ace releases that video.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Jaxson reached back and flicked off the light. “Come on. Let’s talk outside.”
We slipped through the front door into the evening. The sun was beginning to set but there was still enough light out for us to paint the sky. Jaxson picked up where he left off when the dorm was at our backs.
“Ace could have released that video at any time, but they haven’t. I don’t know what they want, but getting us in trouble with the police doesn’t seem to be it. Plus, it was an accident. None of us pushed her and if it came out now, people would see a predator screaming and threatening her victims. It would only support that LeBlanc isn’t innocent.”