Beyond Vengeance: Pacific Prep #3

by R. A. Smyth

  “Alright,” I yell over Tiffany, who’s still screaming up a storm. “Who’s next?”

  “We don’t know who leaked that video,” one girl near the front cries out.

  “No?” I swivel my gaze around the room before landing on Bianca. She looks paler than she did before, but she holds her ground—gotta give her credit for that. “None of you have a clue?”

  Everyone shakes their heads adamantly.

  “Bianca?” I question. “You have no idea who did it?”

  “No,” she bites out, but I don’t miss the quiver in her voice.

  I sigh in disappointment, shaking my head as I press another button on my phone which is once again followed a few seconds later by the flurry of notifications going off across the room.

  After my initial freak out, I was particularly shocked at this revelation and I didn’t even get it from West’s blackmail pile. Nope, I found out this little beauty all by myself, when I had to pee in the middle of history class. It’s amazing…The gossip you overhear while sitting in a bathroom stall.

  My eyes stay pinned on Bianca as whispers crescendo around us. For a long moment, she stares back at me, refusing to lower her gaze, but eventually the need to know exactly what bomb I’ve dropped that will destroy her life gets the better of her, and she glances down at her phone. The color leeches out of her face as her hands start to tremble. She peeks nervously at the girls around her, all of whom are gaping at her with open mouths.

  “Is it true?” I hear someone ask her.

  With tears shining in her eyes, she spins on her heels and rushes out of the room, the closing of the door echoing behind her.

  “Take this as a warning,” I shout out, making sure everyone can hear me loud and clear. Now that I’ve dropped the big bomb, I’m keen to get this shitshow over with. “Do not cross me. Do not cross the Princes. Do. Not. Step. Out. Of. Line. I am watching you, and I will gladly reveal your deepest, darkest secrets to the rest of the school. There’s a queen on the throne now, and she won’t be taking any prisoners.” I pin every single girl with a fierce look that shows them how fucking serious I am. “Now get the fuck out of here,” I bark in my best impression of Hawk and Mason.

  Everyone jumps into motion, eager to get away from me as quickly as possible. As the girls push and shove their way out the door, I hop down off the table, landing solidly on my feet.

  “Holy shit, babe, that was amazing,” Mason praises, once we’re alone in the hall, pushing his way through the kitchen door, with Cam hot on his heels. Gathering me in his arms, he swings me around, making me laugh.

  “Seeing you go all demonic on their asses was hot as fuck.” Cam is bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waits impatiently for Mason to let go of me, pulling me in for a heated kiss as soon as he does.

  “Yeah? You think I made my point?”

  “I think you made them piss their pants, Little Warrior.” Mason laughs, looking weirdly proud. His praise makes me grin, even if it’s a little sick and twisted. “But you have to tell us, what dirt did you have on Bianca?”

  I smirk. “She has a secret baby.”

  Cam gapes at me with wide eyes, and I can see the wheels churning in his head.

  “She, what?” Mason exclaims. “How did you find that out?”

  “I overheard her having an argument with her mom about it one day in the bathroom. I got West to do a little digging and we uncovered the birth certificate.”

  “It’s not mine, is it?” Cam asks in a strangled voice, sweat forming along his brow.

  “No,” I assure him, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “It’s not.”

  “Thank fuck,” he breathes out, relieved.

  Fuck, that would have been a catastrophe. There’s no way Bianca would have kept that a secret though. She’s been trying to hook Cam all year—and now I think I know why—but if he was the baby’s father, she would have made sure to use it to lock him down tight. Thank fuck for condoms, right?

  Word spreads through the campus like wildfire, and by the end of the day, everyone knows about Bianca’s not-so-secret baby, and Tiffany’s untreated chlamydia. The latter quickly packed her bags and escaped campus amidst a bunch of enraged boys.

  “Holy shit, girl. Do you have any idea of the mayhem you have unleashed?” Emilia giggles that evening. “Everyone is terrified of you now.”

  “They should be.” I laugh.

  “I don’t get why you had to do it,” Michael chimes in, looking confused. “Or why the guys are no longer picking girls?”

  “I had to exert my dominance,” I explain casually. “When the guys arrived in freshman year, they had to prove they were the top dogs or no one would take them seriously, so now I have to do the same. By stopping the tradition they had with the girls, it means I’m the only one in control of them. It makes me look more powerful if I’m doing it on my own instead of riding their coat tails.”

  I didn’t really understand why I had to do it either, but now that I’ve done it, and seen for myself how effective it was at getting everyone to fall in line and see me as the new queen of Pac, I can admit that rush of adrenaline you get from knowing you’re the biggest, baddest bitch around is intoxicating. I think I’m a little high off of the power.

  “What now?” Emilia asks.

  “I’m not sure. I guess I don’t need to do anything unless someone steps out of line.”

  “So.” Emilia gets an excited glint in her eye. “Bianca’s baby…”

  We spend the rest of the day speculating about who the baby daddy is. There was no name on the birth certificate, and apparently Bianca disappeared all of last summer. She told everyone it’s because she was getting her boobs done—which it seems she also did—but the main reason she wasn’t at any of the summer parties was because she was having a friggin’ baby.

  Of course, when I first overheard Bianca in that bathroom, my initial concern had been that Cam was the dad—what a fucking disaster that would have been—but West and I were able to work back from the date on the birth certificate. We calculated that she must have gotten pregnant in October or November, and West assured me Cam only started sleeping with her last spring, after she was already pregnant. The lucky bitch must have had one teeny-tiny baby bump to pull that one off.

  I don’t really give a damn who her baby daddy is. Although I’m guessing he’s not rich or of the ‘right breeding’ since she’s not shoving a diamond engagement ring in everyone's faces, and is instead chasing after my filthy rich boyfriend.

  Chapter 13

  Everything falls into place after my little show in the dining hall. The girls rightfully look at me with fear as I walk past, always either saying nothing or stuttering out a polite hello before scurrying off.

  The boys are still annoying as hell, trying to flirt with me at every opportunity. The fact none of them knew my name before all this Davenport crap came to light shows they’re just after me because of my supposed money and status. It’s disgusting, and I don’t have the time of day for them. Yet, they have the audacity to think I’m the rude one when I tell them to fuck off. The arrogance of some people!

  Over the next week, I try to stay on top of my homework—and fail miserably—and I get to spend time with my friends and the guys, both as a group and some one-on-one time. Life actually feels good right now, except for the dark cloud that is our parents constantly hanging over our heads.

  I’m sitting in my room, trying to blast through some of the backlog of schoolwork I have when my phone ringing interrupts my concentration.

  No one ever calls, so I’m surprised when I see Hawk’s name flash on the screen.

  “Hey, is West with you?” he blurts out before I can say anything. The unusual strain in his tone has me instantly on alert as I drop my pen and focus on the call.

  “Uh, no. Why?”

  “Fuck,” he curses. “None of us have been able to find him.”

  “What do you mean?” I rush out, frantically trying to remember when I last saw h
im. He was at breakfast this morning, but we didn’t have any classes together, and I grabbed lunch with Emilia and Michael today so I haven’t seen him since then. “You checked the library and computer lab?”

  “Yeah.” I can hear the worry in his voice, and it only makes me panic more.

  “Have you talked to Beck? Maybe he’s with him?” It’s a long shot, but it’s the only idea I have right now.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “I’ll phone him now.”

  Not waiting for his response, I hang up and dial Beck. He picks up on the second ring.

  “Hey sweetheart, what’s up?”

  “Have you seen West?” I rush out, sounding panicked as I get straight to the point, a sick feeling settling in my stomach.

  “Uh, no, why, what’s going on?”

  “No one has seen him all day. We were hoping he might have been with you.”

  I can hear rustling in the background and the flurry of movement before the sound of a door slams shut.

  “He’s not. I’m coming over now.”

  “Okay, meet you at the guys’ room.”

  Hanging up, I jam my feet into my boots and rush out the door while my brain frantically tries to think of where he could be. I’m desperately making excuses to myself that he’s gotten caught up in his computer stuff or something and lost track of time. Anything to stop me thinking of the alternative—that something has happened to him.

  I take the stairs to the guys’ floor two at a time, banging my fist on the door.

  “Anything?” I ask hopefully when Hawk answers.

  “In the last two minutes? No.”

  Ignoring his pissy attitude, I stride past him—we’re all a little stressed right now—saying, “He’s not with Beck. He’s coming over to help.”

  Cam and Mason are sitting at the island. Cam’s typing on his tablet, and Mason sighs as he hangs up his phone. “His cell just goes straight to voicemail.”

  “He’s not answering any of my messages either,” Cam tacks on.

  “Has he ever done this before? Is it possible he’s just working on a project and lost track of time?” My voice is tinged with hope, even though I know it’s futile.

  “Nah. He wouldn’t not answer his phone,” Cam insists. “He must have about twenty missed calls from us by now.”

  I absently nod my head as I contemplate where else he could be. “Is there anywhere on campus he likes to go that you haven’t checked yet?”

  “No. We’ve already looked everywhere he usually hangs out.”

  I’ve only been in the apartment for a few minutes when there’s another knock at the door.

  “What’s going on?” Beck demands, sounding slightly breathless from his rush to get over here as he strides into the apartment in his workout gear, a serious expression on his face and a tightness around his eyes.

  “We don’t know yet,” Hawk responds. “The last we saw West was at lunch. He had physics and biology this afternoon, but none of us are in those classes with him.”

  “It’s seven o’clock. How are you only realizing now that he’s missing?” Beck growls angrily, making Hawk glare in his direction.

  “Not that you would know, because you don’t know anything about him,” Hawk snarls, digging the knife into Beck’s chest, “but he usually goes to the library or computer lab after class. It was only when he didn’t show up at dinner and none of us had heard back from him that we suspected something wasn’t right.”

  “Guys,” I snap. “This isn’t helping. We need to work together.”

  “We should split up and scour the campus,” Beck insists.

  Hawk scowls at him, but nods his head. “I agree. Between us, we should be able to cover most of it pretty quickly. Mason, check the rec and sports center. Cam and Beck, both of you should check the main school buildings, then when you’re done, meet Mason and spread out to search the forest at that end of the campus. Hadley and I will search the forest behind the dorms and work our way toward the lake.”

  Everyone nods and quickly gets to their feet.

  “Here, take these.” Mason hands each of us flashlights. “In case it gets dark before we find him.”

  His voice is tight, his words leaving an ominous chill in the air that none of us want to acknowledge.

  “Everyone keep their phones on them, check in every half hour and let the rest of us know if you find anything,” Hawk barks before we all set off out the door.

  ***

  “I’m really beginning to worry,” I reluctantly admit an hour later. We’ve searched most of the forest and there has been no sign of him. Although, honestly, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I mean, what the fuck would he be doing all the way out here? This is where you’d take a dead body to dump it. That’s the thought that keeps playing on repeat in my head, and as the sun starts to set, making the shadows grow longer, every fallen log and pile of leaves that looks like it could be a dead body makes me shiver in fear as nausea churns my stomach, freezing me in place for a second before I can gather my wits and convince myself it’s nothing more than foliage.

  “He’s stronger than he looks,” Hawk assures, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself as much as me. The two of us are about six feet apart, scouring the ground and surrounding forest to our left and right with every step we take.

  “I know, but all I keep thinking about is what if our parents got to him. If they sent someone after him, he wouldn’t stand a chance against them.”

  “He’s fine,” Hawk growls, refusing to believe anything else.

  We walk on in silence for another beat, until the crack of something hidden in the leaves underneath my boot has both of us freezing and staring down at the ground.

  Hawk rushes over to me as I lift my boot, revealing a now cracked phone. He bends down to lift it, but all I can do is stare at it. This has got to be a bad omen, right?

  “Is it his?” I croak out.

  He looks it over before attempting to turn it on, but the thing is nothing more than a black brick.

  “I don’t know.” He blows out a breath in frustration.

  I mean it has to be his. Not many people come this deep into the forest, and anyone who dropped their phone would search for it. They wouldn’t just walk off and leave it.

  He tucks the phone away in his pocket. “Come on, let's keep searching.” His eyes roam over the area, looking for any other clues before he fixes his hard gaze on me. “This doesn’t tell us anything. It might mean nothing. We have to keep looking.”

  The sharpness of his words is what gets through to me and locks down the out-of-control swarm of emotions I’m feeling right now, forcing myself into the headspace I’ve had to enter so many times when I was out on a job. Emotions have no place when you need to keep your head and think rationally, so all this fear and worry won’t do me—and it certainly won’t do West—any good. Shoving all those useless feelings into a box, I nod my head, ready to continue on.

  After another fifteen minutes of searching, we reach the edge of the forest by the lake. By now the sun has set, and the dark sky makes the deep water look more sinister than I ever remember it being. A deep-seated sickness flows through me as I look out over the water and I feel Hawk tense beside me as he does the same. Both of us know the best place on campus to get rid of a dead body is in that lake.

  We shine our torches over the pebbled shore as we walk along it toward the boathouse.

  “Over there!” I point toward where something glints in the glow of my flashlight slightly further down the beach. “What is that?”

  The two of us rush toward it; hope that it’s a clue and fear that it’s something bad warring for first place within me.

  I gasp as I skid to a stop on the stones. “They’re his.” My voice is strained, emotion choking me as I bend down to lift the broken pair of glasses. The lens in one eye is missing and I can see small fragments of the glass on the ground. “He must have gotten into a fight.”

  Frantica
lly, I shine the light around us, desperately hoping it will show us another clue. Something. Anything. He must be nearby. He wouldn’t have been able to get far without these.

  Not seeing anything, I squint into the darkness, barely making out the dark outline at the far end of the beach.

  “Hawk,” I gasp. “The boathouse.”

  We share a glance before we take off, running full pelt toward the small shack, no longer taking our time to search as we go. He has to be there.

  I beat Hawk there by mere seconds and take a steadying breath, mentally trying to prepare myself for whatever we might find on the other side. Alert for any sound that could indicate an ambush, I push the door open and we peer into the dark interior. There’s nothing but silence which only makes me feel more on edge as we step inside, our flashlights sweeping over the weathered floorboards.

  “Oh my god,” I gasp, when the beam of Hawk’s torch washes over a pair of legs—a pair of very still, unmoving legs. I scramble forward, Hawk right behind me as he moves his flashlight to show us West’s body and battered face.

  His uniform is torn and bloodied, and his face looks like it was used as a punching bag.

  “West,” I cry out, dropping to my knees beside him. My hands hover over him, unsure what to do or how I can help without causing him further pain.

  When he doesn’t respond, I shout again, “West!”

  Hawk crouches down on his other side. “West, man,” he calls out, shaking his shoulder. “It’s me. Come on, we gotta get you out of here.”

  West groans, and I release a sigh of relief. Thank fuck he’s alive! The stress from the last few hours burns away, quickly being replaced with concern as I try to assess how bad his injuries are.

  “West,” Hawk snaps, shaking him roughly again.

  Another groan and a feeble swipe of his hand as he tries to dislodge Hawk’s hand from his shoulder.

  “That’s it, man. You’re gonna be fine,” Hawk assures him before looking at me. “Stay with him, I’ll phone the others. Then we’ve gotta try and lift him out of here.”