Do It Or Else: A High School Bully Romance (Dirty Little Secret Book 3)

by Kai Juniper

  "Yeah? So?"

  "She wouldn't stick up for you if she was trying to put you in jail."

  "She would if she didn't want you to know. If she was there that night, she saw you. She knows you're part of this. She's keeping you out of it because she likes you and doesn't think you deserve to be punished. If she figured out you were saying all that stuff to get her to admit she's the one texting us, she'd say something to make sure you didn't think it was true."

  "You're saying you still think it's her?"

  "As of now, yeah. I don't know who else it could be."

  "But why would she have been on the road that night?"

  "It's really dark out there, dark enough to see the stars. One time I saw a group of people with telescopes on a hill along that road, like they were part of an astronomy class. Maybe Ms. Higgins is into astronomy."

  "I could ask her."

  Briggs takes me in his arms and kisses me. "Are we done talking? Because I can think of a lot better ways to spend the next twenty minutes."

  I put my hand on his chest, gently pushing him back. "There's something else."

  "Make it quick because I'm dying here, not being to able to touch you."

  I smile, then get serious. I'm nervous to even mention this, but I need to or it'll keep coming up.

  "The valedictorian thing," I say.

  "Forget that," he says, bringing me back in his arms and kissing my neck.

  "Forget it, meaning you won't keep pressuring me to give it up?"

  "I don't want to talk about it." His lips slide up my neck, causing a shiver to go through me. My body is begging me to stop talking and let Briggs continue what he's doing, but my brain won't let it happen. I need to settle this, once and for all.

  "Briggs, I need to talk about this."

  He lets me go and takes a step back. "We've already talked about it. There's nothing else to say."

  "But what does that mean? That you're not giving this up? You're going to keep fighting with me and threatening me until I let you have it?"

  He doesn't answer.

  "Just tell me what this is about. Why is it so important that you're valedictorian?"

  He hesitates, then says, "My father's already told people it's going to be me. He doesn't like being let down."

  "So this is about your dad? Why does he think it's going to be you? Did you tell him that?"

  "No. He just assumed. Chadwick men don't accept second place. It doesn't happen."

  "You're telling me you're trying to take the valedictorian title from me to protect your dad's ego?" I shake my head, feeling annoyed and disgusted with his reasoning. "Sorry, but that's a really shitty reason. I can't believe you'd go along with that. Unless you feel the same way. Is this about your ego? You can't stand the idea of someone else being ahead of you?"

  "Ella, I don't want to talk about this. Can we just go back to—"

  "We're not doing anything until you call this off. I'm done fighting about this. I'm not going to give up being valedictorian."

  "I don't want to fight about it either." He takes my hands and pulls me towards him. "Can we just forget about it?"

  Is he saying this is over? Is he agreeing to let it go? I didn't think that would happen. I thought he'd at least try to fight with me before giving in. But maybe he decided our relationship is worth more than him winning this battle.

  I reach up to kiss him. "I think we have a few minutes left."

  He kisses me back as his arms go around me. His kiss deepens and we find ourselves moving to the area where Charlotte found us. I told myself this wouldn't happen, but I can't seem to stop myself. I want to be with Briggs. It's a need I can't make go away.

  "Over here!" someone yells.

  I pull away from Briggs and yank down my skirt. "What was that?"

  "Some guy on the field." Briggs walks to the end of the bleachers. "There's some guys on the field tossing a football."

  "I told you people come out here during the day."

  "Doesn't mean we have to go." He walks back to me, kissing me and making me want to finish what we started.

  "That was a shitty throw!" a guy yells from the field.

  "I can't do this," I say. "Not with people just a few feet away."

  "I'll tell them to leave."

  I smile. "We'll just do this later. Maybe tomorrow morning. We could get here early, before anyone's here."

  "Tomorrow at six." He gives me a kiss. "Go ahead. You leave first. I'll wait."

  I walk to the end of the bleachers and see three guys on the field. They don't even notice me.

  As I go back into the school, I feel relieved and happy Briggs finally agreed to stop demanding to be valedictorian. Maybe he realized how ridiculous his reason was when he said it out loud. Who cares what his father told people? I'm not giving up the title to save his dad from being embarrassed. He'll just have to get over his son not being first and be happy he's in second place.

  I feel so much better after talking to Briggs. Now we can move on and hopefully get back to the place we were before I found out about the city taking my house. I really don't think Briggs had anything to do with that, especially after finding out his dad is the reason Briggs insisted on being valedictorian. His father sounds controlling and manipulative. I could totally see him lying and saying it was Briggs who wanted to tear down my house. Manipulative people never take responsibility. They always blame someone else.

  "Ella!" Calvin races up to me, grabbing my arm. "We need to talk."

  "About what?" I ask, looking down at his hand on my arm.

  He notices and lets me go. "Can we talk outside? I don't want anyone hearing us."

  I glance around the empty hallway. "There's nobody here. Everyone's at lunch."

  "They'll be coming out any minute now. I have to tell you something. It's important."

  I sigh. "Okay, fine."

  We go outside.

  "Over here," Calvin says, walking along the side of the building, stopping under a tree.

  "Calvin, what's going on?" I ask, taking my time walking over to him. I hope he isn't taking me out here to tell me he likes me, or wants to date me.

  "Hurry!" he says. "The bell's about to go off."

  I stop a few feet in front of him, folding my arms over my chest. "Just say what you have to say."

  "This morning I got a call from Briggs."

  "About what?"

  "About your grades." Calvin looks around, then back at me. "Briggs asked me to hack into the system and change them. He told me to lower your grades, and he offered to pay me."

  "Are you making this up?" I ask, thinking this is some kind of joke.

  There's no way this could be true. Briggs wouldn't do this. He wouldn't go behind my back and try to change my grades and then tell me he's given up trying to take the valedictorian title from me. Would he?

  "I'm not lying," Calvin says. "Briggs called me and offered me money to change your grades. He said something about needing to be valedictorian and how he deserved it more than you did."

  No. He wouldn't do that. Briggs wouldn't betray me like that. He's changed. He's not that guy anymore. He's the kind, sweet, caring guy I gave my virginity to, the guy who just held me in his arms behind the bleachers in a way that almost felt like he loved me.

  He would never do this to me. There's no way.

  "It must've been a prank caller," I say.

  Calvin shakes his head. "It wasn't a prank. It was Briggs, and he wasn't joking. He wanted this done and was willing to pay for it."

  "And you're sure it was Briggs? Let me see the number."

  Calvin swipes through his phone and finds the number. He shows it to me, and sure enough, it's Briggs' phone number.

  I think I'm going to throw up. I can't believe he'd do this. Is that why he told me to forget about it? Was he saying that because he'd already found a way to make himself valedictorian? I thought he'd finally realized it was wrong of him to try to bully me into doing what he wanted, but the trut
h was, he'd already done it. I told him no, so he found another way.

  "What'd you tell him?" I ask Calvin.

  "I said I wouldn't do it. I told him he'd have to find someone else. He offered me more money, but I don't need his money. My father's a billionaire."

  "Has he asked anyone else? Any of your friends?"

  "I only asked Oliver, and he said he didn't get a call, but he might. He's really good at hacking into systems, even better than me."

  "Will you let me know if he does?"

  He nods. "So what are you going to do?"

  "I'm not sure. For now, I'll be keeping all my homework and tests and recording the grades myself to make sure they match what's online."

  He checks his phone. "It's almost time for class and I have to stop at the computer lab."

  "Go ahead."

  He leaves, while I remain outside, trying to figure out what to do. I'm not letting Briggs get away with this. I'm not letting him change my grades. But what if he already found someone to do it?

  I race back to the building and go straight to the cafeteria. I see Briggs at his usual table and storm over to him.

  "I can't believe you would do this!" I say, ignoring Finn and Parker, who are staring at me, probably shocked that I would dare approach their table. Only a worthy few are allowed over here and I'm definitely not worthy, at least according to them.

  "Not now," Briggs mutters under his breath. "Not here."

  I lean down to him, lowering my voice. "You lied to me. You said you'd let it go, but it was all a lie!"

  He stands up, leaving his tray of food on the table and walking away.

  "Get back here!" I yell.

  Everyone quiets down and stares at me as I follow Briggs through the cafeteria.

  "Briggs, wait!"

  People start laughing.

  "She's so pathetic," I hear a girl say.

  "Briggs!" I yell, but he's already heading out the door.

  "Ella," a man says.

  I feel someone holding my arm and look up to see Mr. Lander standing there.

  "What's going on here?" he asks. "Why are you yelling?"

  "I was trying to get someone's attention."

  "There's no yelling in the cafeteria. And no fighting."

  "I wasn't—"

  "Do you need to go see the school counselor?"

  "What? No," I say like he's crazy.

  He lets go of my arm. "Quiet down. And no more disruptions. Understood?"

  "Yes." I wait for him to leave, then continue out of the cafeteria as people stare at me and laugh.

  I'm beyond furious. I got yelled at by a teacher for being loud in the cafeteria? Where's Mr. Lander when Finn punches someone just for looking at him the wrong way? Or when Parker shoves people out of the way so he can be first in the cafeteria line?

  It's so unfair. Those assholes get away with everything and I get yelled at just for raising my voice.

  Looking around the hall, I don't see Briggs anywhere. I go to his locker, but he's not there either.

  I hate him. Why did I ever think I didn't? Why did I think he'd changed? He's been playing me this whole time. Using me for sex. Making me think he cared about me.

  At my next class, I don't hear a single thing the teacher says. I'm too consumed with rage and hurt and confusion to pay attention to what's going on around me.

  When I'm at my locker later, I don't even notice Charlotte standing beside me until I feel her grab my arm.

  "Ella. Are you awake?"

  I turn to her. "Sorry. How long have you been standing there?"

  "Long enough for you to notice me. What's going on? I heard something happened in the cafeteria."

  I give her a quick recap, including what Calvin told me.

  She gasps. "I can't believe he'd do that!"

  "I can. He's A1, always has been. He just tricked me into thinking he was someone else." I close my locker. "Go ahead and tell me you told me so."

  "Ella, you know I'm not going to do that. Can I do anything to help?"

  "Kill Briggs?"

  She smiles. "Other than that."

  "No. I just need to watch my grades and make sure he doesn't do anything."

  "Why does he care so much about being valedictorian?"

  "Because he's an egotistical asshole who can't stand being in second place. He'll lie and cheat to make sure he's first."

  "That doesn't sound like Briggs, at least not the one you've been hanging out with the past few weeks."

  "I obviously misread him. He's a good actor. I'll give him that. He got me to believe he'd changed."

  The bell rings.

  "Shit, we're late," I say, racing off to class.

  At the end of the day, I get a text from Briggs. Meet me behind the building.

  Why? So he can make up more lies to explain why he did this?

  Go to hell, I text back.

  What did I do?

  Is he seriously trying to play the innocent act? And he thinks I'll believe it?

  You know what you did. But it didn't work. Now what? Have you found someone else?

  What are you talking about?

  Stop acting like you don't know. I'm sick of your lies. I know what you did. I have proof.

  Then show me.

  I don't have it. I saw it.

  I have no idea what you're talking about.

  Stop lying.

  I'm not lying!

  The bell rings and I go to my locker, furious he's trying to pretend he's innocent. Why would he even try to act like he didn't do it? It's what he's wanted all along, and when I wouldn't agree to it, he found a different way. That's totally something Briggs would do. He doesn't stop until he gets what he wants.

  He'll never change. I don't know why I ever thought he would.

  Chapter Nine

  Briggs

  It's after three and she's not here. I should just go. I need to be getting ready for practice. Ella's not going to show up. She looked like she wanted to kill me in the cafeteria today. I have no idea why, but whatever it was, she doesn't seem to want to tell me or she'd be here right now.

  It's probably good she's back to hating me. We were starting to get close again, which never should've happened. I told myself it couldn't—begged myself to stop it before it did—and then next thing I know I'm in her room, in her bed, inside her. I knew I shouldn't have gone to her house, but I missed her. I had to see her.

  "Just admit it!" Ella says, storming up to me, her arms pumping, a scowl on her face. It's kind of funny, but I wouldn't dare laugh. She's clearly angry at me, and laughing will just make it worse.

  "Admit what?" I say as she stops in front of me. "I have no fucking idea what you're talking about."

  "Your little phone call to Calvin this morning?" she says, putting her hands on her hips.

  "Calvin? The tech geek? Why the hell would I call him?"

  "To have him hack into the school's computer and change my grades! Are you really that desperate to be valedictorian that you'd hire someone to change my grades?" She huffs. "I can't believe I trusted you. All this time I thought you had changed, only to find out you're the same old Briggs. Cheating and lying to get what you want. Why did you even bother asking me to give you the valedictorian title if you were just going to go behind my back and take it from me?"

  As she's yelling at me, I'm trying to figure this out. Someone asked Calvin to change Ella's grades? Who would do that?

  My father. He must've found out she was ahead of me in class. Fuck.

  "Ella." I hold her shoulders and look in her eyes. "I didn't do it. I promise you, I didn't."

  "Your promises are worthless. They're just lies, like everything else you say. I was starting to believe you had nothing to do with the city taking my house, but now I'm back to thinking you did it. If you'd hire someone to change my grades, you'd have no problem taking my house too. What's next? You'll take college from me? Did you call Harvard and make up a story about me so I wouldn't get in?"

&n
bsp; "You didn't get in?"

  "No, but that's not the point. The point is you'll say and do whatever you have to to get what you want."

  She just described my father, but she was talking about me. Am I becoming my father and don't even know it? That's the last thing I want. I hate him. I don't want to be anything like him, but what if just being around him has turned me into a version of him?

  "Are you just going to stand there and not say anything?" Ella says.

  I let go of her. "I told you. I didn't do it."

  "Calvin showed me your number on his phone. You called him this morning, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't to ask how his day was going."

  "You saw my number on his phone? Are you sure it was mine?"

  "Yes. Why are you pretending you didn't do this? I have proof, Briggs. It was your number on Calvin's phone. Calvin said you offered to pay him to hack into the school's system and lower my grades."

  How did my father do that? How did he call Calvin and make it look like I did? I didn't even see my father this morning. When I got up, he'd already left for work, and my phone was in my room with me. He couldn't have used it to call Calvin.

  "Okay, well, I said what I wanted to say." Ella turns to leave, then turns back. "I'm not letting you do this. You can try to take this from me, but it's not going to happen. Even if you find someone to change my grades, I'll prove you're the one who did it."

  "I didn't—"

  "I really thought you'd changed, Briggs. But I guess it was all an act. It's too bad because I..." She looks down, then back up at me. "I really liked that guy."

  I want to tell her that guy is me, the real me, not some made-up version of myself, but she wouldn't believe me. My words mean nothing to her right now. To get her to believe me, I'd have to prove to her who I am with actions, not words, but I don't know how to do that. It seems like every time she starts to trust me, something happens to make her doubt it.

  She walks away, heading back around the building. I feel like I should say something, but I don't know what to say. I don't know how to convince her I didn't do this.

  How the hell did this happen? If it wasn't my father who did this, who else could it be? And how did this person pretend to be me? How did they use my number?