BULLY KING

by Huss, JA

  Lars is not pushy like Ax. He’s not going to get in my face and annoy me to death until he makes me talk something out. And his silence isn’t an indication of building resentment like Cooper. Lars is just patient.

  I sigh loudly as the Glass House comes into view. And when I look over at Lars he’s watching me closely. I was so pissed yesterday afternoon, I couldn’t see straight. Isabella was so drunk by the time five o’clock rolled around, Ax had to help Valentina and Selina walk her home. So I finally asked Lars if he could take me across the lake to check on the cottage.

  “Lars,” I say.

  “Yup.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Cadee, it’s no problem. I hope you know I’m here for you. I know we walked away three years ago, but I was a different guy back then. I kinda just followed Cooper’s lead. And I don’t know what happened between you two, but it wasn’t my decision.”

  “I know that.”

  “Well, what you don’t know, because I have never told you, is that I missed you. I really did. And I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I know that year started weird. You were Cooper’s… I don’t even know what to call it. Target? Obsession, maybe? But I take full responsibility for how we treated you that first semester.”

  “You know, at the time I felt very targeted. But by the end of the year you guys were my best friends. My only friends pretty much ever, aside from my parents, until this summer. So if the bullying keeps you up at night, keep that in mind, Lars. You’re not a bad guy. None of you are.”

  “I’m still sorry about how we got here. And if you ever need to talk—”

  I stop listening. Because that’s what this is about.

  He knows. Maybe not everything. He can’t know everything. If he did, he wouldn’t be so calm. But he’s heard rumors.

  “I will, Lars,” I say. Because he’s stopped talking and he’s waiting for an answer.

  “Anything, Cadee. I’m here.”

  “I know.” I smile at him as we enter the Glass House clearing. And I immediately start looking for Cooper. But he’s not here yet.

  “Did he ever call you last night? Or text?” I don’t need to say who. There is only one person I could be talking about.

  “No,” Lars says. “He never did.”

  “Do you think he’s OK?” But just as the words come out of my mouth, Cooper exits the Glass House and stops in his tracks when he sees us.

  There’s an awkward moment when none of us speaks or moves. And then Ax is there, blocking our view of Cooper, and I just give Lars a wave and head towards the kitchen area to grab my apron.

  Inside the kitchen people are rushing around busily. Like something is happening that I have no clue about. I scan the room for Victor, because I have a lot to say to that guy today. How dare he move into my cottage?

  Lars wouldn’t let me confront him last night. He said Victor is there for a reason. Everything around here happens for a reason. And confronting him isn’t the way to handle things. Maybe the Chairman gave him that cottage when he figured out I wasn’t using it?

  So I agreed and bit my tongue. But Lars isn’t here anymore and he was the real source of my self-control last night.

  “Cadee!”

  I turn to find Dante in the kitchen. Jesus Christ. If he’s looking for me already, this day is going to go bad fast. I’ve spent the last week being his little Fugling bitch and I’m just about done.

  “Yes, Dante,” I say, smiling as he comes towards me. “How can I help you this morning?”

  “Sophie is sick.”

  “What?” I look over my shoulder at the kitchen door. “Where is she?”

  “Lying down out there. I need you to take care of her today. I have things to do and I won’t be around.”

  “OK. I mean, yes. Of course, I’ll look after her.” And thank God for small favors. At least I won’t have to see his face.

  He stares at me for a moment and I start to get uncomfortable. There are more than a dozen other servers in the kitchen with me, so we’re not alone, but I suddenly feel very outnumbered. “Is there anything else, Dante?”

  He pushes past me without saying anything and I roll my eyes, then glance over my shoulder just before I reach the door and find Dante and Victor talking conspiratorially, and looking straight at me while they do it.

  Something about this request is wrong. I just don’t know what it is.

  But he wasn’t lying. Sophie is lying on one of the couches with an ice pack over her eyes. For a moment I wonder if he hit her and she’s hiding a black eye, but Valentina takes it off her face and gives her a fresh one and I let out a breath of relief when there are no bruises.

  “Oh, good,” Selina says. “You’re here. We’re on Isabella duty today, Cades. Can you just look after Sophie?”

  “Sure. But what’s wrong?”

  Valentina sighs. “She’s just…”

  “I’m sick,” Sophie says. “I need to go home and be in my own bed.”

  Oh. I get it. She’s sick of Dante.

  “There’s less than one week left, Sophie,” Selina says. “You can stick it out. Trust me. We’ve all been there.”

  Sophie sits up suddenly, her face red with anger. “You’ve been there? No! You haven’t!” She points to Valentina. “You were with Ax.” Her finger migrates over to Selina. “And you were with Lars. Being with Dante is nothing like what you two went through. So don’t tell me you get it. Neither of you have been here, OK?”

  “I have,” I say.

  She directs her anger at me next. “You had bodyguards. If anything, you made it worse for me.”

  “What’s happening?” Valentina asks. “Did he… force you to do something?”

  “No, he’s just a sadistic dick. He insults me. Puts me down. It’s a constant barrage of emotional abuse. He’s not touching me. But he’s hurting me. I should not have to put up with this. This whole thing is crazy!”

  “Did you try to talk to your father, Sophie?” I ask. “Because he’s the one who put you here, not us.”

  “I have talked to him. And he says I just have to suck it up. That his child is the offering this year and there’s nothing he can do about it.”

  I recoil at that word. “What the hell?”

  “Sophie,” Valentina says in a stern, soft voice. “You need to shut up. Right now. Cadee”—she looks at me—“no offence, but you’re not one of us. She can’t be talking about this in front of you. And it’s got nothing to do with who is better than who, or who has money and who doesn’t. It’s just… secret.”

  “Hey.” I throw up my hands. “Fine with me. I don’t want your secrets.”

  “You should’ve left,” Sophie says. Then she plops the ice pack back over her eyes and sighs. “You are the dumbest girl alive, Cadee Hunter.”

  I’m starting to agree with her.

  “Cadee?”

  I turn to find Cooper scowling at me. “What?”

  It comes out angry. Because I am angry with him. I thought we were making progress. Like on the verge of having something real. But he ignored me last night. I texted him repeatedly and never got a response. And he either didn’t go home at all, so he didn’t even know I was missing, or he did and didn’t even bother to call and check up on me.

  “I need to talk to you. Now.” He grabs my arm and starts tugging me across the room. I yank it out of his grip and he doesn’t do it again. Just leads me outside and into the woods.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Just… right here. Away from there.”

  We stop under a large tree and both of us fold our arms defensively. “Well? What do you want?”

  He sighs and scrubs his hands down his face. He hasn’t shaved in days. It looks good on him though. “Did you tell Lars anything?”

  I squint my eyes at him. “About?”

  “You know what about. Senior year. New Year’s Eve. The abortion. Any of it?”

  “No.”

 
; “You’re sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. I’m not an idiot. Don’t worry, your secret is safe.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, I know you’re mad at me for ignoring you yesterday, but…” He stops. Turns away. Sighs. Scrubs his face with his hands again.

  “What the hell is going on, Cooper?”

  “Listen, I don’t want to tell you everything right now, but we have a problem. You’re caught in something… bigger. Bigger than either of us realized. And I’m sorry I ignored you last night, but I need my eyes on you. All the time. Until I figure this out. Do not go home with Lars tonight. Do you hear me?”

  “Is that an order, my king?”

  He scoffs. “Yeah. It is. We’re only halfway through the summer. All we have to do is make it three more weeks, then you’re done.”

  “But what about the fourth challenge? We have five weeks left, not three.” It makes me sad just thinking about it. Five more weeks of this? I can’t do it. I’m not gonna make it.

  “The last two weeks aren’t spent here at the Glass House.” He looks around nervously, like he’s checking to see if anyone is close by. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but the last two weeks are just getting ready for the rite.”

  “The rite? Would that have anything to do with Sophie being an offering?”

  “What? Who told you that?”

  “Sophie.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ. That girl—” But he stops and just turns his back on me.

  “Cooper. What the hell is going on?”

  He turns back to face me. “You don’t want to know, OK? You don’t. And I can’t tell you. But even if I could, I wouldn’t. Because once you know things, Cadee, you can’t unknow them.”

  “Well, thanks. I feel so much better now.”

  He comes towards me, puts his arms around me and holds me close. “I’m just trying to protect you. I want to get you out. I do. But I think you’ve been in this entire time. I just didn’t realize it. And I’m not going to tell you anything else. So you have to trust me to do the right thing and take care of it”—he pushes me away from him just enough so he can look me in the eyes—“so I can protect you. You just need to trust me.”

  I see fear in his eyes and my stomach sinks suddenly.

  “Will you trust me, Cadee?”

  I nod, but find I don’t have any words. Things suddenly feel very dark and serious.

  He places his hands on my cheeks. “Three weeks. That’s it. Just don’t ask me anything for three weeks. Just…” He sighs. “Help me, Cadee. I really need your help right now.”

  I place my hands over his. “OK, Cooper. I do trust you. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  “Do not agitate Dante.”

  “I’m not agitating him!”

  “Shh,” he says. “I know he’s the problem here. Believe me. I know. And I’m going to have this talk with everyone, not just you.”

  “Sophie isn’t going to go for it. She says she’s sick and she needs to go home.”

  “She’s not going home. And don’t fall for her innocent act. She knows everything. We all know why we’re here. Pull her through this week. That’s what I need. Get Sophie through this.”

  “How? We’re not really friends.”

  “Sit with her. Talk with her. Pat her fucking hand like she’s a child. Do whatever it takes to keep her calm. One more week and we’re going to buy her back, remember?”

  I nod. “OK.”

  “We’ll buy her back, force Dante to take Mona because she can handle him, and then we’re done.” He smiles his charming I’m-Cooper-Valcourt smile. “Done.”

  He’s already admitted that there’s more, so that’s not even the truth.

  But I get the feeling that Cooper is standing on the edge of something right now. Barely holding shit together.

  “OK, Coop. I’m on your side. I’ll make sure she’s OK.”

  “Thank you.” He sighs. Then he kisses me. It’s not long, or passionate, or even a little bit romantic. But it does feel like a real thank you. “I’ll make it up to you. At home. You’re coming home. Every night. Hear me?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “OK,” he whispers, looking over his shoulder at the clearing. Everything looks normal over there. Maddie and Natasha already have their feet in the pool and are chatting. Jamie and Roland are sitting at a nearby table playing cards like all these crises aren’t happening. Mona is sitting with Isabella, having what looks like a one-way conversation. And everyone else is inside with Sophie. “Be nice to Dante today. That’s all we need.”

  “Dante isn’t going to be here today.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, he came up to me in the kitchen and said he was taking off and I was in charge of Sophie.”

  “Where is he going?”

  “Didn’t say. But I did catch him talking to Victor and it looked like they were cooking up a conspiracy.”

  “Great.” He pauses. “Well, maybe that’s good. If we can keep him away from Sophie, maybe she’ll come to her senses.” He pauses again, distracted. “OK, then. Let’s go.”

  We part ways by the pool. Cooper stays outside and I go back in to the Glass House and sit next to Sophie.

  Selina and Valentina leave me there with her and that is pretty much my day.

  Nothing else of consequence happens. Sophie brightens up a few hours later when she realizes Dante is not around. And then, at four o’clock, her phone buzzes a text from Dante.

  He wants her to sleep at home tonight.

  She just stares at the phone screen in utter disbelief, unable to believe her good luck. Then she jumps up and goes outside to tell Michael.

  I follow her, but I don’t have the same level of enthusiasm.

  Dante is up to something.

  This same situation plays out the next day. Sophie is sick. Dante tells me to watch her. He disappears, then texts her at the end of the day, and tells her to go home for the night.

  Day three, same thing.

  Day four, ditto.

  And by the morning of day five, Sophie is back to normal. She’s not even pretending to be sick anymore. She sits with Michael out by the pool and even laughs a few times over the course of the day.

  I have to admit, it’s been a good week for me too.

  For everyone, actually. Dante’s absence didn’t really register that first day. It felt like a plot twist. But by day five, we’re all pretty much thinking Dante is trying to make Cooper kick him out.

  And Cooper is too smart to fall for that. He wants to kick him out. The whole group even talked about it, urging him on. But Cooper refused. He wasn’t convinced that Dante gave up.

  I go home with Cooper every night. We make dinners together. Ax is usually there. Lars, sometimes. Ax stays in my old room, but Lars goes home at night.

  And even though Cooper and I are absolutely sleeping together, he plays it down when Lars is around.

  I already know how Ax feels about Cooper and me, because he told me in the kitchen that night. But Lars keeps his opinions to himself. And Cooper goes out of his way not to make our new relationship a point of contention between them.

  I get the feeling this underlying tension is about to snap—probably soon, but definitely after this whole summer rush crisis is over—so I’m not holding this against Cooper. He’s stressed. That is very clear. And he never did tell me where he was that night he disappeared.

  I decided to drop it for the time being as well. Because I feel like we’re all holding hands. Walking along the same edge. And at any moment, one of us could lose our balance and fall, taking the others with them.

  At four o’clock, right on time, Sophie’s phone dings a text. We’re all playing cards under the thatched-roof hut. Even me. The servers in the kitchen are all pissed about this and they don’t hide it. But I went to work in the kitchen this morning and Cooper came in and told me I was spending the day with him. And
he made sure the whole staff heard his command.

  So they can’t really hold it against me.

  I’m following orders.

  “No!” Sophie exclaims, looking at her phone.

  “What?” Valentina asks.

  “No!” Sophie says again. “He can’t do this! He says I have to go to his house tonight!”

  “Fuck,” Cooper says. “I fucking knew it.”

  “She’s not going,” Michael says. “I won’t allow it. He’s playing a game.”

  “Michael,” Ax says.

  “No!” Michael says. “I will not—”

  “Then you’re out,” Cooper says.

  “What?”

  “You’re out, Michael. We’re so fucking close. She has one more night. One. Tomorrow is a free day and then the day after we will have the third auction. Everyone here is putting up money to make sure we get her away from Dante. We have all gone out of our way to pull Sophie through this week. You will not fuck it up at the last minute. Do you hear me?” Cooper is growling at him. “Either you help us help you, or you’re out. And that’s my final word. Sophie, get your shit together. You’re going to Dante’s. Ax will walk you. Michael, you’re going home with Mona and you will stay the fuck away from the Legosi house tonight. Do you understand me?”

  Fuck. The bully king is back, I guess. And everyone knows it.

  Because Michael says, “Fine.”

  And no one else says a word.

  Not even Sophie.

  The next day Sophie doesn’t show up at the Glass House. But Dante does. He’s standing at the edge of the pool with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

  “Where the fuck is she?” Michael is livid. “She’s not yours anymore. You can’t order her around. Where is she?”

  “Oh, make no mistake, Michael. She’s still mine until tomorrow. And even though she’s not very fun and she’s a frigid fucking virgin—well, not a virgin anymore”—his sadistic laugh makes the birds take flight in the nearby trees—“I am going to buy her again. You see, Sophie is getting through this High Court shit show no matter how difficult she is. And I already know that Cooper wants me out. So she’s my little insurance policy.”

  “Where is she?” Cooper demands.