by Rina Kent
I catch sight of Briar. He’s standing by his locker, a few inches taller than most of the kids around him.
He looks like he’s about to commit murder. Shoving a kid aside, he surges through the crowd toward me.
But that’s all I see before the guy holding me spins me around, grabs my hair in a fist, and crushes his mouth against mine.
Another one of Briar’s friends, his BFF. But just as he forces his tongue in my mouth and I’m about to knee him in the groin, we’re torn apart.
Briar has his friend’s blazer in a fist, and from the snarl on his face, looks about to punch him in the face.
Addison is at my side the next second. She reaches behind me and I hear something tear free from my clothing. She holds up a note.
Kiss Me.
“I’m telling the principal,” she says, turning on Briar with such a look of fury, I wouldn’t be surprised if she punched him.
Briar shoves his friend away and steps up to Addy, his lip lifting into a sneer.
“Go ahead, Addison,” he rumbles. “Go tell the principal what I did.”
Addison goes as white as her school shirt, and makes a soft sound in the back of her throat. I step in front of her, my entire body stiff with anger.
How fucking dare he threaten my friend?
“Back off, loser,” I say through my teeth.
He glances down, dismisses me, and looks back at Addy.
Bad move, Briar. You should know better than to dismiss me, you smug prick.
But when I throw a punch, he catches it almost absently, without taking his eyes off Addison.
“You know what happens to snitches around here, Addy,” Briar says.
I look up at him, and my body goes ice-cold; all that hatred consumed by fear in an instant.
“We all know what you did, Briar,” Addy whispers. “We all know you—”
“Then fucking prove it,” he growls, stepping closer to her. I’m sandwiched between them, and it’s only then that Briar seems to remember about me. He glances down at me and then does a double take. A slow, serpentine smile spreads over his lips. “But until you can, you keep your fucking mouths shut.”
“Or what?” I say, pushing back my shoulders.
Briar inches closer, but I put my hand on his chest and move Addy and myself back. My hand stays, and for some reason I can’t make myself take it off him. If Briar notices, he doesn’t seem to care. Instead, those blue eyes spear through me, eating into my soul.
“Or you might become Lavish’s next fallen angel,” he murmurs. A dark light fills his eyes as he reaches up and grabs my wrist, pulling my hand away from his chest.
The bell rings, signaling the start of the next period. But nobody moves.
Fallen angel?
No…Angel Falls.
Behind me, Addison chokes. Her warmth disappears as she steps away. My mind scrambles. I thought Addison was accusing Briar of rape or something but now…? Could she honestly believe he had a hand in Jessica’s death? Why? Because she’d rat him out? He’d probably be sentenced to a year or two in juvie, if anything, and that’s if his parents didn’t throw enough money on the situation to make it disappear.
But what if he didn’t realize that at the time? Briar hasn’t exactly proven himself to be a calm, rational human being. He’s aggressive, impulsive, passionate.
What if…?
“You did it,” I whisper, disbelief dripping from each word. “You killed her.”
Briar’s smile drops away. “If you’re so convinced, then it’s best you stop tangling with me.”
He steps back, glaring at me as if to impress that last threat on my mind, and then heads for his locker.
Around me, students start moving again. A quiet hush fills the air as I make my way to my locker, by hand throbbing like I had it under too-hot water.
Briar might think he’s invincible, but I felt his heart under my palm.
It was racing.
Not with anger…but with fear.
Chapter Thirteen
Briar
AP Psychology.
I stare at the textbook in my hands, and then toss it back into my locker. I slam the door, making the kid next to me jump nearly a foot off the ground, and then I’m striding to the exit.
No way I can deal with Mr. Veroza’s old-man stink right now.
Or Indigo’s reproachful gaze.
That little cunt ruined my fucking day.
Again.
That soppy shit that happened out there by the fence shouldn’t have happened at all. But I lost control for a moment. Forgot my purpose, my plans for Indi. The ‘Kiss Me’ prank was supposed to be a fucking hoot, but instead it made my fucking blood boil every time another kid helped themselves to Indi.
Her mouth? It’s mine.
Her lips? Mine.
Indigo? I own every inch of her. She just doesn’t know it yet.
Indi
Addison pulls me into the restroom, and slams the door closed behind us. Everyone should be in class, so I doubt we’ll be bothered, but she obviously needs to ensure we can’t be overheard.
“You gonna tell me what’s going on?” I ask quietly.
She drags a hand through her sleek blond hair, mouth twisting and squirming as if she wants to spit.
“He killed her,” Addy murmurs.
My blood runs cold. “Jessica?”
Addy spins to me, eyes wide, and gives me a silent nod.
I shake my head, frowning hard at her. Despite my flurry of thoughts, I’m suddenly filled with doubt. I mean, how could anyone — even Prince Briar — get away with cold-blooded murder? “You said she committed suicide.”
“That’s how he made it look,” she says. She tosses her hair over her shoulder and gives herself a hard hug. “But Jess would never…I know her. She would never do that.” Addy’s lips tremble and she shoves a knuckle into her mouth. “He pushed her. He must have.” Addy turns around, still chewing at her finger.
“When did all of this happen?” It could explain the way the students acted around Briar. I’d have imagined the girls around here throwing themselves at him. Instead everyone gives him a wide berth.
I’d thought it was respect…But now I’m starting to think it’s fear.
“Ten months ago.”
“And the police?”
Addy rips her hand away from her mouth and lets out a bitter chuckle. “Yeah, Indi, the police did a real good job of locking him up.”
“I mean,” I say quietly, trying my best to keep my cool, “did they know about the party? Did you—?”
“Of course I told them,” Addy says, frowning at me like she thinks I hit my head. “But they never found anything. There were no witnesses that night. The last people to leave saw Jess having a fucking blast with Briar and Marcus.”
I sigh as I run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know what to say, Addy.”
She starts pacing, her long legs barely taking three strides before she’s done the length of the bathroom basins. “I don’t want you to say anything.” Her green eyes narrow, focusing her anger on me like a laser. “I want you to stay away from him. Stop antagonizing him.”
“Antagon—” I splutter before cutting off with a wretched laugh. “Fuck, Addy, you don’t think I want him to leave me alone?”
“What do you mean?” She stops pacing.
“He…”
Fuck. I should have told her yesterday, but I was a chicken shit little bitch.
I shift my weight from foot to foot, holding up a hand when Addy opens her mouth, mentally willing her just to give me a few seconds to get my mind sorted out.
What’ll happen if I tell her about the woods? She’d say I have to file a report with the police.
In a case where a teenage girl ‘killed herself’, they did nothing.
Here, it’s my word against Briar’s. Plus, I didn’t tell anyone, and they’d probably flag that as suspicious.
Why now, Indi? Why didn’t you tell your grandm
other, your new friend, your fucking guidance counselor?
Yeah, I tried telling a teacher, and a whole bunch of kids — Addison included — saw how well that shit went down.
Telling Addy will change nothing. She already suspects Briar of having killed Jessica — saying he mauled me in the woods before letting me run away isn’t going to help.
But it might incense her to the point of random violence.
“You’ve seen how he is with me,” I say weakly. “He’s had it in for me since he saw me.”
“Yeah…” Addy plants her hands on her hips, and studies me from the corner of her eye. “What was that about? You made it sound like he’d done something.”
Her eyes widen, and it’s like watching dawn rise over a fog-shrouded hill.
“We’ve met before,” I say, hoping my brain will catch up in time and provide me with enough ammunition to lay down some covering fire.
“You and Briar?” Her knuckle goes back into her mouth. “When?” she asks, the word muffled around her finger.
Yes, when, Indi?
“Sunday night,” I say slowly, my brain still scrambling.
She tilts her head expectantly. “What did he do?”
“He, uh…” I glance away and will myself to form a lie out of nothing. “It was my fault. I, I trespassed. I went onto his property.”
“And?”
“He…chased me off.”
Addy’s eyebrow quirks up. “That’s it?”
“What?” I snap. “It was fucking dark. I was terrified.”
She lets out a little snort, and then shakes her head. “This is what I mean. He’s fucking dangerous. Stay away from him, got it?”
I shrug. “Why wouldn’t I?”
The corner of Addy’s mouth crooks up. “Briar has a way of…getting under your skin. Trust me, it’s best if you just pretend like he doesn’t exist.”
She leaves the restroom with a final glance back in my direction.
Easy for you to say, Addy. But, if anything, I’ve gotten under his skin. And all he seems to want is to destroy me. Kinda difficult to ignore the damn school bully.
Chapter Fourteen
Indi
Briar doesn’t show up to our Psych class, and he’s not in the cafeteria at lunch either. Addison and I sit in our usual seat by the window, and take turns keeping an eye on Briar’s table. Addy toys with a French fry, dipping it repeatedly in her little plastic tub of ketchup as she idly glances over to Briar’s table.
For someone who told me to avoid him like the plague, she can’t seem to stop thinking about him.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, shoving away my plate. “I can’t just stick my head in the sand and wish this all goes away.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Briar.” I point in the direction of his table with my chin. “If he’s guilty, then there must be something we can do to prove it.”
Addy drops her eyes. “Like what? The police closed the case, Indi.” She shrugs and drops her fry back onto her plate as if her appetite disappeared.
“We gotta dig up some dirt on him. Maybe someone saw something. Maybe one of his friends—”
“That’s the point. They’re his friends. They won’t rat him out.”
“Unless they don’t realize they’re doing it.”
She frowns at me. “What?”
“All we need to do is catch one of them out in a lie.”
Addy lets out an expressive sigh. “You have a plan?”
I drag my plate back and shrug as I pop a fry into my mouth and wash it down with some soda. “Who was there that night when you left?”
Addy starts counting on her fingers, the glitter on her nails catching the fluorescents.
“Briar, Marcus, Dylan, Zak, Jess. I think one of the cheerleaders too…” Addy squints, and scans the cafeteria. “Don’t look now, but there’s a girl with a blond bob a few benches away. Tiffany. She was there.”
I chew on another fry before glancing around. I spot Tiffany a few seconds later. “You friends with her?”
Addison snorts. “I’m not friends with anyone after what happened.”
“What do you mean?”
Addison’s eyes darken a little. “They all think I’m full of shit. I tried to speak to everyone about that party, if they’d seen anything.” She grins and tips her head. “Why do you think I hang out with you now?”
I laugh. “Because I’m the only one who’s willing to spend time with a lunatic like you?”
She points at me with a ketchup-dipped fry. “Eg-fucking-xactly.” The fry disappears into her mouth. “But see, you’re new. You haven’t besmirched your name for the sake of justice. You can speak to Tiffany.”
I nod, discretely studying Tiffany’s table. “They all cheerleaders?”
“Yup,” Addison says glumly.
“Were you one?”
She lets out a most unladylike snort. “Please. I have better things to do with my time.”
“Well,” I say, grabbing my tray. “It’s been nice knowing you, Addy.”
She gives me a lopsided smile. “Good luck.”
“Yeah…” I glance over to the bedazzled, glittering, fake-eyelashed crowd on that bench and my stomach tries to turn inside out. “I don’t need luck. I think I need a fucking exorcist.”
Addy chuckles as I leave our table. I could have made a scene, made it look like we were fighting, but honestly I couldn’t give a shit.
My strength doesn’t lie in fudging the truth — I get by on stubbornness alone.
Heavily mascaraed eyes turn to me when I slide my tray onto the side of the cheerleader’s bench.
“Sorry to disturb you, ladies, but I heard a rumor one of you slept with Prince Briar.”
The table immediately falls silent, until a girl I can only assume is the head cheerleader rushes to her feet. “Fuck off, virgin.”
“So it was you then?” I ask, lifting my eyebrows as if this is all the confirmation I need. I lower my ass, and the girl closest to me scoots over to make room for me. I stick a fry in my mouth and chew, staring at the standing cheerleader with utter fixation.
“He got a big dick?”
The girl’s cheeks turn pink. “I didn’t fuck Briar,” she says, and then glances at her friends. “I swear, I didn’t!”
“Didn’t…or didn’t want to?” I inquire with a deep frown.
A chorus of gasps break out. Suddenly everyone except Tiffany’s looking at their plates. I glance across at her for the first time, and make sure she sees me looking at her.
Yeah, she saw me, if her glare’s anything to go by.
“I gotta go,” she mutters, standing.
“Yeah?” I get up too. “Mind if I walk with you? This new school is so confusing…”
Tiffany stares at me for a second, and then shrugs. “Whatev.” She strides away, and I have to hustle to keep up with her.
I stop her outside in the hall.
“What?” she snaps, her bob swaying as she turns to face me.
“I just want to talk,” I say, lifting my hands, palms up.
She narrows her eyes at me. “I didn’t screw Briar.”
I slip a hand in my pocket and draw out one of Addy’s golden joints, but only far enough for Tiffany to see it glitter. “I just want to hang out,” I say, putting as friendly a smile on my face as I can manage. “You in?”
Her eyes dart to the joint. For a moment, I get a feeling she’s one of those teetotallers that doesn’t smoke, drink, or fuck during school. But then she sets her mouth to the side and gives me a nod.
“Sure.”
She shows me a cool little sesh spot by the bleachers, mostly blocked by a supporting wall and the mesh of steel framing. We light up and pass the joint silently between us. It’s half done before I speak.
“Anyone else in that group know you smoke?”
Tiffany shrugs. “Some. Not the bitches, obviously.” Her words escape with wisps of smoke. “Did Addison send you to
talk to me?” Tiffany asks as she hands back the joint.
“What makes you—?”
“Cut the shit.” She squints at me. “India, right?”
“Indi,” I say.
She shrugs as if she’d gotten close enough for it not to matter. “That chick’s got a fucking bug up her ass about that whole thing with Jessica.”
“So you don’t think anything freaky happened at the party that night?”
I’m leaning with one foot up behind me on the wall, she’s perched on one of the bleacher’s struts. After another shrug, she squints into the distance, twisting her fingers around each other. “Freaky things always happen at parties. It’s kinda the point.”
“So tell me.”
Tiffany sighs and drops her head between her arms. “I told her everything already.” She looks up, frustration outlined by the unhappy curve of her mouth. “We were all fucking wasted. Then the guys started doing coke. That’s when I left.”
“And Jess was still fine when you left?”
Tiffany lets out a tiny snort. “Course she wasn’t fine. She was drunk as fuck. Briar was higher than a kite. Marcus…” She shakes her head, her blond hair swaying. “I’m sure ten minutes after I left, every one of them passed out.”
“Were you friends with Jessica?”
Tiffany shrugs. “She was on the squad, so yeah, kinda.” Tiffany reaches for the joint, which I’d forgotten I was holding, and then clicks her fingers at me for the lighter. She cups her hands around the joint and lights it, hitting it hard before handing everything back to me. “But we never braided each other’s hair or shit like that. Jess kept to herself a lot.”
An antisocial cheerleader? Addy didn’t mention that.
“Who was her closest friend besides Addison?”
Tiffany lifts her eyebrows in thought. She purses her lips and says, “Briar, I guess. It was always just the three of them.”