Evergreen Academy - The Complete Series

by Ruby Vincent

  “Sof, stop.” I bit my lip hard, thinking about how much I should tell her.

  Tell the truth. Tell someone the truth.

  “He didn’t do it,” I finally said. “He didn’t touch me. I did it to myself.”

  “What?” The hand on mine disappeared. “What are you talking about?”

  “I hurt myself, Sofia. Ezra didn’t lay a hand on me.”

  “Then why does everyone think he did?”

  “Because that’s what I wanted them to think.”

  She stared at me, completely speechless.

  “I know what you’re thinking, but I had to do it.”

  “Had to?” The stool went zipping away as Sofia lurched to her feet. “You had to break your fucking nose!? Val!”

  “I know, I know.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to me on the bed. The tears were falling now, and they made me feel worse than the aching nose. I didn’t want to freak her out, but this had to be done. “This is why I didn’t tell you.”

  “Val, why would you do something like this? How can you not see this is crazy?” She roughly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. “I know they hurt you, but this isn’t worth it.”

  “I— Sof, I—” I let in a shuddering breath, and when I let it out, the words tumbled out. “Sofia, before I came here I went through things no one should ever go through. H-horrible, t-terrible things—” My throat threatened to close everything in, but I forced it out. “Things that will always haunt me, but coming here to Evergreen was supposed to be my fresh start. I was going to be safe here. I was going to be happy.

  “They took that away. The one thing that I truly wanted was ripped away from me and I had done nothing to deserve it. I don’t expect you to understand what I felt when Jaxson told the whole world what my rapist had done to me, but it broke me. Any hope I had shattered into a million pieces, and the only thing that makes me feel right is to make them share my pain.”

  “Val...” Sofia pressed trembling lips together, not able to go on.

  “It’s not enough to put a bucket over their doors or stick a ‘kick me’ sign on their backs. I have to take from them something that matters as much as being here did for me.” My eyes slid away from her, staring unfocused at the wall. “Ezra loves his mom and wants to prove himself worthy to take her place. He came after my mom, Sof, so I returned the favor.”

  “But, Val, you can’t— You can’t hurt yourself.” Sofia grasped my chin and made me face her. “No, I don’t know how you feel, but I know how I felt when I heard you had been attacked. I was so scared, and knowing you did that to yourself just freaks me out even more. There has to be a limit.”

  “I have limits. I—”

  “There has to be more,” she said firmly. Sofia was steeling under my eyes. “Also, I’m not hearing anymore that you’re protecting me from your plan. I want to know the whole thing right now, and if I don’t like it, we’re changing it.”

  “But, Sof, we can’t talk about this here,” I protested. “You shouldn’t even be here.”

  “I’m not leaving, and neither are you until you spill it.” She folded her arms. “Now.”

  I thought about arguing some more, but one look at the worry in her eyes made me stop. I had genuinely scared her, and somewhere amidst the darkness, that was reaching me.

  I told her about the plan—everything I was going to do to get back at the people on my list. When I was done, Sofia made me come up with a list of rules.

  Rules of Revenge

  No physical violence against others or myself.

  No collateral damage.

  No illegal acts.

  No sexuality involved.

  Know when I’ve gone too far.

  Don’t keep secrets.

  The last one was for Sofia’s benefit and she was pretty adamant about it. I put it in my list and repeated the promise to her about a dozen more times. In the end, she grudgingly accepted my plan, even though it wasn’t easy.

  “Are you sure about this?” she pressed. “What you want to do to Ryder... I think that comes dangerously close to breaking rule number five, and I mean dangerous. He tried to choke you for getting a B in English, Val. What do you think he’ll do if you go through with this?”

  I shifted, sinking deeper into the sheets. “I guess I’ll find out.”

  “Maybe there’s another way—”

  “I know him, Sof.” My voice was calm. “Everything rolls off that hard, granite shell. If I want to really get to him, this is the only way to do it, and after everything he’s done to me, I still feel he’s getting off lightly.” I gave her a hard look. “I’m doing this. I won’t change my mind.”

  “Okay, fine. Then... tell me how I can help.”

  Sofia and I talked a bit more until Dr. Bennett poked his head in and told us I could go. I let her leave ahead of me and then gathered my stuff and left.

  It was a bright Saturday morning which meant the hallways were deserted, but the quad was packed. All eyes turned to me when I stepped out onto the grass—including one pair in particular.

  Ezra’s glare pierced me like a thousand needles through the skin. He stopped with the trash picker hanging over the garbage bag, a remnant from last night’s game stuck on the end. For the first time since all this started, the headmaster had been quick with his punishment of the Knights.

  I held still as I met his eyes.

  I wanted to know the real Ezra, and I have a feeling he is staring back at me right now.

  His rage was a palpable thing—reaching across the quad to wrap me tightly like his arms had the night before. Ezra took a step toward me.

  “Don’t even think about it, Lennox,” Coach Panzer snapped. I hadn’t even noticed her standing a few feet from him. “Get back to work.”

  Mumbling something I couldn’t hear, Ezra lowered his head and went back to viciously stabbing trash. I looked away from him and realized Panzer wasn’t the only one I hadn’t noticed. The other Knights sat not far away on a bench near the freshman dorm. Their eyes were fixed on me and I could tell right away they didn’t believe Ezra had hurt me. They knew the truth... and they were coming for me.

  I TURNED AWAY FROM my mirror with a wince. I looked awful. My little button nose had swollen to the size of a grapefruit, and dark purple and blue bruises took up most of my face.

  I might have hit that wall a bit too hard, I thought as I sat down at my desk. Sofia could have been right about going too far.

  I reached for my phone and tried to take my mind off of it. I had other things to worry about.

  The videos from the button cams filled up my phone. I went through every one, edited them, and then sent them off to Alex. The whole process took about an hour and then I finally tackled my homework.

  It was midnight by the time I turned out the lights and crawled into bed. The familiar sheets welcomed me and I let myself relax for the first time in over a day. Sleep didn’t come quickly, but I lay still in the darkness feeling warm and comfortable.

  I’m glad Sofia is with me through this. I might be able to end this sooner than I thought.

  I snuggled in deeper and let myself go.

  Crash!

  “Ahhh!” I sprung up in bed. Frantically, I scrambled for the lamp and almost knocked it over as I turned it on. Light flooded the room, casting its glow over the glass covering my carpet. In the middle of the mess was a large rock.

  My sluggish mind tried to make sense of what I was seeing, and my eyes flew to the window just as something else came through. The room lit with another glow as the flaming objects came through the hole in the window, and for one brief second, I saw a gloved hand.

  “Hey!” I leaped out of bed. My heart banged in my chest as I raced to the window and yanked it open. I stuck my head out as the figure darted around the corner and disappeared. Everything in me wanted to chase after them, but there was something even more important.

  Heat licked at my back and I twisted around. Horror like I had never fe
lt before filled my body at the sight of the fire greedily consuming my rug.

  Do something now!

  Mind blank with panic, my body moved by instinct to clamber over my dresser and fall onto the pillows. I didn’t stop. Scrambling over my sheets, I tipped over the end of my bed and fell hard.

  “Fire! Fire!” I got to my feet and raced out the door. “Fire!”

  Sprinting, I reached the end of the hall and busted the glass for the fire alarm. The extinguisher hung next to it and I broke it out. Doors opened as I ran back to my room.

  “What the fuck is going on?”

  I had no time to answer Airi. I burst into my room, pointed the extinguisher, and sprayed wildly—shaky hands and fear making me lose all control. I sprayed long after the fire was out, until firm hands grabbed me.

  “Miss Moon, that’s enough!” The fire extinguisher was pried out of my grip as I was dragged out of the room. Dazedly, I saw people run into my bedroom as I was taken down the hall and sat on the floor. Gus peered down at me, concern etched into every line of his face. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

  He had to repeat his questions a few more times before I could answer. My mind was engulfed with one thought.

  Someone tried to kill me. Someone tried to kill me. Someone tried to kill me.

  “Miss Moon?”

  “I— I’m okay,” I rasped. “I didn’t get burned.”

  “What happened?”

  I looked into his eyes, and said the only thing I could. “Someone tried to kill me.”

  “STEP INSIDE, MISS MOON.”

  Nurse Runyon patted my knee. “Go on, dear. I’ll be right out here.”

  She had been the one they called instead of my mother. To be fair, she had been very sweet and comforting—sitting up with me through the night, getting me my breakfast, and walking with me to the headmaster’s office when dawn brought that horrific night to an end.

  Sighing, I heaved myself out of the chair and trudged into his office. It was starting to get ridiculous how much time I spent in this room.

  “Please have a seat.”

  I sat down before the headmaster and the head of security. I appreciated the grave looks on their faces. None of them worked too hard at protecting me after getting marked, but at least they took my attempted murder seriously.

  Evergreen adopted his steepled-fingered pose. “Miss Moon, the reports I’ve had from Mr. Cornwallis are disturbing in the extreme. I’m afraid his investigation has supported your fears. Your window was broken from the outside and balls of duct tape were lit on fire and put through your window.”

  “Duct tape?”

  Gus spoke up. “Many don’t know that duct tape is flammable. It makes for an easy fire-starter.”

  I shook my head. “I guess I should have expected a school full of geniuses to get creative.”

  “I am appalled by this, Miss Moon.”

  Of course, you are. Can’t have anything ruining the reputation of the school.

  “I’m told you did not see your attacker?”

  “No,” I forced out. “I didn’t see them. I couldn’t even tell you their gender or skin color. I have no clue who it was and I have so many enemies, it could have been anyone.”

  “It is unfortunate that you did not see them.”

  My eyes narrowed on Evergreen. I noticed he didn’t deny that I had enemies. “What about cameras? Did they pick up anything?”

  “The cameras picked up no one entering or leaving their room after curfew,” said Gus.

  “What do the police say? Have they been called?”

  Evergreen’s expression did not change. “They have not. This matter will be handled internally.”

  “What are you talking about? I was almost killed. You have to call the police!” I hadn’t acted after I was made to fall down the stairs because I had hoped to use Noemi to root out the Spades. It was different now. They had struck me directly and I was not messing around anymore.

  “Mr. Cornwallis and every member of his team are former law enforcement,” said Evergreen. “They will conduct an investigation just as thorough as the local police.”

  “What if I call them myself? And my mother?”

  He raised one bushy eyebrow. “I cannot prevent you from doing so, but I’m certain Chief Donaldson will agree with me on this matter. The academy and the Evergreen PD enjoy a close relationship.”

  I heard the message loud and clear.

  “Alright, fine. No police. But what are you going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again? Are you finally going to put cameras outside the dorms?”

  “That is not an immediate solution. It would take too long to install them all and connect them to the network, and I’m sure you would prefer not to wait for action.” Evergreen took his hands away from his chin and pointed out toward the window. “There is a disused building that was once the staff quarters. In and around the building is outfitted with cameras to discourage students from taking advantage of the empty space. As we speak, the housekeepers are packing up your room and moving your things there.”

  “Wha— I’m moving?!”

  “Yes, you are. Unless you have a better idea for how to prevent future attacks...”

  My mouth opened but nothing came out. What was I supposed to say? Sticking more cameras on me may prevent my would-be killer from finishing the job, but it would also make it harder for me to move around and get my revenge.

  “No,” I forced out. “I don’t have a better idea.”

  He nodded. “Then Mr. Cornwallis will escort you to your new quarters. Have a nice day, Miss Moon.”

  Just like that, I was dismissed. I followed Gus out and tried to sort through my thoughts as we picked up Nurse Runyon and headed out to the courtyard. It was no good for me to be terrified to go to sleep every night, wondering when the next flaming tape ball would come flying through my window, but even I could see this was a Band-Aid over an amputation. This would not stop the problem, only catching the person behind this would.

  But who did it? The Knights? The Diamonds? The faceless Spades?

  I had so many people who wanted me gone, and I didn’t know who all of them were.

  Would Ryder do this as punishment for what I did to Ezra and Jaxson? Is this what he meant by making last year look like he was playing nice?

  My brain tried to go there, but no matter how I looked at it, the thought didn’t sit right. It’s not that I didn’t think Ryder could go that far, it’s just that I had a feeling that wasn’t how he would do it. Ryder wasn’t the kind to lurk around in the shadows. If he came for me, he’d do it head-on.

  “This is where you will be.”

  I shook myself out of my musings and laid eyes on the lone building across the courtyard. I had seen it before. It sat starkly next to the main building in full view from the gates of the campus, but Sofia had told me on my first day that it was an empty building and I had no reason to go there.

  My eyes swept the three-story red brick structure and spotted multiple cameras just on the face. At least Evergreen had been telling the truth about that. I had no clue if everything else he said about a “thorough investigation” was going to deliver.

  Gus produced a key from his pocket and put it in my hand. “This is for the whole building. There are no keypads here as it went out of use before the upgrades, but only you, me, and the headmaster have a key to this place.”

  “Okay.” I took the key from him and stuffed it in my pocket.

  “We’ve put you on the third floor so it’ll be tough to throw anything into your room again, but an order has already been put in for shatter-proof glass to be extra safe.”

  A chill skittered up my spine at the reminder of why all this was necessary. I pulled my jacket tighter around myself. “Thank you.”

  Gus’s ever stern expression broke under his kind smile. “I take your safety very seriously, Miss Moon.”

  I noticed that he didn’t say “we” or “the academy.” He took my safety seri
ously.

  Maybe I have more allies than I thought.

  I nodded and Gus pulled open the door for us to go in. The breath whooshed out of my mouth as I took in what my eyes were seeing. I don’t know what I was expecting. Probably cobwebs so thick hanging from the ceiling that I could swing on them like ropes. Rotting floorboards. Ancient furniture that would fall apart if I looked at it too hard. Pretty much everything that came to mind when someone said abandoned building. None of that surrounded me.

  Sleek, black hardwood floors spread out beneath my feet. The walls were decorated with paper to match—black and gold and shimmering under the lights of the cobweb-free hanging lamps.

  Gus stepped out ahead of me for the staircase and I hurried to keep up with him. Up the steps we went until we hit the top floor and the sound of voices reached me. Half of my possessions were scattered about the hall, and my heart squeezed at seeing the suitcase I had been keeping under my bed. It was unopened, and I hoped it had stayed that way.

  There were two doors each on both sides of the hallway and the housekeepers were bringing my things through the door nearest the stairs.

  “I don’t have to tell you that all dorm rules apply,” said Gus. “No boys allowed. In before curfew. No parties. Understood?”

  “Sure, no prob...” The word died in my throat as I stepped into my room. The space I had walked into was twice the size of the old dorm. It made my other room look like a gas station men’s room.

  My head whipped around trying to look at everything at once. The four-poster bed, the walk-in closet, the antique desk, the sitting area—an actual sitting area, like I would be having my one friend over to sip tea and cookies on that couch.

  “I hope this will do,” Gus continued. “I know you would rather be with your friends, but this is the best solution I could come up with.”

  “Oh, it’ll do,” I breathed. I had no love for the sack of shit that tried to burn me alive, but I couldn’t deny they had gotten me an upgrade. “Thank you,” I said to the staff in the middle of hanging up my clothes. “I can take it from here.”