Wicked Lies by Mae Doyle

Chapter 11

“So you’re saying that Kaleb had on the same bracelet as the person seen with your mom in the video?” Harper took a huge bite of her raspberry baked oatmeal and closed her eyes, moaning as the chocolate chips melted in her mouth. Taylor Prep didn’t usually allow sweets as part of the meal, but today was an exception, and none of us were going to let it pass us by.

“Yep.” I spooned up a bite, making sure to get extra melted chocolate on it. “He walked me across the quad, held the door open for me, and then told me to be careful. That’s when I saw the bracelet.”

“Did you say anything to him about it?” Maggie was staring off to the side at the front table where the rogues and the harpies were eating breakfast. Well, some of them were eating. Amelia was in Brett’s lap, running her fingers through his hair, and Jackie was whispering to Kelly. The sight of the four of them made my stomach churn. Glancing down the table, I saw Kaleb. He was staring straight at me, his green eyes visible even across the cafeteria.

“Not a chance.” I lowered my eyes to my breakfast so I wouldn’t have to keep looking at Kaleb. “What was I supposed to say? Hey, you have the same bracelet as the guy who paid my mom for a lap dance?”

“That would be pretty awkward,” Maggie agreed. “But are you sure that it was the same bracelet?”

“Yep.” I was firm about this. “It looked like braided leather and had a big bead that held the two ends together. I’m pretty sure that I’d recognize it anywhere.”

Before I could say anything else, Harper dropped her spoon to her bowl. “Don’t look around.” Her voice was quiet, and of course I did the one thing that she warned us not to do.

The rogues were stalking straight towards our table. Jackie was in the lead, with Brett and Kaleb trailing close behind. They were all technically wearing the Taylor Prep uniform, but all of their shirts were in various stages of being unbuttoned. Jackie’s shirt was open almost all the way, and I could see a hint of his abs as he walked towards us.

Shifting in my seat, I swallowed hard. It probably wasn’t a good thing that they would come over here during breakfast, but there was definitely no harm in looking, right? It was like being a kid in the candy store, except the candy was sexy, dangerous, and out to get me.

“Rose.” Jackie’s eyes flicked over Maggie and Harper but he didn’t speak to them. “I heard from my cousin that you got to see the great little video that’s been going around campus. The camerawork was a little shaky at times, but I think that it really got the message across, don’t you think?”

Instead of answering, I balled my hands into fists and stared at him. I hated him so badly and wished nothing more than for him to disappear. When he saw that I wasn’t going to respond, he chuckled and turned to Brett. “Did you get the message from the video?”

“What, you mean that Rose’s mom is a whore? I could have told you that without having to watch the stupid video. It’s old news, Jackie.” He was talking to me, his eyes locked on mine. I knew why he was doing this and I knew that he wanted me to leaver Taylor Prep, but what I couldn’t understand is why Kaleb was involved.

So far, he hadn’t looked at me or said anything. I searched his face for some compassion, and when he caught my gaze, he smirked. “Did you see my bracelet last night, Rose?” He held up his hand and twisted it, showing off the three braided leather strips. “How do you like it?”

Before I knew what I was doing, I was on my feet. “You asshole.” I do my best to keep my voice as low as possible, and the words roll out of me in a growl. “Why would you do that?” There’s a flash in his eyes as he looks at me and drops his hand, shrugging.

“You don’t like my bracelet then? That’s a shame, Rose, because they’re all the rage right now.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, and I didn’t care. My anger made my head hurt as it pounded, and I had to grit my teeth to keep from snapping out a retort. I felt Maggie reach up and take my hand, releasing my nails from my palm, but I ignored her. “What do you mean they’re all the rage?”

“Geez, Rose, I would have expected more from you.” My eyes dart back to Jackie as he spoke. “If you were just a little more observant then you would have seen that everyone is on trend but you guys.”

What the hell was he talking about? Beside me, I heard Maggie suck in a gasp of air, and I forced myself to look away from Jackie’s perfectly chiselled face. He and Brett also had on the bracelets. It felt like someone punched me in the gut and I inhaled sharply, trying to keep my vision focused.

Why in the world did they all have the same bracelet? “Which one of you was it?” Since I couldn’t be sure that it was Kaleb, I had to know who it was. Who visited my mom. Who made her…dance for them. On them. The thought made my stomach twist.

Brett barked out a laugh. “Well, it sure as hell wasn’t me. You think that I want to be that close to the woman who gave birth to you? But really, Rose, it could have been anyone. Look around you.”

Slowly, I turned my head. Everyone in the cafeteria was watching us, their breakfasts completely forgotten as they took in the drama. As I looked, the harpies raised their arms. They each had on one of the brown leather bracelets. My stomach dropped. Slowly, everyone else raised their arms.

Some students looked gleeful about what they were showing me, but there were some remorseful faces scattered around. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t paying attention to who looked happy about what was happening and who didn’t.

All I could see were the bracelets.

Brown leather braided bracelets.

Everyone had one. Every. Single. Student.

As if on cue, they all twisted their arms in the air at me, turning them back and forth so that I could see their jewelry. My jaw dropped as I watched, then I turned my attention back to the rogues. Tears pricked the backs of my eyes, but I wasn’t about to let them fall. Not while the three of them were watching me. Not while everyone was watching me.

Jackie had his arm up in the air, turning it back and forth as a guide for the rest of the students to follow. When I looked at him, he smirked and dropped his arm back to his side. Like a wave, the rest of the students did the same.

My breath caught in my throat and I felt my vision start to go fuzzy at the edges. The only thing that gave me some relief was glancing down at Maggie’s hand to see that she didn’t have on a bracelet. A quick look to my other side showed me that Harper didn’t, either.

At least my friends were on my side.

Jackie brushed past us, headed out of the cafeteria towards class. My body responded at the slightest touch he gave me as he moved past me. The throbbing in my core that I felt around the three of them was now something that I was getting used to.

Kaleb pushed past, as well, and I kept my eyes locked on his face, although he didn’t look down at me. Brett, however, slowed down to a stop and then leaned over so that his mouth was right by my ear. I could feel his hot breath on my skin, and I shivered.

His lips grazed the curve of my ear as he whispered. “I told you to leave Taylor Prep, remember, Rose? Now’s a good time.” He was close enough that I could reach up and pull him towards me to kiss him, but Maggie had my one hand and the other was still clenched into a fist.

Smirking, he stood up, ran a hand through his hair, and turned to leave. It took that long for my tongue to finally unlock in my mouth. “I’m not going anywhere, Brett. I have just as much of a right to be here as you do.” The words left my mouth in a rush, and at first, I didn’t think that he heard me, but then he slowly turned back around, his eyes searching my face.

I felt myself blush, but I looked straight into his deep brown eyes. It’s not like I thought that I’d be able to find any compassion there, but I wasn’t above hoping for it. Not yet, anyway.

“You don’t belong here, Rose, and you know it. Your mother is a whore, your dad is dead, and you used his death money to get in. What’s it going to take for you to realize that the best thing for you to do is leave?” He turned and started to walk away, following his friends, but I reached out and grabbed his hand.

There was no reason for me to reach for him, and the look on his face told me exactly what he thought about me touching him, but I linked our fingers together so that he couldn’t easily pull away and then stood up. My body was just inches from his, but I could feel the heat coming off of his torso. He had his jacket stuffed in his backpack, and the bright white of his uniform shirt seemed to glow in contrast to his deep brown skin.

“Brett,” I said, digging deep for the feelings and friendship that we used to share when we were younger. “Please.” I knew that I should say more, but my words failed me. I had to tilt my head up to look at him, and I realized that I probably looked like a girl waiting on a kiss, but it didn’t matter. I had to try to get through to him, and this was the only way that I knew how.

“Let go of me.” He yanked his hand away from mine, dropping my hand by my side. As I reached out for him again, he sidestepped out of the way. “You’re not welcome here, Rose. I told you that you needed to leave, and you didn’t, so now you’ll have to live with the consequences.”

“What consequences? You going to pay my mom another visit at her job? Or which of my loved ones are you going to come after next?” My voice got higher and louder, but I didn’t care. I just had to make him see how badly I needed this. If that meant that I had to practically beg him then…well, let’s just say that it was nothing new for our relationship.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you, Rose?” He grinned, his teeth bared a little. They were perfectly white and straight, a testament to his parent’s devotion and willingness to do everything they could for their son to improve his life.

I watched, my mouth half-open, as he strolled away from me. He stopped a few feet from the table and glanced back over his shoulder. “Don’t be late to homeroom, Rose. I have a feeling that the day is going to get very exciting.”

My blood ran cold. It’s cliché as hell but I swore that that’s what happened. I felt ice in my veins as I watched him turn and walk away. The entire cafeteria was silent until he left the room, the big double doors shutting quietly behind him.

“Rose?” Maggie sounded terrified, and I turned to look at her. “Rose, you can’t let them hurt you.”

“What are you going to do?” Harper sounded just as scared, but I didn’t need to look at her to know that she had the same expression on her face as my other friend.

It was a good question, though. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, I only knew that I had a few minutes to think of a plan. All I knew is that I wasn’t going to let anyone drive me out of Taylor Prep. I deserved to be here, no matter what Brett, the other rogues, and the harpies thought.

I wasn’t sure how to prove it to them, but I’d figure it out. “Let’s get to class.” I stood, and my friends followed, the three of us leaving our dishes on the table. Normally I liked to carry them and put them away, but the staff swooped in as soon as we walked away to handle it for us.

Today I needed to do everything I could to focus on how I was going to avoid the rogues and stay at Taylor Prep. Brett may have thought that he could easily drive me out of school, but he didn’t know how much I’d been through since he moved away.

Life can easily burn you out and drag you down if you let it, but one thing that my mom made sure of was that I was strong. Sure, I walked with a limp and I may not ever get rid of that. And, yes, I had the face of my dead father seared into my brain, but that didn’t mean that I was weak.

I was strong. My backpack thumped on my back as we walked down the hall. I refused to let Harper or Maggie offer me an arm. I was going to do this on my own, and there wasn’t a damn thing that anyone could do to stop me.

That’s what I kept telling myself as I walked with my friends to homeroom. Mr. Staton was leaning on the doorframe, waiting on us, which was a little strange, but I ignored it. I had to focus on what may be waiting for me inside.

The funny thing is that no matter how prepared I thought I may be, there wasn’t any way that I could get ready for what waited on me. I turned the corner into the classroom, my friends right behind me, and my jaw dropped open for the second time that morning.