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Chapter 39
Astrid
October is moving quickly to an end as I run the trail. Cross-country lasts until December and then will pick up again in the spring with track. So I figure when I’m not running track, I’ll spend more time at the Pit. Odd. I used to schedule my time around going to the Pit, not the other way around. I stretch my body and gaze across the campus. I can’t imagine running in the snow, but Coach Herring swears we will do it.
My phone chimes, and I pull it out of my jacket pocket. It’s from Wyatt, and I smile when I read it—“You’re in.” I guess I should be happy, but my victory is subdued. Becoming a member is worthless unless we play by my rules, and I intend to play rough.
Oberlin Hall, compared to the Pit, is the quietest place I’ve ever been in. It reminds me of noise-canceling headphones as I walk across the polished tiles toward the staircase leading down. I hesitate, unsure of who will be there and if I should go find Wyatt first. He and Bryce are barely speaking, but I know Wyatt would stay with me after the trick they pulled.
I’ll never fully trust the three of them again. I hear male voices as I approach the door at the end of the hallway. And the conversation stops as I step into the room. Bryce, Justin, and Pierce are here, but no one else. Pierce sits on the couch with his legs spread open, glaring at me. Justin’s gaze rakes over me as if he’s imagining me naked. And Bryce sits at Getz’s desk as if he’s running the show. I start to back away toward the door.
“Come in, Astrid,” Bryce smiles, “No tasks this time.”
I frown. “I’ll stay here. Where’s Professor Getz?”
“He’s on his way, but we have private business to discuss before he arrives.” He drums the desk before he speaks. “You will be a junior member after a year’s probation.”
I purse my lips. “No, that won’t do, and you know it. And that’s not a rule of the club. You stole from me once, Bryce. Not again.”
I stare at Justin, who shrugs his shoulders as if he had nothing to do with it. Pierce won’t look at me at all, but he knows I’m there.
“I will be a full member, and my vote will carry equal weight to yours.”
“No.” Bryce exchanges an unbelieving look with Pierce.
“Yes,” I reply, “because I have the laptop with the spreadsheets. So while you were jerking off all alone, I’ve been learning how to read those spreadsheets.”
Justin turns a sickly shade of pale when Bryce glares at him. “You took it and gave it to her? God, you’re stupid like your father.”
Justin’s face instantly flushes as he stands up. “I told you about that, Shelton. I warned you.”
“Sit your ass down,” snarls Bryce.
Justin advances, and Pierce jumps in between them.
“You two have lost it,” growls Pierce, “Don’t make me take over.”
They pull apart and stare at Pierce as if he’s now lost his mind.
“Stop your bullshitting,” I tell them, “You can include me, or I can do it on my own.”
They laugh as if they weren’t just at each other’s throats. “How?” asks Bryce, “You don’t have the money.”
I grin, “It’s a broken-down warehouse. All I need to do is find another one and set up my own Pit using your spreadsheet as a guide. Or you give me a cut of everything.”
Someone coughs in the distance, and then we hear the sound of rubber-soled shoes on linoleum. I sit down next to Pierce, hitting his knee with the palm of my hand until he closes his legs.
“I want Mask reinstated,” I whisper.
Bryce gets up from the desk. “Why is that not a surprise?”
“He’s a good fighter,” I reply, “and we’re losing money because you got your feelings hurt.”
Bryce lets the discussion drop as Professor Getz walks into his office. We must not look too innocent because he frowns. “I guess the cat was away too long to prevent the mice from playing,” he says.
