Page 220 of Lessons in Cruelty

Even spotting Ezra at the entrance only made me hold my head that much higher.

He’d never liked me, and it was obvious from the way his face stiffened up that nothing had changed.

But I brushed it off.

This?

No way in hell I can brush this off.

In fact, I’m pretty sure I won’t even survive this.

“I’m not doing it.” I shake my head, hoping it will cement my decision. “I refuse.”

“You can’t do that,” she whispers, as if there’s someone with us in this creepy hallway.

“Says who?”

“Says the people who gave you the money to come to college.” A tiny crease graces her brow. “You didn’t realize you’d have to be involved in stuff like this if you accepted the grant? They would have notified you.”

“Guess my invite got lost in the mail,” I say dryly.

She nods. “Exactly. Or maybe Ted forgot to deliver it.”

Well, fuck.

The nice Korean family living at the address I supplied on my form must be confused as hell, getting all my mail. Which reminds me, I really have to update my address. At least I can get stuff sent to Gamma Alpha Zeta now.

I hold up my hands. “No, it’s cool. I’ll just get up in front of a hundred million strangers and make up a speech about social inequality.” I lean in. “You know. Using my imagination.”

“Closer to three hundred,” Melissa says, but grudgingly. “Want me to stand next to you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

None of this is her fault. It’s one-hundred percent Haven Lee’s fault.

Should have known there’d be strings attached. I mean, the whole point of charity is to look good in front of other people, right? Like, to have some kind of moral advantage? So when they get to heaven, they’ll have a VIP parking spot.

If I’m going down, it’s on my terms.

I tighten my hand on the gold clutch Melissa lent me, and stalk down the corridor. She catches up with me a second later.

“Say something smart about how important education is.”

I mouth, ‘smart’, and then shake my head. “You’re terrible at this.”

The classical music fades, and there’s some scattered applause. All muffled because of the door up ahead, but I can clearly make out the announcer calling the dean of Agony Hollow College to the stage.

Oh God.

My brain scrambles as I try to think of what the hell I could say up there. Unfortunately, a certain someone with intense brown eyes and the most fucked up mind I’ve ever met keeps interrupting.

And when I finally get him shoved out of my head, it’s all Kai.

All Kai, all the time.

Damn it.

My clutch vibrates in my hand. I take out my phone without even thinking about it, glancing down at the screen.