Page 41 of Twisted Elites

She stepped forward and placed both hands on her hips. “You’re no better than anyone else, Pigsty.”

I rubbed my chin, feigning disinterest. “Interesting… By your definition, I lost my virginity at twelve, when I inserted my first tampon.”

Bianca’s nostrils flared. She breathed so hard, her shoulders rose and fell with the effort. I gulped. Would she bellow out loud what Ashley had done to me in front of the whole common room? Despite everything, but I still didn’t want her blurting out something so hideous.

With a snarl, she spun on her heel, shoved a girl away from a vending machine, and picked up a can of Coke.

When she ripped it open, we all shot out of our seats. It was one thing to act cool, but another to be a sitting target.

“I’ll kill you!” she screeched at the top of her voice.

I curled my lip. “Better people than you have tried, and they’ve all failed.”

Students from different years streamed in through the doors to watch the spectacle. A few of them turned their attention to me, presumably thinking that this was my pigging, and I was the one crying murder.

Bianca ripped open the can’s ring pull and flung the entire can in my direction. As the can flew through the air, its contents spilled over the sofa and coffee table. I darted to the right but managed to get caught by a few stray droplets.

One of her sycophants handed her two more open cans, and everybody scattered to the far end of the common room. Laughter filled the air, but I couldn’t even smile. Not when I remembered Leopold mentioning that Bianca’s sister was still at home. Why didn’t she direct her anger at her father?

“Bianca,” I said.

She turned around. “What do you want, you fat slut?”

“You’re nearly three-hundred miles from London, and with Brittas Academy on your CV, you’ll be able to study anywhere in the world.”

“So what?” she hurled the can straight at me.

I side-stepped most of the droplets, wondering if she’d spared a thought for her little sister, who was probably suffering Mr. Byrd’s abuse. “Think about someone else.” It was hard to spell it out with so many people standing around, but I had to say something. “Think of someone too young to escape that kind of hell.”

Chapter 11

Bianca threw down her cans and ran out of the common room, but the students crowding the door took their time in making a space for her to escape. Sebastian placed an arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side.

The students stood around the doorways and walls and gaped. I scowled at them. How many people had overheard what Bianca had told us about Ashley? Did it even matter considering the scale of the subsequent school scandals?

“Are you alright?” Leopold rounded the sofa and placed a hand on my cheek.

“It’s not exactly a major shock,” I muttered.

Prakash approached from the other side of the sofas, disapproval etched in his features. “Still, it was vindictive of her to bring that up, especially when you’ve been so discreet about her own situation.”

Sebastian pressed a kiss on the top of my head. “None of this reflects on you. Sometimes shitty things happen to good people.”

“Yes,” I said with a sigh. It was too late to regret signing Mrs. Benazir’s bursary agreement. I was stuck here contractually, and because I didn’t want to leave the kings.

It took several minutes for the excited chatter to die down in the common room. Some of the younger students hung around by the vending machines, feigning interest in their contents while giving us a surreptitious glance.

“Out of the way, children!” said Mr. Blunt’s loud voice. “You shouldn’t even be in the sixth form common room.”

I turned to the door, where the caretaker stood with Mr. Pinkerton. The lawyer wore a red and black tie with his undertaker suit, but his cornflower blue eyes sparkled when he caught our gazes.

My heart flip-flopped, and I clutched Sebastian around the waist. “Did you arrange to meet?”

Sebastian shook his head.

“Do you have news?” Prakash’s voice trembled.

Mr. Pinkerton’s gaze swept across the room of curious students, most of whom had stopped looking at us to stare at him. “Perhaps a change in location?”