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Xeno barks out a laugh and pushes off the door, crowding me until we’re chin to chest. He opens his mouth to say something, but a knock at the door prevents him. He steps back and twists on his feet, unlocking the door then yanking it open. On the other side is Tiffany, of all fucking people.
“What’sshedoing here?” she has the cheek to ask, her lip curling back over her pretty, white teeth.
“I was just leaving,” I retort, trying to muscle past Xeno who grabs my upper arm, forcing me to remain. Tiffany looks between his grip on my arm and my face, her eyes narrowing. I can see the jealousy flare in her eyes.
“No, you’re staying. Take a seat, Pen,” Xeno says calmly, letting my arm go. He turns to Tiffany and gives her his best megawatt saved-for-sex-only smile. She melts, for fuck’s sake. Any minute now she’ll strip naked and offer herself up as tribute with me still in the goddamn room.
“Tiffany, put the music on. Track seventeen,” Xeno orders, handing her his mobile and ignoring her lascivious gaze.
“Of course.” She takes it from him, her fingertips lingering on his skin for a lot longer than is comfortable or necessary. Does she not let up?
“Staying for what, exactly?” I hiss the second she’s moved away.
“You missed my introductory class. You need to catch up. Tiffany here has volunteered to help me out.”
Yeah, I bet she has.“I told you, I’m takinga differentclass.” I fold my arms across my chest, trying not to let him rile me up further.
“And I’m telling you, you’re not. Not if you want to remain at this academy,Pen.” He spits my name out like it’s poison. I flinch.
“You can’t do that…” I mutter, my throat drying.
Xeno steps close, and leans down to whisper in my ear so that Tiffany can’t hear what’s being said. “Yes. I can. D-Neath owes me a few favours. How do you think I got this job, Pen? You might have impressed Tuillard, but he’s the money man here, and despite what she thinks, whathesays, goes.”
“So Zayn and York got in here on the back of a dirty favour…figures,” I respond unkindly. The fact is, I know both of them are talented enough to get a scholarship on their own merits, but this makes more sense. Especially given what Madame Tuillard intimated Monday morning when she introduced us all to each other.
“Always so self-righteous…” he glares at me, his nostrils flaring.
“You chose that life. Not me.”
“Wechoseit? You really are fucking dense.”
“I wouldn’t get too close, Xeno, you might catch something from the dirty little street rat,” Tiffany pipes up. Her jealous words don’t hurt me, but Xeno’s lack of response does. Once upon a time he would’ve jumped to my defence. So much for leaving baggage at the door. He pulls back, not giving anything away. So I take my frustration out on Tiffany who is clearly using this time to perfect her nasty barbs.
“Fuck you, Tiffany-I’ve-Got-A-Silver-Spoon-Stuck-Up-My-Arse. You walk around like you own the damn place but like me you got into the academy on ascholarship. You’re no better off than I am. So that silver spoon ain’t so shiny from where I’m standing. In fact it’s covered in shit.”
She snorts, making sure to look me up and down. “Maybe so, but some of us haveclassand that can’t be bought. You’re nothing but a skank. I’ve no idea what Clancy sees in you, then again she’s not much better.”
“Refer to me like that again,bitch, and I’ll knock you out!”
Tiffany laughs. “Go ahead. I’ll be more than happy to watch your scrawny arse kicked out of this school.”
“ENOUGH!” Xeno shouts, making Tiffany jump.
A little bit of fear flashes in her gaze followed by a whole dose of lust. I’ve got her cards marked. Girls like her love the notoriety of fucking with a gangster. They don’t really give a shit about the person beneath the outer shell so long as they look good hanging off their arm and reap the benefits such a position affords. It was never like that for me.
Never.
They werealwaysmy Breakers first before they became well-known for that name for an entirely different reason. I hated what they became. The moment our dance crew turned into a gang it was the beginning of the end. My heart aches for the loss of what we had. Some days it hurts so much I can barely breathe. But they became everything we’d once hated, and as a result they broke my heart. I won’t let them do that again. Whatever they’re here for, I want no part of it. None.
“I’m going,” I mutter. One last attempt at asserting my defiance.
“Sit down, Pen. Watch!” Xeno demands, nodding to Tiffany who flips a switch on the surround sound system, turning on the music. She’s smiling like a cat that’s got the cream as he strides towards her.
Knowing I really have no choice given his threat, I hobble over to the row of seats lined up against the wall, and sit. In the middle of the dance studio, Xeno places Tiffany’s hands on his shoulder, positioning her arms so that they’re locked into place, then holds onto her ribcage, his thumbs resting just below the curve of her non-existent tits. She grins at him, but he just nods, before sliding his legs between her graceful ones.
“You are staying in my class, Pen, and when this is over, you’re giving up that truth you owe me. Understand?” he says, locking eyes with me over Tiffany’s shoulder.
I’m not sure whether he means whenthisspecific kind of torment is over, or something else entirely, either way I catch his meaning as he dances with Tiffany in a way that has my blood boiling and my heart aching. Reminding me, once again, of that time when I finally spilled my feelings in the basement of number fifteen Jackson Street. That was one truth I wished I could take back because it was the beginning of the end for us. Less than six months after I admitted my feelings to the Breakers, they left me for good.
