AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I look over and notice the girls are in the skimpiest uniforms ever. These must be the popular clique that Poppy told me about. They weren’t in our morning lectures so I haven’t seen any of them yet. They are too far away for me to see what they look like as they make their way through the room. This also means they are too far away to seeus, which is perfect. I continue to eat as I watch them sit at a large table at the other end of the room. As soon as they start to eat, the other students start talking again and return to their lunches. Poppy goes back to eating silently with her head down as I take a gulp of my juice.
All of a sudden there’s a loud clatter as a tray hits the ground. A laugh comes from the other end of the room. I look over and see a large guy at the popular clique’s table dragging a smaller guy with glasses and shoving him towards another large guy next to him. Poppy shrinks into herself and I realise this must be two of the Crew she told me about. I’m too far away to hear what’s going on, but it’s obviously nothing good.
The smaller guy lets out a grunt of pain as he’s shoved to the floor and as the laughter from the table gets louder, I ball my hands into fists under the table. Fuck, maybe staying to eat in herewasa bad idea.
“Poppy, I need you to distract me.” She looks up in confusion. “It’s part of why I need to stay invisible. Please, I’ll explain later, just distract me. Tell me more about them so I know what we’re up against here.”
“Uh, alright. I can do that. So, let's start with Emma Montgomery. Her dad owns some big real estate business in London. She’s the one in the middle with the long blonde ponytail and she’s always with her two minions: Amanda Cruz and Samantha Decker. Amanda’s mum is a fashion designer and Samantha’s dad owns a huge technology company. They’re the two sitting either side of her.”
I look over at the table and see the girls Poppy is talking about. They are laughing at the smaller guy as he tries to get away from the two guys he’s once again being shoved between.
“And the guys?”
“The Crew,” she says as she looks over at the table. “The large guy that’s standing up with the longer hair is Rafael Monroe. His dad is some sort of big time businessman, but rumour is it’s all a front for some sort of criminal organisation”
I look over at him. He’s tall, definitely over six feet, everything about him is big. He must work out a lot to maintain that much muscle. Dark hair falls past his shoulders and thanks to the rolled up sleeves of his shirt, I can see the tattoos covering the olive skin on his lower arms. Well, he certainly looks the part of the gangster’s kid, but looks can be deceiving. I know that better than most, after all. I file the little bit of information away and make a mental note to get Xavier to look into it. Knowledge isalwayspower when dealing with rich arseholes.
“The guy standing next to him is Wyatt St James. His dad is the Mayor of WinterHill. And the guy sitting next to him is Elijah Dawson. His dad is WinterHill’s Police Inspector. They believe they run the school because their dads run WinterHill.”
I move my gaze to the two guys. The one standing, Wyatt, is at least six feet, has brown hair, and if his laughter is anything to go by, is really enjoying the torture of the boy. Elijah has dark skin and short hair, and looks uninterested in it all, pushing his glasses up his nose while he finishes his lunch.
I move my gaze back across the three guys, stopping at the one sitting next to Rafael. He has golden blonde hair sitting just above his shoulders and he’s watching over the room. His gaze hasn’t reached our table yet, and although I’m too far away to see his features, a prickle of recognition lifts goosebumps on my arms.
“Who’s the blonde guy?” I ask Poppy.
“That’s the last member, Clayton Maguire. He’s the head of The Crew. Nothing goes on without his approval.” My heart stutters in my chest at the name. It can’t be him.MyClayton wasn’t rich when he left London six years ago. His dad was a lawyer, but work in our part of London was cheap so he didn’t earn much. “He moved here and started WinterHill Secondary School for our final year. His dad is a lawyer and got a job with the mayor, which is how he got in.”
I swear my heart literally stops beating for a couple of seconds. No. That is not a fucking coincidence, the timeline matches up too precisely. The final year of school, just three weeks after my fifteenth birthday, and a week after the night that changed everything. The giggles start up and I grip the edge of the table as I look at him across the room and try to even out my breathing. Fuck! It’s likely his gaze will hit our table soon. I have to get out of here before he sees me and I’m out of options.
“We have to go,” I tell Poppy. “Now.” I rise from my seat keeping my eyes on Clayton as the fucking bimbo Emma leans over him, practically spilling her boobs out of her shirt while trying to get his attention. I reach over to pull Poppy out of her chair when she doesn’t immediately follow. “Now, Poppy. I’m serious,” I tell her again.
“Kenzi, what’s going on?” she asks, finally leaving her seat. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I ease my way to the exit next to the table, pulling Poppy along behind me and making sure not to draw any attention by moving too fast. I pull her through the exit and stay silent, lost in my thoughts as we make our way across the well-kept lawn and head towards the girl’s dorm building.
Fuck! What the fuck am I going to do? This changes fucking everything. Clayton knows who I am. He knows what I did. I’ve got to phone Xavier and then get the fuck out of here before I kill the bastard and it fucks everything up.
We make our way through the building in silence and make our way up the stairs to my room. Once we’re inside and I close and lock the door, I finally let my frustration out as I start to pace.
“Fuck! This is not fucking good! Nothing in my fucking life can ever be fucking easy! What! The! Fuck!” My voice rises and I’m shouting by the end of my little tirade. The giggles start up in my head as the memories of that night hit me like a bullet to the chest.
Fuck! I’m starting to lose it. I need to call Xavier.
I realise I've spoken aloud when Poppy starts speaking.
“Kenzi, what’s wrong? Who’s Xavier? You need to give mesomethinghere.” I look up at her still standing by the door. Her eyes widen in fear. Can she sense the demons rising within me? “K-Kenzi, a-are you okay?” she stutters.
Fuck! I don’t know what I look like right now but I’vereallygot to get myself under control.
“Phone,” I say, tipping my bag on my bed, not having the patience to search through it like a normal person. I swipe at the stuff that tumbles out, flinging it off the bed with such force it hits the wall across the room. I catch Poppy’s flinch out of the corner of my eye. I grab my phone, nearly breaking the screen with the pressure I use to start the call.
“Hey, Kenz. How’s your first day going? I bet it’s really different, huh?” The sound of Xave’s voice helps to calm me down slightly. The giggling gets quieter in my mind. I pull in what feels like my first real breath since Poppy said Clayton’s name. “Kenz, are you there? What’s going on?”
“He’s here, Xave. Out of every-fucking-where he could have ended up it had to be fucking here.”
“What are you talking about, Kenzi? Who’s there?”
“I have to get out of here, Xave. I can’t do this. Fucking hell! I nearly fucking lost it in front of Poppy!” I shout at him down the phone.
