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“Maybe we should have waited,” I mutter, taking the first step forward, ignoring my pounding heart and the way my stomach is twisting. Two steps in and a sound like the shot of a gun has me flinching, my gaze searching for the reason for the noise.
It comes again and Merrit huddles closer to me. They’re clapping. The boys in the hall are doing a slow clap. Weird. Also, why?
I grit my teeth and barrel forward, eyes on the door that leads outside, dragging Merritt with me. She seems to understand that I want to move as quickly as we can, and she’s practically running to keep up with me.
We’ve almost made it to the door when the first proposition comes my way. “Can I get on the bang train?”
“Can you handle five guys, Rosalind? Ten?”
“You must be a good fuck if you can keep them interested.”
“How about a blowjob?”
“Too good for us?”
“Smart of them to bring whores into the dorm for us, huh?”
A hand snakes out and grabs my ass. I spin and jam my fist into a smirking face that turns shocked as soon as I make contact and then furious the second after. The clapping stops. The hall goes silent.
And I realize I’ve made a very, very big mistake.
I push Merritt behind me. “Run,” I say out of the corner of my mouth. She doesn’t move. “Run!” The hall erupts. I spin and push Merritt again, urging her forward. We just have to get to Hubbard and then into Putnam. Teachers, administrators, security guards. Any adult will keep us safe for the time being.
The pounding of footsteps after us is loud, but eventually fades away. We skid to a stop in front of Putnam, and a quick glance behind me tells me they’ve given up the chase. For now, at least. I frown.
“I fucking told them this was a bad idea.” I turn back to Merritt. She’s shaking, but she has her phone out, her thumbs flying over the keyboard as she sends a text.
A few seconds later, my own phone buzzes, and I pull it out.
She’s added me to a text chain with four other numbers besides her own. I don’t have to be a genius to figure out that the other four numbers are the Consequences. She’s sent them a brief message telling them they’re idiots for thinking we’d be safe, and explaining what happened.
Fielder:
Where are you?
That’s the only response we get. I roll my eyes and pull open the door of the admin building while she replies. We’ve just taken a seat at our normal table when the four of them walk in. They don’t look like they rushed to get here, but they must have because it’s only been about two minutes since our texted conversation.
They stride right up to us and Fielder holds his hand out to me, tugging me to my feet and then guiding me up to their normal table, above everyone else. The dining hall has gone silent, all faces turned toward us.
I shift uncomfortably on my feet. I hate this, having all this undivided attention on me. On us. It’s so different from filming, from being safely in front of a camera and separate from the eyes watching me.
“We thought,” Fielder starts, his fingers curled over mine, his voice level,deadly.“That we made it clear yesterday that Rosalind Sweeney is off limits. But apparently, some of you didn’t get the message.”
“Lets clear this up now,” Hardin says from my other side, hand pressing into my lower back. “Rosalind Sweeney is under our protection.”
Gideon’s standing behind me, his heat burning into my shoulders. “If anyone touches her or insults her, there will be retribution.”
My face is flaming and my gaze is a little unfocused, blurring the faces in front of me until I can’t see them. I know this is going to backfire. I know this because for all that these boys think they rule this school, theydon’t. There are plenty of people out there who resent them, resent their power, resent the iron fist that they have them in.
I know this, because I was one of them not so long ago.
But I also know that they will mete out punishments if needed. They will not hesitate, and the people who were their supporters are going to turn against them. Because in their world I’m still nothing. I’m still worthless, a charity case, trash.
If they turn on their peers for me, there will be hell to pay.
I should probably say something, tell them to stop, but the words stall in my throat.
“This is your one and only warning,” Ezra adds. “Tell your friends, because we will not tolerate any infractions.”
