“Not during football season.”
This, of course, was a lie that implied I stayed clean for physical reasons. There was no reason for everyone to know how truly untrusting I was.
“Hmm.”
“So I guess you overheard us talking,” I prompted.
“Yes, well, it seems like a freeform gathering. Everyone moving about between clusters. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“It’s fine,” I allowed. “Tell me why you think this list is real.”
Locke shrugged. “Because I’ve seen it.”
“What?” I snapped.
“I’m a person who likes to gather…let’s call it data. The more data I have, the more conclusions I can make regarding my new surroundings. It helps me to acclimate.”
“Fuck me,” Heath muttered. “Another fucking fancy talker.”
“Yes, but I’m English so it’s perfectly all right.” Locke smiled. “Anyway, I heard the same rumors you did so I wanted to make sure I had the actual facts. Yes, there is a list. I’ve seen it. And yes, your sister Gigi is on it. The Bennet twins, too.”
I moved toward him instinctively as if to physically hurt him when I knew it couldn’t be his fault. He was new to the school. It wasn’t his list. He didn’t flinch, though, and I had this crazy thought he knew I would back off before actually hitting him. Like he could predict my actions.
Instead, I focused on the facts. There was a list. Gigi was on it. Someone was going to pay, and I knew who.
“Wick,” I growled. “That motherfucker. I’m going to kill him.”
“I can’t say for certain who the originator of list is, but I can tell you people are placing wagers on it.”
“Wagers?” Ed asked.
“Sorry, bets,” Locke said. “Someone is holding the book and people are placing bets on when a particular girl might lose her virginity. Not to mention who she gives it up for. Pretty crass if you ask me, but again, leads me to some conclusions about the people I’m attending school with.”
“We’re not all assholes,” Ed said, but without much conviction.
The anger roared inside me. The passion my father thought I hadn’t inherited from him. If he knew about this list, if he knew people were placing bets on when Gi would lose her virginity, he would take apart the entire school until he found the originator of said list and destroy that person.
Which meant I could do no less. Or be considered less of a man. But I was more controlled than my father. So instead, I laughed as if it meant nothing.
“It’s ludicrous. Gi has a mind of her own and isn’t the type who can be seduced into giving up her virginity. People can place all the bets they want, she’s not a target.”
“Perhaps,” Heath said. “But I have seen her leaving school with Wick the past few days. In his new car.”
“Only because she’s been hanging out with the Bennet twins. I’ve put an end to that.”
“Ha!” Heath laughed even as he stared at something over Ed’s shoulder. “Now that is irony. Look who Wick’s brought with him to The Woods.”
I turned to see Wick walking through the crowds of upper classmen holding my sister’s hand.
And that’s when I knew.
I had no choice but to kill him.
* * *
“Gigi!”I barked, as I marched toward the two of them. “WTF?”
She had the temerity to lift her chin up at me in defiance, but I cared less about that and more about Wick’s smug expression. He was doing this just to piss me off.
