“Fitz. Calm down. I only brought her here to show her how unexciting The Woods really is,” Wick said, then dropped her hand.
“You’re making a scene,” Gi said through gritted teeth. “Wick was only being nice by bringing us here.”
Nice?He wasn’t being nice. He was being Wick.
“We’re leaving,” I said. “Now.”
That’s when I heard it. The giggling behind her. A pair of twin giggles to be precise. It only infuriated me more.
“What did I tell you about hanging out with them?”
“They’re my friends,” Gi insisted.
“They’re users looking to glom on to your eventual popularity because of me.”
“Who the fuck—”
“Language, Gi!” I shouted. My sister didn’t sayfuckorshit. My sister was polite and understood what it meant to hold herself to a higher level of class where women did not curse.
“You’re saying I would only ever be popular because ofyouandyourreputation. What a complete…complete…”
“Narcissistis the word I think you’re looking for.”
I looked away from Gigi only to see Beth smiling, and suddenly, my anger was redirected. “This is your fault.”
Her jaw dropped. “My fault? How do you figure that?”
“I told you to keep your sisters away from Gi. Look at the influence they’re having on her. The Woods isn’t a place for freshman. You know that. You know what happens here.”
“Yes, I know that,” she snapped back. “Which is why I’ll be taking them home. But my sisters aren’t any more to blame for this than yours. They’re young girls with minds of their own and they came with someone who they trusted. Wick wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to them.”
“You naïve little fool. You have no clue exactly how untrustworthy Wick is.”
“Hey,” Wick said, a frown on his pretty face. “I think I object to that.”
“Ask him,” I yelled at Beth. “Ask him about theList. Then ask him if your sisters names are on it. Because I hear they are.”
Beth blinked. “What list are you talking about?”
I didn’t answer because I was still struggling to contain my anger. Anger at Wick, at Gi, but most of all, at Beth because she was always the easiest person to take out my frustrations on. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. I wanted to pin her up against a tree and…
No, don’t finish that thought. It would make you a monster.
When I didn’t answer, Beth turned to Wick. “What list?”
Wick held up his hands with an expression of innocence. “Oh no. You’re not going to pin this on me. I am not the originator of the list.”
“But you know about it,” I insisted.
“Yeah, and I told you about it,” Wick said. “Not my fault you didn’t believe me.”
“And I told you what would happen if I found out it existed,” I snarled.
“What list!” Beth shrieked.
I rounded on her again, this time a little more controlled. I could see her sisters behind her, their eyes wide as they watched the scene unfold. Gi was standing next to them still looking defiant with her arms crossed over her chest.
If I were a different person, I would have laid it out for her in blunt terms. That people were taking bets on what juniors would be able to fuck our sisters. Take their virginity. Seduce them and leave them most likely emotionally shattered because there were few fourteen-year-old girls who could handle the seriousness of sex.
