Worse still, when I steal a quick glance from around my shield, he’s striding along the corridor, heading straight for me.
CHAPTER SIX
AVON
I slammy locker shut and try to escape in the opposite direction, but my reflexes are far too slow. By the time I move, he slams a hand against the wall in front of me, strong as a steel barrier arm.
“You saw the video, then?” Zane’s lips are close enough to graze my ear, warm breath stirring the hairs on the side of my neck, making my stomach do a slow forward roll.
My knees wobble, mouth turning to sand as I stare into his eyes, blue sparkling with frost. “What…?”
There are so many questions my brain can’t focus on just one and I leave the word hanging. My eyes sting as I glance to Maddox, standing slightly behind his friend, face blank except for a twinge of remorse.
I thought he was kind, taking me to the health clinic, speaking to the staff there when emotion clogged my voice, asking if there was anything else I needed.
The shock dissipates and rage surges into the void, leaving no room to be frightened. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re trying to make it look like I’m into this sh—”
Zane grabs me by the shoulders, spinning me into the nearest empty classroom. My feet stumble over one another and he uses my recovery time to close the door, blocking it with his huge frame. “Calm down.”
My fury increases until my eyeballs roast in the heat of my temper. “I won’t fucking calm down. What the fuck is this?” I shove my phone at his chest, angry tears welling in my eyes, choking me.
He pauses, leaning into me, lips parting with an edge of expectation. His eyes bore into mine with such intensity, I flinch, and he jerks away. “It’s plan B since you refused to sign plan A.”
As he speaks, every shred of humanity leaves his face. He might as well be an android, performing an assigned task, unrelenting until it’s done.
He nods at the screen. “It’s insurance in case you change your mind about going to the police. You’ll find it hard to lay a complaint about behaviour that you happily posted online.”
“ThatIposted?”
He takes the device from my shaking fingers. “It’s come from your account. Some of the links got taken down for breaking community standards, but the ones you uploaded to the porn sites stayed.”
“The p…?” but I can’t finish the sentence. My head is too flooded with outrage to process what’s happening.
“Just the main ones. Nothing seedy.”
He returns my phone and I shove it deep into my pocket before I can hurl the disloyal device to the floor, nauseated by the deep pit of fear that lies beneath my temper. I’m engulfed in the worry he’s just kicked off a new round of bullying, same as my last school.
“You sent your friend to harass me yesterday knowing all the time you were going to post this?” His face sets in hard lines, but I keep talking, not letting him speak. “I’d ask why but it’s clear from Saturday you enjoy hurting me.”
He steps forward, crowding into my personal space, using his height to full advantage. “You’re the one who walked into a room you shouldn’t have at a party you weren’t invited to. I had no idea you weren’t the girl I was expecting.”
My incredulity at beingblamedfor his mistake sends my anger spiralling. “But you wanted to hurtsomeone. Just because you mistook my identity doesn’t excuse your behaviour.”
Experience tells me exactly how this will go. For as long as I attend Tiaki Academy, I’ll never be anything but the slut who fucked Zane and his friend at a party.
Theuglyslut.
Thefreak.
A clueless girl who was gauche enough to post a video online to show off afterwards, like being used as a cum dump was a personal triumph.
The despair makes me cruel. “You’re such a fucking arse it’ll serve you right if I report you to police.”
Zane comes at me, forcing me back, triggering the pain and fear from Saturday as I retreat until my rear end bumps against the far wall.
His voice is low and deadly. “You try and my lawyers will rip you to pieces.”
“Those the same lawyers who couldn’t get you off for an arson you didn’t even commit?”
