I don’t sleep.
* * *
Ithink about skipping classes the day after the party because it’s the last day before fall break, but I don’t want to ruin my perfect attendance record. I spend double my usual time on my makeup, because you can see every sleepless minute carved into my face. I finally give up and head straight to class, skipping breakfast. My stomach is roiling with the memories of the tequila last night, and I’m sure if I touch food, I’ll hurl. I’m early enough that I’ve even beaten the teacher to history, so I enjoy the quiet.
I collapse into my desk and rest my head against my textbooks. I’m sure I look hung over, but I can’t summon enough energy to care. I hear the teacher arrive and I give her a little wave without looking up. She doesn’t seem to be concerned that I’m expiring at my desk. Then I feel the chair next to mine pull out and Harley drops into his seat. I glance up at him and he looks too healthy, too happy, just too much, and I give him a glare.
“Did someone have a big night?” he says, too loud and far too cheery. I want to hurt him.
“Feel free to choke,” I reply, and he grins at me. Avery is already at her spot in front of us and she looks down her nose at me with a smirk. The class starts, and she flips her hair at me. I spare her a second of my time, just long enough to wonder if she has anything else planned for me, before I push her out of my mind.
I manage to pull myself together enough to get through the class. My stomach gurgles toward the end, and Harley keeps slipping me these looks until I’m squirming in my chair.
“Enjoy the show?” He doesn’t look at me when he says this, and I know it’s on purpose. He’s taking notes for the homework we’re supposed to get done over the break. It takes me a second to remember what I saw last night in the woods. I can’t think about any of it without think about Joey’s dick pressing into me and his body pressing me into the bed. My wrist is still aching, and I’m a little worried he’s sprained it.
“Not particularly. Though if you need my opinion, I’d suggest you start using protection. The girls at this school get around even more than Mountys do, and you don’t want to catch something that makes your dick fall off.”
He smirks at me, and then leans in toward me. He smells amazing, and usually I’d secretly love feeling the heat from his torso against mine, but I’m just not in the mood for his shit today.
“That’s why she was sucking me off.”
I lean away from him and shoot him a glare. I don’t find his banter amusing. I don’t want to high-five him, except maybe slapping him would be cathartic. I decide to change tactics instead.
“Did you know there’s a price on me? Did you know that’s why I’m being stalked by guys at this shitty school?”
Harley’s smirk falters on his lips for a second, and then it’s as strong as ever.
“Everyone knows about it. They all know Joey staked his claim on you as well.”
Staked his claim, like I’m a slab of fucking meat. I feel the grips of that white-hot rage taking me again. Harley must see it too, because his face splits into a grin. “Like I said, Mounty, if you hit Joey I will take that memory to bed for the rest of my life.”
“Fuck hitting him,” I whisper back and Avery turns to glare at us both. It must kill her that I’m next to Harley in nearly all our classes. She can’t contain him or control him if she’s not right beside him.
The bell tolls. I shove my books away and pull out the required homework for the fall break. I enjoy the feeling of all of the students’ eyes on me as I hand it over to the teacher. She takes it with a shocked look, and then scans over the page.
“Well done, Miss Anderson. Enjoy your fall break.”
Harley is the only student who knows how far ahead I am, so he’s the only student not gaping at me when I arrive at every class for the day with all of the assignments already complete. Even Avery is hissing at me by the end. I’m smug as fuck, knowing they’ll all be at home with their families and slaving over classwork, and I’ll be running around Hannaford doing whatever the hell I want to do.
I refuse to go down to the dining hall for dinner. I don’t want to see Joey or be approached by any of his raucous group. I don’t know if he’s now lifted his ban and I’ll be propositioned in the halls again, so I settle into my bed and try to ignore the rumbling of my stomach. By tomorrow afternoon I’ll have the building to myself, and I’ll be able to eat all I want.
* * *
Fall break is the best week of my life so far.
I sleep in. I shower at odd times of the day. I eat whenever I feel even the slightest bit peckish. I watch movies on my phone and dance around my room in my underwear while listening to good music. I do whatever the hell I want, and I do it in my own time. I feel free.
I should know by now that nothing good in my life lasts.
I’m enjoying my last day of quiet in the sitting area when I hear my phone ping. I very rarely get texts, and there’s only one person with my contact details. My heart sinks as I pick it up and see Matteo’s text.
I’ve been asked to contact you about a job.
A job. That could mean anything from tailing someone’s girlfriend to killing an errant informant. Coming to Hannaford Prep has been an attempt to close the door on my old life in Mounts Bay and to starting a new, legitimate life. I had done things at Matteo’s command that I wanted to leave firmly in the past. The trouble was, Matteo had no intention of letting me go. I would always belong to him.
I’m not leaving Hannaford until summer break. The food is free and good. Sorry.
I chew on my lip for a minute, and then I dig out my emergency bottle of whiskey while I wait for his reply. I’d smuggled it in on the first day but hadn’t felt the need to drink it until now.
