I shrug. “It’s not like I pulled the rumor out of my ass, Avalon. I happened to spend a night at a hotel, and see his mother with a man that was not his father, and well, I’m not sure what happened there, but I let my imagination run free.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Grace laughs, then sits up. The pillow that was under her stomach is now on her lap, and she’s holding it tightly. “You’re telling me that instead of coming up with a rumor that his mother’s having an affair, you thought of sending into Sinners that–theeElena Ford has been unfaithful to Robert for the entirety of their marriage and the kids might not be his?”
I lift a shoulder. “Why not? I wanted to go all out.”
Grace leans in, thoroughly amused. “Why did you do it? Whatdid he do to provoke you? You don’t do it without a reason.”
“We were at a party, and he spiked my drink with laxatives.”
“Oh, then it was deserved.”
“No, it wasn’t!” Avalon groans. “You can’t let her get an even bigger head, Grace. Her ego’s the size of the academy as it is.”
“What?” Grace blinks, an innocent-looking smile on her face. “I’m just supporting my friend’s rights and wrongs. I’m all for this. Watch Soren and Sophia become this epic enemies-to-lovers story.”
That sentence alone makes me want to barf. A gag comes from the depths of my throat, making Lila giggle. Grace looks satisfied with herself, whereas Avalon just seems tired of us and our antics.
“Hell will freeze over before Sophia even thinks of something as stupid as that,” Avalon snorts.
“Thank you!” I lean back against the bed, still sitting on the floor and glancing from time to time at the laptop, just in case I receive an email. I’m waiting for a confirmation from the Dean.
In order to shorten the suspension sentence, my mom agreed for me to do two days of community service somewhere. He’s supposed to send me the email with all the details, and it’s been giving me anxiety to wait.
“Hey, so how about—”
Grace starts speaking, but is cut off by a ding. Her phone screen lights up, and then Avalon’s, Lila’s, and mine follow suit. The sound of receiving an email echoes in the room, and it can only mean one thing if all four of us have received it.
Sinners and Saints.
With a sigh, I pull the laptop onto my lap, quickly switching from the Soren scandal articles to the email tab, opening the pink icon. It’s the newsletter, and the first bit is mainly mocking Soren’s inability to handle the situation. However, the more I scroll, the lessamused I become.
Looks like Sloane has a soft spot for Ford after all. Is this a killing game, or just two people who like to experiment with knives? Either way, the rest of the semester is about to become very interesting.
The paragraph catches my attention, and there’s an image right below. My face pales, the smile drops from my face, and I’m frozen in place, my finger hovering over the keyboard.
It’s an image of Soren and me. It’s from the night he locked us in Colton’s office, and it was taken from the side. Soren’s hand is wrapped around my throat, and the knife makes it into the frame as our lips are pressed together.
It hasn’t been doctored from what I can tell — the way he’s holding my neck, the way our bodies are pressed together is all just how it happened. Yet, it was taken from a distance that no one can tell he was actually biting me, not kissing me.
But it looks like we’re kissing.
Immediately, my body starts shaking in anger. The motherfucker recorded the entire thing, and as revenge, he sent it to Sinners and Saints himself. The moment this reaches my parent’s ears, I’m fucking done for.
“You know what,” Avalon’s voice is filled with disbelief. “I take back what I just said.”
NINE
It feels like I’m doing the walk of shame.
Which is odd, given that I haven’t slept with anyone in my entire life.
Yet, the stares, and the whispers follow me wherever I go. The image of Soren and me allegedly kissing spread like wildfire. After I saw the article last night, I started receiving messages from classmates, and around midnight, even my brother called. The moment this reaches my father’s ears, Soren is as good as dead.
If my father is anything, it’s overly protective of his wife and daughter. I love him for it, but the backlash this could potentially have on his business is glaring at me.
“Relax,” Lila mutters from beside me, all while trying to look like an intimidating bull and scare away any prying eyes with a mere glare. “It’s not like anyone will outright ask about this.”
“No, but that’s almost as bad. I wish someone would just ask, and I could set the record straight.”
