Nerves are my best friend these days. Two months ago another truth bomb was dropped on me.
Even knowing the truth I still feel sick thinking about how I used to pine over him. I would live for a scrap of his attention or a sly touch when he would pass me. I was the secret he kept so he wouldn’t lose my brother. Looking back now, I was a fucking idiot. I should have known then that he would never be true to his word and tell Masen that I meant something to him.
Kellan Kyle wanted me to be his dirty little secret.
He made me believe he was lost to reason and corrupted. He let his best friend see him as a cold heartless bastard. He let us all see him that way. That night at Xaden’s father’s house I burned so hot with hatred for him. Cas offered me freedom, only for Kellan to try and rip it away. I was prepared to take his life if it meant I never stepped foot in that hell again, the prison I was forced to spend a year of my life living in—Walter House.
I’ve been biding my time and trusting Kellan not to fuck me over. I wanted to say he was lying and trying to play a trick on me, but the truth in his words rang out like the thunder that was rumbling around us. What I’ve learned is that no one can be trusted. Everyone lies and uses whoever or whatever they have to in order to save themselves.
I changed the rules of the game and made my own plan. He may have wanted me to head back to Somerset and act like nothing happened but I refused. I’m not going back there until I have my army. Kellan tried to fight me on it but he had no sway over my decision. This is my game now and I’m going to play it better than any of them ever could.
Life is complicated enough without mixing in lies, yet that is all people seem to do. I’m a hypocrite. I point blame at everyone for lying yet I am holding the biggest secret of them all. Kellan is the only person who knows and the fact Xaden hasn’t come and slaughtered me, is the only reason I know he hasn’t ratted me out.
Every day here at Crestview Heights University I am viewed as an outcast, laughed at and whispered about behind my back. They know I amtheToren, the meme and the bitch who ruined lives in one single night. I don’t blame them. I’m the new girl. The one who keeps to herself but spies on those I need to get close to. The three girls I need to get close to are constantly guarded, there is never a time when they are on their own. I’m attending CHU as an exchange student for a couple of weeks. I shouldn’t be here but this is the only way I can level the playing field. I need to learn how to play this game in order to beat Xaden and my father.
Losing isn’t an option for me now.
I have more to lose than either of them. If power is what they crave, then I’ll show them that a woman's scorn is more powerful than any amount of money they can amass. I will be the victor of this war. I lost the battle because I was naivé. Never again will I allow them to rule me or use me.
Today is the day I make my move and nothing is going to deter me, shit back home is getting worse and I can’t keep hiding out here. If I have any chance of finishing this, I need to woman up and show these girls I mean business and won’t take no for an answer.
CHAPTER TWO
TOREN
It's the last period and I feel sick, my stomach twisting in knots, with the small amount I ate for lunch threatening to come up. I swallow it down and try to focus on anything aside from the nausea rolling through me as I approach the three of them. I know I have mere seconds before one of the guys who always tails them gets here, it’s the first chance I have had to get them alone.
As I approach, the blonde haired girl spots me. Her eyes are calculating but not malicious, she’s curious and that’s a good sign. The other two stop speaking and follow her line of sight. All three of them are fucking stunning. I know each of their names thanks to the files Kellan gave me when he dropped me here.
The blonde one is Tatum Lawson. She is nineteen and dating Alexander Denver—The Butcher. His name alone sends a fucking shiver down my spine. The man is infamous and someone I never want to meet. Her blue eyes are piercing. She may be young but you can see in her eyes that she has seen more horrors in her short time on earth than most. The jeans she wears sit low on her hips, the black crop tee shows off her belly button piercing. She looks effortlessly beautiful and I envy that.
I come to a stop beside them and Nova Quinlin smiles at me, her long raven hair is out and flows down her back like a curtain, her green eyes are warm and inviting. Out of the three of them she seems like the easiest to approach. I smirk when I read the inscription across her shirt,Hatchett’s Girl. She wears the shirt with pride, rather than allowing the shirt to be a form of ownership over her she rocks it and owns that Vox Hatchett is as much hers as she is his.
“Hey.” I look over at Vivian Tempest and smile, grateful she broke the awkwardness by speaking. I know she is the twin sister of Nova’s boyfriend. She wears her black hair up in a messy bun, except on her the look fucking hits and looks flawless. Her blue eyes are a shade darker than Tatum’s. Vivian looks kind and demure but I know from the information I have read on the three of them that they are just as ruthless as the males they share their beds with.
“Hi,” I respond.
The three of them smile but it’s forced. I know they are waiting for me to say more and explain why I have approached them, but I can’t think of anything to say. The longer we stand here in awkward silence I know I am wasting valuable time. I take a deep breath and remind myself that I need to do this, failure isn’t an option anymore.
“I know who the three of you are and I need help.” Instantly all three of their faces switch, gone are the kind inviting smiles, replaced by pure unfiltered malice. Tatum looks like she is seconds away from tearing me to shreds with her words. Vivian looks like she is ready for a fight but it’s Nova that holds my attention. She runs her gaze over me to assess if I am a threat or not. I hold still and allow her to drink in the sight of me in my faded jeans, oversized hoodie and the ball cap I wear to try to shield my face.
“And we know exactly who you are, Toren Kellar,” Nova says in a tone that borders on a warning.
I dart my tongue out to moisten my lips, then straighten my spine and look around to make sure the classroom is empty before I speak. “Yes, I am a Kellar, but I’m nothing like my father and brother,” I say firmly.
“What is it that you want from us?” Tatum pushes in a cold tone.
I take a deep breath and prepare myself. “I need you to allow me into Hollow Hills so I can beat my father and… my… the other guy.” I cringe, I couldn’t say his name. I don’t know why I feel a sense of loyalty to him when I shouldn’t. I should be telling everyone that he is the don of the Cosa Nostra instead of hiding the truth.
“The other guy?” Vivian pushes.
I sigh and yank the hat from my head. I allow them to see the struggle in my eyes and implore them without using the words to help me. “You say you know who I am, which means you have heard the version the world has conjured up about what happened to me over a year ago.”
“We know about the crash,” Tatum states.
“You were driving drunk,” Nova adds.
Anger flares inside me, I may know the truth and so do the others who were there that night at Xaden’s father’s house, but to the rest of the population I am still the bitch who got behind the wheel after too many drinks and killed four people.
