“But everyone hates me.” I swallow, deciding not to voice how that’s all Everest’s fault. Since the moment he saw me the other day, he’s treated me like an outcast, and Everest sets the trends. His enemies become everyone else’s. The Dean isn’t fazed by my omission.
“We can work on your reputation. This development is going to be highly publicized. There will be a big reveal, marketing, campaigns, public appearances. We need to build on both yours and the team’s brand, and Everest’s parents have assured me he will be nothing but encouraging with that.”
A string of humorless laughter bubbles from my throat. She can’t be serious. Everest wouldn’t help me, never minddefendme, if his life depended on it.
The man in question is rigid, still leaning on his thighs, still staring into space. I glare at him now, daring him to say something. To decline, to complain, to kick up a fuss. To dosomething, but whatever fire blazes in his eyes when we’re arguing is a distant memory now. He just accepts what’s being said with quiet resignation. But not me, no thank you.
This time, I do stand. “I appreciate what you’re saying, Dean Colt, and I’m sorry to be the person who ruins it for everyone, but I’m in no position to be leading anyone right now. I have a lot I need to deal with, which doesn’t include pretending to be part of some power duo for campus morale.”
I cast a sideways glance at Everest before taking my leave. This has gone on long enough. They will find someone else, and Claire will no doubt jump at the chance to co-captain with Everest. A streak of pride zaps through me before I’ve even reached the door. It’s about time I started being honest with myself. I need time to heal, I need time to?—
“Both Megan and I would be honored to bring glory back to Hollowbrook and the lacrosse team.” Everest says from behind me. My hand is hovering over the handle, my forehead almost colliding with the door. “We will captain the team and partake in any and all publicity that is required by us.”
I turn, my mouth wide open. That simmering rage Everest evokes so easily in me ripples beneath my skin. The Dean hitches her brow, unconvinced by Everest’s bold statements.
“And what about Meg’s admission of not being fit to lead?” she asks my nemesis. My head shifts as I switch my gaze from the Dean to Everest and back. Am I still in the room, or have I turned invisible? Should I smash a vase over my head and see if either of them even notice?
Everest rolls his neck and pushes to his feet, his stance strong and proud. “I will vouch for Megan’s recovery.” A small scoff escapes my throat. Forget the vase, I’ll just launch myself ontothe sharp end of a fire poker and be done with this volatile life I lead.
Dean Colt decides she’s satisfied with Everest’s claim, sealing my fate with a simple ‘very well’, and we’re both instantly dismissed. I’m in the hallway, a hand banded around my upper arm before my brain has caught up with itself. Blinking up at Everest, I find myself in a similar position to the neighbor I nearly knocked down the stairs, except that curiosity is the last thing on my mind.
“You’ll vouch for me. Are you freaking serious?!” I rip my arm from Everest’s hold and swing for him. He anticipates my reaction, knocking my wrist aside mid-air and crowding me against the nearest wall. The one right next to the Dean’s office door, evidently.
Everest’s forearm slams the wall beside my head, palm flat against the plasterboard, not quite touching me but so close I can feel the residual heat from his skin as it radiates through the space between us. His body follows the motion, looming in close enough to swallow the oxygen between us like he’s entitled to it.
“From where I’m standing, there is no one else around here willing to give you a chance at redemption,” he growls with irritating confidence, the kind that makes it sound like he thinks he’s doing me a favor. “You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?!” I choke on my laughter. “It’s your fault everyone is treating me this way! Do you know that I didn’t even make it into class this morning? So many people stopped me to ask why I put their precious Everest in danger, or to accuse me of starting that fire myself for attention. I had enough when Cynthia Farndonspaton me, and went straight back to my room.”
The air thickens, charging with electricity that prickles my temples. I can practically taste the static dancing across the tip of my tongue as I inhale sharply through my nose and clenchmy fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms. I didn’t mean to blurt all of that to Everest freaking Calloway. I should have confided in Thiago earlier instead, but I didn’t want him to think less of me. He believes me to be so tough. Not Everest though. He’s a wrecking ball that smashes straight into my psyche every time we have an interaction.
“Why couldn’t you just let me fade into the background?” I whisper harshly, the words slicing like razors between us. Everest doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t even blink. Instead, he lowers his head slightly, close enough for his breath to ghost over my cheek.
“You don’t belong in the background, and you don’t get to disappear a second time.” I suck in harshly, the air sticking in my lungs like jagged shards of glass. My head swims with the to and fro, making me dizzy with a mix of piqued interest and fury.
Everest is a viper, always poised to hunt for weakness. Every word he says is a calculated strike, meant to wound. He lures people in with crumbs of compliments that they’re expected to collect like miniature trophies, then he attacks. Using insults as weapons, targeting the self-esteem of others in an attempt to make himself seem better. Popular. Whatever students our age usually care about.
I wish I could say I was above his tactics, but Everest can detect my touchy subjects as if they’re posted above my head. Even though it wasn’t by choice, I left Hollowbrook without notice before, and now he’s forcing me to live in it. To face it, day after day, where he’ll be reminding me how insignificant I am. He won’t let me escape again.
“I hate you,” I narrow my eyes, seething beneath the surface. It’s a wonder why I haven’t shoved him out of my personal space yet. A soft chuckle strokes my ear, a stalemate taking place in the hallway.
“I know,” Everest agrees, and something in his admission seems all too pleased about that. He wants my hatred. Thrives on it. This little game we’re playing, tiptoeing on the dangerous verge of flirty rivalry is more than likely what gets Everest out of bed in the morning.
He shifts even closer, still not touching, but every inch of him saturates the air around me like smoke. Coiling, intoxicating. Heat seeps from his body, a fresh mineral scent from a recent shower filling my senses. His green eyes flick down to my lips, something dark glinting behind his small smirk, like he knows exactly what he’s doing, and worse, that it’s working.
“Hell no,” I curse. Finally coming to my senses, I shove Everest’s chest, and he takes a willing step back, laughing under his breath like he’s indulging me. “We’re not doing this.”
Everest tilts his head, and that infuriating grin deepens. “What is this, exactly?” His tone is one of pure mockery, a lazy drawl that oozes too easily from his slanted mouth. My jaw clenches. He’s toying with me, tricking me into a situation I don’t want to be in. Rage is easy. It’s becoming second nature, but this is far more complicated.
“You don’t get to invade my personal space whenever you feel like it,” I hiss, but it doesn’t land the way I need it to. Not when I’m half a breath away from panting. It takes all of my control to stop my chest from rising too fast.
Everest leans forward, his hands slipping into the pockets of his leather jacket. Tilting his head, that familiar sarcasm I’m used to comes out to play. “I don’t need to come near you Faker,” he says softly. “I already know how soft those lips are.”
My breath catches. My cheeks burn so hot I could set fire to the damn hallway. His expression flickers into something hungrier and far darker, like he’s feeding off the tension snapping between us.
“You promised,” I grit out through my teeth. I know it’s foolish of me to think Everest would respect this one boundary we’ve skated around for years, but aside from calling me Faker, it is the first time he’s broken the truce we made. It was a mistake. A stupid, drunken mistake that began our rivalry, and it’s been long since buried beneath layers of animosity.
“Maybe I’ve changed my mind,” he shrugs, eyes never leaving mine. The wall’s still cold behind me, and the absence of his body heat is almost enough to make me shiver, but I force myself to lift my chin and straighten my spine. This is a challenge I can’t and won’t back down from. Slowly licking his lips, Everest toys with his tongue between his teeth, seeming to choose his next words carefully.
