Sterling Prep is exactly as I’m expecting it to be—full of self-righteous, privileged assholes. I turn up to my math class late, thanks to Principal Vager and his long-winded way of laying down the law to the three of us. Does he really expect us to follow any rule he puts in place? Rules are basically challenges to guys like us. Tell us no and we only work harder to prove some motherfucker wrong.
The teacher is expecting me and immediately directs me to my seat before continuing with whatever the fuck he’s explaining to the class. I don’t think he realizes that from the second I entered, all attention left him in favor of following my every move across the room.
As I make my way to the back, the whispered gossip starts to fill my ears.
Did you hear that he’s killed someone?
Shot between the eyes.
He dragged his brothers with him into a gang.
He killed his own mother.
The rumor mill is already getting out of hand, although the worse it gets only works to my advantage, making people even more terrified of me. Something I’m more than happy with, especially if it means they keep their distance. I have zero intention of befriending any of these assholes. I just need to do my time and get out as soon as possible. Prison would have been fucking easier than this shithole.
Falling down onto my seat, I don’t get a chance to pull anything from my bag, even if I had any intention of doing so, because someone slides over to me.
“You must be Ace Jagger. I’ve heard so much about you,” a blonde wrapped in a cheer uniform almost purrs as she all but forces herself onto my lap.
I stare at her in disbelief as she openly checks me out and thrusts her tits in my face. “I’m sorry, can I help you with something?” I grunt, lifting her from my lap and depositing her back on her feet.
“I just wanted to introduce myself I’m M—”
“Not interested.”
She looks me up and down. I think she’s expecting me to tell her that I’m joking.
I’m really fucking not.
A preppy, wannabe cheerleader really isn’t my type.
After dismissing her, she skulks back to her seat, but at no point do I lose her attention, nor do the rumors about me cease. By the time the teacher dismisses us, I’ve just about had my fill of bullshit, so the last thing I need is to hear some more fucking lies about me and my brothers.
I heard he had a gun on Friday night. He was going to kill Bexley.
I wait until we’re out of the room before grabbing the gossiping motherfucker by the collar and pinning him up against the wall. A few gasps sound out from the students around us, but no one dares to do anything to stop me.
“You want to say that to my face?” I ask as the guy pales and trembles beneath my hold.
“I-I’m sorry, man. It was just what I heard,” he whimpers like a little pussy.
I lean forward, getting right in his face. My breath races over his skin, and his eyes fill with tears.
“So you weren’t there?” I ask. My voice is calm, cold. Exactly as I like it. It unnerves my victims, and I like surprising them when they least expect it. It’s the best part of something like this.
“N-No. M-My friend said…”
“Your friend’s a bullshitter.”
“O-okay.”
As I tighten my hold on him, his eyes widen in fear. “Think about this the next time you open your mouth.” I throw him to the ground, and he goes down like a sack of shit.
Standing over his body as he tries to scramble away, a smirk pulls at my lips. “If you want to know the truth, I had a knife, not a gun. And unless you want to be on the other end of it next time, I strongly advise you stay the fuck out of my way.”
He visibly shakes as I step away and in the direction of the nearest doors. Digging the spare key for my brothers’ car from my pocket, I cross the parking lot and jump inside. I want to leave. The temptation is strong, but I can’t. Not yet.
I pull a blunt from the glove compartment and light up. The tension starts to leave me almost instantly, and I sink back into the seat with the memory of her shocked eyes staring at me from a distance earlier.
My thoughts turn to home, but as much as I might want to be back there, I know this place can offer Cole and Conner so much more. Cole has a real chance at a football career if he gets a starting position with the Seahawks. He’s good enough, and if James has pulled some strings like he says he has then he should have a solid chance.
Conner has never said much about his future. I think, like me, he never even considered anything outside of our circles in the Heights. We were born into that world. It was an unspoken rule that we’d just continue with that life. He’s clever though, more so than Cole and I, and I know he has a bright future ahead of him if he can just make it through this year without fucking it up.
By the time I’ve smoked my blunt, the second class of the day has long started. But I figure there’s no time like the present to meet my next teacher, and am I glad I do when I find none other than Remi sitting quietly in the center of the room.
I may not have made it the entire way through AP English, but I learned enough to know that I’m getting to her.
It was obvious I was affecting her when I pinned her up against the wall in her bedroom on Saturday morning, but from the second she reluctantly glanced at me, I watched her eyes darken with interest.
It seems Miss Tanner is going to make my life easy for me. Give it a few more days and she’ll be begging for me to break her.
After marching out of that fucking place, I spend the rest of the day riding around town and ignoring texts from Donny. He wants me to check in, and I just want some fucking space, a chance to catch my breath after the last few days.
I’ve got nowhere to go. The idea of sitting back in a classroom listening to my dear new classmates gossiping about me doesn’t really fill me with joy, and I can’t go home. I’ve no doubt my absence has already been reported, and James is once again on the warpath.
What the fuck is he really going to do about it? Send us back where we came from? I doubt it. He clearly wants us here for a reason. And I’m going to find out. Starting with getting to his precious Remi.
I don’t have any intentions of accepting the invitation from the annoying bitch who was giving Remi hell in English earlier, but a couple of hours after school is finished for the day, I find myself pulling up to a seafront parking lot.
There are Sterling Prep kids everywhere. They might be out of uniform now, but I can spot their arrogance a mile off. Climbing from my bike, I head over to the row of storefronts looking out over the sea, just on the off chance that she might be here. After the way the girl was talking to her, I doubt Remi accepted her invitation either.
To my surprise, as I walk toward the surf shack the first person I spot at the window seat is her. She stares down at her still full plate with her shoulders sagged in defeat and ignoring everyone around her. Her discomfort is palpable. I glance at the others around the table. There’s an older couple but the woman isn’t Sarah, two younger kids, and then my eyes land on someone familiar.
Her.
And she’s still wearing the fucking cheer kit. She laughs at the man sitting opposite her, all the while playing with the children who are giggling beside her. Everything about her is the polar opposite to Remi.
I look away before I’m caught staring and give her the wrong idea. If I wanted her then I could have had her this morning. But my eyes soon find their way back to Remi, trying to figure out why she’s so fucking miserable while everyone around her laughs and jokes.
It’s as if she can feel my stare, because not five seconds later, she looks up. Our eyes connect for the briefest moment, long enough for me to register the shock in hers, before she looks back down again.
I take that as my cue and fuck off, but I very quickly decide this isn’t going to be the last time I see her today.
Instead of going back to my uncle’s, I take the short journey to the house by the beach that Remi shares with her Mom. There aren’t any lights on when I pass, so after parking a little down the street in the hope I’m not spotted, I walk back toward the modest house. Its size is nothing in comparison to James’, and it makes me wonder how Sarah can afford for her to attend Sterling Prep.
I don’t bother with the front door, it’ll only cause suspicion if any of the neighbors see, so instead I go straight to the back. The door is locked, but when I stand back and try to figure out how to get inside, I find an open window with a trellis leading up to it. I’m pretty sure it’s her bedroom window, too.
I smile to myself. It’s almost like she’s giving me an open invitation.
After giving my makeshift ladder a tug to ensure I’m not going to go crashing back to the ground halfway up, I start to climb. I’m proved right when I poke my head around the frame and find her purple bedroom inside.
Bingo.
Making quick work of throwing my leg over the ledge, I let myself in. Her scent assaults me immediately, and my mouth waters with my need to know if she tastes quite as sweet.
I look around her space, much like I did the other day. She’s got a couple of photographs of her and Sarah at the beach. There’s one of another girl, both of them in their Sterling Prep uniforms. I make note of her face, just in case I can make use of her at some point. She obviously means something to Remi for her to frame the photograph. I find no evidence of any of the people she was with tonight. Clearly none of them are important in her life.
I flick through her school books that are sitting on the side. Noticing that we share more than just AP English, I pull my cell out and take a few photographs of the shit I missed today. Getting bored, I pull a few of her drawers open and rifle through her belongings like the fucking creep that I am, but aside from her panties, I don’t find anything of any excitement.
It must be almost an hour later when the front door slams shut and footsteps thunder up the stairs. I push myself to the edge of her bed and wait to see if it’s her or Sarah. I really fucking hope it’s the former.
My heart begins to race as the steps get closer. Time seems to slow to almost a stop as I stare at the door, willing her to walk through. I’m desperate to hear her shriek of surprise once again. To see the widening of her eyes and the fear that creeps into them.
Fuck.
I need to watch as her chest heaves when I’m too close to her.
She’s too fucking tempting for her own good.
Just like I was hoping for, the handle twists and the door pushes open before she emerges. I’m given a few seconds to take her in, as she doesn’t notice me immediately.
Slamming the door behind her, Remi falls back against it. Her hands come up to cover her face as a sob erupts from her throat.
I stand, fighting my need to announce my presence, but her bed betrays me and squeaks when I shift. Her hands fly from her face, her eyes red-rimmed, full of tears and utterly terrified as she screams bloody murder.
“Whoa,” I cry, racing over and pressing my palm down over her lips to stop her alerting anyone who could be within earshot.
Her eyes remain wide, but her body relaxes slightly when she registers that it’s me.
Interesting. Who else did she think it would be?
Tears continue to stream from her eyes and splash onto my hand. I watch as they drop, too intrigued to know what, or who, put them there.
Something crackles between us as we stare at each other, but at no point do I attempt to remove my hand.
That is until her lips part and she sinks her teeth into my middle finger.
“Fucking bitch,” I grunt, pulling it away and inspecting the damage.
“Get the hell out.” Her voice is weak, and I’ve no idea if that’s because she’s too emotionally exhausted to deal with me or because she doesn’t really mean it.
Either works in my favor right now.
“Why are you crying?
“None of your business.” She pushes from the door and puts some space between us. She can try all she likes, but her room isn’t all that big, so she’ll have a hard job escaping me. Especially when I know I can get to the door before her.
“Who were you having dinner with?”
“None of your goddamn business. You need to leave. If Mom finds you here, she’ll—”
“She’ll what? Tell me exactly what you think she’s capable of.” I take a step toward her and she takes one back, only she doesn’t get very far because she’s backed herself into a corner. Perfect.
“W-what do you want?”
“I thought I made it clear earlier.”
She swallows and draws my eyes down to her long, slender neck. I bite down on my bottom lip as I close the final bit of space between us.
I stalk towards her and place my palms against the wall on either side of her head, caging her in.
“The only thing you made clear was that you don’t give a shit about anything. That stunt you pulled didn’t impress anyone.”
“That wasn’t a stunt, Princess. I don’t set out to impress anyone. Like me, hate me, I really don’t give a shit.”
“That’s a shame, because I really fucking hate you.”
