by Josie Max
“It is a good plan, I’m not saying it isn’t, but I really can’t go there.”
She sighed, pulling me in for a hug. “How about we hang out in the parking lot? That’s usually where they have the kegs. Tons of people there, too.”
I nodded. “Okay, but only the parking lot.”
She pulled back from the embrace and pat my head. “That’s my good little criminal.”
SIXTEEN
Violet
“COME ON. PICK UP,” I said to myself.
I sat at the King’s marble countertop bar in their massive French country-style kitchen, picking at a granola bar half out of its wrapper.
My aunt’s voice came on, asking me to leave a message as she couldn’t get to her phone.
“Hi, Aunt Dahlia. It’s me again. Just wondering where you are. Haven’t heard from you in a few days and since it’s my birthday . . . I-I kind of wanted to hear your voice.”
I hadn’t been able to get a hold of my aunt for several days and I was starting to worry. That wasn’t like her to never get back to me.
“Birthday!” a sweet voice yelped from behind.
I ended the call and turned in the cream leather bar chair.
“Hi, Ava. How was school today?”
The mayor hadn’t been back since the pool house gang rape incident, and I was wondering if it scared him. Good. Once I figured out what was going on with Knight, I was going to turn my claws on the mayor.
She waved her hand at me. “Never mind about school. Let’s talk cake. What have you ordered and how many layers?”
I snorted as she shimmied over in her little brown uniform. She was adorable. I wanted to lift her up and squeeze her.
“I’m guessing you like cake.” I held out my hand, helping her up to the bar chair next to mine.
“Doesn’t everyone? My favorite is red velvet with that cream cheese frosting.” She clutched her heart and pretended she was about to faint.
The girl was too much.
Knight walked in the kitchen. His gaze flickered to my mouth. I sucked in a breath as the memory of yesterday in the locker room looped in my head.
He was across the room, but the hairs on my arm pricked as if his fingers were skating across my skin.
“Dopey! It’s Violet’s birthday. We need to have a party.”
His brow arched and he strolled over to lean against the counter, right next to me. Heat radiated off him so intently, I felt sweat bead on my brow.
“We should. We will pull out all the stops. Balloons, streamers, a pinata, and cake.”
“Don’t tell me you’re into cake, too?” I glanced up at him, trying not to stare at his mouth.
“What can I say . . .? I love to lick the icing.”
That caused my eyes to fall straight to his lips. How could I not? They were full, seductive, said dirty things, and knew how to make me scream. I may not trust the guy, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hot as fuck.
Ava’s clapping shook me out of my dirty thoughts and back to reality.
“Look, I don’t really make a big deal of my birthday . . ..” I put my hands up to stop their planning. “Usually, it was me and my aunt watching Disney movies and eating takeout. Nothing fancy.”
I felt a small hand grip my arm. “You don’t have cake on your birthday? That doesn’t make sense.”
She pursed her lips, and I could tell that cute, little brain of hers was trying to calculate how a person could technically have a birthday without cake.
“I don’t get it either, Ava. But you know what? She’s our guest. Maybe we should surprise her.” A devious twinkle lit Knight’s gaze.
I held up my hands. “I appreciate the gesture but really, I don’t want to make a big deal of it. Not to be a downer, but knowing my mom isn’t here to see me turn eighteen makes me just want to hang out in my bedroom. Alone.”
I hopped off the stool and waved at them. My mom usually forgot it was my birthday, that’s why I always hung out with Aunt Dahlia. But there was something about knowing she was gone and would never come back—instead of just out getting high—that felt like there was hole deep inside that would never be filled.
Last year was the first time she remembered. I twisted the key charm of the bracelet she gave me as a gift for my sixteenth birthday.
Once I got upstairs and opened the door to my room, I threw off my Green Hills Academy jacket and went straight into the attached bathroom. It seemed every bedroom had en-suite bathrooms.
The shower was longer than I usually took. My insides were at war. I didn’t trust Knight, but every time I was around him, I wanted him to kiss me exactly like he had in the locker room. I couldn’t forget the awful things he had said about me and to my face, but that didn’t stop his filthy words from exciting me down to my very core.
What made it even worse today was that most of my thoughts weren’t about him or the plan to break into the school basement on Saturday night. They were about my mom.
It devastated me she wasn’t here. Something felt unsettled whenever I thought about her. I kept remembering when they pulled her out of the pond.
And then it came to me today as Arabella dropped me off after school. I watched the fountain out front of the King’s house as I got out of the car and thought how much my mom hated fountains. Anything involving large amounts of water. She had a fear of drowning.
I wondered if it wasn’t paranoia but some type of sixth sense. Or maybe I just missed her.
I stepped out of the shower and wiped some of the condensation from the mirror. There were dark circles under my eyes.
Getting enough sleep this past week had been sporadic. All the crazy, dark shit I had experienced over the past five months felt like it was seeping into my body and tearing me down a little day by day.
I lifted my nose into the air and took a sniff. I smelled pizza.
Throwing on my old, worn jammies with little pink hearts, I opened the door. Once the steam cleared, I saw balloons. Lots of them. All were blue, green, and of course, purple.
I suspected Ava had a say in them.
“Surprise,” both Ava and Knight sprang out from the corner.
My hands flew over my heart and a huge grin broke out on my face.
“What on f— earth?” I almost said fuck but realized that wouldn’t be appropriate in front of Ava.
“It’s your surprise party. I know you said you wanted to be alone, but you need to be happy. As your overlord—”
I held up my wrist, showing off my bracelet.
“Almost overlord.” She rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. “It’s my duty to make sure you eat cake on your birthday and are happy.”
I got my bracelet back as I was tiring of her demanding that I clean up her room.
I scratched my head. “But that sounds like something a fairy godmother would do.”
She waved me off and sashayed like the diva she would grow up to be. “I think I know more about being an overlord then you do.”
“Let’s get on with the party. Okay, Ava?” Knight asked.
“Yes. That’s what I’ve been hoping to do, but she’s fighting me. If anything, blame her.” Ava stopped her pacing in front of Knight and pointed to me with her hip jutted out.
“Blame me for what?” I said, half laughing.
Knight shook his head. “Don’t get her started.”
Living in the same house with these two, I knew I would not be left alone. Might as well accept my fate.
“So, where’s the cake?” I strolled over to my bed and sat.
Ava held up a little bell and rang it. My bedroom door opened, and one servant rolled in a serving tray, like the kind they had in hotels.
He parked it in the middle of the room and left, but never closed the door. Then another tray rolled in a few moments later. It had two large pizza boxes and plates with silverware.
“We didn’t know what type of takeout you liked, so we decided on pizza.”
I nodded. “Smar
t choice. I don’t know of anyone who dislikes pizza.”
My eyes slid over to Knight, who was picking Ava up and swinging her around. They were laughing. I had never seen this side of Knight before. It surprised me he could be, well . . . nice. Sweet.
It was understandable that he would be that way to his sister. But then there’s me. Recently he hated me, and now he’s throwing me a surprise birthday party?
I wanted to question it. Ask him why he was doing all this. But I was tired of fighting. It felt like I had been fighting someone all my life. My mother, teachers, boyfriends, the mayor, and kids at school. Yeah, Knight was on that list too, but maybe I didn’t have to fight him anymore.
Perhaps he was just being nice because we got to know each other a bit. And when he saw me almost raped, something had changed in him in how he treated me.
If he could change, then maybe I could, too—or at least, just for today. It was my birthday, and damnit, I was going to enjoy it.
Knight pressed a button on the wall by my bed and the painting across the room slid down with a large screen television emerging in its place.
“I had no idea that was there.”
He turned to look over at me and smiled. “There are lots of things you don’t know about this place.”
The way he said it made me wonder . . . perhaps, I should keep fighting him.
SEVENTEEN
Violet
IT WAS DARK. THE SKY, glittering diamonds on a sea of black velvet.
I let out a breath and watched it cloud the air. It was too much like that awful night. I wanted to leave.
Arabella’s arm swung around my shoulder. “We aren’t near the pond. It’s a good five to ten-minute walk down the path to get to the pond. We’re safe here.”
Car lights flickered in my eyes as they found parking spots.
“I know you’re right, but my heart feels like it’s about to run for cover.”
Nothing looked familiar, but I guess I never spent a lot of time in the parking lot of Happy Pond back in April.
“All we’re going to do is walk around the parking lot a few times. Make sure some people see us, then it’s back into the car and we head to the safety of the Green Hills Academy basement.”
My eyes slid to hers. “That sounds so much better. A dark old basement at night. Yeah, I’m not scared at all.”
“Hey, we got each other’s back. If the ghost of the butler that died in the library with a candlestick comes after you, I’ll jump him.”
“That sounds an awful lot like the boardgame, Clue.” I laughed and shook my head. “You’re the most ridiculous person I’ve ever met.”
“Ridiculous and sexy.” She winked.
We strolled around the lot and went up to a few people to ask where the keg was located. One asked if we heard about Shawna Lenker’s dad disappearing. Arabella informed me she was a member of Seraphina’s bitch crew.
I felt bad for her. Even if she was a bitch and chose bitchy friends, I knew what it felt like to worry. To not know where your parents were.
We went and filled a cup. Neither of us were going to drink it because we wanted to be as sober as possible for our endeavor. But I was eying my drink, wondering if I might need some liquid courage.
“I called it, ladies. Total lesbians,” a shrill voice called from behind.
We turned to discover Seraphina and her bitch posse with one less bitch in tow. I guess Shawna took the night off.
“Wow, Seraphina, what a putdown.” Arabella stepped forward, waving her hands around. “Oh, wait. No, it’s not because it’s the twenty-first century.”
I covered my mouth with my hand, holding back my grin.
Seraphina narrowed her eyes at Arabella. “It doesn’t matter, everyone knows you’re a slut. Banging the lacrosse team.”
Arabella chuckled. “And? You act like that’s a bad thing. Oh, no. That can only mean one thing . . . you’ve never been fucked right. No wonder you’re such a bitch all the time.” Arabella frowned mockingly. “I’m sorry.”
One of the bitch crew members snorted but stopped when Seraphina’s head whipped around and glared at her.
“You two deserve each other. The slut and the trash heap,” Seraphina added before turning to leave.
“Now that was a fist-bump moment,” I said walking up to Arabella and tapping her fist.
“You inspired me, new girl. I figured if you could come to a new school after all that’s happened to you and stand up to Cruella de Bitchface, then I could, too.” She glanced off across the parking lot and narrowed her eyes.
“I think it’s been enough time here. Maybe we should head to our location.” I gave her an exaggerated wink.
“Hold that thought. I see something I need to take care of and then we can head out.” Arabella walked away before I had time to stop her.
One of the reasons I agreed to show up here was that she would be at my side the entire time. I was never the shy girl or had to cling to a friend at parties, but being back at the location where my mom died left me feeling rather jittery.
“Didn’t expect to find you here.” Knight’s voice came from behind me.
I turned to find him with his friends.
“I didn’t really want to come but Arabella . . .” I trailed off throwing my thumb over my shoulder.
“Knight, we’re heading down to the pond. You coming?” Briggs asked while checking his phone.
Caleb kept staring at my chest with a smile. He had never really been mean to me, but the way he was staring made me uneasy. I folded my arms and covered my chest.
“Oh, don’t cover it up. I thought you liked them hard.” He lifted his hand up to cup his mouth, as if he was whispering a secret to me. “It makes them easier to tug. Isn’t that what you like? The rough tit play.”
My eyes widened. I had been a little chilly since I got here, but now I was burning up.
“What the fuck?” I glared at Knight. “You’re an asshole.”
I pushed Knight as I plowed past him. I didn’t know where I was heading. All I wanted was to get as far away from Knight as possible.
Were all the boys here disgusting assholes? I guess teenage hormones and full bank accounts meant you could treat people like toys.
As I weaved through the cars, I headed toward the edge of the parking lot that led to the woods. I marched on the grass, ready to hide in the trees. Wondering if I should just build a tree house and live amongst the creatures, away from the cruel humans.
A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back. It was Knight. I tried to yank back but he his grip was tight.
“Violet, don’t run.”
“Why? You don’t like to have to work for your prey?”
“They’re my friends. Yes, I told them we fooled around.”
He loosened his grip. The light from the full moon glinted off his gray eyes and I sucked in air. I hated how my body instantly reacted to his.
He told his friends what we did, yet I was turned on just being close to him. There was something wrong with me.
“I can’t believe you did that.”
He folded his arms, making him appear bigger, stronger, like he could lift me with little effort. My core hummed at the thought.
“So, you didn’t tell Arabella? You’ve kept it a secret all week.”
I rolled my lips over my teeth. “I may have.”
“Then it’s the same thing.”
He had a point.
“Okay, I guess that was my bad. It’s how he said it that—”
“There’s one thing you should know about Caleb; he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. It really hasn’t helped him with hanging on to girls.”
That made sense.
“Okay. I have to get back. Arabella is going to be looking for me.”
“No, she won’t.”
My eyebrows rose and a chill ran down my spine. “And why is that?”
“Take a look.” He stepped aside and waved over to the far end of the parking
lot where she was flirting with the footballs team.
“But we had plans tonight,” I whispered.
And I really didn’t want to be here anymore.
Something warm covered my shoulders. It was Knight’s leather jacket.
“Thanks,” I said, pulling it tight around me.
“Why don’t I take you someplace to warm up?”
My clit had a brief spasm as he whispered into my ear.
“A quickie in your car for half the school to see, no thank you.”
“Not in a car.” He slid his hand into mine and drew me closer to the woods. Why was I feeling like I was living a Grimm Fairytale?
We took a few steps in the woods. It was dark enough we wouldn’t be seen, but the parking lot stayed in sight. Knight pushed me against a tree and then his body slammed into mine.
The leather protected my clothes from being torn up by the bark as he ground his hard cock into my thigh.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about your pussy.” He slid his fingers up my neck and into my hair, pulling my head back. “I bet it’s so wet right now.”
It was, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Not really.” I laughed, watching the annoyance flash in his eyes.
“You sure about that, Violet. I bet if I slid my fingers down your jeans and touched your cotton panties, they’d be soaked.”
My chest arched. I wanted what he was offering so badly but hearing the frustration in his voice made me even wetter.
“You think you’re some kind of sex god, but you aren’t.”
His lips curled. “Look at you trying so hard to torture me.” He bent his head, so his lips brushed my ear. “But we both know I’ll be the one torturing you.”
I pressed a finger to his chest and slid it down to the top of his jeans. “You’re right. I really don’t know what I’m doing.”
He grabbed my finger and pushed my hand over the bulge in his jeans. I wanted to see what he looked like. What he felt like.
This was so messed up. I thought my first time would be with a guy I loved and who loved me back.
