Broken: A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance (An Evergreen Academy Novel Book 2)

by Ruby Vincent

  We hugged and then she broke off for class. Kane fell in step beside me, and as we walked to homeroom, I thought about the Knights and Ryder. What had they decided? Did Ryder mean it when he said he would come and tell me everything? Had things changed between us?

  How could it not after going through something like that and sharing the things you had? I don’t know what happens from here, but it can’t go back to the way it was.

  They were all there when I walked into homeroom. I met all of their eyes, but they were impossible to read. I made the effort of reading from my Chem book, but the letters blurred on the page after five minutes. I couldn’t focus.

  Homeroom let out after thirty long minutes, and I swung by my locker for my notebook.

  “Morning, baby.”

  “Jaxson?” I wrenched my head out as he sidled up next to me. “What’s going on? When are we going to talk?”

  “Easy.” He spared a glance around and landed on Kane. “Can you tell your boy to back up a few steps?”

  I did and Kane moved out of earshot.

  “We’re meeting up tonight,” Jaxson said under his breath. “At the cliffs. Nine o’clock. Ezra will pick you up so make sure you shake the guard loose by then.”

  “Alright. Nine o’clock.”

  He sauntered off—looking every bit the carefree Jaxson and I envied him. I didn’t know how to act now that I knew what Scarlett was. I couldn’t have been more thankful that I never had to take her class again.

  My mind was in such a fog, I heard about it from Ciara.

  “What are you doing? You’re measuring everything out wrong.”

  “Sorry.” I put the beaker down. “Maybe you should do this part.”

  “You said you weren’t going to mess with my grade.”

  “I’m not. That will mess up my grade too.”

  We fell quiet as I cleaned out the beaker and redid the measurements.

  “Val?”

  “It’s two point six ounces.”

  “Val, why are you here?”

  “What?” I squinted at her through the googles.

  “Why stay here after everything—”

  I cut her off with a groan. “I swear if one more person asks me that. I’m here because I gave up a lot to be. I’ve earned my place here, more than the assholes who tried to drive me out, so I’m not leaving until I get my diploma. Does that answer your question?”

  Ciara looked blown away by my reply. I wasn’t intending for it to come out as forcefully as it did, but I had been having an intense... life.

  “Yes, sorry.”

  We fell silent again and went back to our work.

  I PACED UP AND DOWN the floor of my front hall that night. Every five seconds I looked at my phone to check the time.

  It’s 9:01. Where is he?

  No sooner had I finished the thought that there was a knock at the door. I pulled it open on Ezra.

  “You ready?”

  “I am.” I stepped out and he turned to go without pausing for chitchat. I locked up and hurried to catch up to him. “You’re pissed at me.”

  “You have the whole school thinking I beat you,” he answered without slowing his stride. “Pissed is putting it lightly.”

  “Does the school think that? Last I checked, everyone is happy to believe I did it to myself.”

  Ezra’s eyes were even darker at night. He narrowed them at me, and the white disappeared until I was looking through an endless abyss. “My mom doesn’t believe it. She sent me to anger management over the break. You need to tell her the truth.”

  “I could do that. I would do that. If I thought you were sorry.”

  “Sorry? Sorry for what?”

  “If you have to ask that, then we have no more to talk about.”

  “Moon—”

  “I’m done, Ezra.”

  No more words passed between us as we stepped into the woods. Ezra had a flashlight to show our way, but he stepped with such assurance, I figured he could do without the light. I hadn’t gotten many invitations to the cliffs since I was marked, and the one I did get was a disaster.

  A niggle of fear curdled in my stomach. What if this was another cruel trick?

  A glow broke through the tree line and soon we were stepping out into the clearing. Jaxson, Ryder, and Maverick looked up from their spots around the fire when we appeared. Somehow they had gotten chairs out here, and there was a fifth one for me.

  Ezra sat down next to Maverick which left me between Ryder and Jaxson. I spoke up the minute my butt hit the seat. “What’s your plan to take down Scarlett?”

  The boys shared a look.

  “What? You said you would tell me?” I made to get up. “If this is a trick—”

  Ryder grabbed my hand and pulled me back down. “We’ll tell you, but there’s something we want to know first.”

  I scanned their faces. “What is it?”

  “The stuff you did this year... how did you pull it off?”

  “Why is that important?”

  Maverick leaned forward. “We don’t have a right to ask, but we need you to trust us. How did you do it?”

  I stared at him for a long time, but he held my gaze, not looking away. They didn’t have a right to ask me to trust them, but...

  Jaxson saved your life and Ryder shared his assault with you. They may have bought an ounce of faith.

  Only an ounce.

  “Okay,” I began. “I hired a hacker to get in Jaxson’s phone.”

  “The same one who infected my computer?” asked Maverick.

  “Yep.”

  “That means they’re good,” Ezra murmured.

  Ryder piped up. “What about the Evergreen Gone Wild video?”

  “Button cam. Always recording and saving straight to my phone.”

  “Smart,” said Maverick.

  “I thought so.”

  “And are you done now?” My attention was drawn to Ryder. The fire flicked in his eyes in a way and it was impossible to look away. “Have you gotten your revenge against everyone?”

  “Not everyone. There are still a few people on my list.”

  “Who?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because we’ll take care of them for you... if you take down Scarlett.”

  I blinked at him. I couldn’t have heard that right. “Take care of them for me?”

  “Whatever you were planning, we’ll take it on—the risk, the blame, the consequences. We can handle it.”

  “But what we can’t do,” Jaxson continued, “is get near Scarlett without her thinking something is up. Ryder has already tried to attack her; she won’t take chances with us.”

  Maverick picked up the thread. “She won’t be the same with you. She thinks you trust her. You hang out in her classroom all the time. Scarlett won’t think twice about you walking in there alone.”

  I nodded along. All of this made sense, except for one. “Why do you think you have to carry out my revenge to convince me?”

  “Because we won’t be able to protect you,” Ryder said, “and this woman most likely tried to kill you twice.”

  I bit my lip. That was a good point.

  “We have a plan, and we’ll tell you all of it right now. Just let us know if we have a deal.”

  I didn’t let them rush me. I took my time thinking about it, and kept coming up with one thing. They were offering to help me take out everyone on my list. How could I say no? “I’ll agree on one condition,” I announced. “You tell me why this is so important to you?”

  Ryder frowned. “Val, you know why.”

  “Not you, Ryder.” I swept over the other three faces. “Why are you guys doing this?”

  Ryder rose out of his seat. “You don’t have to—”

  “Because it wasn’t just Ryder.” His soft reply was almost lost in the sound of the crackling fire. Ezra looked at me, and for the first time, I understood what was in his eyes. “She molested me too.”

  “And me,” came from
Maverick.

  Jaxson didn’t say it. He just held up a hand.

  The familiar tightness stirred in my chest. It was hard to breathe, but this time it wasn’t for me.

  “Alright. I’ll do it.”

  “UM... VAL?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is weird, right?”

  I looked at the four boys casually taking up the available spaces in my room. Maverick crouched on the floor, searching through my secret suitcase. Ryder and Ezra were at my desk, and Jaxson had boldly hopped on my bed with the notebook I had been using for my plans.

  “Yes,” I replied. “This is definitely weird.”

  “I need to talk to you.” Sofia grabbed my arm and hauled me off. She shut the bathroom door on the bizarro world outside. “What is going on? Why are they here?”

  After what she just walked in on, there was no way I could get away with not explaining, but I had no clue where to begin.

  “So Ryder and I—”

  Got into it on the roof and I was almost sent plunging to my death.

  “—talked,” I finished. “We talked and got everything out. The war between us is over.”

  She goggled at me. “Val, are you serious? But what about the things he’s done to you. Not only when you were marked, but before you came here. How could you put that aside?”

  “It’s hard to explain, but we... understand each other more now.”

  She looked back toward the door. “Why are they here?”

  “We made a deal.” I placed my hands on the countertop and hopped up. “They are going to help me get back at Isabella and Natalie if I help them take down the Spades.”

  “Hold on. They want to take down the Spades? Why?”

  I pushed down the surge of rage that followed the thought of Scarlett. “They don’t like them any more than we do.”

  Sofia held out her hands and I took them immediately. “What if they’re playing you again?”

  I thought of us sitting around the dying fire while the boys told me something they had never shared with anyone but each other. “I still don’t fully trust them, but this time I know they aren’t lying. This isn’t a trick.”

  “Okay.” She squeezed my fingers. “I trust you so if you say they’re for real; I’ll go along with it.”

  “Thank you.”

  Maverick looked up when we came out of the bathroom. My tiny button cam was nestled in his palm. “Valentina, was your hacker able to get into the school’s network?”

  I shook my head. “You should be proud of your dad. He’s too good.”

  “So good I can’t get in either and I learned from him. He...” Maverick trailed off as he reached in and pulled something out of the suitcase. My eyes bugged at the green metal piece between his fingertips.

  “I don’t know how that got in there.” I darted across the room and plucked it from his hand. It went sailing over my shoulder. “So what were you saying about the network?”

  “It doesn’t matter now.” I wish I could tell what was going on in Maverick’s head, but he was even harder to read than Ezra. “We’ll figure out the rest later.”

  “First,” said Jaxson. He tossed the notebook to the side. “Natalie Bard.”

  Suddenly all the boys were packing up my things and getting ready to leave.

  “What are you going to do to her?” I asked them.

  Ezra held up one of my secret phones. “Exactly what you would have done: total and complete emotional annihilation.” There was an edge to his voice. He and I may have understood each other, but he wasn’t close to forgiving me for coming between him and his mother.

  “And my phone is going to help you do that?”

  He slipped it into his pocket without replying.

  “Are you going to the chess tournament?” My eyes slid off Ezra’s face to Ryder. It was amazing how perfectly he had put together his mask. The raw, naked pain of the guy I met in his bedroom was gone; the Ryder Shea I knew was back... with a few exceptions.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Then make sure you get a front row seat.”

  “You’re going to get her then? But those tournaments are locked down tight, and thanks to the headmaster, it’s even worse.” I glanced at Sofia. “We haven’t been able to see a way around it.”

  “There’s a way.” Ryder jerked his head and the guys headed for the door. “Just be there.”

  They blew out of my room in a haze of expensive cologne.

  Sofia shook her head. “Yep. This is weird.”

  I WAS COUNTING THE days until the tournament, but with my own stuff going on I couldn’t obsess about Natalie or the Knights too much.

  I landed on the mat with a smack that made Yvette hiss.

  “You okay, Valentina?”

  Groaning, I forced myself to my feet and shook it off. “Yes. I put a little too much jump in that flip and knocked myself off balance.”

  “Well, if you know what you did wrong try again and do it right this time.”

  I nodded and Yvette started my music again. At my cue, I threw myself into the routine. With the 104 Hot FM Solo competition coming up, Yvette and I had been practicing after regular club meetings.

  I ran it through perfectly and couldn’t help but smile when the music stopped. Yvette was smiling too.

  “Nicely done, Valentina. You’re set to win this thing.”

  I laughed breathlessly. “You say that, but you’re still going to make me do it two more times.”

  “Three actually.” Yvette grabbed my water bottle off the bench and tossed it to me. “Five-minute break then we’ll go again.”

  I plopped down on the mat in blessed relief. Yvette was a great coach, but she did not mess around. She was infected with the Evergreen Academy need to be the best and she was expecting me or Isabella to win this competition—and that winner will be me.

  “Val?” Yvette strode over to me and sat on the mat. “I’ve talked to Isabella about this and now I’d like to know your opinion.”

  I lowered the bottle. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. It’s nothing bad. It’s that usually we only open it up for students to join us and watch us compete when we have big team competitions like nationals or regionals. We missed our chance for that, but the headmaster offered to let the school support us for the 104 Hot FM contest. Students who choose will ride the bus with us to Martindale and watch you and Isabella perform... unless you don’t want that.” She gave me a surprisingly sad smile. “I know you’ve had a hard time, and if the students will be more of a distraction than a support, I will tell him it’s not happening.”

  I took my time thinking about it. The only time I didn’t feel marked was when I was dancing. When I was in that place where the music and my body connected and the darkness couldn’t touch me. I didn’t want the Evergreen kids to take that away.

  “It’s okay,” I finally said. “They can come. I’m strong. I won’t break. It’s taken me too long to realize that.”

  The smile morphed into one that didn’t make me want to cry. “You are strong, Valentina.”

  Bang!

  I looked toward the door as Isabella marched inside. She planted herself in front of us with narrowed eyes lasered on me. “Why is she here? Mother was supposed to call you about the new practice schedule.”

  “And as I told your mother,” Yvette said as she got to her feet. “I cannot block every afternoon to practice with you alone. Valentina is also in the competition.”

  She frowned. “But I can only work with Vibes on the weekends and we have to make sure my routine is perfect. I thought we wanted to win this thing.”

  “You both have an excellent chance of winning this contest and we will make sure of it at practice twice a week. That will be more than enough time to prepare.”

  Isabella did not look mollified. She put her hands on her lithe hips and I took that as my cue to get up and grab my towel. When she hopped on the complain train, she didn’t stop anytime soon. Something I learned fro
m enduring being on the team with her.

  “This wouldn’t happen in a ballet production,” I heard her say. “Principals are given the time and attention they need to prepare. I’ll be auditioning for Victoria in The Red Shoes and when I get the part, my instructors will—”

  “—do what is necessary to prepare you for the role,” Yvette finished. “Just like they should and just like I will. You need to trust me, Isabella, but more than that, you need to remember this is not ballet.”

  I peeked at them around my towel, eyes wide.

  “You’re on my team. These are my rules.” She leveled a finger at the door. “Now, leave. This is Valentina’s practice time.”

  She didn’t go quietly, but eventually Isabella stomped out and Yvette turned her stern expression on me.

  “Alright. Three more times, Valentina. Get to it.”

  I hid a smile. “Yes, coach.”

  YVETTE WENT TO BATTLE for me, but by the end of the school week I knew I was ready. I wasn’t going to leave that competition with anything other than first place.

  I polished off my turkey, avocado, and goat cheese panini and stood with the rest of my class when the bell rang. Third period had been canceled for us to watch Natalie Bard compete for her title as chess grandmaster.

  Sofia caught my eye as we shuffled to the competition room. I read her unease like a tattoo on her face. I had no clue what the knights were going to do to Natalie and that didn’t sit right with her. Sofia wanted them to stick to our rules, but Ryder hadn’t responded when she cornered him about it. We both knew how ruthless they could be.

  I stepped through the double doors and our eyes found each other instantly. Ryder stood just before the stage. Above his head, Natalie schmoozed with a bunch of people I didn’t recognize.

  Ryder looked from me to the seats in front of him. I got the hint. He wanted me front row and center.

  I made my way over there and Sofia fell in beside me.

  “I don’t like this,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. “Those boys are demons. Beautiful, sexy, evil, rip-your-heart-out-and-drink-the-blood demons.”

  “True, but Natalie is the same. The girl tripped me on the track and took half the skin on my back off.”