by Ruby Vincent
“Hello, everyone, and welcome to 104 Hot FM’s hip-hop contest.” Cheers went up all around me. “We’ve got some great dancers showing their stuff today. We’re going to kick things off in a few minutes, but first, I want to introduce you to our judges.”
I tuned her out as she rattled off the names of the five people sitting off to the side. I can do this. I can win this. I will win this. I have to. Isabella is going to find out what it’s like to be a loser today.
“—get this thing started!”
Music blasted through the speakers jolting me back. The first dancer ran out to the platform and the contest was underway. To say there was some serious talent here was putting it lightly. The music was on point, the dancers hit every step and beat, and the crowd was going wild—me included. I got lost in the performances, forgetting about Isabella and all of it.
This is what I loved about dancing—the energy, the rhythm, the way it pulled me out of the darkness and made me feel like I could breathe again.
“Whoo! That was amazing, wasn’t it?” The crowd cheered the contestant off the stage as Kiara came on the scene. “Now for our next dancer... Isabella Bruno!”
“This should be interesting.” Eric’s voice floated over the noise and reached my ears. I had a feeling all the Evergreen students were off the edge of their seats for this performance.
Isabella trotted out with her head high. She went with a pink leotard under a loose tank. Stepping onto the stage, she moved to the middle and struck a pose. After a beat, the music came on and she was off.
Wow.
I wish I could have fought the thought, but that was exactly the word Isabella deserved. She had taken a chance to mix ballet with hip-hop, classical with new school, and it paid off in a big way. She was unlike any of the dancers who came before. Isabella glided from move to move, from pop to lock, effortlessly. When the music faded the roar from the crowd was deafening.
Isabella gave a small bow. On her way back up, she looked right at me and smirked.
“Wonderful! Let’s give another round of applause for Isabella!” Kiara let the crowd go on for a bit then jogged out onto the stage. “Now we have one more contestant representing Evergreen Academy—”
I took a deep breath. This is it.
“—Valentina Moon!”
I was up. I streaked across to the platform and shook Kiara’s hand to hearty cheers from the crowd, but nothing from my class. The Evergreen kids looked at me with everything from disinterest to hostility. Most of them didn’t care about my win—didn’t think it could happen.
My music came on as I pushed them from my mind. My cue pounded through the speakers and I was gone.
The song I chose was a Latin/hip-hop mix. Those were the songs Mom and I would dance to the nights she let me stay up past my bedtime—just the two of us having fun together. They were the songs I sang to a newborn Adam when he rested on my chest. His tiny little head tucked contentedly under my neck. It was the songs that made me want to dance. That made me think I could one day smile again even in the worst times of my life.
“And what will make it go away? What’s going to put you back together?”
The song shifted tempo and I spun, letting the tears that had been clinging to my lashes fly.
I’m going to put me back together, I thought to the question I was never able to answer before. I’ll never be so broken that I can’t find my way back. For Mom and my son... and for me... I’ll be okay.
My song neared its end and on the final word, I flipped. This was the flip I had struggled with in practice. Half the time I ended up flat on my back, but this time I knew it was perfect. My feet glided over my head as if carried by the air.
I landed with a smack and threw my hands up. The cheers from the crowd rattled the building. They battled against my eardrums as I jogged off to my bathroom. Tears flowed freely now, but they were the good kind. The kind that came with healing.
“LET’S BRING OUR CONTESTANTS back out here!”
I followed the line of people out to the stage. This was it. Fifteen competitors but only three trophies. Isabella stood at my right. Her back was ramrod straight and head held high as we looked out onto the audience.
Kiara walked in front of us with her ever-present clipboard. “In third place,” she began, “give it up for Patrice Margot of Foxhill High!”
Patrice lapped it up, pumping his fists as he ran out to get his trophy.
“In second place—”
My entire body went rigid, firming up tighter than a bowstring.
“—give it up for... Isabella Bruno!”
“What?!”
Isabella’s scream sent me rocking back. If she was in second place, did that mean—
“And the winner of the 104 Hot FM Hip-Hop contest is Valentina Moon of Evergreen High!”
There were screams. Some of it was Isabella, but a lot of it was me. I ran out and scooped a laughing Kiara in a hug before I could get a hold of myself.
“Congratulations, Valentina,” she said. “You deserve it.”
I couldn’t believe it. I stumbled to my dressing room/bathroom in a fog, clutching my trophy like it would disappear. It wasn’t only about the contest. I had won more than just a competition today. I felt lighter than I had in months.
I pushed through into the bathroom. A hand caught the door before it could swing shut.
“Shit, girl!” Jaxson cried as he burst in. “That was insane!”
I laughed. Bubbles were forming in my stomach and spreading till they filled me up.
“But I knew you were going to win.” His eyes were shining, cheeks flushed. He looked genuinely happy for me. “Bella was good, but you—”
Clang!
The trophy slipped through my fingertips. I was on him before it hit the ground. Our lips crashed together in an explosion that lit my nerves aflame.
Jaxson staggered back, hitting the doorframe as I wrapped my legs around his thighs. His recovery was quick. In the next breath, our positions were reversed and he was pressing me against the door.
“Yes,” he breathed against my lips. “Finally.”
I shivered as those two words penetrated my core. I had wondered what it would be like to kiss Jaxson Van Zandt but this came nowhere close to what I could have imagined. I felt like I was the mercy of a hurricane. A force wild and untamed, and there was nothing I could do to hold it back.
So I didn’t try.
Our lips locked in a feverish battle as I ran my hands down his chest, and then finally under his shirt. I might have kept going if our lower halves weren’t melded together, grinding in a way that ripped moans from my throat.
Jaxson broke our kiss and traveled down my throat, kissing and nipping as he went. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this, baby.”
Baby took on a whole new meaning at that moment. I laughed. “Yes, I do. You’ve been hitting on me since the second we met.”
His tongue swiped against the sensitive skin of my throat and I bit back a cry. All of these sensations were so new to me. Sex the way it should be.
“I got a little worried there when you said you didn’t want me slobbering on you.” His fingers dug into my thighs as he ground harder.
“Jaxson,” I moaned.
“I hope I’m not too small for you.”
Heat flooded my cheeks at the memory of us bare-assed in the broom closet. Jaxson was the furthest thing from small. It would be so easy for me to undress him and do things right.
Am I ready for that?
Jaxson captured my lips again and all my thoughts swept away. I grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged, fighting to get it over his head.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Uhh... Val?”
We froze.
“Just to let you know,” said my best friend, “these doors aren’t actually that thick....”
I ripped my lips off Jaxson. “What?”
“We can hear everything—”
We?!
I didn’t hear the rest as I clambered off Jaxson. My cheeks were on fire while I raced to grab my things.
“You go,” he said as he moved to the side. “I need a minute.”
“But we have to...”
I trailed off when Jaxson looked down. The clear bulge in his pants made me blush even harder. Any more of this and I would pass out from all the blood rushing to my cheeks.
“Right. Okay.” I hurried out of the bathroom and ran right into “we.”
Ryder stood at Sofia’s side. His face was expressionless as he gazed at me. “Only one more to go. Thought you’d like to see the fireworks.”
For a minute I didn’t know what he was talking about, then it dawned on me. It was time to cross Isabella’s name off the list.
I hesitated. “About that—”
“Come on, Val.” Sofia grabbed my hand. “We can finally end this.”
But I think I’ve already ended it.
I let her tug me along. Together we followed Ryder outside to the pavement. A crowd had formed before the parking lot and it didn’t take me long to realize why.
“Tires slashed?!” Isabella bellowed. “How does that happen?!”
I let go of Sofia’s hand and skirted the crowd until the situation laid out before me. Isabella stood before a sleek silver car, shouting at a man in a suit. Looking past her, I could see the sad deflated tires that caused her anger.
“Where were you?!”
“I was in the car, Miss Bruno,” he replied calmly. “I’m afraid I didn’t see who did it.”
“This is unacceptable! I have to be at my audition in an hour!”
“I have called for a backup car but it won’t be here in time.”
“Then find me something that will!”
“Let’s go, everyone.” Yvette stepped into my line of sight. “Evergreen students on the bus.”
Isabella turned on our coach. “Yvette! Yvette, you have to make the bus driver take me to the audition.”
“Not possible,” she said without skipping a beat. “He is to take us to and from the competition and nowhere else. We aren’t losing our jobs because you have car trouble.”
“But—!”
“I will call you a cab, and phone your mother to let her know of the situation. That’s the best I can do.”
She got up in Yvette’s face. “I can’t miss this audition. The director doesn’t open the doors for anyone after time has started. I will lose my chance to dance Victoria!”
“Everyone.” Yvette addressed us as she dialed, not even looking at Isabella. “On the bus now.”
This didn’t seem like the right time to argue with her. We tromped onto the bus, leaving Isabella screeching in our wake.
SUNDAY NIGHT SOFIA and I crossed the courtyard with our dinner. Kane was on our heels as usual.
“Did you hear what Eric said when we were on line?”
“I heard him mention Isabella,” I said. “Did he say what happened after we left?”
“Yvette called her a taxi, but it took like twenty minutes to get there. They didn’t come close to making it in time for the audition and she lost her chance at the role.”
I whistled. “Something tells me Mother Bruno wasn’t pleased.”
“You have no idea. She pulled her off the dance team.”
“What?” I stopped dead in front of the babbling fountain. “Our dance team?”
“Yep. From what Paisley overheard, she was raging at her not only losing the contest, but that it was her mixing with that kind of crowd that wound up with her tires slashed and her being late. She doesn’t want her wasting any more time on a lesser form of dance.”
“I see where Isabella gets her lovely personality.” Shaking our heads, we kept going toward my dorm.
“You know everyone is talking about you beating her. She’s the leader of the Diamonds. This changes everything.”
“I know.”
Lesson Number Two: There is a hierarchy in Evergreen, and it matters.
“Does that make me leader now?” I asked half-jokingly.
“If you weren’t marked, definitely. But since you are...” She trailed off as we both noticed the figure before my door. Ezra stepped out of the shadows.
“Give us a minute,” I said to both Sofia and Kane.
“Tonight,” Ezra began by way of greeting. He took my arm and pulled me further to the side. “Meet us at the cliffs tonight. We took care of Natalie and Isabella. Now it’s time for Scarlett. We want you to do it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
Darkness flitted across Ezra’s eyes. “She’s dangerous. Waiting only gives her another chance to hurt someone... or you. What if Jaxson isn’t there the next time?”
My hands squeezed down on my tray. He was right. There was no good reason to wait.
“Tonight. I’ll be there.”
Chapter Twelve
I couldn’t focus at all in my classes the next day, and not only because I had barely gotten any sleep. The five of us had gone over the plan again and again until the fire burned down. The final bell rang to end the day, but instead of going to Scarlett’s class, my legs carried me to the bathroom.
Breathing deep, I splashed cold water on my face.
“You know what to do,” I whispered at my dripping reflection. “Let’s end this.”
I tried again. I left the bathroom and my eyes locked on to the door at the end of the hall. The faint squeak, squeak of my leather shoes joined the chorus of my racing heart. These things had never seemed so loud to me as they did right then.
“Kane?”
“Yes, Miss Moon.”
“I’m going to go in alone, but stay close, okay?”
“Always.”
That one word comforted me enough to open the door.
“Valentina,” Scarlett said brightly. She closed her laptop as she stood from her chair. “It’s been a while since we’ve hung out. I thought you forgot about me in the new semester.”
“Nope.”
Scarlett gave me a hug that I didn’t return. She pulled back and rubbed my forearms. “So are you here for some art therapy?”
“I came to talk to you about something.” I stepped out of her grasp and moved over to a workbench. She followed. “It’s about the no phones or recording ban.”
“What about it?” Scarlett sat on the stool opposite me. “Is it to sign a petition to get it revoked because you’re not the first. I’m sorry to say Evergreen Academy is very much a dictatorship. The headmaster won’t budge.”
“It’s about something I overheard. You know the Knights and how they have tortured me. This year I swore I would get back at them so I broke into the Knights’ room and hid my phone to record them.” I reached into my blazer and set the phone between us.
She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Valentina! Oh, I wish you hadn’t told me that.”
“Why?” I cocked my head. “I thought you were on my side?”
“I am, but if I’m ever questioned about this, I’ll have to tell that you’ve been secretly recording the students.”
“You wouldn’t lie to protect me?”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“That’s okay. I wouldn’t either.” I tapped the phone awake. “That’s why I have to share this.”
“Share what? What did you re—?”
“—knows what she did to us.”
“It’s not right. She shouldn’t be around kids. Scarlett LeBlanc is a predator.”
“She’s a pedophile, and she ruined our lives. If that wasn’t bad enough, now we know she’s a Spade.”
“You think all the Spades are as twisted as her? Is that how they’re chosen?”
“You have to be twisted to think of something like marks. What I really want to know is why Scarlett chose us to be the Knights?”
“It’s just more of that pervert’s sick games, Jaxson. She probably told herself she was doing something nic
e for her ‘special little helpers.’”
Silence descended on the room after I closed the recording. I had watched Scarlett’s face through the whole thing. The older woman cycled through surprise, anger, fear, and finally another emotion I couldn’t place, but it shone clearly in her eyes as she looked at me.
She lifted a shaky finger at the phone. “None of that is true.”
I slid off the stool. “That’s for the police and the media to decide.”
“Do not move!” She lashed out and slammed her hand on the bench next to us, blocking me in.
Stepping back, I kept my voice calm. “Relax, Scarlett. My bodyguard is right outside.”
Scarlett’s freckles were stark on her pale cheeks. “You can’t show anyone that,” she rasped. “It’s all lies.”
“Yeah, but you would say that, wouldn’t you?”
She gaped at me. “You know me, Valentina!” Scarlett put her hand to her chest. “I’ve been a friend to you, and I’ve never once done anything inappropriate.”
I shook the phone. “Isn’t that because I’m too old for you?”
The injured act dropped for the barest of moments and a snarl curled her lips. “That is enough! Give me the phone!”
I leapt back just as she lunged. Her hand swiped empty air.
“One scream and Kane runs in gun waving.” I moved to the other side of the work bench, keeping it between us. “I’m not giving you this phone.”
“If you don’t—”
“But I’ll promise not to show it to anyone if you sign this.” I took a single sheet of paper from my pocket and set it before her. “It’s your resignation letter.”
She swiped it off the desk in a single move. “I will not be blackmailed. You have made a serious mistake, Valentina. The headmaster will see you expelled for this and—”
“Ugh. Forget this. If you won’t sign”—I pulled up the recording and hovered over the share button—“then I’m posting this on my page.”
“No, stop!”
“Sign it.” My voice was so cold it chilled me. “Now.”
Scarlett fell off the stool to snatch the letter from the floor. I put the pen on the table before she was back.
