by Elle East
“Hey,” I say as I walk out.
He’s startled but then just looks annoyed. “What’s up?” he asks.
“Nothing…” I start, but I don’t know where to go from here.
“Ok, see ya.” He throws his barely smoked cigarette to the ground and twists it out with his boot before moving to go back inside.
“Wait.” I block his way. “How come you guys have been avoiding me?”
He scoffs. “Isn’t that what you’ve wanted this whole time? And now you’re upset that it’s actually happening?”
“I just want to know why?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” He stares challengingly into my eyes.
“Not anymore,” I say truthfully.
He stares at me for a long time, but I won’t look away. I can tell he’s angry.
“Sorry, you aren’t part of the crew. You don’t get to know,” he finally says.
“That’s not fair.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, nothing around here is fair, Highness.”
He moves around me and goes inside. I’m left standing alone on the porch wondering what happened.
The only thing I can imagine is that they are mad I slept with Alec—but I don’t know why. All four of them have girls throwing themselves at them every time they walk down the halls—I can see it with my own eyes—so why would they care that we slept together? Sex doesn’t strike me as a big deal to people like them.
The person who’s avoiding me the most is Alec. Whenever he sees me coming down the hall he’ll go out of his way to walk the other way. It’s frustrating as hell. I didn’t think we’d be forever soulmates or anything after we fucked, but I’d appreciate at least a bit of common curtesy. And the sick thing is that even now if he wanted to sleep together again I would in a heartbeat—it was that good. Where did my self respect go?
Three Vicious-free weeks go by and winter is changing into spring. New leaves are unfurling on the trees, the grass is changing back into green, and the birds are singing with renewed joy. Everything is bursting to life around me, while I just feel dead inside.
I can’t take it anymore. I feel like I’m going crazy and I need to do something, anything.
I finally get my chance to do something one day when I’m walking down a hallway at Marter High. One of the East Marters calls out to me to come over. Normally I’d just walk away, but this time I notice that Daire and Brax are close by, talking to three girls and watching the situation warily out of the corner of their eyes.
“Hey there, hot stuff,” the East Marter says, and I have to suppress my reaction of disgust. “Her Majesty has actually decided to talk to us?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “Just thought I’d say, ‘hi’.”
I’m trying to watch Daire and Brax out of the corner of my eye to gauge their reaction, but I don’t want them to know that. I’m trying to pretend I don’t even notice they are there.
Seth is here too, leaning against the lockers. “Want to come to a party? I know you like to party and we’re having one.”
“We are?” one of the others, Eric, asks and Seth elbows him hard in the ribs, but I don’t notice any of that because I’m too distracted by Daire and Brax.
“Oh yeah? You’re having a party?” I say loudly so the Vicious Crew can hear. “I’d love to come.”
I miss Seth’s evil smile because I’m too busy noticing the way Daire and Brax have just stiffened.
“When is it?” I ask.
“Now,” Seth says and I turn to look at him in confusion.
“Now?”
“Yeah, we are ditching school to go party. You’re in, right?”
“Uh…” I look over to see Daire’s jaw clench and Brax’s hands already in fists.
I know this is incredibly stupid. I know this is childish. I should just be thankful that I’m no longer a part of the Vicious Crew’s violent and dangerous world. I got out safely—that’s not something many people can say—but here I am trying to get right back in.
I know all this and yet I can’t walk away. I’m addicted now and I need a fix no matter what.
“Ok,” I finally say.
Seth grins like a maniac. His eyes look crazy and I know I should be more scared, but I’m just too excited that this is working and I have Daire and Brax’s attention.
“Well, lets go get this party started,” Seth says and starts to lead me down the hall.
We pass by Daire and Brax and they are both glaring at me in anger—and fear? Maybe this was a bad idea…
I’m surrounded by the five large East Marter guys and they escort me outside and through the courtyard. Everyone is staring at us as we pass. The other students look surprised and some are grinning in a mean way. Some even look sympathetic.
They lead me to one of the back parking lots. This area is surrounded by trees and rarely used. It’s so isolated there are no other students here.
That’s when I realize I really fucked up.
“Oh, shit. I forgot I left my purse in my locker. Let me just go run and get it, and I’ll be right back!” I say cheerily to cover up how scared I am.
I move to walk back to the school, but two huge guys block my way. I really fucked up. I’m an idiot.
I turn and Seth is shaking his head. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I’ll be right back! I promise. I also have to pee so I’ll just go real quick and then we can party, because I’m so into this. I wouldn’t have come here with you guys if I wasn’t.”
The five of them are closing the circle around me and I desperately think of anything to say to get me out of here.
“Seriously, just let me get my purse and go to the washroom and then we can do whatever you guys want. You know that I’m into this because you’ve heard the rumors about me and the Vicious Crew, right? You know that I like to fuck them all so I can’t wait to do that with you. I find you all so hot—always have.”
They aren’t buying it and keep coming.
In a last ditch effort, I try to run but they block me. I’m in huge trouble.
I know that I’m no match for even one of them physically, let alone five, but if this is happening then I’m not going down without a fight. I see that one of them has the handle of a knife sticking out of his pocket and I lunge for it. He’s quick—but I’m quicker.
I get the knife and luckily it’s a push button with the safety disabled so I have the blade out immediately and start waving it. The five of them stop closing in for a second.
“Yeah, that’s right. Back the fuck up!” I yell and lunge at the closest one. He jumps back away from the blade.
“I can’t wait to stab you all!” I’m just saying anything I can to be intimidating and buy myself time, but even though it’s crazy, I think it’s almost true?
Seth laughs. “You aren’t gonna stab anyone, rich bitch.”
“You’re first,” I say to him and lunge.
The other four take the opportunity to grab me before I can reach Seth. One of them, Joe, closes his big, meaty fist over my hand with the knife and he squeezes so hard I drop it with a yelp.
I’m now defenseless and completely alone. They can do anything they want to me—but I still struggle with all my might, even if it’s pointless. I manage to punch Eric in the face and even though it hurts my fist, I’m still proud when I see blood start pouring from his nose.
Someone punches me hard in the stomach and I drop to the floor, unable to breathe. They all take that opportunity to each pin down one of my limbs so I can’t move at all. Seth is standing above me.
“I told you when we first met that I was going to make you scream,” he says and cups his crotch obnoxiously.
My stomach turns and I think I’m going to throw up.
“And I meant it.” He starts undoing his zipper. “Take off her pants,” he orders.
“No, no, no, no!” I cry out and start struggling with all my strength, but the guys holding me down are just too strong.
Suddenly, Seth is falling to the ground in a shower of blood.
I look up and see Daire standing there with a tire iron in his hand. All at once the four pairs of hands holding me down let go. I spring up immediately and look around.
Brax and Theo are already fighting the four East Marters, and Alec is running towards us from the trees. Daire delivers a hard kick to Seth’s ribs, but the blow to the back with the tire iron already means he’s not getting up anytime soon.
Daire joins the other three and now it’s four against four. I want to help but I don’t know how to jump in. The East Marters are tough, but the Vicious Crew are savage. I’ve never properly seen them fight before and it’s kind of scary.
Theo’s the largest person out of the eight of them and he quickly finishes off Eric. Theo leaves him writhing on the ground in pain to go help the others. He goes to Alec who’s fighting off the second largest guy—and impressively holding his own.
The one Brax is fighting, Joe, takes out a knife and starts trying to stab him. Brax dodges it and tries to knock it out of his hand—but Joe turns at the last moment and slices a long cut down Brax’s thigh. Wet, red blood blooms out of the cut and starts running down his leg.
Brax barely reacts—but I see him wince. He immediately goes back to trying to get the knife out of Joe’s hand. Blood splatters on the ground as they fight.
As I watch, I realize Brax is going to lose. Without thinking, I run over and kick Joe in the back of the knee—hard. It’s unexpected so his leg buckles and he kneels on the ground. Brax takes the momentary advantage and slams his fist into Joe’s collarbone on the side with the knife. I hear a snap as the bone breaks and then the knife falls to the bloody pavement.
Joe holds his broken bone and Brax punches him straight in the face. Joe falls backwards to the ground, then scrambles to his feet and takes off running. Brax lets him go and tries to help the other three, but his leg is really hurt and he stops.
They don’t need his help, anyway. The last two of the East Marters still standing take off running when they see that they are outnumbered.
“We have to go,” Daire barks and comes over to grab my arm.
He starts walking and dragging me along. I try to rip my arm out of his grip but he’s way too strong.
“They are going to get guns,” he says and I stop fighting and we walk quickly out of the parking lot.
I look behind me and see that Theo is helping Brax limp along after us. Alec is at the back making sure that no one sneaks up from behind. All of them are injured. They are covered in scratches and I can see some bruises already starting to form, but only Brax looks like he is seriously hurt.
Daire leads us quickly off campus and several streets over. When he finally stops, it’s in an alley between two stores that have been out of business for a long time. He tosses me in front of him and I catch myself and turn back to face him.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I’ve never seen him so angry before. He’s terrifying.
“I—”
“That was so fucking stupid. You could have…” He can’t finish his sentence, he’s so angry. “Your second favor to us is that you’ll never put yourself at risk like that again.”
Suddenly I’m furious with him. He’s such a hypocrite.
“Why would you even care!” I yell. “The first day we met you made me clean off your shoes! You are such an asshole. You fucking tried to kill me!!!”
Daire’s face goes so dark it looks like an eclipse, and he says, “Everyone in that lunchroom wanted to kick your ass—or worse. You were acting like such a spoiled brat that you were this close—” He raises his fingers close together in front of my face. “—to getting the shit beat out of you. I made you clean my shoes so that they thought you were pathetic and not some spoiled asshole who needed to get her ass handed to her. We pulled that stunt by the lake because you didn’t stop. You kept wearing your fancy-ass, rich girl clothes, and holding your nose so high in the air I thought you were going to fucking fall over backwards. We did that to help you. You’re so fucking ungrateful.”
I just stare at him, open-mouthed. “Ungrateful?” I screech and I see him wince. “Ungrateful? I thought I was going to DIE.”
“You were never in danger,” he grits out. “—from us,” he adds. “The rest of the student body wanted to kick your ass. I knew of at least three separate plans to jump you and beat you bloody. There were a couple people threatening to shoot you because of what your family did to this town, and I know those people and they are not the kind to joke about shooting someone—they are the kind who actually do it.”
I let all that sink in for a moment.
“Why would you even care? You didn’t know me,” I ask.
I can see there’s something he’s not telling me. He just stares deep into my soul with his emerald eyes. He’s keeping it together on the outside, but his eyes give him away—inside he’s on fire.
“Ok, ok, I get it,” I say when I can’t stand it any longer. “I admit that that was stupid with the East Marters. I know that. I get it—BUT, I only did it to get your attention.”
“Are you fucking kidding me,” he breathes out in a furious whisper.
“Why are you ignoring me?”
He scoffs like he can’t believe all this was about something so stupid and inconsequential.
“None of you will talk to me or tell me what’s going on. I just want to know and then I’ll leave you alone. That’s all,” I almost beg.
He can barely look at me. None of the others are looking at me either.
“Go home and don’t come back to school for the rest of the day. I think you just started a war,” he says with finality.
He turns and they all walk out of the alley. I let them go and then I’m left standing alone.
21
By the time I make it back to my foster house, I’m shaking so badly I can barely stand upright. I never know when my foster mom or her boyfriend are home because their room is on the ground floor so sometimes they come and go through the back door. I drag myself upstairs and collapse on my bed.
I don’t feel sad or upset, I just feel completely numb. I lie on my back and wait for the shaking to stop. It eventually does after about thirty minutes and then I just lie there to wait for whatever horrible thing is coming next.
An hour later I hear the front door open and then the sounds of someone rushing up the stairs. Maybe this is the end? But I don’t move, I just wait for the inevitable.
My door bursts open and slams against the wall.
“What’s going on?!” Olivia yells as she barges into the room.
“What do you mean?” I ask as she hops onto my bed.
“The Vicious Crew barged in in the middle of my class and said I had to come with them. The teacher didn’t even stop them or anything—it was CRAZY! I kept asking them what the hell happened as we were driving here, but they wouldn’t tell me much. They just said we aren’t safe at school anymore and I need to stay in the house so they can protect us. Do you know what this is about??”
I sit up wearily and look at my sister. Her eyes are wide and she’s breathing heavily, but she doesn’t really look scared, she looks more… excited. She likes the drama of it all. It’s like a game to her, not a dangerous situation with very real consequences.
I start telling her everything—everything except about sleeping with Alec, I’m not ready to deal with her opinion on that yet. I tell her about the first job we went on to the motel, about the second one to Sheltered Glen, about how they stopped talking to me after the party and how I went to the East Marters to provoke the Vicious Crew in to talking to me again.
She shakes her head. “That was a dumb idea, Addison. Those East Marters guys are insane—like literally insane.”
“Wait, you are telling me off for trying to hang out with them? I seem to remember that you were the one who volunteered for the Threesome Pact with them. You were the one who showed up to that party with them.”
“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes. “Ok, I agree that was also dumb, but I didn’t know what it was before I volunteered. Some girl who I thought was my friend—who definitely wasn’t by the way—she completely misrepresented what it was. If I had known what it actually entailed, I obviously wouldn’t have done that. People really hate our family by the way.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that impression too.”
“Anyway, she tricked me into it because she thought our family was the reason her’s was poor.” She shrugs again. “And about the party, I didn’t go with the East Marters, Jackie’s brother drove us there. When we were going in, we saw those guys and they invited us to walk in with them. We couldn’t say no because who knows what they would do, right? They are unstable, so we just said yes. Then you had to come up to me and freak out on me—that was so embarrassing by the way… but I’m sorry for how I reacted.”
I’m so surprised. I thought Olivia was going down the wrong path this whole time, but it sounds like maybe she had a better grip on everything than me. I’m so relieved that she isn’t as far gone as I thought that I reach out and hug her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I guess I was mad that you weren’t trying harder to fit in, you know? I felt like you were being stubborn and deliberately making people hate you—and by extension me. Maybe I was mad at Mom and Dad and taking it out on the only family I have left. Who knows?” She shrugs. “I’m not much one for introspection. Remember when Dad tried to put us in therapy?”
“Yeah,” I laugh. “We both quit after the first day.”
“Maybe we would have kept going if Dad hadn’t paid the guy to tell us we were wrong about everything and he was right.”
We laugh together.
“Dad was kind of a toolbag,” I say.
“He really was,” she agrees and then we hug again. It feels nice.
“Oh, also.” She pulls back. “I was mad at you because you told me to stay away from the guys I liked, Theo and Brax, then you started hanging out with them and told them not to talk to me.”
