by James Tate
Bree snorted a laugh and grabbed the slice of cake from my tray. “Well, be careful. It might be your first day, but those three have already built an entire army of enamored followers.” She darted another quick look, and I couldn’t help but follow her line of sight. Steele was chatting to a pretty blonde who looked a couple of years older than me, and Archer… hmm. Archer had a brunette in his lap and was whispering something in her ear that she seemed to find hysterical.
Ugh. I knew her type. I used to be her type. If that was the kind of girl my new housemates were into, then we definitely wouldn’t be forming that reverse harem Bree kept teasing me about.
“Anyway, I’ll deal with them later. After we get through at least a few days of this… unconventional university.” I wrinkled my nose, looking around the cafeteria. It used to be the main restaurant of the country club, so it was actually really nice. Just strange, considering my last class had been in a building so hastily painted you could still make out the graffiti on the walls. On the other hand, the food—for the most part—was restaurant quality good so there was no need to leave campus to get decent lunches.
Bree nodded, waving a fork covered in cake crumbs. “You’re telling me. Girl, we were supposed to be at Stanford this year.”
I sighed and glowered across the room again. Not that it was Archer, Kody, and Steele’s fault so many students in Shadow Grove had suddenly been denied entry into their college of choice… but they damn well knew more than they were letting on. It wasn’t a coincidence the stolen Laughing Clown key had been in Kody’s pocket that night. It also hadn’t been a coincidence that Zane had been exchanging a big old bag of cash with some creepy dude dressed as Beetlejuice.
“Quit staring at them,” Bree teased, kicking me under the table. “Anyone would think you’ve got a crush… or two.”
“Hah!” I scoffed. “Hardly. I’m just thinking through my plan. I’ll start small, I think. Only escalate if and when more drastic measures are called for.” I drummed my fingertips on the table thoughtfully, observing my prey. Steele was laughing at something Archer had just said, and damn, he was pretty when he laughed. The brunette had disappeared from Archer’s lap, but a strawberry-blonde was glued to his side like… uh… like glue.
“Typical man-whore behavior,” I commented with a disappointed sigh. “Acting all caveman because I dressed a little provocatively, then letting a revolving door of women paw all over him. Double standards in action.”
Bree nodded and shrugged like this wasn’t anything new. She was right, it wasn’t, but damn that trope was getting exhausted.
My friend started to say something, then her attention shifted over my head and she gasped. “Watch out!” she exclaimed, but it was too late.
Sticky, orange liquid drenched me, soaking my entire T-shirt and puddling in my lap.
“Oops,” a girl said from behind me. “Sorry, I guess I tripped.”
This bitch sounded anything but sorry.
Furious, I shoved my seat back and turned to confront the clumsy juice owner. Then I laughed. “I guess I should have seen this coming a mile away,” I commented, eyeing the pretty brunette with disdain as Archer, Steele, and their posse wandered over to us. “Stupid me for thinking crap like this belonged in high school.”
The brunette—the same girl who’d just been giggling in Archer’s lap—just smirked and flipped her hair, sauntering out of the dining hall and leaving me standing there in my sticky puddle of orange juice. Steele sighed and shook his head at me, then followed her, but Archer? Yeah, he lingered a moment.
Textbook bully behavior right there.
“Wait,” I said, holding my hand up when he parted his lips to deliver what I was sure would be a truly devastating zinger. “Let me guess. Now you have to change, Madison Kate.” I adopted a deeper voice to say this, mocking him. “Or maybe you were going to go with the whole fake concern angle? You should have listened to me, Madison Kate.”
Archer tilted his head to the side, running his thumb across his lower lip and shrugging. “Take your pick, gorgeous; sounds like you got the message.”
My eyes narrowed, seeing victory all over his face.
Fuck. That.
“Um, sure,” I replied, nodding. “If your message was that you time-traveled straight out of the fifties when it was socially acceptable for men to shame women for dressing in a way that flaunts their sexuality? Was that the message you were aiming for? If so, I got it… but I respectfully decline to accept it.” Grasping the hem of my orange juice–soaked T-shirt, I peeled it up and off, tossing it onto the floor at Archer’s feet. My mini-skirt followed, hitting the floor with an audible splat, as every student had their eyes on us, rather than conversing.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Archer demanded when I met his gaze unflinchingly.
With what was no doubt a feral kind of smile, I propped my hands on my hips. It wasn’t like I was stark fucking naked or anything; I still had my bra and panties on, despite the fact that my bra was soggy with juice too. It was no more revealing than a bikini, so where was the embarrassment?
“Bree, babe, you don’t mind if I borrow your cardigan, do you?” I asked my friend, nodding to the thin, baby-pink garment draped over the back of her chair. She obliged, handing it over while she turned red from holding back her laughter.
I slipped it over my arms, then tied the loose belt around my waist to hold it closed. Sort of. The fabric was long enough that it covered my ass—just—but the crossed-over front showed a whole lot more bra than I’d thought it would.
Fuck it. I was only proving a damn point, so long as no administrators saw me before I could find an actual change of clothes…
“Try harder next time, Archer,” I advised him, bending over to pick up my backpack and flashing my ass to anyone who cared to look. “Oh, and those clothes are dry-clean only.”
Yep, there it was. That little vein pulsing over his temple like a ticking time bomb.
“MK: one, shady fucker: nil,” Bree snickered under her breath as we left the cafeteria with our heads held high. “This is going to be so fun.”
12
Somehow I managed to make it through the next few days without running into the guys at all. After the showdown between Archer and I in the cafeteria on Monday, people had been giving me a wide berth, which I was more than okay about. It gave me a chance to actually settle into my classes, get a handle on the course load, and find a bit of normalcy in this strange new school.
Bree had taken to picking me up a full hour earlier than I'd have liked, but it served a double purpose. It got me out of the house before the guys had finished their gym workouts—yeah, that was a thing they did—and it gave me some time to reconnect with my old bestie. The fact that we also had time to pick up coffee from the one moderately decent coffee shop near SGU was an added bonus.
"Alright, spill," she said as we collected our orders in the cute, unicorn reusable cups she'd bought for us both a couple of days ago.
I thanked the barista, then arched a brow at her. "Spill what?"
Bree narrowed her eyes at me. "Don't play innocent with me, MK. I know you. It's been four days since that scene with Archer in the dining room, and I know you have something planned in retaliation."
I couldn't stop the grin curving my lips. "You don't think it was enough to strip down to my underwear in front of the entire dining hall?"
Bree snickered, but shook her head. "Not by half. He orchestrated a Mean Girls moment, and there's no way in hell you'll let him get away with that shit so easily."
I smirked, sipping my coffee as we made our way across the park to the SGU campus. "I don't know what you're talking about, Bree," I said, rather unconvincingly, checking my watch for the time. "But I'd really love to swing past the student parking lot before we head to lectures."
She gave me a curious—okay, suspicious—look, but followed as I detoured from our usual short-cut. We arrived with perfect timing, which was no shock considering I'd
been stealthily tracking Archer's schedule all week. He was punctual to the point of anal, and that predictability was what let me be in the right place at the right time.
His midnight black Corvette Stingray careened into the parking lot and stopped in one of the few reserved spaces right near the main entrance to the university. I knew from Monday's drive to school that Steele would take the next space over when he arrived in about half an hour, but he wasn't my target today. Archer was.
"Okay, what are we here for?" Bree asked after a few moments when no one exited the car. I laughed to myself, imagining Archer sitting there fuming and working up the balls to show his face.
"You'll see," I murmured back, unable to wipe the grin from my face. The driver’s door popped open, and I bit the inside of my cheek to contain my anticipation. It was a simple plan, but—
"Ah shit," I cursed, seeing Archer's perfectly handsome face as he stepped out. Had he seriously changed his routine on the same day as I'd hatched a revenge tactic? Then again, I had to cut myself some slack; it could have just been coincidence that his routine hadn't deviated in the short time I'd monitored it.
Then Kody stepped out of the passenger side, and Bree sucked in a sharp gasp.
"MK!" she exclaimed in a hushed scream. "Did you do that?"
Laughter bubbled up in my chest as Kody turned his face in my direction. His bright purple face. "Oops, that was a misfire. Oh well, means to an end, I guess." I shrugged and gave my two nemeses a little wave when they both glared daggers at me.
Archer took a few steps forward, like he wanted to confront me over the childish prank, but Kody grabbed his arm, halting him. A few quiet words passed between them, then Archer wrenched his arm free and stomped off toward the sports center.
Kody, and his pretty purple face, sauntered over to where I stood with Bree. A huge crowd of snickering students stood around, pointing and laughing and making jokes, but he seemed totally oblivious to them all.
"Let me guess," he drawled as he stopped a few feet away, indicating to his purple face. "Payback for Kalley's juice on Monday?"
I shrugged, still smirking. I wasn't admitting to shit.
Kody shook his head, looking torn between anger and amusement. "I had nothing to do with that, you know? I don't even have the same scheduled break as you all."
I nodded. "I know. But all's fair in hate and war, Kodiak. Sometimes there's collateral damage."
He gave me a knowing smile. "I figured as much. What was it? Powdered dye on our sweat towels?"
I gave him a brow quirk. "I'll admit to nothing. But if I were the responsible party, yeah, that's how I might do it. Sweaty face after a workout wiped with a towel coated in powdered purple food dye..." I shrugged again. "But that's childish and so very high school. We're better than silly pranks and bully tactics, aren't we?"
Kody threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, babe. No. We're really, really not. You're so lucky purple suits me, but my PR manager might have a few words for you if this doesn't wash off in time for Sunday's photo shoot."
I batted my lashes, pulling on the fakest innocent act imaginable. "Well, in that case? Maybe avoid the body wash in the shared bathroom."
His eyes narrowed briefly, and he shook his head with a laugh. "Game on, gorgeous."
When he brushed past me, swaggering into the university halls with total confidence, like it had been his choice to dye his face purple, I let out a long breath. Every time I spoke to him, it was like I only breathed half as much as I needed to. I always seemed to walk away light-headed and weak.
"Damn girl," Bree whispered, linking her arm with mine as we wandered in the direction of my first lecture. She didn't have anything until later in the day but insisted it was good for her to be up so early so she could study. "Remind me never to piss you off again. What did you do to the body wash?"
I chuckled. "Nothing. I just like making him paranoid."
Bree screamed with laughter and was wiping her eyes as she left me to make her way to the library. Me, though? I was already plotting my next strike.
* * *
My day went much like the rest of the week had—lots of gossiping and whispering going on around me but no one brave enough to speak directly to me. Not that I gave two craps, though. So long as they stayed out of my war with Archer and his boys, we'd be fine.
Surprisingly, though, at the end of the day when I headed out to the back lot, I found a broad-shouldered guy wearing an SGU football hoodie waiting for me.
"Bark?" I asked, recognizing his messy brown hair from behind.
He turned around, revealing a petite blonde that he'd been chatting with. But they were standing right beside Bree's car, so I had to assume he was waiting for me. Or maybe I was being self-important?
"Hey, Madison Kate," he greeted me with a way too enthusiastic smile. "I was waiting for you."
I grinned, laughing at myself silently. "Cool. Uh, hi." I waved to the girl, who was still standing there and staring at me. Like, hardcore staring. She hadn't blinked once, I didn't think.
"Madison Kate, this is Ella. She wanted to... meet you." The odd hesitation in his phrasing made me pause, and I quirked a brow at him. He just gave me a sheepish smile, though, and rubbed the back of his neck.
Totally confused, I gave the girl a smile. "Hi, Ella."
Her eyes grew wider, if that was even possible, making her look younger. Too young to be a student at SGU, at any rate. Her bleached blonde hair was cut in a messy bob with a heavy fringe touching her mascara-coated lashes, and there was something vaguely familiar about her face.
"H-hi. Oh my gosh," Ella gasped like she was meeting a celebrity or some shit. "Wow. It's really you. When Bark said he knew you, I was like, nuh-uh, no way, but then Dad said Bark wasn't lying, and I figured if I came by here, maybe I'd see you for myself and, oh my god. You're so pretty in person. So much prettier than when you were on TV. For the record, I never believed those charges against you, Madison Kate. Never. I can't believe it ever went to trial." She was verbal vomiting, but I wouldn't have known what to say even if she had stopped for a breath.
As it was, her stream of babble cut off when Bark clapped a hand over her mouth and gave me an apologetic grimace.
"Sorry about her," he said, ignoring Ella's muffled protests from behind his huge hand. "You met her, okay? Now go home. Mom will be worried."
The vague familiarity of her face clicked into place. She looked like Bark and Professor Barker. She must be his little sister.
"It was so, so nice meeting you," Ella gushed when Bark released her mouth once more. "Oh my god, wait ‘til my friends hear about this." She let out a little squeal of excitement, then—after a pointed glare from her brother—rushed across the lot to where a little white convertible was parked.
"Sorry about her," Bark apologized when she drove away with a huge wave.
"Little sister?" I asked, and he nodded. "And I'm guessing those girls you were talking about when we met the other day..."
He grimaced and nodded again. "Yeah. Sorry. Ella was one of your biggest supporters during the trial. Our mom only just convinced her to dye her hair back to blonde a couple of months ago."
I frowned, biting my lip while I thought. It was a bit flattering, I guessed? I’d had no idea that anyone was on my side during the trial, and I'd left for Cambodia almost the second I'd been released. Then again, Kody's girlfriend calling me goat the other day had implied everyone believed in my innocence... just in a less flattering way.
"Don't worry about it," I told Bark. "I'm just glad she didn't have a phone to take selfies like I'm some kind of pop star."
He cracked an amused smile, agreeing. The university's no-phones rule had actually worked in my favor this week. It meant no one had photographic evidence of my little juice-covered strip tease, otherwise I had no doubt that shit would have been all over the damn internet by now.
Instead, it was good old-fashioned gossip and rumor mill until we collected our phones at the gate on ou
r way home each day.
"Well, anyway," Bark said, turning the full force of his flirtatious charm back up, "I wanted to see if we were still on for tonight? I didn't manage to get your number the other day, and you ran out of Crim too fast for me to grab you yesterday."
We only had that class twice a week, and apparently it was the only one Bark and I shared. I'd bolted as soon as the lecture was over because I wanted to avoid having this exact conversation with him.
"Tonight?" I repeated. "Uh, I kinda figured you'd changed your mind on that." Or Archer had scared you off with his macho bullshit the other day.
Bark flashed a cocky, self-assured grin. "No way, babe. I was just biding my time."
Something about the way he called me babe made my skin crawl. Strange how the same word sounded so very different coming from Kody.
"I guessed if I chased you too hard around campus, I'd be risking Archer giving me a more physical incentive to steer clear. You know that guy is a professional MMA fighter? No offense, Madison Kate, but I don't want to get in a fight with him."
I stifled a sigh. "Yeah, I'd heard."
"So, tonight?" Bark pushed, and I found myself nodding. It wasn't like I had anything else to do, so why not? Bree had mandatory family dinners with her grandmother on Fridays, so unless I suddenly made other friends at SGU, I'd be stuck at home all night. The risk that one of the three guys would be there? Too high. Suffering through a shitty movie with Bark was far more appealing.
"Cool." He grinned. "I'll pick you up around eight?"
I gave another nod, seeing Bree coming from across the lot. "Sure. You need my address?"
Bark laughed. "You're funny, Madison Kate. Catch you later."
He walked away, still chuckling, and I wrinkled my nose at his back.
"Weird," I muttered, shaking it off as Bree clicked the doors to her car unlocked, and I slid into the passenger seat a beat ahead of her in the driver’s side.
