The Elites Of Weis-Jameson Prep Academy: The Complete Series (A High School Enemies To Lovers Bully Romance Box Set)

by Rebel Hart

  “Turn around,” the voice growls.

  We slowly turn. Theo stands there staring back at Emmett with flaring nostrils, but his face softens when he looks at me.

  “Ophelia!” he shouts, seeming surprised. We stare back at him blankly, unsure of what to do next. “I…I’m so sorry! I thought…I thought you were Bridgett.”

  “Bridgett!?” I exclaim in confusion.

  “When I saw a girl in the backseat of Emmett’s car, I thought for sure it had to be Bridgett!” he explains. “If I had known it was you…I would have never…Come here,” he reaches his hand out suddenly. “Come here to me.”

  “Don’t do it,” Emmett begs with a deep, commanding voice. “Don’t listen to him, Ophelia. What the hell are you trying to do, Theo!?”

  “You,” his voice turns dark again. “You’re the one I wanted. Not her.”

  “What’s going on?” I plead, feeling my heart being ripped in two again.

  “I can explain everything,” Theo insists. “But I don’t want you to fall. Come to me so I can make sure you’re safe.”

  “Don’t, Ophelia!” Emmett yells more urgently.

  I start to run towards Theo, thinking that getting away from this slippery edge is the most important thing. I can figure the rest out after that. But as I stare at his face, my old feelings of mistrust bubble up. I look down at the gun in his hand and I’m frozen in fear.

  “No,” I decide out loud. “I won’t come to you until you explain all of this. Were you the one who drugged me? And what were you going to do to Emmett out here if I hadn’t been with him?”

  “When I heard he was released from jail, I went to the school to see if he’d be there,” he insists. “I pulled up just as his car was driving out of the parking lot, so I followed him. I had no idea you were in the car with him. What do you mean…drugged? Someone drugged you!?”

  I nod my head in confirmation, still unsure if I can believe him or not. “Why did you go looking for Emmett? Why did you bring him out here?” I ask again.

  His face twists with rage as his gaze turns back to Emmett. “Did you drug her!?” he barks. “Did you try to hurt my beautiful daughter!?”

  “Cut it out, Theo!” Emmett cries. “We both know you’re full of shit. Tell her the truth! You’re the one who framed me, aren’t you!? And you were going to frame Ophelia too, weren’t you!? But you panicked when I got released and started to worry that wouldn’t be good enough to cut us out of the picture for good. Admit it!”

  “You’re crazy!” Theo laughs before turning back to me. “Ophelia don’t listen to him. You remember everything I said? You remember everything I told him?”

  I shiver from the cold rain and start to cry. I repeat his story in my head again. “It was Emmett’s idea to kill his father,” I spout off, telling him what he wants to hear, but I don’t know what to believe anymore.

  “That’s right!” his voice is shaky and high-pitched, as if he’s speaking to a scared dog. He’s desperate but I don’t know if it’s to save himself or to save me.

  “But Emmett didn’t kill Malcolm,” I remind myself.

  “I don’t know anything about that,” Theo says. “What I do know is that I was not about to let Emmett weasel his way back into your life. I trusted him once and I refuse to do it again. After I saw how hurt you were when I told you the truth, I hated myself for ever pushing you into his arms.”

  I think back to our talk on the swing set and almost want it to be the truth. I don’t want to believe that Emmett is truly evil or menacing, but if I’m honest with myself, I don’t want my father to be those things either. Am I only choosing to believe Emmett because of how much I love him? If Theo had been around for me to know and love while I was growing up, would it be easier for me to trust him instead?

  I feel overwhelmed again and all I can do is scream. I bury my face in my hands, wishing I could be anywhere but here in this dark, wet nightmare, being torn between these two men. But I am here. And if something doesn’t happen soon, we’re all going to slide off this drop off into the watery pit of shredded metal below. I take a deep breath and try to cling to any ounce of strength left inside so I can calm down enough to figure this out.

  “So…what were you going to do?” I ask for the third time, steadying my voice. “Bring Emmett out here and kill him? Shoot him the way you shot Thomas Jameson?”

  His face drops, and he suddenly looks crushed. “I have so many regrets,” he starts sobbing suddenly. “I don’t know what to do any more than you do, Ophelia.”

  “Shut up, Theo!” Emmett yells, but I hold out my hand to silence him.

  “It’s true,” he continues. “I’m a desperate and lost man. I have been ever since the day your mother walked out on me and took you with her.” He stops crying suddenly. His face turns to stone and he looks back over to Emmett. “It’s all your fault. Your fucking Elite family. You’re the ones who destroyed my life! You made me think Lala had cheated on me and it was all a lie!”

  “Emmett didn’t do that!” I argue. “His father did! Your problem is with Thomas and he’s gone now…so let’s just go home! Please!” I grow more frantic as the water around us rises. I feel my feet sinking more, and I’m almost afraid that any attempt to move away from the edge will only cause me to slip.

  “You really think he’s so different?” Theo questions. “Wake up, Ophelia! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Emmett is just as awful as Thomas was. All he cares about is being the king of Jameson, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen and line his pockets along the way. Especially now that everything has been ripped away from him…just like it was from me. Trust me, I know what it feels like. And I can see the desperation in his eyes.” He wipes his hand across his eyes, and I can’t tell if it’s to brush away rain or tears. “Don’t make the same mistake I did, sweetie. Please. Don’t waste any more time trying to see something in him that’s not there.”

  “What if Bridgett had been the one who was with him?” I ask. “If you brought Emmett here to kill him…would you have killed her too?”

  He thinks for a moment. “I don’t trust any of them,” he admits. “But no, of course not. I could have never killed her for that alone. I promise you, Ophelia. Now will you please come here!? Before you fall!”

  It’s getting harder and harder to hear over the roaring sound of gushing water all around us. I hear the distant crashing of trees as the flowing waters eat away at the soil around their roots. More and more debris shoots past as the flood overtakes everything, and the rain shows no signs of stopping. If anything, it only falls harder with each passing second.

  My clothes are heavy and completely drenched, sticking to my shivering body. My eyes are gritty and swollen from stress and lack of sleep. Every one of my muscles aches. Chills and shivers ripple through me, up from the puddles of water in my shoes as I’m sucked down further into the mud. I wipe my eyes again, feeling the pruned grooves of my soggy fingertips.

  Another big cracking sound startles me from the side. I cut my eyes just in time to catch sight of a shed on the other end of the junkyard being yanked off into a stream of floodwaters. Steady rain continues pounding against everything around us, pinging off of the old cars that are still clinging to solid ground.

  “I don’t know what to do,” I mutter under my breath. I’m desperate but stuck in the crossfires of Theo and Emmett.

  I start to wonder if it even matters who I believe. Why should I die out here with them? Maybe Emmett really can’t be anything more than an Elite who was doomed to be a monster from birth. And maybe Theo really is every bit as greedy and manipulative as I have wanted to believe from the start. What does any of that have to do with me? I didn’t ask for any of this.

  “Please, Ophelia!” Theo begs again.

  Emmett grabs my hand suddenly, squeezing it tight. I look into his gray, piercing eyes. Water streams down his flattened hair that spiders along the edges of his face.

  “Don’t go,” he ple
ads quietly, so that only I can hear. “Stay with me. Trust me.”

  It’s all he has ever asked of me all along. To stay with him. To trust him. Even when none of his words or actions made him deserving of those things.

  “I have stayed,” I cry softly. “I have trusted you. And look at where it got me?”

  “We’re almost out of here, Ophelia. If we make it through this night alive, we can get the hell out of Jameson and never come back.”

  “What were you going to do if you got away with me in your car that day?” I ask again. I stare into him longingly, desperate for an answer. Desperate for the truth. “Tell me the truth. What were you going to do?”

  A sad smile flashes across his lips. “Drive away,” he answers, his voice cracking. “Drive away and never look back. Take you somewhere far away from here. Tell you everything and get us out of Jameson, so I could give you everything you deserve. It’s all I wanted to do then, and it’s all I want to do now.”

  “But my family,” I whisper. “You would’ve taken me away from Mom and Brendan?”

  “I didn’t know what else to do,” he shrugs. “I didn’t see any other choice. I knew what was about to happen and I wanted to save you. I couldn’t let them make me keep hurting you.”

  My heart shatters as deeply as the dissolving ground around us. I wonder what would have happened if I would have gone with him that day. If I hadn’t grabbed the steering wheel and sent us crashing into the pole. Could we really have driven off into the sunset and found some kind of happy ending? The kidnapping. Being held hostage in Jameson manor. Meeting Thomas. Every single bad thing that happened from there…I’ve blamed Emmett for it this entire time. Maybe he did just want to save me all along.

  I lose myself in Emmett’s eyes as Theo continues yelling, pleading for me to come to him. I barely hear him anymore as we stand there in the dark, looking at each other hopelessly.

  Suddenly, his hand drops mine. His face stiffens with a strange, new resolve. “Go,” he says. “Go to him.”

  “What!?” I cry. “Emmett! I don’t know what to do! I don’t know who to believe!” I look back at Theo, then back to Emmett, hoping at any moment some answer or sign will come to me.

  “Go to him,” he insists again. “None of this is your fault. You have a chance at a big beautiful life outside of Jameson. I wanted to have that with you, but it may be too late. I’m not going to let you die out here with me. You don’t deserve that.”

  “Don’t make me do this,” I sob, wishing there was more time. If the water wasn’t rushing around us so violently, we could stand out here and argue all night. They could debate and tell their stories, and maybe somewhere along the way I would find some shred of truth that I could believe in beyond a doubt.

  “I love you,” Emmett whispers.

  I feel something shoving into my back. I’m flung forward, plopping down into the mud. Not knowing what else to do, I slip and slide my way back up and run for Theo’s arms. He reaches for me, crying as I rush to cling to him for safety.

  But just as I am about to fall into him, he goes toppling over. Emmett pummels into him, tackling him to the ground.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  BOOK 3

  Just as I have wrapped my head around the idea of abandoning Emmett to die, still feeling no closer to knowing who is telling the truth, I watch Emmett plow into Theo. They crash into the flooding ground, splashing around in the mud and water.

  After they hit the ground, with Emmett on top pinning Theo down, Emmett rears back. I watch in shock as his arm hangs in midair for a moment before thrashing into Theo’s face. He immediately pulls back to get in another punch, but he’s thrown off. They roll around for what seems like an eternity, throwing relentless punches and kicks.

  I stand there, completely paralyzed and feeling like I’m going mad from being wet and cold for so long. They can’t keep track of where they’re going in the midst of their desperate attacks on each other, and I’m stuck watching in horror as they move dangerously close to the edge of the drop-off.

  “Look out!” I cry, not entirely sure which one of them I’m trying to warn. Maybe it’s both of them at this point.

  That’s when I remember that I’m free. With them fighting, no one is stopping me from running away from all of this. I could take off and never look back, completely free from the decision of who I’m supposed to trust. My feet start to run, then stop again. I am stuck in that motion for a while, pivoting back and forth between fleeing or staying behind to see what happens.

  If I run away from this, it’s not up to me to decide anything. But both of them could die. If I stay and whoever the bad guy is here lives, I’m in danger. If I run and one of them catches up to me, I could be in danger. If I don’t get out of the rising floodwaters, I die. There is no good option. No right decision. Every path before me is scary, unknown, and dangerous.

  I remember how I felt when Bridgett showed up and convinced me to go to prom with her. For a brief moment, none of this mattered. The scene playing out in reality before my eyes now was happening in my head then. I was just as torn. Just as conflicted. But I put it all aside and let myself be free to celebrate myself. Can I do that just as easily now with both of their lives at stake?

  All I’ve wanted to do from the beginning of this was walk away. And now I’m free to do it, and I can’t. I look out into the darkness as the rain pours down. If I keep running, I can go home. I can tell my parents everything once and for all. Maybe they go to the police. Maybe they leave with me? Does it really matter at this point?

  If Emmett or Theo come back with me, I run the risk of them destroying our lives. The only two factors of this equation that did not exist in the life I knew before, when everything was normal and happy, are Theo and Emmett. I didn’t know either of them nine months ago. I can keep running and go back to that, forgetting they ever even existed.

  The two continue grunting and thrashing behind me. I close my eyes and focus in on the sounds of my own breath. In and out. Inhale, exhale. What are you going to do, Ophelia? What are you doing to do?

  My instincts take over, and I do the only thing I am certain I know how to do. I run. I run like mad in a way I never have before. I slip and slide in the mud every few feet and flail like mad to get back on my feet and run some more. The sounds of the fighting men grow more and more distant behind me.

  Steam billows out from my mouth and flaring nostrils against the cold, dark, rainy air. My muscles burn and ache, and I don’t know where I’m going. Everything around me has become unrecognizable, completely changed from how it was when we passed through here before. With each passing second, the rain washes away more. A car here, a tree there. It seems like the entire world is disappearing into this flood, and I know soon Emmett and Theo will be washed away in it.

  A tinge of guilt pangs against my heart, but I force myself to keep running. It’s not my fault. I didn’t ask for any of this. I never would have come to Jameson if I had known this is what waited for me here. All I wanted to do was exactly what I’m doing now. To run. That’s still all I want. And once I am really free, I can go to my safe, warm, dry home where my mom and stepdad are waiting for me. Everything can go back to the way it was before.

  I’ll get the hell out of Jameson like I have been dreaming about all this time. Maybe somehow, I can even avoid the news long enough so that I never know what happened to Emmett or Theo or Jameson or whatever new Elites pop up. I can forget all of Marissa’s words that I’ve read. I can forget the sound of Emmett’s voice and the features of his face. I can forget that I ever loved him at all.

  I keep running and running, but my body starts to lose its strength. It wasn’t that long ago that I was drugged and completely unconscious. Since then I have been under more emotional and mental stress than I thought possible, which is saying a lot considering everything I’ve been through. There was a car crash and all those scrapes against the fence and the surrounding junk. I’m dangerously cold and soaking
wet. It’s all catching up to me and I feel my batteries running out.

  My run slows to a jog. Then a fast-paced walk. I feel like every step could be my last and I’m so close to just falling over and letting myself drown out here in the flood. But I didn’t come this far to give up. I’m a runner. Pushing myself is muscle memory. It’s in my veins. I take in a deep breath and take off again. But I quickly find myself in an area void of any light. I stop, heaving over in panic before desperately looking around for some sense of where to go. My eyes strain in the darkness. We had Theo’s flashlight to guide us through here before, but now it seems as dark as some deep part of a cave, miles below the earth.

  Don’t give up, I tell myself again. I break off into another delirious sprint, not noticing the faintest shadow of something in front of me. I ram straight into the side of a big, broken-down semi. The ground around it is flooded and weak, and I feel the big hunk of metal give way under the force of my body. But it’s still enough to knock me backward off of my feet.

  I shake my head and climb back up, feeling even more disoriented and lost now. I take off running again. I carry on like that for a while, but then a frightening sound echoes through the night. Voices. Screaming voices. I keep running harder and faster, and the voices get closer. Finally, I make something out of the panicked yelling.

  “Ooooopphhheeelliiiaaa!”

  My name is called, over and over again. What have I done? Did I take off running in the wrong direction after I fell? The screaming continues and gets louder as I go until I’m certain I’m headed right back to where I started from. I stop and consider turning around to try again. But more of the surrounding areas of growing unsafe. It’s too late, I think. I don’t know if I can ever get out of here now.