Idol Star School: A Dark Bully Romance (Idol High School Book 1)
Page 20
“Not that it means a lot, but yeah,” I muttered.
“How so? You got almost nine million votes. That’s incredible. You’re going to be starting season two on a high note,” she said.
Though I should’ve put on a front and thanked her, I couldn’t contain my frustration toward the turn of events. “What’s the point though? Honestly, I don’t even want to stay for season two. I’d go over to the pigsty if it meant I could skip the banquet tonight.”
“How dare you say that,” Mandy snapped.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t you know how lucky you are?”
“Lucky to be what? Quarantined on the island? What’s more, this whole show is a freaking joke. Everybody’s turning a blind eye to what goes on among the students behind the scenes. What would the viewers think if they found out? God, I can’t believe people think Juno lost his mind and snuck into a pigsty. What the hell is that all about? The people who snuck into our room deserve to be in jail,” I said.
“Ever stopped to consider how they might’ve had their reasons?” Mandy retorted.
“No. They’re sick in the head. If it were up to me, they’d be locked up in a maximum-security prison.”
“That’s rich, coming from a fraud like you, Honey,” she barked. As soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, her eyes grew round. “Shit.”
“I’m…” I paused. What I meant to say was how I wasn’t a fraud. However, there was no use in lying now. She was not only aware of the fact that I was a girl, but she knew my real name too. “You knew I was a girl before you saw me in the wet T-shirt, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. It’s a complicated story. Not to mention how the other people involved would kill me if I shared the details with you now.” She laughed. “Let’s just say I’m one of the Minis. Not just any old Mini, but the number one Mini.”
“Are you the person behind my fan club?” I said.
“Yes and no. I leaked the footage of you and got the hype started, but the rest happened organically.”
“I can’t believe it.” I rubbed my temple as I reflected on the events that had taken place over the past couple of months. “Thank you, I guess. I don’t know if you’re on my side or not, but it’s clear I wouldn’t have gotten this far without your help.”
“Oh, it wasn’t entirely my doing. You make a pretty convincing boy—and a charming one at that. People like your androgynous look. They think you’re cute,” she said.
I blushed.
She went on. “No wonder your roommate was so jealous of you. It’s a pity he couldn’t focus on his own performances. He just had to resort to spying on you and snitching to RJ.”
“Juno was ratting on me?” I said.
“Yup. I overheard them talking to each other. You’re lucky Juno didn’t find out you were a girl,” she muttered.
“He did, actually. But then that night, he, well, the whole pigsty incident happened. Or at least that’s what the public believes.”
“Seriously? So it was a close call then.” Mandy smirked. “Thank goodness for my help, huh? You wouldn’t be here right now if I’d sent those guys over a day too late.”
My stomach churned. “Are you telling me you destroyed his vocal cords to do me a favor?”
“Juno deserved it.”
“No, he didn’t. Why couldn’t you have convinced him to keep his mouth shut without ruining his life?” I cried out.
“Geez, Honey. Some words of appreciation would be nice,” she groaned.
“Are you serious? You really expect me to clap my hands in glee and thank you for cutting Juno’s vocal cords?” I growled as I turned around and marched away.
Seconds later, I heard a jingle and stopped in my tracks. Had somebody been in here listening to us? I promptly dashed up the staircase, where a laundry basket had been abandoned, and passed the door. Then I sprinted down the hallway as if my life depended on it—hell, maybe it did. Once I caught a glimpse of a mint-haired somebody disappear into a room, I followed him inside.
It was a large storage space with what appeared to be furniture draped in cloth. Once I shoved a chair out of my way, I realized it wasn’t a seat, but a large vase. Great. I’d shattered it into pieces.
“Nice going, Yo-yo.”
When I looked up, Terry was coming over to me. For a minute, I expected him to laugh in my face before he ran away to tattle on me to his band members. Instead, he grabbed my hands.
“You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” he asked.
Chapter 32
Terry
Hamin Han was a girl. Though it was what I’d been suspecting after the recent turn of events, I still couldn’t get past this revelation. Oh, and her name wasn’t Hamin; it was Honey.
“You heard everything, didn’t you?” she said.
“Just the most important part, it seems. For one, your name’s not Hamin, is it?” I replied.
“Oh God, I’m fucked.” She lowered her gaze. “And you were running off to Sammy and RJ.”
“No. I was going to my room. I had no idea what to do next. Can I be honest with you?” I took a deep breath, knowing RJ would lose his mind if he were here. But the fact of the matter was, he wasn’t here with us—and for that, I was glad. “I’m sick of scheming against you like it’s going to make the island a better place. It’s not.”
“So are you trying to tell me you’re on my side or what?” she said.
“I don’t know whose side I’m on, at least not yet. But I sure as hell have no interest in plotting against you with RJ anymore. Not to mention how I should’ve listened to Arang when he told me he had a bad feeling about Rye,” I confessed.
Her mouth dropped open. “Rye? He’s in on the pranks too?”
“Yeah. He likes to think of himself as the honorary head of Pluto Entertainment sometimes. Anyway, I’m so sorry, Yo-yo—I mean Honey. I can’t believe I did nothing while a bunch of guys shoved you around for an entire semester. That isn’t right. It’s disgusting.” I sighed as the times I’d seen her helpless flashed through my head. While Arang and I had told RJ to leave her alone for the last assessment, we hadn’t outright stopped him and Sammy from rigging the back entrance of the Song Center either. I felt like a monster. Things had to change. I extended my hand. “I apologize for everything.”
“Can you stop calling me Yo-yo then?” she murmured, staring at my hand.
“Of course. I’m sorry,” I replied.
“If that’s the case, you better not call me Honey when anyone else is around,” she said while we shook hands.
“I won’t. Is there anything else you want to share with me?”
“This doesn’t mean much, but I’m actually a year older than you.”
“You’re not seventeen?”
“Nope. It’s been a royal pain in the ass putting up with shit from fifteen-year-old boys,” she groaned as we went over to the corner, dodging the vases and sculptures that were wrapped up, and sat on the floor.
“How did you put up with all this for so long?” I said.
“It’s what I had to do.” She crossed her arms and glanced up at the ceiling. “Executive Song has never met me—I mean, he’s impossible to get a hold of. He and I have unfinished business though.”
“So you came to Starsaw Island with the hope of meeting him?” I asked.
“Yup. Years ago, Pluto Entertainment fucked my brother over, and I need answers,” she muttered.
“Executive Song is, well, an unusual guy. He’s almost impossible to meet face to face, especially when he doesn’t know you. Have you tried reaching out to anyone else at Pluto?” I suggested.
“Yeah. Rye.” A look of pain flashed across her face. “That turned out to be a nightmare.”
“What happened?” I said.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She got up again. “Not with you.”
It struck me then that she probably didn’t have anyone to confide in. Not on the island, and not elsewhere either. No wonder she’d to
ld me so much already—she must’ve been keeping it all to herself for some time.
Funnily enough, these days, I found myself in a similar position.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not ready to share,” I blurted out.
“What makes you think it’s a matter of readiness? I don’t want to tell you about it ever,” she snapped.
“Alright. I just want to say that I get it.”
She glared at me. “Get what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t have anyone to open up to either.”
“What about the other members of STAR? You’ve got them, haven’t you?”
“You’d think so, right?” I chuckled warily. “But lately I’ve been thinking about how, at times, the longer you’ve known someone, the harder it can be to open up to them. When you’ve got a sense of how a person’s going to react to what you share—what they’ll quickly forget about, what they’ll get worked up over, and, in RJ’s case, what he’ll give you grief over—you realize it might not be such a good idea to reveal what’s on your mind.”
Honey’s face turned pale. “Maybe that’s why my brother never told me what he was really going through.” She collapsed onto the floor. “I used to think I could keep my head down, keep my mouth shut, and do the hard work on my own with nobody’s help. Turns out, life’s not that simple.”
For a minute, there was complete silence.
“When I was fifteen, I found out my brother Domin, who’d been a trainee at Pluto for two years, had been put in a coma. After I went to collect his belongings, I found a letter he’d written to Executive Song. It led me to suspect that someone at the entertainment agency might’ve intentionally hurt my brother to shut him up,” she explained.
“Domin, did you say?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Do you know him?”
“No. But after I joined Pluto, I heard rumors about how a former trainee was now in a coma. Nobody divulged the details though. I was never even told his name.”
“For a while, I was totally set on getting to the bottom of the situation by talking to the people who are in charge of Pluto Entertainment, which is where Rye comes in. I chased him down and introduced myself as Domin’s younger sister. He laughed in my face and told me not to waste my time,” she said.
“That sounds exactly like the sort of thing he’d do,” I remarked.
She went on. “Of course, I wasn’t going to give up that easily. A few days later, I followed behind him while he went to meet his friends and waited outside while he got hammered. After I saw him come out of the bar and head to the bathroom, I thought that was my chance—unfortunately, so did he. Once he realized we were alone, he took me to the bathroom and… and he pinned me against the wall. When he began pulling down his pants, I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t.”
“Jesus. I’m so sorry,” I murmured.
“He didn’t even need to have his hand over my mouth. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I wish I’d tried to fight him off while he hiked up my uniform skirt and called me Pigtails. Instead, I just wept.” She covered her face with her hands. “Everything went wrong, yet nothing happened. He couldn’t stay hard. God, I could feel bile creeping up the back of my throat while I watched him try to wriggle his limp dick into me. No amount of water could wash away the disgust that ate away at me. People say that victims should speak up as soon as an incident has taken place. In reality, it’s not that easy.”
As she peered up at me, I realized I had to help her. Not because she was a weak damsel in distress—that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I was determined to help her because I respected her strength and refused to see it snatched away from her.
“Since I grew up in a crummy orphanage, I had nobody to go to. The only person who’s ever protected me was Domin. So I had no other choice but to fend for myself. I was no longer going to be Pigtails. Who would’ve known I could be such a convincing boy though?” She laughed dryly. “Anyhow, I don’t know why I’m sharing all of this with you. Even loners can only keep everything to themselves for so long, I guess.”
“Honey, what you just told me stays between us, I promise you,” I said.
“I don’t know if I buy into that, Terry. The last time I trusted you, I found out you were a pickpocket,” she pointed out.
“Please let me make it up to you,” I insisted earnestly.
She furrowed her brow. “Are you serious? You’re willing to bite the hand that feeds you, huh?”
“Maybe I’ve had enough of the crap I’ve been fed.” I took a gulp, knowing there was no turning back. “Honey, I want to help you. I mean it.”
When our eyes met, I knew we had an allegiance.
Thank you for reading Idol Star School! If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review. Even a short review helps tremendously!
Want to know what happens to Honey and the STAR boys? Visit Nara’s website and subscribe to her newsletter to be notified when Idol Star Secret, the next book in the series, releases. You also get a free steamy story upon signing up.
Join the club: www.naranoelle.com
Also, don’t forget to check out Rarity, Nara’s upcoming reverse harem sci-fi romance featuring three irresistible violet-eyed warriors.
Also by Nara Noelle
IDOL HIGH SCHOOL SERIES
dark reverse harem romance
Idol Star Secret
XYTYL WARRIORS SERIES
sci-fi reverse harem romance
Rarity
THE CURVY IT GIRL SERIES
emotional new adult romance
The It Girl Wears an XL
The It Girl Eats Carbs
WEST SEOUL UNIVERSITY SERIES
light new adult romance
Rich Boyfriend, Famous Boyfriend
Boy Band Boyfriend
The Fake Boyfriend Lesson
About the Author
Looking for a book that'll make you laugh, cry and swoon? Then Nara Noelle is the author for you! She writes passionate sci-fi and new adult romance novels about brooding, tortured bad boys who are willing to do and risk anything for their girl. Some of her stories feature just one hero, others include a reverse harem of hunks. Either way, she doesn't shy away from steamy scenes.
Nara would love to hear from you! Feel free to drop by her website and send her a message. While you're there, make sure to subscribe to her newsletter for new release updates, exclusive content and giveaways.
www.naranoelle.com
Acknowledgments
I am incredibly grateful for all of my readers. Thank you so much for your book reviews, Facebook comments and warm messages.