"What did you expect?" the other voice wonders out loud. "She's not Eden Falls material. Never belonged here, anyway."
With a scowl, I put my bag over my shoulder and open the door. The two girls doing their makeup in front of the mirror freeze as I saunter between them, washing my hands and face in the sink.
None of us say a word, them being too scared to look at one another and me not wanting to give them a second of my time. Once I'm done, I smirk and leave the bathroom. As soon as the door closes behind me, I hear them going at it again, gossiping and spreading more rumors.
Let them fucking talk. I'll have my revenge.
I go back to my locker. The hallways are deathly quiet because the lessons have already begun. I stash my school bag in the locker and take out another bag, a weekend one that I've packed with my essentials in case things ever got too bad at the Oakes Estate and I needed to make a run for it.
Dex and I had discussed leaving together. We'd talked about leaving all of this behind. But I never should have trusted him. He was never looking out for me.
Now, my bottom lip wobbles as I think about leaving by myself. I'll be all alone, just like when I first got to Eden Falls. But Dex doesn't deserve better. He wanted to get rid of me. Why else would he send that private photo to Audra?
I hesitate before pulling out the stack of printed out papers from my locker. But it has to be done.
They're pages from Lily Anna's diary, all the vicious, dirty secrets written in her handwriting and revealing these people for who they truly are. They may be Firstborns, but they're really nothing but monsters. Monsters that killed Lily Anna first, and did their best to destroy me second.
As I began walking out of the school, I allow the cathartic moment to take over. I let the papers fall all over the hallway. Pages for every one of these people Lily Anna knew litter the floor. This is going to break them. These secrets will bring Eden Falls to its knees.
And I have no regrets left.
19
Dexter
It isn't until the day's second class that I find out about the photo.
Pandora, my sexy little toy, sprawled out in the most private moment, for everyone to see.
By then, it's too late.
The hallways are strewn with photocopied pages from Lily Anna's diary, and Pandora is long gone.
I corner Audra in the hallway outside the gym, towering over her as I cage her against the lockers.
"Dex," she manages breathily. "What do you-"
"Where did you get that photo?" I hiss. "I know it was you who did this. Don't even try to fucking deny it."
"You..." She bites her lower lip. "You don't fucking remember?"
"Tell me!" I punch the locker next to her and she cringes away.
"God, Dex! You texted it to me! Don't you remember? It was you, Dex!" With shaky fingers, she scrolls through her phone and shows me the text. And there it is, with my name as the sender. The photo of Pandora I took when I fucked her.
"I didn't send that," I mutter. "Impossible. Im-fucking-possible."
"Well, someone did," Audra rolls her eyes. "And who else could it be? You live alone, Dexter."
Except I don't.
And I suddenly know exactly who did this. The only person who's capable of this shit - the one who wants to punish me, whatever the cost.
She was capable of killing two innocent people in the name of her sick love.
She won't stop now.
Lily Anna will keep hurting me and the people I love until she gets her way.
I jog away, my hands forming fists as I race down the hallway and into my car. I screech out of the parking lot. I don't even give myself a moment to sift through the diary pages that have sent the school into a frenzy, because I'm too busy hunting down the girl who made this whole mess.
But with those pages being revealed... it means the end of our world, at least in some ways. It will show everyone none of these people are as special, as sacred, as fucking innocent as they've led everyone to believe. The diary makes us all seem... human.
I groan out loud.
I will deal with Lily Anna too, when the time is right. She'll pay for sending that text to Audra. She'll pay for everything. But first, I need to find Pandora. I need to find her before it's too late. Before she's left town for good, leaving me behind in the dust.
Racing to the train station, I reach it in a record of twenty minutes. The whole time, I'm stressed as fuck, sweating and cursing out loud. I leave the car running and run off to the platform. I know Pandora left to see her mother. I know she saw that photo circulating and thought the absolutely worst of me. She thought I betrayed her again. Finally, now that I'm coming to terms and accepting my love for her, it's all over.
Again.
There's only one train leaving for North Haven today, and it's leaving in ten minutes.
I reach the platform, scanning the crowd for any sign of her. I rush past people, pushing them aside, looking them up and down. No fucking luck. I run on the train next, pushing past people who curse and yell at me, not giving a shit. I see a brunette from the back, grab her shoulder, startle her. It's not Pandora.
I make it through all the carriages and she's fucking nowhere to be seen.
I have to accept it. She's not on the train.
I manage to get off before the train pulls away, sitting on the platform with my head in my hands, kicking at the ground. She got away. She ran away from me. She left me. I'm alone. Alone again.
What happens next feels like a trance.
Somehow I get out of that train station.
Some-fucking-how, I end up at a house party of one of the rich kids in Eden Falls. Someone I used to compare myself to, my competition - without the status. It's been a long time since then.
I'm greeted with open arms. Invited in. Poured drink after drink. I drink all of them. I get asked too many questions to count. I don't answer any of them.
I drink.
I smoke.
I dance, sweaty bodies grinding against mine. Someone tries to kiss me, and I have to get out, I'm fucking dying from the oppressive heat, the booze, the fucking sensory overloard.
I think about Lily Anna, probably worried out of her mind about what's happened to me.
Let her fucking worry.
After everything she's done to fucking with my life, she fucking deserves it.
I fill my mind with a haze that's as numbing as it is comforting. Because when I'm in this haze, I don't know right from wrong, and nothing can hurt me. So I'll just stay in it until the pain doesn't fucking hurt anymore.
I lose myself in the night and pretend the problems won't be here when I open my eyes, sober again.
At some point, I get sick in the garden of my former rival.
But hours later, I wake up with a start in the backseat of my car with a bottle of tequila clutched in my hand. I groan, feeling a killer hangover coming on. But I'm also stone cold sober, and the thought of Pandora consumes me completely now. I need to find her. I need to get rid of Lily Anna for good.
I get behind the wheel of my car with a clear head.
I drive home with my heart pounding and my mind filled with ideas.
I'll beg Lai to help Lily Anna.
I'll give her to Emilian Oakes, to punish her for what she's done.
I'll fucking push her off that cliff myself.
I shake my head to get the thought out. I can't bear to think about it, but the idea is there now, firmly lodged in my mind, demanding attention.
I could get rid of her.
She's hurt enough people.
I could hurt her.
Nobody would know.
I'd get away with it. It would be the perfect crime. She'd be dead. Gone. No more trouble. Never again.
I grind out curse after curse. I'm getting close to home, and when I pull into the lane leading up to the Manor, I knit my brows together. There are two police cars parked upfront, and a line of yellow tape stretches around the pro
perty.
My heart fucking stops when I see it. Dread fills my insides and I taste bile in my mouth.
Lily Anna.
They found Lily Anna.
I know I'm fucked either way. She'll rat me out, blame it all on me. I'll be in jail for a long fucking time - too long. So long Pandora will forget all about me. But I can't bring myself to stay away. I need to know what she's done. If I run now, I'll only make things worse for myself in the long run.
I park in the driveway, surprised that there are no cops outside.
I walk into the Manor with my heart fucking pounding. I hear voices, following them to the floor where Lily Anna's room is.
As I take the stairs, an officer appears above me. We stare at one another. I recognize him as a friend of my father's. A family friend. Someone I used to know, many years ago, when life was simple.
His hand shakes as he reaches to his intercom, buzzing through. "We got him, boss. He's here."
I don't run. I just stand there, and so does he.
"I realize how hard this must be for you," I mutter. "But you might as well put me in the cuffs now. I'm not about to run."
"So you did it?" he asks outright.
"What does it look like?" I hiss. "My house. My fault."
I walk up the stairs and hold out my arms in front of my body. Only hesitating for a split second, the policeman clicks the handcuffs closed around my wrists.
"I can't believe it," he mutters. "Your father was a good man, but you... You are a monster, Dexter."
I feel color draining out of my cheeks as he leads me down the hallway. I see the rest of the cops come rushing down the hallway now, faces as pale as mine. I see right into Lily Anna's room from where I'm standing. It's unlocked, the door left open - a sight I'm not used to. The cops block my vision.
"Where is she?" I finally ask, glancing from one of the policemen to the other.
"You tell us," one of them replies, flashing me his badge. "I'm Detective Sutton. We arrived after an anonymous call was made to the station."
"I don't know where she is," I answer, feeling annoyed. "I'm sure she's spun you quite the little story so far, but I should be allowed to explain my side of things. Because I..."
At that point, two of the cops move.
My eyes zero in on something behind them. Something lying on the floor.
It's a bag. A body bag.
"What... the fuck?" I ask. "What's happened?"
"We have a dead body, Mr. Booth," a third cop replies. "We were hoping you could answer that question for us."
I use all my strength to rip myself away from the guy who's holding the handcuffs. He shouts. I hear them pull their guns out, click the safety off. I don't give a shit, because at that point, I've reached the door and I'm staring down into the body bag which remains unzipped. What stares back at me makes me want to die.
"No," I whisper, falling to my knees in front of the body. "Please, God, no."
"Stay on your goddamn knees!" one of the cops screams, but I couldn't get up if I tried. I haven't cried since my parents died, but looking down at my former friend's unmoving face has made me a mess. His eyes are open. They left them like that. Scaring into nothing. There's a fireplace poker in his belly. Deep, dark red blood surrounds it like a rosette spreading over his stomach, his torso.
He's gone. He's dead. I won't ever get the chance to make things right again.
She killed him.
Lily Anna did this.
And I'm about to take the fall.
"Dexter Booth," one of the cops starts while I'm pulled to my feet. "You're arrested for the murder of..."
20
Pandora
I'm glad I took a cab to the next train stop after Eden Falls. It took a hefty chunk out of the money I've saved, but at least I don't risk anyone seeing me at the train station.
I stare out of the taxi window at the retreating view of Eden Falls. The town was never kind to me, and neither were its inhabitants. But in some twisted way, I'm going to miss it. I'll miss Dexter the most, as much as it hurts to admit. But he's carved out a special place in my heart... one I feel he'll be residing in for a long time to come.
"Here we are, Miss," the driver drawls out. "Stormcliff train station. That'll be sixty-five fifty."
I groan inwardly as I count out the cash, adding a small tip because I feel too bad not to. Equipped with my weekend bag, I get out of the car, staring at the train station with its shops from the pavement.
There's something else I have to do before I board the train. Something I've been putting off for too long.
My hand lingers over my belly. I feel sick just thinking about the possibilities of what could happen. But I can't avoid it any longer. It's been a month, and I'm late. I'm never late.
On trembling feet, I walk to the drugstore on the corner of the station building. Grateful for the anonymity of the bigger city, I grab a pregnancy test off the shelves and keep my head down as I pay for it in cash. The cashier gives me a sympathetic look, but I'm just grateful she doesn't recognize me. The last thing I want is for this to get back to Dexter.
I clutch the paper bag in my hands as I find the ticket station and pay for my ride. Then, I go to the platform and sit on one of the benches next to a stunning looking girl with deep black hair.
Her hair's been bluntly chopped off at shoulder-length. I wonder why she looks so familiar, but look away before she can catch me looking.
The train arrives a few minutes later. The girl and I get on at different entrances, and my fascination with her pretty face is soon forgotten, replaced by the anxiety that's rolled into a ball in my stomach.
I find a seat on the train which is nearly empty, apart from a guy sitting by the window at the end of the wagon.
I settle down and stare out the window as the train begins to move. It's four hours until we reach North Haven. Four excruciating hours of not knowing the truth... unless I take the test now.
Worry twists my stomach into a thousand knots. I know I should do it, but I can't bring myself to get up and go to the bathroom.
I barely last an hour. By the end of it, I can feel drops of sweat dripping down my back and I've had enough.
Leaving my bag on the seat, I walk to the train toilet and lock myself in.
I follow the instructions on the pregnancy test robotically and call out I'll only be a minute when someone knocks on the door.
Counting the seconds, I wait until three minutes are finally over and pick up the test with my eyes closed and my heart pounding.
Please don't be. Please don't be. Please, please, please.
I open my eyes. My bottom lip wobbles. My life changes in front of my eyes.
The test is positive.
"Are you done in there or what?" the annoyed female voice demands again.
"I'm s-sorry," I stutter, throwing the test in the trash. "Coming right out."
I wash my hands, refusing to glance at my pale expression in the mirror. I walk out of there.
The stunning ebony-haired beauty from the station smirks at me as I get out. I walk past her, back into my wagon and collapse in my seat. I reach over to my bag, but the seat next to me is empty.
I look. My bag is gone.
"Fuck," I whisper, checking under the seats. Nothing. I get up and start searching the whole wagon. The bag is nowhere to be seen, and neither is the guy who was sitting there before. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck me."
"Something wrong?"
I look up. The raven-haired girl is there, smiling at me.
"My b-bag," I whisper. "It's gone."
"A weekend bag?" she asks. "Louis Vuitton?"
"Yeah." My eyes light up. "Did you see it?"
"Some guy left with it..." she furrows her brows together. "I thought it was a bit odd he'd carry something like that. There was a stop while you were in the bathroom. He got off."
"Fuck!" I cry out, feeling frustration take over my tired body. It's too much - all of it is just too fucking much. That bag
had everything - my phone, my clothes. I only have the money, which I luckily kept in an envelope in my school blazer.
"I'm sorry," the girl mutters. "I feel partially responsible. I'm Alli."
"Pandora," I mutter miserably. She sits down next to me.
"I'm sorry to say, Pandora, but you seem like kind of a mess right now," she says amicably. "You want to talk? I'm going all the way to North Haven, so I have time."
"I get off there, too." I groan, rubbing my eyes. "This is my worst fucking nightmare."
"Well, let's talk it through," Alli suggests. "You'll feel better if you do. By the way... do you go to Eden Falls Prep?"
I look up, surprised, and notice her staring at my uniform.
"I guess, well, I used to," I manage. "How do you know the school?"
"Oh, my cousin goes there," she replies easily.
"Maybe I know her. What's her-"
"Anyway, you were going to tell me your tragic life story." She leans back with a beatific smile. I can't deny how beautiful she is. Like a dark-haired Barbie doll - stunning perfection. It makes me feel frumpy and sad to just look at her. "I'm sure it's not as bad as mine."
I muster up a smile despite the disaster that is my life. "Wanna bet on that?"
She grins, and once again I'm struck by just how familiar her features are.
"Tell me," she says, almost hungry. "Tell me everything about Eden Falls, Pandora."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Pre-order the fourth and final book in Dexter and Pandora’s story!
Also by Betti Rosewood
Writing as Isabella Starling (erotic romance):
STANDALONES
Pet (King, Sapphire & Stranger)
Peep Show (Miles & Bebe)
Confess (Amadeo & Carlotta)
His Brat (Max and Lola Grace)
His Doll (Jacob and Alice)
His Muse (Mason and Cara)
DADDY BOOKS
Teach Me Daddy (Maddox and Cora)
A Hurt So Sweet Volume Three: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Elite of Eden Falls Prep Book 3) Page 15
