I left the dining hall in record time and made my way out to the courtyard. The last thing I wanted was for a teacher to corner me and ask what happened. No. The humiliation was enough already, and word couldn’t get out to my dad. I couldn’t let him down.
I pushed myself out of the double doors and into the sunshine, taking a deep breath as the warm rays cascaded over my body. Bliss and for a second, I almost forgot that I’d just been swilled by a mega bitch and laughed from the school dining hall.
No, that was a lie. The humiliation was way too much to forget.
I looked at my phone. It was only 1.35pm. I was sure my dad would have been home having lunch so going back there wasn’t an option, neither was staying in my wet clothes. Damn Pen and her ridiculous hierarchy.
I eased myself out of my blazer and rested it on my lap, trying to ignore the fact that my shirt was stuck to my chest like glue and I was aware of my bra showing through the flimsy material.
A group of girls walked past, looked at me and giggled as they disappeared back into the school and it was then that I noticed Geri.
Her willowy frame and raven dark hair were hard to miss in this school where everyone craved golden beachy waves. Her look was distinct, though. So much so that I’d be able to spot her anywhere and even though my eyes had followed her across the courtyard, she didn’t know I was watching her.
Had I not just been doused in lemon water, I would have called out to her, but there was also something in the way she moved that made me hold back and the way she glanced over her shoulder to check that no one was behind. Odd. Especially after the strange exit she’d had when Rupert removed her from class.
I picked up my blazer and stood up, the coldness of the water making my body shudder.
“Geri!” I called out to her, but she didn’t hear, and I stood to the side so a number of people could pass me before I left the confines of the stone steps and out into the sunny courtyard just as Geri stopped by the infamous wooden door of the Crest Club that Tre had warned me of the day before and I stood and watched as she slipped inside, closing it behind her.
I heard the thud from where I stood as it clicked into place.
The better part of me told me to walk away. To go inside, head to the PE department and get some spare clothes, but the curious part, that part that craved mystery, and had successfully located the missing computer laptops back in London, couldn’t let go. I couldn’t shake the deep-set worry that something wasn’t right with her.
I waited for the courtyard to empty before I made my way across the suntrap, hoping that anyone who saw me now would think I was heading for the Art department.
I reached the door. It was fancier and more ornate up close and I imagined the workers busy carving it into existence many hundreds of years ago.
‘Steeped in history’ Pen had said. Even thinking her name left a bad taste in my mouth. I’d get her back for the monumental public swill, but for now I had other things on my mind.
Geri was in there and it didn’t make any sense.
Tre had said that only those in the Crest Club were allowed behind those doors and it had been the same for many, many generations before and the Cresties had always been male.
I pulled the handle down just as Geri had, half expecting it to now be locked, but it opened easily, and I froze.
How easy would it have been to just let go, turn around and go back inside? Geri was a big girl. She was fine. She could handle herself.
The small whimper I heard from beyond the doors was enough to convince me otherwise and quickly before anybody saw me, I went inside. This was it. There was no turning back.
Chapter 8
The Crest Club rooms were dark with a slight musty smell that hit me as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
I squinted as my eyes took a moment to adjust to the difference in light and the coolness made me shiver against the wetness of my shirt.
So this was it? This was what the Cresties were so sacred over? A gloomy corridor with a few rooms and a carpet in need of a serious wash?
I walked further along, taking in the wall full of photographs. Each one with several handsome young men posed around a shield.
2018, 2017, 2016… every single year was up there, and I marvelled at just how serious they took the club.
The other wall held pictures of their activities and what appeared to be club parties going way back, so far that the further I walked, the more colour drained from the photos until they were just about black and white… and then I heard it again. The whimper, only this time it was louder, and it was coming from one of the rooms I’d already passed. Geri?
I went back quickly, scanning the doors either side. Was she in one of them? I had visions of them standing around her, in ritual dress offering her up as a sacrifice, but the sound of her choking evaporated that from my mind. Whatever this was, it was serious.
I heard muffled voices and made my way to one of the doors. It had to be that one and peered through the window.
What I saw made me jump backwards.
No, it had to be wrong. Surely… I lifted myself up on tiptoes again to get another look. As shocked as I was, there was no mistaking it.
Geri was knelt on the floor, her school skirt pushed back up over her arse as a guy I’d never seen before thrusted himself into her from behind while her lips were wrapped around another’s cock.
Holy shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. I was routed to the spot, watching her body arch as the Crestie’s filled her up.
Was this also what they’d called her from the classroom to do? Was that why she’d bristled. Had she been excited to be summoned or had she been scared? Afraid?
I reached my hand down to the doorknob. I had to find out. I couldn’t walk away and leave her there, not when I didn’t know…
“You shouldn’t be in here.”
The male voice behind me was calm and smooth despite catching me where I didn’t belong.
I spun around quickly on my heel, coming face to face with Harry.
He looked me over, his eyes skimming my clothes, the wet see-through shirt and the dark bra it failed to conceal underneath.
I pulled my blazer tighter around me, remembering that he’d been there when Pen had poured the jug of ice water on me. He’d watched her do it and as they had some stupid ‘thing’ going on, he was just as responsible.
“Neither should she,” I whispered gesturing behind me towards the door. “What the hell is going on in there? Is this consensual?”
His eyes narrowed at me but he didn’t need to look through the window to know what was going on in there which led me to believe he was part of it too.
“You shouldn’t be in here, Hughes,” he repeated, ignoring my question and taking two steps closer to me. I edged back against the wall until I couldn’t go any further, all the while our eyes stayed connected and I was sure he could hear my heart beating through my chest.
“My name’s, Ally,” I breathed back, glancing towards the door again, but he stepped into my view.
“Oh, I know your name,” he responded, and I sucked in a breath as I suddenly felt his fingers travel up the front of my shirt, touching over the wet materiel and it sent shivers over my body, albeit good ones. until he stopped by the top button. “Why don’t we get you out of these wet clothes?”
“But… Geri. She… She needs to come with me.” I cursed myself for stammering, for letting him think he could overcome me with his charm and good looks.
“Geri’s exactly where she wants to be…” he said with a brief smile. “I’m more interested in you…”
His other hand reached up and joined him at my collar. He waited to see if I would protest before working to undo the button and then my rational brain kicked back into action and I put both hands on his chest and pushed him backwards with so much force that he almost stumbled to the ground.
There was movement and voices from the room
and Harry whipped his head up to glare at me and before I could speak, he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall and into another room, closing the door behind us and pressing his finger against my lips.
The room was silent and dark and for a moment all I could hear was our shallow breaths until footsteps walked past and deep voices echoed out.
“Are you sure you heard something?”
“Positive.”
“Don’t worry, the doors locked, and everyone will be at lunch. Let’s finish up and get out of here.”
“Don’t know if I fucking can now. I’ve gone soft.”
“You’re a beast, James, you always can…”
I waited in silence until I couldn’t hear them anymore and then I let out the breath I’d been holding. Harry had…saved me?
He relaxed in front of me and ran a hand through his loose curls.
“What would they have done if they caught me?” I asked, my voice still low despite the guys going away.
He turned away from me and looked out of the small window to the corridor, making sure the coast was clear.
“We have a rule,” he answered. “No females allowed and those that ignore that…”
He trailed off.
“Geri?” I whispered.
He didn’t respond and instead fiddled with some crap beside the door.
“Harry!” I snapped. “If you’re Crestie buddies are holding Geri here against her will, you’ve got to say something. You have to speak up!”
He looked up at me sharply.
“What the hell do you think we are, Hughes?” he asked. “We’re not animals. I said it before. Geri’s exactly where she wants to be. Here take this.”
He thrust a top at me and some trousers.
“What’s this?”
“Clothes,” he answered quickly. “Get changed and then we can get out of here.”
My ice heart melted slightly as I took them from him, and I realised that what he’d been fiddling with was a bag. Most probably his.
“Thank you,” I whispered, humbled. “You didn’t have to.”
“I can’t have you standing there in soaking wet clothes.”
Our eyes met and I shook my head.
“Perhaps you should have told your girlfriend that before she swilled me.”
He chuckled slightly.
“First, she’s not my girlfriend and second, what she did was wrong. Bang out of order there and I’m sorry. Sorry I couldn’t have stopped her.”
I pulled my blazer off and shrugged.
“It’s fine. I don’t think she realises that all of this bullshit isn’t going to make me stop eating in the dining hall. It’s going to take a lot more than pouring water over me and boasting about her parent’s expenditure to get rid of me.”
I twirled my finger in front of him and he jumped around quickly when he realised I was about to get undressed
“Oh, ugh, sorry!” he said quickly, and I laughed at his sudden awkwardness. The great and handsome, popular Harry didn’t seem so bad after all.
I peeled off the wet shirt and pulled on his rugby sports top and then his trousers. They were a couple sizes too big, but I was grateful and there was something about wearing his clothes that gave me a boost inside.
Did that mean that he accepted me into his fold?
“How do I look?” I asked and he turned, allowing his eyes to roam over me. For a second, I thought I saw a flash of admiration or whatever you call it, in his eyes but it faded the second he smiled and gave me a thumbs up.
“Like you got wet and got changed,” he teased. “Perfect.”
I walked over and nudged him.
“I’ll take that as a compliment then.”
He watched me intently as I came up beside him and he held a plastic bag open for me to put my wet uniform in.
“You should…” he said slowly and for what seemed like the hundredth time, our eyes met until reluctantly I pulled them away and gestured toward the door.
“Reckon you can use your skills to sneak me back outside?”
He nodded and cleared his throat.
“I think I can manage that.”
Quietly we left the room and Harry guided me back towards the entrance and once I was back out in the sunshine, I let out a big sigh of relief. I’d seen enough and I was quite satisfied that the Crest Club was just a society of jerky, sex crazed guys rather than a sick, twisted cult, I never wanted to set foot in their headquarters again.
I turned back to Harry when I realised that he wasn’t going along with me.
“Well, thank you for the clothes. Its really kind of you.”
“Don’t mention it,” he replied. “It’s the least I could do after everything that happened.”
I nodded and squinted at him against the sun.
“Well, as long as your girlfriend keeps away, maybe I might be able to say hi again sometime soon.” My comment got a laugh from him as I lifted my hand in a small wave. “See you around.”
“You too!”
I took several steps across the courtyard before I heard his voice again calling out to me.
“Hughes?”
“Yes?” I turned to look back at his smiling face by the door to the Crest club.
“She’s not my girlfriend!” he hollered and with that I turned and walked away not wanting him to see the huge smile that had taken over my face.
What had started off as a shit afternoon had suddenly morphed into something exciting and intriguing and if things continued in the way they were going, then my time at Atherton School was starting to look up.
Chapter 9
The next morning my dad was already downstairs waiting for me when I came down. He handed me a piece of toast and waited until I was seated before clearing his throat.
“I had a call from the hospital…” he said carefully.
I put my breakfast down and sat upright. Something in his tone didn’t settle my nerves.
Beth kept her eyes down on her porridge, but I could tell she was avoiding my stare.
“And?” I pressed. “What did they say? Is mum okay?”
I braced myself for the bad news. The words that I’d been dreading to hear ever since I’d woken up in hospital.
My dad came around the table and sat down beside me.
“You know the accident was hard on both of your bodies. It was horrific and I’m surprised that you weren’t injured further…”
“Just tell me…” I whispered, already resigned to the fact that she wasn’t going to make it, but I wanted him to say it. I wanted to hear it from his own mouth so I could fully process it.
The phone started to ring, and my dad glanced up at Beth who was way ahead of him. She rushed out to the hallway and once I heard her muffled voice, I turned back to him.
“Am I going to lose her?”
He shook his head and gave my hand a squeeze and I suddenly I snapped back to reality. Last month I didn’t have a father. I didn’t have that solid figure in my life, and we’d handled our business just the two of us just fine.
I pushed my plate away, the surrealness mixed with worry had taken away my appetite.
“Your mother’s very ill. You know that. You saw it for yourself before we left, but they haven’t managed to bring her out of the coma yet…”
“They aren’t going to turn her machine off, are they?” I asked, closing my eyes so I could picture her face. How was it that honestly, she hadn’t been the best parent in the world of recent, but she was mine and I loved her.
“Its quite a way from that, Ally,” he answered. “Don’t think about it for now, but I just want you to understand that no matter what happens to her, you’ll have a place here with Beth, me and the baby…”
We looked at each other for a moment and I could tell he was trying to gauge if I thought it was a terrible idea, but I threw my arms around him. Pleased to have him around and pleased that he was there to fight in my corner.
“Right,” he sighed when I let
him go and Beth came back into the room. “If that wasn’t anyone important on the phone, I’d better get to work. There’s a site delivery I have to see to. See you at dinner? Maybe with a takeaway tonight?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He pinched a triangle of toast from my plate, kissed Beth on the cheek and disappeared out of the kitchen. The room remained in silence until we heard the front door close and slowly Beth lowered herself down onto the chair opposite me.
I could sense a change in the atmosphere almost immediately, and I pretended to fiddle with the corner of my phone.
“Ever since your father got the call about your mother’s accident, he’s had visions of you attending Atherton,” she whispered, despite us being alone in the house. “He spoke about you even before any of this happened. Always talking about the daughter he never got to bring up…the one he wasn’t allowed to see.”
The venom she used to say the last part got my back up and I glared at her.
“My mum might not have been perfect and has definitely made some mistakes over the years, but she’s always tried her best.”
Beth pursed her ruby red lips.
“I don’t doubt that. At all. But over here, we do things differently and I’m aware that the school you’re from is…” she pretended to struggle for the right word. “rougher than this one.”
I was aware of the anger and annoyance building up in my chest as she looked across at me with her false pitying expression.
I knew her type. She’d most probably been against me coming here. I could imagine the arguments she’d had with my dad over how long I could stay and having me round. She was young, less than thirty and in her little world and her little bubble, she wanted to have her own baby and that’s all. She hadn’t signed up to play stepmother.
“Just say it,” I hissed at her. Disappointed that we clearly weren’t going to get on as I’d hoped.
She folded her arms and rested them on her round stomach.
“Fine,” she snapped. “We’re you’re from in London people do whatever they want, but here, there’s structure and years of discipline. When you’re staying in my house, you do exactly as you’re told. This means a lot to your father and the last thing I want Is for you to turn up, let him down and humiliate him. You’re used to not really having a parent figure back home and I can’t have a loose cannon around my baby. It’s not good for us.”
Diamond - A British Academy Rich Boy Bully Romance (Atherton School Crest Club Book 1) Page 5
