by Bella King
I dragged my feet toward the end of the hall, not bothering to cover my nudity as I limped back toward the dormitory. I was going to take the secret way in so that I didn’t run into Natasha and her gang again. I wasn’t going to let Andrew know about this either. It was my business to get revenge, and he would think lesser of me for being so vulnerable.
It was fucked up to think that the man I was falling for would have no sympathy for my beating, but that was the abuse that I was used to after dating Lucas. He didn’t care what happened to me, and I doubted that Andrew did either. Maybe Daniel showed me some sympathy, but he could be just as cruel as the rest of them. If I was to earn a spot with the boys, I would have to outdo them. I would show no more weakness.
I had to use the wall to keep myself from falling over as I painfully traveled down the hallways to the abandoned classroom that I could use to gain access to the women’s dormitory without being seen. The only risk I took was if I exposed myself while on the ledge, with so many people down below partying. I doubted they would see me, though, because I would be hugging the wall for fear of losing balance and tumbling over the edge.
I reached the abandoned room and managed to get myself back into the dormitory with only a little trouble. It was a painful journey, but I was happy to be alive. I even wanted to go back to the party, but I thought better of it with the condition I was in.
I changed my clothes and returned to the abandoned classroom. There was a large desk at the front of the room, not unlike the one I had hidden under when I was chased by Andrew and his gang the night that I first met them. I would sleep under there and hope that nobody disturbed me. I was no longer safe in the dormitory.
So, I curled up on the dusty floor and closed my eyes, drifting into a deep sleep while my body began to heal. Tomorrow, I would get the supplies I needed from Daniel and do what I had been assigned to do. God help that stupid bitch, Laney.
Chapter 14
“Okay, there’s about 2 liters of gasoline in here that you can use. I really doubt you need all of it, but have fun,” Daniel said, handing a bright red container of gasoline to me. The spout had a yellow cap on the end of it, and I felt the gas sloshing around as I accepted it from him.
“I need matches too,” I said.
“Be patient,” he replied, taking a box of long matches from his back pocket. “You’re awfully eager to go through with this.”
“Just doing my job,” I replied cheerfully.
“Do it well, and we can all have a good time together,” Daniel said, his eyes shining with excitement.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said, trying to backtrack. “I just mean that we’ll all be in the same gang. It’ll be good to have you.”
“I’m already a member,” I said, snatching the matches from his hand. “Just fucking watch.”
I began to walk away, but Daniel shouted, “Wait!”
I stopped and turned back to him, raising an eyebrow.
“The weapon you requested,” he said, pulling a knife from his pocket. It was the same one that Natasha had given Laney to cut my stomach with. The scabs were still fresh on my stomach.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, a bit worried that he had taken it from Natasha.
“The food preps have plenty of them in the kitchen. They won’t miss it.”
“Oh,” I said, relieved. That must have been where Natasha got hers too.
“Yeah, but don’t lose it. I can only snatch so many of them before the administration gets suspicious and puts a guard in the kitchen,” Daniel said, tapping his forehead. “You have to be clever.”
“I understand,” I said, taking the knife and stuffing it in the waistband of my skirt. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. Have fun,” Daniel said, waving at me as I left.
Now, it was time for me to do my worst. Laney was going to pay for the marks she had left in my stomach yesterday. You couldn’t get away with something like that. I didn’t know what she was thinking when she did that, as though she would be safe. Sure, she was just a pawn for Natasha, but she was a pawn who I didn’t like.
I pranced up the stairs to the women’s dormitory, not bothering to go through the secret route. I didn’t care who saw me pouring gasoline over Laney’s bed. I doubted that anyone would stop me anyway. Most people who weren’t part of the gangs tried to stay out of the commotion. If they wanted to join in, they would have joined a gang.
I hauled the heavy container of gas into the dormitory and looked around the first room. I knew that Laney didn’t sleep here because it was where I slept. I stepped into the next room, looking around. There were a few girls there, listening to music or jotting things down in their journals. Laney wasn’t here, but her bed might be.
“Hey, listen up!” I shouted, grabbing the attention of a few of the nearby girls. “Which one is Laney’s bed?” I asked.
They looked at me with wide eyes, clueless.
“Does she sleep in this room?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” a blonde girl who looked too innocent to be at Ridgeview answered.
I squinted at her. “Which room is she in?”
“I don’t know.”
I rolled my eyes and walked past her into the next room, looking around again at the girls who were lounging around. “Listen up! Who knows where Laney’s bed is?” I asked loudly.
Two girls pointed to a bed that was in the corner of the room.
I smiled, walking over to it confidently, ignoring the pain of my bruises as I traveled. They would take a while to heal, but I was determined not to limp around like an injured lamb. Today, I was the wolf.
Laney’s bed was neatly made. The sheets were a brighter white than the ones on the beds around hers, and her pillow had her initials sewn into it with gold thread. Cute. It was going to be reduced to a pile of gray ashes in a moment.
I popped the yellow lid off the gas canister and began pouring the pungent liquid onto the bed haphazardly, watching it splash against the sheets and soak into the fabric.
“What are you doing?” A girl behind me squeaked, horrified that she had been one of the people pointing out Laney’s bed.
I ignored her, letting half the gas in the canister soak into the sheets before I stopped. I needed the rest for something else. I retrieved the box of matched from my waistband and pulled a long stick out of the pack. The match lit up in front of my eyes as I struck it against the box, igniting it in a quick ball of fire.
I heard a gasp as I dropped the match onto the bed. It nearly exploded in from of me, sending a shockwave of heat into my face as the bed erupted in flames. I grabbed the gas canister and stumbled back, amazed at how high the flames reached.
I turned to the women who were sitting on their beds, transfixed at the incredible sight before them. “Don’t tell a soul,” I said, holding a finger to my lips, “unless you want to meet a similar fate.”
Then, I walked out into the next room as Laney’s bed burned down to the old stone floor. I wasn’t done yet. I had another target that I wanted to hit.
I spotted two women sitting on beds with an unoccupied one in the middle. By the looks of them, they worked for Natasha. I assumed the bed in the middle was Natasha’s bed because these women looked like they were guarding it.
“Is this Natasha’s?” I asked them, being as blunt as I could be.
“What’s it to you?” One of them asked, getting up from the bed with a scowl on her face.
“Nothing, I just wanted to give her something,” I said, shaking the gas can and smiling.
“You can give it to me, and I’ll pass it on to her,” she said, unaware of what I was holding.
I chuckled. “Sure thing,” I said, and jerked the canister toward her, splashing gasoline out of the nozzle onto her shirt.
“What the fuck?” She exclaimed, stepping back as the stark aroma of gas filled the room.
The other woman hopped off at the bed as though
to rush me, but I was faster than she was. I threw the entire canister of gas into the middle bed, hoping that it did belong to Natasha, and tossed a lit match along with it.
It took a moment for the fire from the match to reach the gas, in which time the second woman shoved me backward. I pulled a knife from my waistband as the bed exploded into a huge ball of flames, roaring with unbridled intensity as the first girl yelped and jumped away, fearing that she might also catch on fire with the gas that covered her shirt. Smart move.
The second girl ignored the knife in my hand and rushed at me as the bed burned, clearly furious at my actions. I took a swipe at her as she arrived, and she jumped back, realizing that I wasn’t kidding around with the knife. I would use it on her without hesitation.
“Tell Natasha that Little Rose said hi,” I announced, then walked backward out of the room. As soon as I was out of the door, I turned and ran, intending to sneak out of the secret passage that went from the shower room to the abandoned classroom. Nobody would be able to intercept me that way.
I laughed openly to myself as I ran, adrenaline pumping through me to elevate my mood. I felt like I was on top of the world, finally having the balls to stand up for myself and cause some damage as it was due. Natasha would know not to fuck with me again. I could do a lot worse than that.
I didn’t know whether I was getting even or losing my mind, but whatever it was, it felt good. That’s all I ever needed, just to feel good. I continued to laugh like a crazy person as I walked into the shower room to make my great escape.
Chapter 15
I had waged war. Nobody dared do what I had done, and now, it spelled trouble for Andrew’s gang.
“I called this emergency meeting because of Rose,” Andrew announced, waving a hand at a whiteboard in the front of the classroom.
Troy, Martin, Daniel, and I were seated in yet another empty classroom as Andrew explained the gravity of my actions to the group. Andrew appeared to be frantic, almost panicked as he listed names and pointed to figures on the board.
“We’re in deep shit, guys. This is going to take some serious force to correct,” Andrew said, staring me right in my eyes as he spoke.
I was in trouble for setting Natasha’s bed on fire. It was only supposed to be Laney’s, but I had taken it too far. I didn’t tell them why I had, but they now all thought I was off my rocker because of it. Maybe if they knew about the shower room attack, they would be singing a different tune, but I didn’t intend to tell them. Let those boys think I was crazy. It might help me in the end.
“Natasha, as you might already know, has been slowly gaining followers,” Andrew said, crossing his arms. “We’re drastically outnumbered, but we can still win this.”
“If we kill her, then we won’t have to worry about all of this,” I suggested, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Rose, we’re not going to kill Natasha. I really feel like you’re having trouble following orders here,” Andrew scolded.
I shrugged. “It’s not like she wouldn’t do the same to you if she got the chance,” I retorted.
I watched as the color began to rise in Andrew’s handsome face. I was pushing his buttons and I knew it, but I couldn’t help myself. Something inside me had snapped since I was attacked, and now, nothing scared me. I had faced near-death and vanquished it. I wasn’t going to cower down in fear in front of anyone, not even Andrew.
“Rose, you’re the one who got us into this. We’re trying to maintain power at Ridgeview, not kick the hornet’s nest,” he said, his voice growing louder.
“Fuck if I care,” I replied dismissively.
Everyone’s eye widened at my sudden confrontational tone toward Andrew. They knew better not to mess with him, but I had been through hell because of him, and I wasn’t about to let him take the reigns and bully me because of what I had done. Natasha deserved it, and much more.
Andrew charged down the lines of desks toward me, grabbing me roughly by the collar and pulling me out of my chair.
“Ouch, what the fuck,” I cried as he dragged me out of the room, leaving behind the rest of the group.
“Get in here,” Andrew said, throwing me into a closet in the hallway and following me in, slamming the door shut behind him.
It was dark inside, and I could feel Andrew’s angry breath on my neck as he bent over and glared at me. I made myself small, unsure of what he was going to do. After my previous beating, I didn’t think I could take a hit from him without considerable pain. My body was still healing.
“What the fuck was all that about?” Andrew asked in a hushed, but aggressive, voice.
“Why should we care about Natasha?” I asked.
“Because she’s dangerous, Rose. I’m not trying to belittle you in there, but Jesus Christ, have some self-control. You’re making me look bad in front of the others,” he said, his voice growing desperate.
I hadn’t realized that I was undermining his power until he said it. He sounded more upset than angry at me.
I sighed. “I’m not trying to make you look bad. I just think that Natasha is a monster and what I did was right,” I said, holding firm to my initial actions.
Andrew frowned in the darkness. “Natasha hasn’t even touched you. Is this about our history together?”
Great, now he thought I was doing this out of jealousy. It wasn’t like that, but it was difficult to explain otherwise without admitting what she had done to me. I didn’t want to look weak, but this might be worse. I was sure he wouldn’t appreciate a woman who put the gang in a difficult position out of sheer jealousy.
I would have to come clean, or this could get messier than I intended. I took a deep breath. “Okay, Andrew. I have to show you something,” I said quietly.
“What are you talking about?” He asked, clearly confused.
“The other night, after we took a trip to the garden, I ran into Natasha in the dormitory,” I said slowly.
“Well, you set her bed on fire, so I’m not surprised,” he replied, an edge of frustration remaining in his voice.
“No,” I snapped. “It wasn’t like that. I met Natasha before all that happened. She and six other girls attacked me in the shower.”
“Fuck, Rose, you need to be careful,” he replied.
“I’m not finished,” I said, growing irritated that he kept interrupting.
Andrew fell silent, allowing me to finish.
“Natasha had her girls pin me to the wall, and then she had Laney do this,” I said, yanking up my shirt and displaying the word that was etched deep into my skin.
Andrew’s eyes widened in the dark as he realized the damage that had been done to me. He looked up at my face, his eyes shimmering with the first hint of sorrow that I had seen from him since we met. He looked back down at my stomach, then reached his fingers toward the wound.
“Don’t touch it,” I cautioned, moving back.
Andrew looked back up at me. “I didn’t think she would let things get this far. This is my fault,” he said solemnly.
“I think it’s Laney’s fault, really, but Natasha had a lot to do with it,” I replied.
“No, it’s my fault. Natasha should never have been allowed to gain this much power. I’ve been going easy on her because she used to be a part of our group.”
“You used to fuck her,” I corrected.
He chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, that too.”
“But you haven’t gone easy on me,” I reminded him. I didn’t like that Natasha was getting special treatment from him when I was going through hell and nobody seemed to care. Maybe it all boiled down to jealousy, but I wanted to be treated better by Andrew.
“You haven’t finished initiation,” Andrew said, a slight smirk on his face as I lowered my shirt back down.
“I’ve done exactly what you told me to do, and more,” I reminded him.
“Yes, but there’s more to it,” he said, his smirk growing wider. He looked handsome in the low light of the closet. I couldn’t mak
e out the fine details of his face, but the shadows hit him in such a way that it accented his striking features. I sensed a hint of something sexual in his voice, but I was honestly a bit afraid to press further on the point.
“So, when is this going to happen?” I asked, running my tongue over my bottom lip.
“Tonight, after we finish with all this planning. I’m sure everyone is going to need a bit of stress relief,” he answered, keeping his voice low, and smoother than silk.
I felt goosebumps rising on my arms and legs at his words. I knew that something special was going to happen tonight, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. So far, everything that I thought I understood had been turned on its head. Why should this time be any different?
“I’ll do what I have to in order to be an official member,” I said in a serious tone.
“Yes,” Andrew said with a smile. “I know you will.” He stood up straight, displaying his broad chest in a dramatic stretch. “Now, let’s get back to the meeting.”
Chapter 16
It was simple, but there was an order to things that we couldn’t mess up. One wrong move, and Natasha would continue to reign supreme at the school while our gang grew less powerful.
Gangs are simple. When there is only one person in charge, and the group is big enough, it will fall to pieces if the leader is unable to keep an eye on every single member. What’s worse is if the leader is killed or otherwise removed from the gang. It can’t go on after that.
Natasha ruled with an iron fist, but she was also the weak link in her gang. If we managed to remove her, then there would be no more opposition. She wouldn’t be able to get revenge on us because there would be nobody to back her. Without Natasha, her gang didn’t exist.
Andrew had been afraid to go straight for the throat with Natasha, and that had been a huge mistake. She wasn’t nearly as forgiving, especially now that I had joined Andrew’s ranks. He had to step things up before they got out of his control. I was glad that he realized that now.
