Page 5 of Spiteful Lies
Bryce turns the corner and hurries toward us, and I can see from the look on his face that something worse has happened. My stomach freefalls, and a wave of sickness races over me. Who else has Gillian shared the exams with? She begged me to print them for all her classes, and I let her have it to shut her up. I sat beside her in the computer lab and watched her transfer the files, but did she only transfer the ones she needed? I kept eyeing the lab monitor at the main desk, but he wasn’t interested in us. But I kept thinking he knew what we were doing just the same.
“We have to get out of here,” Bryce tells us as we crowd around him. “Something is about to happen, and we don’t want to be around.”
I bite my lip, not ready to confess that I let Gillian borrow the flash drive. I got it back, but fuck, she probably sent all the info to the cloud. I’m such an idiot. The answers were supposed to help me stay in school, not get kicked out. For now, I keep my mouth shut and make eye contact with the floor. Let me hear what he has to say first before I start blabbing.
“What’s going on?” Pierce asks under his breath,
Bryce looks at me for a fraction of a second. “I can’t say it here. We have to go. Where’s Wyatt?”
“They’re not going to let us out of here,” argues Pierce, eyeing the huge guard who’s further down the hallway. “Did you see all the people blocking the doors? They’re not even letting us go back to our dorms.”
Bryce ignores him and taps his phone screen. “Have you been watching the news?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “And I don’t mean social.” He eyes me again. “Don’t look at it here, Astrid.”
My heart sinks to my gut. He’s not talking about midterms.
Something has happened with Ted Leister, and the way he keeps looking at me…Someone must know.
Someone has talked. Fuck. Of course it’s going to get out there. People are going to know that Leister tried to…
I shut the word out before I can think it and shudder again. I step quickly over to a window and crack it open for fresh air.
Outside, I see Dr. Rawlins standing on the green, perfectly dressed in a red suit and matching long coat. She’s surrounded by a group of men in dark coats and suits, and at first, I think she’s been ambushed by the press.
But then Rawlins starts marching forward as they trail behind her like sheep. In that moment, Rawlins is not just a queen. The bitch is an empress, and that’s sincere praise.
Her eyes narrow and her lips press together as she listens to some man talking beside her. She holds up a gloved hand, and the man is instantly silenced as she barks a command. She points a finger at him and then at the school. For a split second, our eyes meet, and I quickly step away.
“I have to get out of here,” I whisper, holding my heart through my pounding chest.
Out of sight, a commotion starts and comes nearer as men yell. Individual words are unintelligible as shouts stream together. Footsteps hurry down a hallway nearby, and my panic rises until I can barely catch my breath. Does she know about the Pit? Is Rawlins coming to get me?
Bryce grabs my hand. “Come on,” he hisses, “Get her out of here.”
Bryce tugs at my arm, but like a deer frozen as a car races toward her, I stay in place, waiting for doom. But instead, a flood of relief washes over me, and I smile when I see Wyatt. He turns the corner of the hallway and storms toward me.
The guards try to stop him, but Wyatt isn’t suffering their foolishness as he shoves them out of his way to get to me. I start running toward him and land in his arms, holding him tight against me. I won’t let go.
They can drag Wyatt out, but it will be with me clinging to him.
Chapter 5
Astrid
“You are not allowed in here!” shouts a guard wearing sunglasses indoors.
The guard that talked to Pierce earlier taps the other guy’s arm. “Leave him alone, man. Can’t you see that’s his girlfriend?” The guards leave, satisfied that the trouble is over, but it’s only starting.
I rest my forehead on Wyatt’s shoulder as he whispers in my ear, “Astrid, it’ll be okay. You just have to hold it together for a little longer.”
I wipe a tear away. “People know,” I whisper, “They must know what he tried to do to me.”
Wyatt glances at Bryce, standing directly behind us, and Bryce’s dark expression confirms my guess. “They don’t know a name,” Wyatt admits. “Astrid, we stick to the plan. Don’t deviate, and it will be okay. I swear it.”
Pulling back, I nod though I know he’s wrong. Stonehaven will never side with me. I’ll never belong here.
Justin returns from the end of the hallway. “The door on the north side is only protected by teachers. We can definitely get through it.”
Wyatt lets go of my hand and stands behind me while Pierce stands in front of me. Justin stands to my left while Bryce stands to my right. They surround me with their muscled bodies, and we’re a match for anybody on campus. I get my mental shit together and prepare to kick ass too.