After a few minutes of listening to Ms. Bowen call names, the door to the classroom slammed open and a disheveled-looking guy strode in.
“Mr. Hemlock,” Bowen said. “You’re late.”
“Sorry,” the kid said, not sounding it at all, and came to a stop in front of where Jared slumped. “Who the fuck are you, and why are you in my seat?”
The class tittered appreciatively behind him.
Jared gave the asshole a predatory grin. “Maybe if you showed up on time, you would get to sit where you liked.”
“Settle down, gentlemen,” Bowen said, but the damage was already done. Jared stared down the tall, gorgeous bastard until he crumpled and sat two seats over, under the window where sunlight streamed in on his face.
Broad shoulders. Light brown hair. Overnight stubble. A Windsor-knotted tie, which Jared couldn’t do, and a bad attitude to boot. Nice. Exactly the sort of kid who would get Jared into all sorts of trouble.
The bell rang, and Jared pushed to his feet, surprised when Clare caught up with him in the hall.
“What class do you have now?” he asked.
“English.” She sounded bored, then her face brightened. “So, you met Adam.”
“The beautiful bastard has a name, then.”
“That’s Adam, Jared,” she said emphatically.
“Yeah, I got that. He’s a grade-A twat. What of it? Can you show me the way to my class?”
“Do you even have English next?”
Jared shrugged. “Don’t care.”
“Ooh. You rebel.” Her tone was pure sarcasm. Jared approved.
He didn’t have English next, nor did he have biology after that, but he turned up to those classes, and the teachers barely seemed to notice. Since he’d spent the morning following Clare around, when the bell for lunch rang, Jared broke away with the intention of seeking out Chris.
The canteen was packed full of younger kids, and Jared was forced to stand in an embarrassingly long line to buy a can of Mountain Dew, a bag of chips, and an apple. Possibly unsurprisingly, Chris was in the middle of the canteen, where several tables had been pushed together and he was once again holding court. Mia sat to his left, Ryder to his right.
Great.
Jared was about to divert and go outside, sit in his car, and smoke or something, when Chris noticed and waved. Not a cheerleader wave, more a “hey-you, get your ass over here.” Jared didn’t want to argue with the big guy in charge, so he went over and sat in one of the empty seats.
“Hi,” Jared said.
Chris nodded. “Guys, this is Jared. He’s a’ight.”
Mia grinned at him, and Jared ducked his head. There were still several empty seats around the table, but no one else dared approach them, such was the power of Chris’s aura.
“You again.”
Jared didn’t bother to look up, knowing who was standing next to him.
“Play nice, Hemlock,” Chris said, and Adam sighed heavily before sliding into the seat next to Jared. “Where were you last night? First party of the year, homie, and you split on me.”
“I told you I was going into the city,” Adam said.
Jared silently crunched his apple and hoped to God he wouldn’t get drawn into a conversation. Clare delicately took a seat next to him and raised an eyebrow. He gave her a bitch, please look in return.
“Jared and I caught up last night,” Clare said to no one in particular, although it seemed everyone was listening. She was looking at Jared as if he was the sole focus of her attention, and he felt Adam turn to watch their exchange. “It was nice to get to know the new guy.”
Mia and Ryder tittered appreciatively. Jared couldn’t remember which one was which until the fake boobs popped into his head and startled him into coherency. If there was one thing he was sure of with this group of “friends,” it was that someone was getting played. He had a strong idea that person was him.
“Fuck this,” Jared said, pushing his chair back and standing smoothly. “I’ve had enough. I’m splitting.”
Next to him, Adam snickered.
“Oh, dear,” Clare murmured next to him. “What would Daddy say?”
“Daddy’s probably got his dick shoved so deep down the maid’s throat right now, he doesn’t even know I’m alive. You’re all fucking twisted.”
With deep strides, courtesy of his long limbs, Jared strode out of the school, twirling his car keys around his finger. The last thing he expected when he arrived at the truck was Mia sitting on the hood.
“Get in,” he said simply, and she silently obeyed.
He fired up the truck and still she didn’t speak, even when they got out onto the roads that led from one tiny town to another in the state.
“Where’s the shortcut?” Jared asked.
“Through the gym. The doors are fire-alarmed but they don’t actually go off.”
Jared nodded and didn’t avert his eyes from the road. “What the fuck is going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Fucking Biggie reincarnate back there, the most manipulative bitch I’ve ever met in my life, Mr. Chip on his Shoulder….”
Mia laughed. “Seriously, Jared, it’s fine. They’re fucking with you. You get used to it after a while.”
“You’ve known them long?”
“Only since we were all still in Huggies. Back when Chris was shy and Adam was really little, and Clare… no, she was still a manipulative bitch back then.”
Jared snorted.
Mia wound a lock of her long, pale gold hair around her finger and tugged on it carefully. In this light she wasn’t as brashly blonde as Jared had first thought when they were in the bathroom the night before. Her hair was almost strawberry blonde, a reddish tone that couldn’t be replicated from a bottle.
Compared to Ryder, whose curves were manufactured, Mia was tiny and looked much younger than seventeen. He wondered if she had skipped a few grades when she was a kid.
“Where are we going?” she asked after a while. It had started to rain.
“Fuck knows. I just needed to get out of there.”
“Honestly, Jared, you just have to
