Before he turns to walk away, he switches his grip to my wrist and then pulls me with him. I dig my heels in, but the grass is slippery. I fall on the ground, a throbbing pain in my ass and lower back as I land.
Quinn sighs and turns around, but before I can scoot out of the way, he bends over and lifts me as easily as he would a bag of laundry. He throws me over his shoulder, where I land with an ‘oof’, and then starts walking across the quad.
Not, not walking. Stalking. He’s stalking across the quad, away from the buildings, away from anyone or anything that may end up helping me, and I can’t do anything.
Even though I’m beating my fists against his back, he doesn’t slow.
I’m begging him, not even fully understanding the words that leave my mouth, but it doesn’t matter. No mixture of crying out his name and pleading for him to stop will slow him down, and I know it, but I keep trying. I have to keep trying because I know exactly how this is going to end.
I lost the bet with Quinn. When I came to Trinity Prep I was on the edge of having everything, but instead I lost it all. I didn’t know it then, but now I can’t deny it.
We enter the woods but Quinn doesn’t stop. At first, I don’t know where we’re going, but then I realize that we’re headed for the clearing. It’s a good place for him to take me if he wants to have me all to himself.
And he does.
When he finally drops me on the ground, I land with a thud that knocks the air out of me. I have to gasp and claw at the ground to sit up. Dirt jams under my fingernails and my ass hurts more than it did before, but I don’t care.
I have to get away from Quinn before he can get his hands on me.
He stands over me, blocking out the setting sun, his hands planted on his hips like he’s not sure what he’s going to do to me. The thought gives me a jolt of energy – like I think that I’m going to be able to get away from him.
Never taking my eyes off of him, I slowly back up, sliding along the dirt. There’s a rock behind me, and I have to manuever around it, but I don’t want to look away from Quinn. I don’t want him to be able to move suddenly towards me without me being able to see it coming.
I’ve managed to put about ten feet between us before he speaks.
“Where do you think that you’re going?” He hasn’t moved since he put me on the ground, and the fact that he’s standing in place, pinning me to the spot with his eyes makes me even more nervous. “You don’t actually think that I’m going to let you scurry away like that, do you?”
Swallowing hard, I push myself up on my knees. I’m so close to being able to stand, and once I can do that, I can run. I just have to keep him from coming over to me. “I thought that maybe you just brought me out to scare me.”
He laughs, a hollow sound that echoes around the clearing and shakes his head, walking over to me. “Little Abigail, I’ll let you out of here on one condition, okay? Would you like to know what that is?”
He’s towering over me again and I have to tilt my head way back to look at him.
It hasn’t escaped me that I’m on my knees in front of him. Again.
Even though I had promised myself that I would never put myself in this position again.
Even though I told myself that I’d leave school before I had to beg Quinn for anything.
“Yes. Tell me what fucked-up thing you want, Quinn, and let’s get it over with. Let’s see what the hell is going on in that messed up head of yours, shall we?”
He grins and then crouches down by me, looking me in the eyes. We’re almost equals down here, but I can’t believe that that’s what he’s imagining right now. Rather than someone who looks like my equal, he looks like someone who is going to spring and attack at any moment.
“I want you to leave the school. I want you to drop out of the contest for the internship and pack up. Looking at you makes me sick. I can’t stand breathing the same air as you.” He pauses and my eyes dart around the clearing. “Is that clear?”
I nod, even though there are a million questions running through my mind right now. Without looking away from him, I slowly stand up. He rises at the same time as me, just inches from me. My body can practically feel the way it felt grinding up against him.
“So you’ll leave?” There’s a flash of relief on his face, but it’s gone so fast that I think for a moment that I imagined it. “You’ll leave Trinity Prep?”
If I lie to him then he’s going to know it. I have to tell him the truth and just deal with whatever consequences he feels like he needs to dole out. “Not a chance. I’m here, Quinn, and that internship is mine. I don’t know why you think that you can drive me out, but it’s not going to happen.”
For a moment, he doesn’t move, but then he nods and pulls his cell phone from his pocket. I stare, in surprise. None of the students here have cell phones. It’s against the rules at Trinity Prep.
Swiping his thumb across the screen, he opens it and then touches the screen a few times before holding it up to his ear. The person he’s calling must answer almost immediately, because Quinn starts talking right away.
“She says that she’s going to stay.” He’s
