“Text me if you need anything,” I say.
She snorts loudly. “You can’t afford any more demerits either.”
Now, I am full-on chortling because we both have the same number: one. Though mine is thanks to Beckett and the gym incident when he stole my clothes and swapped them for edible undergarments.
If I’m being honest, it’s a miracle I only have one because last week, Beckett made me late again when he locked me out of the building. Not the classroom, mind you. The. Building. I know Molly’s had something to do with Finn, but she has never offered and I’ve never asked.
Grinning at her, I turn and begin down the hall, only to find Berkshire staring at me.
As I pass his locker, he steps in line with me, and I am sort of happy to see him. Because seeing him means he isn’t tormenting Molly.
“You know,” he sneers—God, he sounds exceptionally whiny today—“if I didn’t know any better, I would say that Beckett chose you because he wants to fuck you.”
He practically shouts it so that everyone hears it, including Ian at the end of the hall who stops talking to Archie, and glares at Finn like he wants to throttle him with his bare hands.
I get the urge though. I too feel weirdly defensive about Finn’s remark, though that’s crazy because I have nothing to be defensive about. Ian’s only ever said that sexy stuff to get under my skin because he enjoys playing head games…right? That’s why he kissed me too…right?
“Finn,” I say, so everyone can hear, “please stop. Every time you speak, my brain cells try to commit mass suicide. It’s like your IQ is no higher than your GPA.”
It takes him a moment, but he stops walking as I continue ahead, a stupidly proud grin plastered on my face. He is such an asshole.
“What the fuck did you say to me?” he roars.
Students are still laughing as he slams me into a row of lockers. He is in my face, and I swear, his mouth must be a portal straight to his soul, because they are both disgusting. He smells like he ate pickled eggs for lunch, and I want to vomit. I have bigger problems though because his hands are on my throat, cinching tight.
“I don’t give a shit what anyone says,” Finn growls, and his voice sounds so, so far away, “if you talk to me like that again, then we will have a problem that doesn’t involve the Thing.”
Blackness bleeds across my vision, but it’s not the cold, scary darkness that I am used to. This is warm and inviting, like drifting off to sleep beneath a heavy comforter on a cold, winter night.
My lungs squeeze for air that is not there. My fingers claw against his arms, locked rods of steel against my throat. He doesn’t even flinch when my nails rake over his skin and make him bleed.
Then Finn is thrown. There’s no other word for it. His fingers are ripped from my throat, and he lands hard, skidding across the marble floor before coming to a stop in the middle of the hall. Students rush into their classrooms like cockroaches scattering at the glare of an overhead light.
I crumble, my knees melting into puddles of pudding. I stare at Ian’s profile, only I see something there I have never seen before—rage. His shoulders heave with his breath. He is not wearing his suit jacket, and I can see the hard line of his back beneath his shirt. I stare up at him, a little dizzy.
“You touch her,” Ian growls, “and I’ll fucking end you, Berkshire. You know the goddamn Rules.”
Finn runs a hand over his now bleeding nose and glares at me. He stumbles to his feet, grabbing onto a locker to steady himself.
“I’m not the one who needs to worry about the Rules,” Finn sneers, his upper lip curling over his straight, white teeth. Wiping the blood away with his hand, he smiles. “Word is there will be a vote.” He laughs, an ugly cackle. “You remember the deal, right? I wonder if you’ll be man enough to honor it or if I’ll have to help you along.”
Ian snarls, and it is the most visceral, frightening sound I have ever heard. He lunges for Berkshire, only Archie jumps in between them, and he and Everett pull Ian back.
I can do nothing but sit and watch the chaos. Headmistress DuMonte is there, shouting and waving her hands wildly as Berkshire continues to cackle. Aurora, Arabella, and Lilith huddle together at the end of the hall, watching the spectacle like they are recording it frame by frame to their memories. Everett and Archie hold Ian, but it seems to take everything they have to do so, and I sit there, my legs splayed across the cold, hard tile, still a little dizzy.
What vote? What is Finn trying to do to Ian? And why do I care?
Ian is a bully. Whatever his motives may be, he is a bully, and you don’t stop calling a tiger a tiger just because it eats when it’s hungry.
Two campus security guards arrive, one taking the still cackling Finn away and the other leading Ian in the opposite direction.
Ian looks at me, and I don’t know what I see there. Confusion? Longing? Archie kneels and takes my hand, pulling me up to stand as though I weigh nothing at all.
“Aren’t you breaking the Rules by helping me?” I croak.
Archie shakes his head, his beautiful blue eyes meeting mine. His smile is kind, and I know there’s no bite to the words, but he says, “Please don’t remind me about the damn Rules right now, Harlow. I can’t decide whether to feel sorry for Ian, sorry for you, or sorry for myself.”
“Why would you feel sorry for yourself?” I manage with a cough.
Archie gifts me with a hint of a smile as he
