Page 76 of Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys 1)
Hael grins at me.
“Want to take a risk?” he asks, and I feel this heat creeping up into my chest. I swipe some pink-tinged blond hair behind an ear and shrug.
“Maybe at lunch?” I retort, acting like I know way more about this sort of shit than I really do. How many blow jobs have I given in my life? One? Two, maybe. But there's this challenge coupled with eagerness in Hael's face that I want to see through. I just can't risk missing anymore class, not when Pamela is still a threat. Sending Havoc after her is an option, but I was sort of saving her for last, after the Thing had been dealt with. I'm hoping that whatever the boys come up with, it neutralizes him as a threat.
I just want my sister safe, that's the only thing that matters.
“Lunch then,” Hael replies, stroking a thumb down the seam in his jeans and giving me a devilish sort of grin in response. “Meet me in front of the cafeteria.”
“Deal,” I say, leaning back against the door to study him. I swear, it still smells like sex and sweat in here. “But don't think I'm not expecting you to return the favor.”
“Oh, I see how it is,” Hael growls as he pulls us out of the driveway and starts off toward the school. I always know when we're headed in the direction of Prescott High because the houses get considerably less nice, smaller, and much closer together.
“Am I not allowed to ask for reciprocation?” I quip, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Ehh, on the contrary, I think that's how a Havoc Girl should sound,” Hael says, parking in his usual spot, right next to the dumpsters and just outside the perimeter fence. It's the exact same spot we fucked in yesterday. “But don't worry.” He leans over to take off my seat belt and puts his hot mouth right up against my ear. “I give as good as I get.”
Hael climbs out, leaving me to follow along behind him and around to the front of the school where we both endure the usual pat-downs, metal detectors, and rude inquiries intended to make us feel like fucking terrorists.
As soon as I get in the hall, I can feel it, his eyes on me.
“What?” I ask as Vic steps out of the shadows of one of the classrooms, and Hael freezes up. Maybe our having sex isn't as much the non-issue as he made it out to be? But Victor doesn't say a word, sweeping up the hall toward his first class and carrying a dark shadow with him that makes me shiver.
“Fuck me. We might be in trouble,” Hael murmurs, but then he just shakes it off and keeps going, leaving me to brave my English class alone.
Kali isn't present today which is a goddamn blessing. I swear, I can still see a drop of red blood on the floor near her desk. It makes the class a little easier to get through as Mr. Darkwood returns both of my poems covered in red marks and asinine suggestions that I'll never take. My poetry might not be good, but his is lifeless, rigid to form, and dull as drying paint. I ball both of the pages up, chuck them, and then start over again.Guilt tastes like ash on my tongue.
I'm tasting the remnants of yesterday.
But a cherry-red Camaro can't take away the question in your eyes:
Who are you? And what have you done to me?Victor Channing is not in a good mood when I pause outside the cafeteria and find him standing there. He's waiting, maybe? I guess we've all been eating lunch together every day since I joined Havoc.
What'll it look like if Hael and I both disappear, as we'd planned?
I stand there awkwardly, trying to think of what to say. Vic seems quite content to keep silent, staring at me and refusing to avert his gaze. Luckily, Aaron, Oscar, and Callum show up before the stifling silence chokes me to death.
“Are we intending a funeral?” Callum asks, trying to lighten the mood with one of his deep, dark chuckles. “Because the atmosphere is tense as fuck.”
Hael appears, swaggering down the hall like he owns the world, and wearing a cocky take-no-shit smile.
Vic doesn't smile back.
“After school, we all head straight to Aaron's. Is that clear? Any other deviations from the plan I should know about?” he snaps, and Hael's smile disappears.
“No boss,” Callum says, lifting his hands up in a placating gesture. He exchanges a look with Hael who at least has the good grace to cringe, running a hand over his red faux hawk.
“About yesterday—” he starts, but Vic is already pushing his way into the cafeteria, and Aaron is staring at me like he's never seen me before.
