Page 141 of A Dead Man's B-Side
They were Scott’s friends and we couldn’t very well have them watching as we led him away.
Paris and I walked quietly, barely speaking until she decided to break the silence. I almost hadn’t heard her, her voice drowned out by all the other noise, “Tonight should be eventful.”
I ran a hand over my hair and continued to look around. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
I passed Ajax with a barely-there nod of acknowledgement, my eyes moving around the crowd to find that everyone I laid eyes on were lost within their own kindred spirits.
When we reached the far wall of the observatory, Rain seemed to appear from thin air as Paris moved back into the throng of students. At first, I hadn’t known why Ajax demanded I be here when I could have very well waited in the parlour alongside August and Marigold. But I watched from afar as he seemed to gesture towards me every now and then with every new group that he passed.
I tensed.
What are you doing, Ajax?
As if the looks might burn, I turned my head away, focusing my attention elsewhere.
We had all seemed to have spotted Scott Kensington without issue. His football jacket cockily splaying his name,S. Kensington, across its back. He had his head bowed next to his brother and they both looked horrible in their own way. While Scott was drunk and giddy, King looked exhausted and paranoid. He kept glancing nervously over his shoulder and digging his fingers into Scott’s arm, most likely trying to convey the severity of the situation as his twin brother tried to walk away.
They didn’t quarrel for long.
Only a few moments before King seemed to throw in the towel and turned away.
We watched as Scott moved around the room, clearly too intoxicated to notice Ajax close in and whisper something in his ear with an overconfident smirk.
And his brother was too paranoid to notice Rain approaching him. We may have had to hide in the shadows, but Rain was still student body president and that was something we wouldn’t be passing up on using. I could see her chastising the size of the party, rambling with big and long words about the concept she’d been approached to approve, and the reality of it. King seemed lost and frustrated.
From there, it was pretty easy.
So far, everything seemed to go according to plan.
With King occupied, Paris slipped out of the observatory with a flirty smile back at Scott, who happened to take Ajax’s words for truth.
I watched with pursed lips as I recalled Paris’ vehement refusal to entertain such an idea, only to propose it when we were stuck on how to lure him out of the observatory after I tried dissuading her from coming.
Wolf huffed out a breath as he made his way over to me. “I’ve seen Scott with plenty of girls, who would have thought he was this persuadable.”
I let out a sound of agreement and went to follow the pair, Wolf treading on my heels at a distance.
“Listen, Kensington, I am willing to let this pass and choose not to direct this situation to the Dean–”
I walked through the crowd, passing Rain before she fell out of earshot, and out the door. I was supposed to wait for Wolf, but I couldn’t, moving down the stairs and into the room that closely resembled the student lounge, this one with a door. There, I found Scott had barely said a word—as slurred as it was going to come out—to Paris, who stood at the far wall, looking out the window with a careless expression, before I lunged for him and tackled him to the ground.
My heartbeat spiked at the sudden movement, but I held fast, having the element of surprise. It didn’t take long for Wolf and August to join me. Together, we strongarmed him into one of the chairs. When he tried screaming for help, August held his handagainst the boy’s mouth to silence him, and Wolf pulled out the rope and cloth Marigold had brought along.
It didn’t take long to have him bound and silenced, though he was crying and trying to speak around the barrier over his mouth.
When I straightened and let out a huff of air, trying to regain my breathing, I heard Paris speak as she observed her nails, “Took you all long enough. It was three against one.”
Wolf rolled his eyes, his voice coming out breathless from the exercise, “He’s the size of a tank.”
I nudged him and hissed. “Don’t let him hear you. He’ll fight back.”
“Alright,” Rain’s voice startled us all, the act we were caught in the middle of not very favourable had it been someone else. “Ajax will stall if the need arises. In the meantime, let’s make this quick.”
In haste, a chair was pushed closer to face Scott Kensignton, and Marigold pulled out the leather pouch she seemed to treasure.
August sat in front of the boy, whose eyes were wide with fear, his gaze moving around to each of us frantically.
When Wolf stood behind him and untied the cloth, Scott began.
