Page 24 of Bite Me

“I need to be in that club.”

Olivia is typing into her phone and I grab the stuffed bear she’s crushing. That’s my favorite.

“What are you doing? You better not embarrass me.”

I try to glance at what she’s typing, and she shields her phone.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Emma.”

Why does everyone keep telling me that? Is it a foreign concept that I, an adult, can make my own decisions and deal with the consequences?

“Maybe not, but let me make my own mistakes.”

Our mother would have. That’s the whole reason she wanted us to come to Doxlothia University. She was a legacy; almost all students who come here are. Mom believed we would shake things up, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

I catch the tired rub of her eye as Olivia goes on typing. Probably tattling on me to Parker. The memory of her in a hospital bed and of not knowing if she was going to wake up is still fresh in my mind. I never thought she wouldn’t, but there were times I secretly worried, like when Parker refused to eat until he knew she’d be okay.

That happened because of people hiding in the shadows with bad intentions. My family was targeted, and I had no idea. Parker and Olivia may act like my annoying, overbearing parents right now, but I can see why. They’re trying to protect me from this place.

“I know you’re just trying to help,” I offer, snagging a bit of her popcorn.

She glares. Her silent “I love you.”

I promised myself I’d be less self-centered this semester. Olivia needs to spend less time worrying about me and more about herself. That’s one reason why I’m doing this. This is my dream, and I’m going after it, and I don’t want her interfering and stressing herself out because of me.

“This is all Dacre’s fault anyway. He’s trying to make me look bad,” I say.

I know he knew that the camera was there, but I can’t prove it.

“You talk about him a lot,” Olivia says, not looking up from her phone.

“Do not.”

She shrugs. “Just be careful. I have a feeling about this. There’s more to it.”

There is. Dacre has an angle, and I’m about to go into the belly of the beast to figure out what it is.

If it were Olivia, she’d never let anything stop her from getting into the ballet company, and I won’t let anything stop me either. I need to find out what game he’s playing, and unfortunately, that means getting up close and personal.

Chapter Nine

Dacre

“I heard you were having a good time at Luxxia House last night.” Luther nudges me, taking a sirloin and placing it on the countertop.

It’s only noon, and it’s already been a long day.

Luther’s specialty is butchering and meat prep, so he always has animal blood on his coat and in his hair. Right now, it’s bringing bile to my throat.

“All in good fun.”

“You don’t have fun, but I think it’s a great idea for you to take the load off.”

Oh, he’d love that.

You can’t trust anyone at Doxlothia and especially not the people I’m forced to hang around. But Luther being the vice president of the culinary club has to be some cosmic torment. What did I do in a past life to deserve to have to fight the urge to stab this fucker in the arm every day?

The worst is that he has real talent, and I have to actually keep up with him. He’s almost beaten me a few times in cook-offs. He’s got the passion and drive that’s slowly leaking out of me every day I’m forced to be here.