Page 13 of Spin the Damn Bottle

Mel leans toward me. "I bet you fifty bucks he's hungover."

"Not taking that fool's bet."

After the TV's set up, we watch the first episode of the BBC version of Wuthering Heights. I haven't seen it before, but I still freaking hate every single character in that story.

Jason doesn't make an appearance at any point in the next hour and a half.When the bell rings, I close my notebook and stuff it in my bag.

Cain turns to face me. "You can ask, you know."

I guess exactly what he means, as there’s only one burning question in my mind, but I decide to feign ignorance. "Ask what?" I'm dying to know where Jason is, but I'll be damned if I let anyone know that.

Because if Cain knows, Jason will know.

The dark-haired asshole scoffs. "What the lady doesn't ask, she doesn't get. You're eating with us?"

My refusal is instant. "I don't think so."

I might not entirely dislike Cain, though I trust him about as far as I could throw him, but lunch with a tableful of legacies isn't my idea of fun.

"Suit yourself, but we'll save you a place.” He reaches out for my arm and pretends to hit it in slow motion, barely touching me. “You're one of us, now."

The strange thing is, the way they spoke to me today? It almost feels like I am.

I don't know what to make of any of this, but I don’t trust it.

CHAPTER NINE

I eat at my usual table, glad for a sense of drama-free normality for a while. Besides, it’s nice catching up with my surface lunch time friends.

The one notable absence from our usual party is Sophia. A sweeping glance around the cafeteria shows me she's seated at the popular table, next to Yuki, and only three seats away from her sister.

I noticed in Italian, and I’m struck by her appearance again. Sophia’s almost unrecognizable. She’s lost tons of weight in the last few months, and her natural makeup makes her skin appear perfect and glowing. Part of me is happy for her. Proud, even. She came out of her shell after the It Girls embraced her. She also dumped me like an old shoe, but I don’t mind, so whatever. Good for her.

When I look at Brooke, I catch her shooting daggers at Sophia and smile to myself. Serves her right. Brooke bullied her little sister relentlessly for years. Seeing Sophia get along so well with the true queen bee of the school has got to sting.

I sit next to Willow, indifferent to Sophia's absence by now.As usual, the redhead piled her plate up with a ton of food, and I have no clue where she packs it.

Alexander tells us about his chess competition in Russia. He beat a player ranked second worldwide and earned a fat lump of cash in the process.

"I bet twenty bucks on you," Willow says, surprising everyone around the table.

I hadn't known Alexander had a competition, but if I had, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of checking on him, let alone placing a bet. We're not that kind of friends. Maybe Willow, abrasive as she might seem, cares more than the rest of us. Or maybe she fancies Alex.

I can’t see it, though. Not only because he’s average and Willow’s objectively a bombshell, but because she seems entirely oblivious to the other sex. Not even Jason ruffles her feathers. Maybe she’s asexual.

“How did you do it?” Elisa asks."Don't you have to be over twenty-one to gamble?"

“Online. My sister's twenty-three, and we share a common account for bills and stuff. I just put in her details. It made me over five hundred bucks. I wish I could have spared more than a twenty, the odds were insane.”

The reminder that twenty bucks is the maximum that she could have spared is somewhat comforting. It reassures me that there are some normal people around me. I think back to the whole private plane conversation with the legacies, and smile.Willow is my kind of person.

"Congrats on your win, too, I guess." Alexander grins at her. "And thanks for the vote of confidence."

I'm almost done with my meal when I feel a prickle at the back of my neck, and automatically glance over my shoulder. Jason strolls in, his arm around the shoulder of none other than Marie Vaughn.

Marie fucking Vaughn.

As in, the asshole who destroyed my sculpture of Stheno in art class.