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I clench my jaw and force my legs to move, practically falling into the nearest empty chair. Jemma purses her lips in obvious concern opposite me, her eyes dropping to where my fists tremble on the tabletop. I shove them in my lap as Melanie claps her hands together, clearly for lack of a damn gavel.
“Alright everybody, I guess I’ll jump right in and introduce the newest member of our group!” Her eyes are gleaming with barely contained glee, fixed on me in a way that infinitelydeepens my sense of dread. Whatever’s coming, I know I’m not going to like it. “Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Dominic Blackwood, one of our very own Avalon High alumnae. After a little wooing from yours truly, he has generously offered to sponsor this year’s Halloween Ball.”
A chorus of relieved sighs and excited murmurs erupts around the table. But me? I feel like I’ve just been punched in the gut.
“Notonlythat, but he’s also pledged to match all donations made to the school during the event itself! Isn’t that incredible? Such a lucky turn of events that I ran into him at the market earlier this week and managed to recruit him to our cause.”
This is some kind of surreal nightmare, involving a massive spider web and a pair of fanged predators. How is it possible that I’m being pinned by the self-satisfied smirks of MelanieandDominic at the same time? The sensation feels like I’m physically trapped in a sticky cocoon, unable to wriggle free and slowly suffocating.
This is hell. I’m in hell.
“I’m sure we’re all thrilled to have such a dedicated and committed sponsor as Mr. Blackwood, especially seeing as he’s insisted on lending a helping hand to our committee, on top of bankrolling the whole thing. He’ll be working closely with Shiloh to help her organize the venue decoration, and I’m sure they’ll make a great team.”
My eyebrows almost disappear into my hairline this time. Sparing an agonized glance at Jemma, I can see that hers have done the same. Of course, no one else in the room is aware of just how screwed up the arrangement is. Other than Dominic, who’s smug stare is still fixated on me.
I force myself to focus on Melanie as she dives into outlines of everyone else’s current responsibilities in the run up toHalloween. I can’t even hear what she’s saying, because my mind is nothing but a haze of confusion.
What the hell is his angle with all this?
Once the meeting wraps up, several committee members rush to crowd around Dominic, showering him with praise and profuse thanks. He lets it all wash over him with a distinctly bored expression, evidently not sharing Melanie’s craving to be worshiped. The more I watch him, the less sense it makes. I can’t pinpoint any rational motivation that would keep him in town at all, let alone volunteering to throw the same Ball he so viciously mocked to my face.
“What’s he playing at?” Jemma murmurs as she catches me by the door. “The guy gives me the creeps.”
“Hell if I fucking know,” I mutter back, desperate to leave the room before I explode.
I make it as far as the parking lot before he’s caught up to me. “Well, partner,” he drawls, “looks like you and I have lots to be getting on with.”
The urge to scratch his eyes out is so strong, I have to dig my nails into my palms just to sheath them. “If you sabotage this event as part of some sick game, I swear to God, I’ll stab you and toss you in a ditch,” I spit, rounding on him as I reach the sidewalk.
That infernal smirk doesn’t falter for a second. “Now, now. Is that any way to thank your generous benefactor?”
“I would literally takeanyoneelse at this point. Why are you doing this? Why won’t you just leave me the fuck alone like you always have?”
“I thought you’d be pleased,” he says with a mock-innocent shrug. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Funding for your precious Halloween Ball…a chance to reconnect with your long-lost big bro. Where’s all this hostility coming from? Most people would be grateful for such a generous offer.”
“Most people don’t have psychotic stepbrothers who get off on torturing them,” I snap. “What’s this really about, Dominic? Are so you bored with your own life, you have to come and fuck with mine?”
He raises a handsome dark eyebrow, looking me over like I’ve grown an extra head. “Bold of you to assume you occupy so much of my attention, Shy Girl. Wishful thinking on your part, perhaps.”
I claw both my hands through my tangled hair with an outraged scoff. “Yeah, yeah. Make me sound like the crazy one, why don’t you? Just like you always did. None of your issues are my fucking fault, so quit punishing me for them already!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He makes every word sound like its own sentence, forcing them through a clenched jaw.
“Yes, you do. You know exactly what I mean. Are you really going to stand here and pretend like you didn’t take all your anger out on me when we were kids? As if I was the reason your mom chose to break up her own marriage? As if it was my fault she dragged you away from your precious city to live in thisbackwater town?”
His eyes flash menacingly as he steps closer to me, getting right in my face. “You think this is about any of that ancient history?”
“Isn’t it always?” I jab viciously at his chest, though he doesn’t yield an inch. But I don’t care, I’m on a roll now, years of pent-up frustration pouring out of me. “I can’t think of any other reason you’d be doing all this. You just want to shit all over my life because you can’t stand to see me happy. You can’t deal with the fact that I turned out okay and you’re royally fucked up.”
He laughs viciously, as he leans down, so close I can feel his breath. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m doing this for the same reason I do anything. Because I fuckingcan. Because it amusesme to watch you squirm. And if you’re really sookay,so damn unshakeable, how is it that it’s so easy to rattle you?”
My own body betrays me as warmth floods to my core, and I recoil slightly, disgust churning in my stomach. “You’re sick, you know that?”
“And you’re pathetic,” Dominic sneers. “Still so desperate for approval, for someone to care. Newsflash, Shy Girl:nobody cares. Your own mother didn’t care enough to stick around, our parents don’t care enough to be part of your life even though they live minutes away, and I sure as fuck don’t give a rat’s ass. Face it, I just remind you of your own glaring insignificance.”
Every word hits me like a physical blow, pummeling my skin until I’m certain it’s black and blue beneath my clothes. I open my mouth to sling back a retort, but nothing comes out.
No, I’mhurt.
