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Chapter Twenty
Two weeks. Two freaking weeks it takes for Jax to get tested and for the results to come back. I stay over in his bed every weekend, and he takes me out on several lovely dates. We hold hands a lot. Occasionally he kisses me. And every night we spend together his erection presses up against me. The guys have been amazing, understanding that I needed time to get to know Jax. But no contact with any of them for close to three weeks is killing me. To say I’m ready to explode is an understatement.
Tonight is the school Valentine’s dance. Valentine’s day isn’t until next week, but it falls during half term break and lots of students are leaving campus, so they’re throwing it tonight instead. I’m excited, not for the dance, but because tonight I move back into the guys’ place for the week. I’m really hoping I can put an end to this dry spell. With four boyfriends you’d think I’d be getting plenty of action, but no. I sigh.
Tonight I’m planning to take out two of the princesses, but I have to move fast this afternoon to get everything in place. I wait until classes finish - thankfully early on a Friday - before sneaking down to the kitchens. It’s heaving in there, but they’re so busy preparing the food for tonight’s buffet that no one notices me. I steal the large packet of peanuts that I need, plus a pestle and mortar, before heading back to my room to start grinding. And mashing. And pulverising. It takes forever, but eventually, I have a giant stash of peanut powder.
I sneak into Amber’s room and swap out a small portion of her loose mineral foundation for the light brown powder I mixed up. I stash the rest in my clutch for the dance later and head down to the hall where the dance will be held. Once inside, I sneak into the DJ booth and insert my memory stick into the laptop. Some of the tech geeks in my English class were talking last week about the slideshow of images that would be played at the dance - mostly photos of couples and love notes as a Valentine's special. I add my selection: snippets from diaries, photos, love letters, and best of all, video footage taken from the princesses’ laptops. Done, I headed back to my room to get ready for the dance.
When it’s almost time, I head down to the school hall where the dance is being held. I’m early so that I can sprinkle the rest of the crushed up nuts across the buffet food. I heard that Amber has an allergy to nuts, so I’m hoping my stunt tonight will be enough to send her to the nurse for a day or two. I think the powder in her foundation was a genius touch, just enough to trigger a slow reaction and hopefully make her face swell up enough so that she resembles Sloth from The Goonies. The school have hired professional photographers to capture every moment on camera tonight, so my fingers are crossed that this moment will be immortalised forever. The nuts in the food is an extra failsafe, just in case I was too light-handed with the foundation. Once I’m done, and all of the powder is gone, I slip back out of the hall to go and meet the guys.
The dance is actually very well put together. Rather than decorate the hall in garish reds and pinks and an abundance of tacky love hearts and Cupids, the decorating committee opted for black and red, giving the whole place a sensual feel. The DJ’s playing pretty decent tunes; songs with driving beats you can grind to, rather than mushy love songs. I approve.
When we arrived, the five of us posed together for a photo. I make a note to ensure I get a copy of it, something to preserve the moment. Since then, I’ve danced non-stop, and I always seem to have one of the princes within touching distance. I’m having a wonderful time, but I’m continuously keeping an eye on the princesses. I’m closely watching Amber in particular, trying to gauge if her face looks just a little bit puffy.
Since I found out that Rebel dated Amber, it’s been like an obsession - wanting to take her down. None of the other revelations bothered me as much as this one. I think it’s because Lexii and Natalia are gone, and Ace and Belle actually make quite a sweet match. Or maybe it’s because Belle isn’t a threat. Amber’s stunning, her silky straight hair hangs down past her waist like mine, and she has bright green eyes like me too, but her hair’s a deep fiery red that matches her confident take-no-shit personality. She’s like me, and I can see why Rebel would like her. I hate her. I had such a smug satisfaction when she had to go to the nurse for a skin salve after the chilli incident, and when she had an ‘emergency’ hairdresser’s appointment when the peroxide in her swim cap turned patches of her hair an ugly shade of orange. Before they fell out and left gaping bald spots. Expensive hair extensions soon sorted it, but not before half the school saw the damage, and she freaked out. I’m not going to lie, the satisfaction I got from that was so much more than simply revenge for Lizzie.
But this is the girl who bribed the rest of the swim team to turn their back on Lizzie in an attempt to oust her from the one thing she absolutely adored. When that wasn’t enough to make her quit the team, Amber and the others held her under the water until she blacked out. After that, Lizzie didn’t swim again. I could’ve taken revenge in the same way on Amber, but it didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to really scare her. Terrify her even.
I watch her as she walks over to the buffet and starts to load her plate. The food’s exquisite, as always. I had some earlier and couldn’t taste the nuts at all. My eyes track her to a nearby table and stare as she begins to tuck in. It starts with a slight cough like a tickle in the back of her throat that she can’t quite clear. I’m absolutely fascinated. I can’t tear my eyes away from her. She reaches for her water and takes a sip before continuing to eat. When the coughing starts again, she switches to something else on her plate, but it continues. She downs the rest of her drink and resumes eating.
Even from the next table over, in the low light, I can see her face starting to change. It’s taking on a purple hue, and she’s beginning to resemble a chipmunk. It’s like watching a CGI morph in slow motion. But she mustn’t feel it because she finishes everything on her plate... And then she really starts to cough. A hacking ugly wet sound that makes several people around her throw dirty looks her way. Her normally petite elfin face is now grotesquely misshapen, and her lips are starting to look like a seriously botched Botox job. It takes a moment more before she realises, but when she does, her hand moves to her lips and her eyes widen in horror.
With morbid fascination, I watch as realisation dawns in her eyes and panic sets in as she understands what’s happening. She clambers to her feet, hands flying to her throat as she begins to gasp. She can’t breathe. My gaze is impassive as I watch her stumble around, trying to make her way to the exit - where maybe she thinks fresh air will help her? She’s halfway across the crowded dance floor, stumbling and shoving people out of her way to a chorus of angry, indignant shouts when she collapses.
Instantly the room springs into action, running to help her, yelling for an ambulance to be called. A couple of teachers come over and help lift Amber up, supporting her as they half drag, half carry her from the room. I watch Rebel the whole time, to gauge his reaction, but there is none. He looks as dispassionate as me; like he literally couldn’t give a fuck if she lives or dies. I like that. I like that a lot.
Silence ensues, the music cut off in the commotion, and the DJ announces that it’s time for the slideshow. It’s an excellent way to draw attention back to the party and to stop the whispers. A low pulsing beat begins, and everyone turns to face the large drop-down screen behind the DJ booth, giving it their full attention, Amber’s drama instantly forgotten. I watch the crowds’ reaction to the sweet, cheesy and sometimes even naughty, notes that flit up on the screen. They laugh, giggle, blush and whisper behind hands as they speculate over which person sent which message. It’s an excellent way to break the tension from before. The slideshow rolls on until suddenly whispers spread like wildfire across the room.
I look at my guys and see Thorn and Rebel all looking shocked. Jax looks bemused. They didn’t know. Ace just looks sad, and I wonder if maybe he was keeping the secret for her. My eyes flit over to Tilly, who looks incensed, and Belle, who looks absolutely mortified. She’s close to tears. I feel bad for her, I do. I didn’t mean to out her in front of our whole year group, but I couldn’t find any other dirt on her. She may not have bullied Lizzie, but if she really loved her like she professed in the letter showing on the screen, why the hell didn’t she stop the bullying and step in to save her?
The students all spin round to stare at Belle, who colours and goes to rush from the room. Before she can get far though, Tilly grabs her by the arm and whirls Belle around to face her. In the background, the love letter she wrote to Lizzy fades out, and the recording of the two of them in Belle’s room begins to play, the sound cutting over the music.
“What the fuck?” Tilly screeches at Belle, who looks completely shell-shocked. She doesn’t reply. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you’re gay?” Yep, she said that loud enough that if anyone was in any doubt about who wrote the love letter on screen, they now knew without a shadow of a doubt.
“I-“ I don’t know what Belle’s trying to say. She’s as white as a sheet, swaying unsteadily on her feet.
“I let you sleep in my bed you dirty fucking... dyke!” A resounding slap fills the room, and Belle’s head flies to one side under the force of Tilly’s slap. She bursts into tears and runs from the room. This time I don’t feel so good about the events that have happened, but at least I’ve exposed Tilly for the homophobic bigot that she is. Everyone’s staring at her in disbelief, looks of disgust evident on their faces.
“Fuck off,” she snarls at the room, flouncing off in the opposite direction to Belle. I feel like only Tilly could make someone else’s sexuality about her somehow. God, what a bitch.
Jax sidles up next to me and slips his hand into mine.
“That’s enough drama observing for one night, don’t you think?” My heart stops, convinced that he knows I’m responsible for everything that’s happened tonight, but then he squeezes my fingers and gives me a smile. “Want to get out of here and create some drama with me?”
Absofuckinglutely! I’ve waited far too long, and now that my work here is done, I couldn’t be happier to leave. I beam at him and nod, glad to let him lead me from the hall, outside and back to his house. The other guys don’t come with us.
I follow Jax into the darkened house, up the stairs to his room. I’m well acquainted with it by now, but my stomach’s dancing with butterflies tonight. This is different. The air tastes electric, and my skin tingles with anticipation. It’s been a long time coming, teasing, and now the moment is finally here, I’m nervous. Excited, but nervous too.
He’d hinted that I might not want to be in a relationship with him once we were intimate. There was the way he’d interacted with Tilly, and then that Christmas kiss-bite-choke thing that made me explode, so I had an idea what he might be getting at. The idea didn’t leave me cold. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I watch as Jax closes and locks the door, turning and stalking towards me like a predator. I swallow nervously, and his dark eyes track the movement of my throat. I feel trapped, skittish, unsure if I should run. When he nears me, he reaches out and runs a single finger down the side of my face and over my lips, gently parting them. He slides his finger in and orders me to suck.
“Good girl,” he murmurs, watching me closely, and I melt. I don’t want to, but his pet name instantly thrills me, and I find myself wanting to please him. “You like that.” He doesn’t word it as a question, but I nod anyway.
He slides his hands down my sides and hooks them under the hem of my short dress, pulling it off over my head in one smooth motion. He steps back to stare at me.
“No panties. You are trying to kill me.” I smirk as I stand before him completely nude. “Exquisite.” I blush at his compliment. I want to see him naked. I want to touch him. I reach out, but he steps away. “No,” he tells me, and I blink at him, confused. “Let’s do this my way, Okay?”
