High School Hit List (CLIQUE BAIT)

43. runaways and commitments

Will,

You weren't supposed to warn her. I can't promise you're safe now.

But to be honest, you never were to begin with.

⋆⋆⋆

As much as I tried, I just couldn't pull my lips into the confident smirk I wanted to. Not anymore. Instead, all I could manage was a grimace of loathing, a seething glare that would make young children whimper. But level one? They'd probably find it comical.

I'd been in front of the mirror for much longer than I should've been, trying to bide my time, knowing my mother was hovering outside, intent on dropping me at school to ensure I actually went. I was ready, the golden headband resting on my hair almost like a crown. They knew about Monica and I, and I was hoping that left them terrified.

In the car I fidgeted with the USB in my pocket, flipping it over and over, replaying in my head the videos that were collated together, ready to be mailed to every student in Arlington.

The first was relatively weak in evidence, but full of potential. Li, drunk or high or both, her cheeks rosy and her eyes wide as between fits of laughter she gestured with her hands the size of the history teachers... ugh, I didn't even want to visualize it. Apparently that was how she was passing her classes. And she thought to brag about it at Maddy's birthday party last year.

The second was also comparatively tame, a clip of Piers being blatantly rejected in front of a host of girls, who found it incredibly amusing. You could even hear Mike's chuckling in the background.

The ash blonde boy was terrible at flirting, cornering a pretty sophomore.

"Hey, babe, I haven't seen you around here before," he'd said, his voice slurred and deep in an effort to come across as seductive.

"That's because I'm new," she'd said, her cheeks heating as her gaze flickered to her friends on either side of her. She was uncomfortable. He seemed to find that cute.

"Would you like to come hang out upstairs?" he'd asked, leaning in closer and letting his hands brush against her ink black hair. She'd recoiled. "We could have a lot of fun."

"I don't want to," she'd replied, her voice growing louder, attracting the attention of the people around her.

"You don't have to make a scene," he'd purred, taking her waist.

If that wasn't enough to condemn Piers, then what she'd said next definitely was.

"You're a creep, you're just rude and ugly. Back off!" Then her drink had ended up on his shirt.

Like I said, it was trivial. But enough to cause him at least some embarrassment. Especially with an ego as big as his.

The next was a little different. Max's video wasn't so much something that would embarrass him publicly, but more something that would make him look like an asshole. And hopefully hurt him in a way the rest of the school body would never know.

It was a party in his own home, and he'd become wildly drunk. So drunk that he was becoming angry, shoving a few guys around and making them leave. Even to some girls, he came across as hostile. I didn't miss Zach hovering by his side most of the night, but it was when he wasn't there that things got messy.

I didn't recognize the boy at first, but it was a student from Richmond Prep. I also didn't know what he'd done to get Max so fired up, but he had him by the scruff of his shirt by the time Mike's camera found him