Page 65 of Necessary Cruelty

Twenty-One

Stress makes me oversleep,and I miss the school bus. Even with the three city bus transfers it takes to get to school, I make it right before the tardy bell rings.

Just in time to see Vin’s shiny red Maserati peel into the parking lot with a giggling Sophia in the passenger seat.

It’s pathetic that he thinks seeing her with him will make me jealous.

And even more pathetic that I feel a little bit jealous, even if I’d never admit it.

I don’t want Vin Cortland.

If I say it enough times, that just might make it true.

But right now, I really need to talk to him. I refuse to believe that my brother’s arrest is just some perfectly-timed coincidence. Vin must have something to do with it. He is going to fix this before I set him on fire.

Talking to him or anyone else while at school is strictly against the rules. That isn’t what stops me. When Sophia gets out of the car, long legs wide open despite the fact that her skirt barely covers her upper thighs, she runs around the car to wrap her arms around Vin’s waist.

I want to punch them both in the throat.

Turning away, I don’t bother to wait and see if he returns the embrace or pushes Sophia away. Apparently, the guy who is known for never engaging in public displays of affection has conveniently decided to change his ways. Outside of the infamous parties he throws at his pool house, Vin Cortland doesn’t do hugs and kisses. And even that is just him getting blowjobs from random girls while his friends play video games and drink.

But I don’t care about any of that.

No, it isn’t jealousy that makes me turn away, but the fact that I need to wait until Vin is alone. Sophia doesn’t have any place in my business. She gossips like she gets paid for it and is perpetually short on cash.

I slam open the double doors, and the sound is loud enough to echo off the concrete walls. A handful of students milling in the hallway look to see who is making all the commotion. But when they realize it’s me, all of them immediately turn away.

The forced isolation doesn’t usually get to me, because I’m so used to it. But today, the cone of silence is just one more shitty thing I can lay at Vin’s doorstep. He has spent the last four years doing his best to ruin my life, and so far he has been an unparalleled success.

By lunchtime, my anger has built into a raging inferno that won’t be eased by anything less dramatic than seeing Vin’s head mounted on a spike.

I want to rip his face off with my bare hands and dance in the blood spray.

He isn’t hard to find.

Lunch finds him sitting at his usual table with his band of cronies and Sophia hugged up to his side. At this point, I don’t even care that we practically have the entire school as witnesses.

Marching up to the table, I slam a sheet of paper down in front of him. The message on it is written in block letters with a permanent marker.

WE NEED TO TALK!

There are murmurs from students sitting at nearby tables, but hushed because nobody wants to miss whatever is coming next. I’ve just thrown a proverbial gauntlet at Vin’s forehead, and he is not the type to lose face by turning down a challenge.

He glances down at the paper and then back up at me. “Can’t you see I’m eating?”

Someone laughs as I glare down at him, but I ignore it. If he expects me to be the old familiar Zaya who weakly submits, then he has another thing coming.

If getting my brother arrested doesn’t violate our fucking deal, then I don’t know what does.

I snatch the lunch bag that rests on the table in front of him. Ignoring the gasps of shock from the peanut gallery, I march to the nearest trash can and slam it inside.

Returning to the table, I tap the note with my finger before crossing my arms over my chest and glaring down into his face.

Your move, asshole.

If the loss of his lunch bothers him, Vin doesn’t show it. With a smirk, he shoves the paper away so it skitters across the table towards me and hits the floor. “Leave a message for my secretary. She’ll pencil you in sometime next month.”

Silently, I shove between Iain and Elliot, who surprise me by moving over to make room. Once seated, I lean forward so my elbows rest on the table and I tap the part of my wrist where a watch would be if I could afford one.

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