Page 107 of Raise Hell

Twenty-One

The more timeI spend around Olivia, the less I want her to leave St. Bart’s.

And the less I believe she is actually a threat to Havoc House.

But we have a plan, and it doesn’t involve me falling for her.

I’m lying in bed, trying and failing to convince myself I should try to get some work done. The last thing I want to focus on is schoolwork right now.

My phone vibrates on the comforter, once and then twice more. I finally glance down at the screen.

There are multiple notifications from the Havoc House group chat.

Nolan: It’s going to be tonight, right? Bitch won’t know what hit her.

Cole: if advocating violence against women is your hobby…and we’re out of beer

Vaughn: Anybody catch the game last night? I can’t find the highlights on ESPN.

Nolan: Then send some pledges out on a run. No point in having them otherwise.

Nolan: Drake man, you gotta make this good. The look on Olivia’s face will be in my spank bank for the rest of the year.

Nolan: I hope you make her cry.

Nolan: Don’t just leave us on read, you asshole.

I push the phone away without bothering to reply to any of the messages. Not for the first time, I wonder why I can’t be as cavalier about all of this as they are.

What’s the total destruction of one girl when our gilded futures are on the line?

When I go downstairs for an afternoon snack, an ambush is waiting for me in the kitchen.

Nolan crowds up behind me when I open the fridge. “I need those dirty deets, man.”

“You need to get off my back.” I shut the fridge door without taking anything out of it. “You’re having way too much fun with this mess.”

Cole lounges against the counter. “I read somewhere that one in ten people is technically a sociopath. When you run the numbers, someone in this house has to be one.”

“What are we going to do to the bitch?” Nolan presses, obviously unfazed by the implication. “I need to know.”

I take a deep breath and slowly exhale it. “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing anything at all.”

They both just stare at me.

Nolan cocks his head to the side. “I’m not sure I heard you right.”

“It’s been almost two months since school started,” I argue. Opening the cabinet, I rifle through the boxes of cereal and crackers so they won’t see the expression on my face. “If Olivia was going to come at Havoc House, don’t you think she’d have done it by now? Maybe it would be better if we just dropped this.”

“What’s the statute of limitations on attempted murder?” Nolan muses, the question obviously rhetorical. “Oh, that’s right, there isn’t one.”

Cole just shakes his head.

Vaughn steps into the kitchen before I can reply.

“What are we talking about?” he asks lightly.

“Dumb shit.” Nolan pushes off the counter. He glances back at me from the hallway. “The Halloween party is as good a time as any, lots of people will be here. Make it happen, or one of us will have to do it for you.”

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