Page 91 of Dare To Take

Instead of the flippant response I’m expecting, he sighs. “He’s fucking obsessed with the idea that if he comes out as gay, he’ll be kicked off the swim team.”

“Pretty sure no one gives a fuck about his sexuality.”

“His so-called friends might. I think he’s scared of how they’ll look at him. Especially after he claimed to be dating Arabella.”

“The girl he abandoned, you mean?”

“You don’t really have any right to be annoyed by that, Eli. Not with the way you’re treating her.”

His mild words hit their target.

“If she would quit provoking me, I’d leave her alone.”

“Would you, though?” He takes a sip of coffee. “See, I’m not sure you would. If she hadn’t started this … this thing between the two of you, then you would have done something to get her attention. There’s no way you’d have allowed her to ignore you. You don’t like the fact she won’t believe you didn’t leak that video. I know you, Eli. You wouldn’t be able to leave that alone.”

I’m about to reply, to argue, when a scream rips through the room. A second one follows almost immediately, and everyone surges up and runs for the doors.

“What the fuck was that?”

We trade glances, then move as one, following everyone else out and along the hallway to where the lockers are. Shocked whispers are rippling through the crowd when we get there, and then the students part to allow a white-faced Arabella through.

She comes right up to me, blue eyes blazing in her pale features, and slaps me.

“Why?” The demand is high-pitched. “Why, Eli? I told you it wasn’t me! What kind of fucking monster are you?”

She goes to hit me again, but Kellan grabs her from behind and pulls her away before she makes contact.

My gaze shifts over her shoulder. I walk around her and through the still-whispering students. A couple of the girls have their hands pressed to their mouths, tears in their eyes, and I follow the direction of their gaze.

There’s a dead rat, its entrails pulled out, pinned to the front of her locker.

Whore is painted below it in blood.

Chapter 58

Arabella

“Calm down.” Kellan’s arms tighten around me to stop me from attacking Eli again. I’m shaking. Sick to my stomach. He must have left the dead rat as some kind of macabre trophy.

Is this to get back at me for what he thinks I did with a stuffed toy?

Do you really think he would kill a defenseless animal?

I’m too horrified and angry to listen to the voice inside my head.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I spit.

“It wasn’t me.” Eli’s voice is flat. “Just like the last dead animal wasn’t me.” He raises his voice. “You need to get more original with your pranks.”

I struggle in Kellan’s arms and try to break free. “Bullshit. It’s not funny, Eli. You need to get your head examined.”

“What is going on?”

Mrs. Winters appears, pushing her way through the crowd. Her attention jumps from my face to the bloodied rat pinned to my locker. I watch in morbid fascination as she goes pale, and horror takes over her expression.

“Mr. Travers.” Her voice is low and unsteady. “Report to the principal’s office immediately.”

Anger ripples over Eli’s expression. “It wasn’t me.”

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