Page 3 of Snitches and Serpents

I hope he doesn’t hold a grudge.

2

TRISTAN

The back of my neck prickles. It feels as if someone is staring at me. I crack an eye open, but I’m only met by the clear blue sky and the beaming sun above. The semester starts tomorrow, so I figured I would enjoy this final day of peace before I have to start juggling both my engineering program and the highly illegal job that allows me to pay for it.

Sitting up in my chair, I twist slightly to adjust the backrest. The chair is old and doesn’t work properly, so it takes two tries before the mechanism clicks into place. I blow out a sigh while tuning out the sound of Paul and Amir discussing some game or other on the other side of the table, and then I sweep my gaze over the street ahead.

My heart jerks.

Blinking, I do a double take and then snap my gaze back to the two women who are walking down the sidewalk.

There is a blonde girl who I’m pretty sure is in one of the sororities two streets over. We don’t run in the same circles, though, so I don’t know her name.

But the girl next to her…

My heart pounds in my chest as I stare at her. What the hell is she doing here?

Because it is her.

There’s no mistake about it.

Elle Summers.

The mayor’s daughter.

She has gone from a teenager to a young woman in the two years since I saw her last. Her body is more defined. Sleek, toned legs. Perfect curves. Confident posture.

But apart from that, she looks exactly like she did back in high school.

Her wavy light brown hair is pulled up in a ponytail. And despite the fact that winds ripple down the street, there is not a single strand of hair out of place. She’s wearing a white skirt that ends halfway down her thighs, an elegant top in a pale pink color, and a pair of white flats with tiny bows on them.

Electricity flickers through my veins as I catch full sight of her face when she glances over her shoulder.

Two years ago, she was pretty. Now, she is devastatingly beautiful. Her brown eyes glitter like gold in the sunlight while her luscious lips are parted slightly as if in surprise. And there is a faint blush on her cheeks.

Back in our hometown, one word was enough to describe Elle Summers.

Perfect.

Nauseatingly, artificially perfect.

And looking at her now, it appears as though nothing has changed.

People still see her like that. Like the perfect, popular girl who is always nice and polite and proper.

Rage burns through my blood, and I curl my fingers around the armrest so hard that the wood groans.

If they only knew what a fucking rat Elle Summers really is.

Before I even know what I’m doing, I’m on my feet and reaching for my shirt.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Amir asks as he and Paul pause their discussion long enough to blink at me in surprise.

I shrug on my t-shirt. “Nothing. I just need to check something.”

Before they can say anything else, I stride right across the lawn and towards the sidewalk. Elle and that blonde girl have almost reached the crossroads up ahead. I follow them.

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