Page 15 of Cruel Legacy

“Hey! Hey, asshole!”

I lift my head and look around to see who is calling whom an asshole. There’s a girl on the floor, on her hands and knees, glaring at me. I look around again to see who’s involved in the drama. She couldn’t possibly be talking to me.

“That’s right. I’m talking to you neanderthal,” she says, climbing to her feet.

I guess she is talking to me. I don’t have time for this, but there are people in the hall and the last thing I need is for them to think it’s suddenly cool to talk to a legacy this way, especially not one of The Trium.

This girl,whoever she is, has lost her fucking mind. I can spare a few minutes to remind her of her place. Glaring at her, I ask, “You wanna try that again?”

“Sure.”

She pauses as if she’s waiting for me to say something. When I don’t, she holds up her hand and ticks off options for me. “You can start with excuse me, sorry, or my bad. All those work when you knock someone down.”

“You know what else works? Getting the hell out of my way when you see me coming.”

“You came from behind, asshole. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head.”

“Grow some.” I snarl, then continue towards my destination, already forgetting about her and this irritating little spat.

“I’ll get right to work on that.” Her voice drips with sarcasm. “Let’s say we meet back here for a progress meeting next week. I’ll show you how far I’ve come and you can show me you can pull your head out of your ass.”

Is she fucking with me right now? Is this a sorority prank? It has to be, because no one in their right mind would do this without being forced into it.

I snap at the people standing around. “Get to class.”

They clear the hallway, knowing if they stay around to watch any longer, they’ll feel my wrath too. Stepping towards her, I take in her outfit and hair. She doesn’t look familiar, but it doesn’t matter. In thirty-seconds, she’ll fall back in line.

“If I were you, I’d be very careful about the next words coming out of your mouth. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn’t say anything to me ever again.” I make sure the threat can be heard in my words and seen on my face.

She shakes her head, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Anng.Wrong answer. If you were me, the next words coming out of your mouth would be…Fuck. Your. Warning. Asshole.And if you don’t want to hear my mouth, try apologizing for the illegal block in the back.”

This girl. Whoever the hell she is has just sealed her fate. Finn and Holden emerge from around the corner. Without even asking what’s going on, they take up position, forming a triangle around her. I’m in front, Holden’s on her right flank, and Finn is on her left.

She tries to take a step backward, but we press into her, crowding her, making sure she has nowhere to run.

“You’d do well to tame that pretty little mouth of yours, Pet,” Finn soothes in the voice that usually gets what he wants. “Before someone does it for you.”

“The onlypetaround here is this junk yard dog. I’m assuming you’re the one who let him off his leash. Feel free to yank his chain and take him for a walk.”

Her gaze flicks to Holden before turning back to me. Her deep blue eyes hold enough defiance to fill a stadium. I know we’re all thinking the same thing. We’re going to make her regret her life choices, right here and now. As a unit, we take another step towards her. I’m thinking a trip to the shower might be what she needs.

“Oh boys, I’m so glad I ran into you.” I look up and see Mrs. Banks, the head librarian, clearing the last step of the stairwell across from where we’re standing. “I was wondering if I could get your assistance with some things.”

She doesn’t wait for us to answer. She just continues past us like we’re not in the middle of something, her heels ticking quickly along the tiled floor. “Come along boys, I don’t have all day.”

If it were any other teacher or faculty member at this school, we’d ignore her. But Mrs. Banks has been at C Falls U, longer than anyone else. She was working here when our parents were students. Plus, Rho Beta Psi sponsors the school library. All frats and sororities are required to select a school organization or a department to sponsor, and raise money for them during the year. We have the library and a literacy campaign for the public schools.

I’m not complaining. I’m happy to raise money for the library, and Holden takes point on most of the stuff. But today, Mrs. Bank’s timing couldn’t be worse. Or maybe for this girl it’s perfect. Because we were definitely about to fuck up her day.

We peel off behind Mrs. Banks. With one last look at the girl, Finn says, “See you around, Pet.”

She holds her middle fingers out, pointing them towards us, then rights them so she’s flipping us the bird. That’s the last thing I see before I exit the side door of the building.

Chapter8

Finley Jefferson Rhodes, III

Pax is looking grumpier than usual, and it’s fucking up my vibe. So is the lack of power behind his punch. He’s distracted and not hitting as hard as he usually does.

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