Page 45 of Twisted Legacy

My mother squeezes me to her side. “She’s been through a tough ordeal. None of us know exactly what happened to her, and she has to be reeling from finding out that Moira and Scott are her parents. That’s all a lot to contend with, don’t you think? So maybe just give her some space to work through that, sit and accept her anger, hurt and frustration, before you go demanding she shares to appease your ego.” She turns my face towards her. “And pro tip, women don’t always need or want men tofixstuff. Sometimes it’s more than enough that they just consistently show up and be thereifwe need help.”

I ponder over my mother’s words. Show up and help if needed. I excel at that.

Chapter28

Thea

Holden says he saw me on Mayhem Night. I believe him, because he has no reason to lie about that. I’m just not so sure I believe he wasn’t with the crowd that assaulted me. He and his buddies have been escalating their attacks all semester. It’s a short jump from what they did to me at my chastity vow ceremony to beating me and locking me in a coffin.

I know I’m dreaming about what happened in those rare moments when I allow myself to fall asleep. I just don’t remember the details when I’m awake. Of course, Wolfe says talking about what I do remember will help.God,if he doesn’t lay off me about that, I’m gonna put that theory to the test and talk to a jury about why I offed my annoying ass teacher.

I’ve spent enough time in my room to know the guys’ schedules by heart. Which gives me the opportunity to do what I’m about to do. I look over at the elevator door, then over to the corner where the ceiling and wall meet. It was Sasha who told me about the tiny cameras in the hallway. I had to call in a favor to scramble the feeds, and only have a short window of time to work. I use the exploit Sasha sent me and my lock picking kit to let myself into Holden’s room. It takes longer than I would like because I’m out of practice and the dexterity in the fingers on my right hand isn’t back up to 100 percent yet.

I stop short in the doorway, taking in Holden’s living room. It looks nothing like I imagined. I expected pristine walls and disinfectant smells. Instead, I’m greeted with plants, soft lights, and a water feature that amplifies the woodsy vibe. I could totally see myself hanging out here. Why does he have to be such a Coxsucker?

With a sigh, I drag myself away from the living room. I’m not here to admire his decor. I’ve got a plan to get even with everyone who’s been fucking with me, but I have to start out small, and Holden just happens to be the first target because of proximity.

I wander through his room, trying to figure out what might mean the most to him. He’s got a thing for plants, but I do too, so I’d never mess with them. Nothing jumps out at me until I get to the spare bedroom with wall-to-wall computers and monitors. He must be a huge gamer. If I had time, I’d load all his games and delete the progress he’s saved. But the clock is ticking, so I do the next best thing. I swap his monitors around, slightly alter the heights, and distance between them, and loosen the cords on his computers enough to break the connection, but not enough that he’ll know before he has to troubleshoot why they won’t turn on, and rearrange the batteries in his wireless mouse.

I glance down at my phone. Time’s almost up. For shits and giggles, I snatch up his television remote on my way out the door. I stash it in my room and when the cameras come back online, I’m back in the same spot I was in when they went haywire, letting them capture me walking to the elevator.

I’m humming to myself during the ride to the lobby. What I did will be a minor annoyance to him, but it was satisfying. With my arm out of commission, I have no choice but to get creative on how I go about getting payback. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve had to use my B&E skills. These little missions I have planned out will be good practice for when I finally go after Eloise.

I make it out of Vale Tower and halfway across The Circle before the good vibes I was feeling make a crash landing at my feet.Dammit. I’ve conjured her up just by thinking about her.

Eloise walks right up to me, a sneer on her perfectly made-up face. “Oooh, look who decided to come out of hiding.” She inspects my face. “I think you looked better with the bruising.”

“So did you. Shall I give you more?”

She takes a step back, offering the fakest laugh ever. “This is why it’s utterly ridiculous that anyone could ever think you’d fit into our group. You might be from a family that used to have some influence in this town, but now you’re barely a step above the Taylors who are the bottom rung of the ladder.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“That’s what I said,good. I don’t want to fit into your group so how about you keep saying it, maybe a little louder for the people in the back, and that way everyone stays out of my face and you get to keep your fake ass friends to yourself.”

I shoulder past her and head towards the athletic building. I’m about ten feet away when the dread sets in. I don’t feel like class today. I’m still on restrictive activities, anyway. I don’t even know what happened. Last week, the doctor said everything was healing nicely and she would be ready to sign my release back to full activity.

When I went to what should have been my last check up two days ago, she gave me a slip of paper that says I can’t do anything that puts pressure or strain on my shoulder or wrist.

Wolfe waved that note around like it was a winning lottery ticket, and now I’m still stuck sitting on the floor, walking on the treadmill, or his new form of torture. Arm rotations with a resistance band.

I would say it’s punishment for not showing up at the gym. I tried to go. Iwantedto go. I made it as far as the parking lot, but I couldn’t walk inside. It’s one thing to argue I’m ready to fight. But when I really thought about squaring off against someone, panic set in. Just the thought of letting anyone touch me makes me break out into a sweat.

Maybe I should have gone to Wolfe Pack and skipped this class, because at least at the gym, I don’t have to deal with assholes snickering about me or giving me those pitying looks.

I walk in, barely sparing a look at my classmates or Wolfe, and go straight to the wall I’ll be standing against.

Wolfe goes over the lesson, has two people demonstrate the moves, then breaks the class off into groups to practice, before walking over to me and dropping a set of exercise bands at my feet.

I’m supposed to start with the lightest one and work my way up. I do three sets of twenty-five each. By the time I’m done, my arm aches. He brings me an ice pack and I sit waiting for the last ten minutes of class to end.

Something has to give. I feel invisible. I know I just told Eloise I want to be left alone, but that’s because the people coming up to me are as fake as the inflatable boobs on a blow-up doll. What I want is to feel seen, noticed, to have someone interested in me, just because I occupy the space.

I wait until class ends to walk up to Wolfe. When he sees me approaching, he says, “Decent effort today, LaReaux.”

“Gee, thanks. That last rubber band almost had me.”

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