Page 21 of Wicked Games

“We won’t let that happen,” Zach said in a firm voice, squaring his shoulders.

“But what if he goes after you guys too?” I said, heart thudding with anxiety. “Just for being on my side?”

“I don’t give a fuck.” Zach narrowed his eyes. “Hudson Calloway might be a piece of shit, but he’s also a fucking idiot. The only reason he gets away with anything is because of his family. Not because he’s smart enough to do it all himself. So as long as we stick together and protect each other, we should all be fine.”

April nodded. “We won’t let him get away with hurting you, Carey.”

“I just wish you’d told us everything sooner,” Brooke added, gently squeezing my arm again. “We could’ve helped you. Or at least comforted you. You didn’t have to go through this alone.”

I bit my lip and looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry. I was just so embarrassed. And scared, too,” I murmured. “I was also worried you wouldn’t believe me, just like everyone else.”

“I get it,” April said. “But don’t worry. We believe you, and Hudson isn’t going to get away with this shit.”

“Thanks.” My throat tightened with another rush of emotion. “Really. Thank you so much.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“I’m sorry, I totally hate to ruin this moment, but we should really get to our homeroom,” Zach said, looking at his phone. “The bell is about to ring.”

“We’ll talk about this more at lunch, okay?” Brooke said, giving me a small smile.

“Sure. Thanks, guys.”

She and Zach headed off down the hedge-lined path that ran alongside the stone bench, and April and I went in the opposite direction. We had our shared homeroom first thing, followed by our English class. I was extremely grateful for that because it meant I had a friend to sit with for a while, unlike so many of my other classes where I had to sit alone and endure all the nasty words and cold stares thrown at me.

During the first few minutes of our English class, Professor Garrick went around the room handing out the results of a pop quiz we took a few days ago. “Good job, Carey,” he remarked, giving me a faint smile as he placed mine down.

I looked down at the paper to see that I’d once again received a good mark. I was totally killing it in this class. That was one bright light on the dark horizon of my life right now.

Professor Garrick handed April’s test back to her and headed over to the desk next to us. Then he doubled back and placedtwo black envelopes on our desks. “I forgot to give you these,” he said. “They were on my desk this morning.”

“What are they?” April asked, brows knitting with puzzlement.

“I’m not sure. Birthday party invitations, I presume,” her father replied. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Which reminds me,” he went on, addressing the whole class now. “I’m not your personal assistant, okay? If you want to hand out party invites, please do it yourself from now on.”

April and I stared at each other with wide eyes. “What do you think it is?” she asked in a hushed tone, staring at her envelope as if it contained the government's nuclear launch codes.

“I’m guessing it’s a party invitation, like your dad said,” I replied, lightly shrugging.

“No one else in here got one,” she said, eyes flickering with doubt. “At least not that I can see.”

“Maybe it’s a very exclusive party. You know, because we’re so popular,” I joked.

“Yeah. Maybe.” She bit her bottom lip and slit the side of her envelope.

I did the same with mine and carefully pulled out the contents. As I did so, April unfolded hers on her desk. She gasped as she read the words on the paper, and my breath hitched in my chest as I scanned mine.

“What the hell?”

Carey

“So we all got one?”

I peered around the group as we huddled over our lunch trays. Zach, Brooke, and April nodded and replied in unison. “Yup.”

“It has to be a prank, right?” I said, unfolding the letter again. “It looks so over-the-top.”

An emblem featuring a singular eye filled with printed Latin words and enigmatic symbols took up the top third of the page. Below was the so-called party invitation.

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