Page 49 of Vendetta

No no no no no. This couldn’t be happening.

I watched myself down on my knees as I swallowed down Cashton’s cock, the groans and grunts loud through my phone speakers. The recording must have been taken from the far corner of the bathroom, the video clearly giving away my face while Cashton’s back was turned to the camera. I watched in horror, seeing his fist gripped into my freshly-fucked hair as I dug my nails around his thighs, tears streaming down my face as I looked up at him.

I dropped my phone, my hand shaking and mouth agape as I turned towards Olivia and Bexley, needing someone to tell me that this was some mistake and that the video had only been sent to me, not the entire student body. But the looks of shock on their faces only caused my dread to sink deeper.

Looking around the fire, I felt eyes on me from every direction, some whispering to their friends while others unapologetically cheered as they rewatched the video over and over again.

All sorts of comments were passed around, some along the lines of ‘Get it, girl!’ and ‘Damn that’s hot!’ while othersleaned more towards ‘I didn’t know Landry Andrews was a whore.’ and ‘What a slut, that’s so gross.’

This had to be a nightmare, one that I would wake up from any second. This couldn’t be happening. My body was frozen, ice running through my veins. My mind somehow remained blank, almost as if my brain was attempting to shield me from the situation by shutting down my thoughts completely.

Everyone had seen the video. Everyone knew. Everyone had seen me in such a private, vulnerable state. I felt exposed, humiliation and shame flooding me until I couldn’t breathe.

I could barely make out the friends around me speaking, all of them trying to gain my attention as tears started silently falling down my face. I could hear Bexley urging me to go to the car, Olivia telling me everything was going to be okay, while Nate and TJ began yelling at onlookers to get fucked and mind their own business.

But I ignored each and every one of them, static buzzing in my ears as I honed in on the feel of eyes burning through the back of my skull.

My body was on autopilot as I slowly turned around, immediately meeting a set of piercing green eyes. Had he seen the video? Why wasn’t he doing anything about it?

But as I took in his hard gaze, my lungs stopped working. Any answers I had needed were held in his intense glare. Cashton didn’t only know—He had done this. I had no doubt in my mind as our eyes held, his gaze following one of the lone tears gliding down my cheek until it hit my jaw and fell.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, Bexley already standing as she attempted to shake me out of whatever trance I was in.

“Landry, let’s go to the car,” she urged, Olivia at my other side as Nate and TJ took place between us and the bonfire, shielding us from the rest of the student body.

I got up, my body numb as I let them drag me towards the vehicles on the outskirts of the field.

But as we made to pass by Kaptan and Cashton, I planted my feet in the ground. Fury began flowing through every ounce of me. He thought he had won, but I was sick and tired of his stupid little games. He had crossed a line, and I wasn’t backing down this time.

I raced over to him, surprise briefly flickering in his gaze as I made my way right up to him before throwing my full force into the blow that I landed across his face. His head whipped to the side from the impact, pausing there for a moment as he breathed hard and slowly turned back to face me.

I was fuming, seeing nothing but red as I bared my teeth at him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” I screamed, the rest of the group silent at my back. This was between Cashton and I, and they knew it.

“What did I ever do to you to deserve this!” I continued, my body shaking from the rage inside of me. But he only stared down at me, eyes hard and darker than I had ever seen.

“What did you do to deserve this?” he ground out, his teeth clenching as his fists balled. I breathed, my heart pounding in my chest as I watched my ragged exhales through the chilly air. I wanted to scream, to punch him again, but I waited. I forced myself to stand there, bearing his scrutiny as he looked down at me.

“Emory Astor.”

My brain staggered, trying to process his words. Where had I heard that name before?

“My sister was Emory Astor.”

Confusion shot through me. Emory Astor… Why did that name sound so familiar? And then it hit me. Sweet little Emory Astor, with the glasses and the wild hair. She had been in a few of my classes senior year, a transfer student if I remember correctly. Where was this going?

“New Year’s Eve last year.” He stated, and I jogged my memory to try to understand. I began to remember, images of little Emory Astor taking shot after shot as Savannah and Francesca essentially poured them down her throat. She had come out to the party with us, I recalled. I hadn’t talked to her much, but Sav and Francesca had decided to bring her as some sort of fucked up prank.

I didn’t speak, waiting to hear what he had to say. Needing to know what had happened that somehow excused his behavior.

“She looked up to you guys, did you know that? You and your little friends? Did you know that she spent two weeks hunting for the perfect outfit, begging our mother to get her contact lenses so she wouldn’t have to wear glasses to her first high school party? I had taken her to get her nails done that morning, wanting her to feel beautiful. Wanting her to feel like she actually fit in.”

My breathing grew harder, words stuck in my throat as I waited for him to continue.

“I stopped understanding her drunk texts around midnight, but decided to let her have some fun since it was her last year of high school. She made me promise not to be theoverbearing older brother. But she stopped replying completely about an hour later, and that’s when I got in my car and tracked her phone. I found the party, but she wasn’t there.”

My heart was racing painfully in my chest, the air around me crowding in as it became harder and harder to breathe. I remembered that night. Emory had gotten drunker and drunker until she could barely stand on her own, peer pressured by none other than those two bitches I used to call my friends. How far had they taken this?

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