Page 35 of Filthy Elites

My knees hurt from staying in this position for so long. I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing that. I get up and then grab my violin.

“Now that you had your fun, can we practice?”

He looks over his shoulder with eyes narrowed. “Who says I had any fun?”

I wipe the corner of my mouth, and then lick my finger. “This tells me you did.”

ChapterSixteen

Nicola/Isabelle

When I didn’t thinkJason’s mind games could get any worse, the morning after I gave him a blow job, he emails me a video of my performance. The subject reads “Something to remember me by.”

The footage doesn’t show my face. The security camera I didn’t know the music room had was behind me. But my colorful violin is in plain view, and there aren’t many girls at Maverick Prep who have black hair like mine.

My phone rings a moment later, showing an unknown number. I never answer those calls, but on a hunch, I press the green button.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, darling,” Jason drawls. “Did you get my email?”

“You’re a sick fuck, aren’t you? How did you get your hand on that security footage?”

He laughs. “Easy peasy when you’re me.”

“So you’re adding that to your arsenal of blackmail?”

“Hmm, maybe.”

My shoulders slump. I can’t help the feeling of defeat that takes over me. I haven’t ugly cried in a long time, but I think I’ll break that streak this morning.

“What did I ever do to you?” I ask, hating how shaky my voice sounds.

“Oh, Isabelle. Are you crying?”

“You know what, Jason? Do what you want with that video.” I end the call then turn off my phone.

I should start getting ready, but instead, I lie down in bed and bury myself under the covers. I’m so tired of it all. Whenever I think I’m getting ahead of Jason’s twisted game, he comes back with something more awful to torment me.

In hindsight, people already think I’m a weirdo, what’s adding whore to the mix going to do to me? Maybe I’m overreacting. I don’t know. I miss my parents, my friends, and my home. To summon everything up, I miss my old life.

Sometimes I think that I should let Juan find me so we can end it once and for all. Either he kills me, or I kill him. It’s better than living in suspended animation. But knowing how my last chapter with him ended, I can see how the story will go, with me dead and my body never to be found. Knowing Juan, he’d make sure I suffer. But then, I’d be free of him.

Jesus, I’m seriously depressed if I think that’s a good outcome.

At some point, I fall asleep and miss class. When I wake up, I feel sluggish, and every muscle in my body hurts. The mattress dips behind me, and that’s when I realize I’m not alone.

My brain must still be fuzzy, because I close my eyes and whimper, “Please, Juan, don’t hurt me.”

A hand on my shoulder forces me to roll on my back. It isn’t Juan’s face that I see hovering over mine. It’s Jason’s.

“Who’s Juan?”

I blink fast, trying to come up with an excuse, but I can’t make my brain work. “No one.”

He furrows his brows, then places a hand over my forehead. “You’re burning up.”

I have a fever. No wonder I can’t think straight.

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