Page 83 of Unspoken Truths

“I’m not sure,” she says. “I need to develop some photos, but if I can do them during lunch, I will.”

“You can’t skip lunch,” I say immediately. Rachelle didn’t eat anything after her therapy appointment, either, even when Julia asked her if she could make her one of her favorite foods.

It seems silly for her to offer that when we have a chef, but I could see how worried her mom is. If it meant marching into the Chef’s domain, she was willing to do it. Unfortunately, Rachelle refused and said she’d rather have some toast.

There’s no fucking way she’s not eating yet again.

“I don’t know why you care,” Rachelle breathes. “When I’m out of it, my stomach knots up. It makes it really hard to eat.”

“I don’t. There are Michelin star chefs in there who will bend over backward to find something for you to eat,” I growl. “This is ridiculous. I’ll throw you over my shoulder and drag you there if you aren’t at lunch.”

“Looks like you do care,” Rachelle sasses, leaving me as she strolls into class. She’s impossible. Rolling my eyes, I prowl through the hallways to my class.

My stepsister is definitely stronger than she thinks, I just need to make sure she survives through her senior year. No problem, right?

* * *

“Dude, you’re late,”Theo mutters, leaning back on the bleachers as he closes his eyes against the sun. It’s another beautiful day, and we’re all planning to enjoy it. The winter months lasted too long in my opinion.

I meant it when I told Rachelle I would check on her, and it wasn’t until I watched her go in with Liliana and order food that I left. So yes, sue me, Mr. Future Litagator.

Curbing my tongue, I shrug.

“It couldn’t be helped,” I grunt, sitting down. “We need to discuss the terms of our bet, how long we want to draw this out.”

“Elijah said that she had an issue this weekend, and then she freaked pretty hard at the party. What gives?” Jared asks. “One second I was watching her riding your hand, the next she was running for the stairs.”

“What spooked her?” Theo adds. “She was fine when we were on the dance floor.”

“Trauma,” I say. “If she can’t see who’s touching her, apparently she starts to believe it’s her rapist.”

“Oh,” Jared says. “Oh fuck. I don’t think I like that. Like, I’m all for fucking with her, pushing people to the brink, but I prefer when they consent before they suck my cock.”

“Or hop on my dick,” Theo agrees. “So, she just, what, had a nightmare or two? What’s the deal?”

“I almost had a jumper situation,” I explain. “Yesterday, things were really weird when I got home after spending the night at Elijah’s. Julia was crying, Dad was acting twitchy, and apparently my little sister wouldn’t eat. Rachelle did have nightmares Saturday night after the party, but also disassociates and hears voices. When I pushed her to tell me about what was really going on, she climbed to the third floor to get away from me. Rachelle was really in her head, which made me run upstairs to push her for answers. Instead, I caught her leaning away from the ladder, seconds away from letting go and splattering on the ground. I finally got her up onto the terrace. None of this can be used against her, guys.”

“This is prime material, though,” Theo says, bored. It’s not his fault, I think he’s a bit of a sociopath. He picks the wings off of butterflies just to see if they’ll scream, after all.

“Dad pulled a gun on me,” I finally add. “If what I tell you gets out into the public, a college entrance board, anything, I’m a dead man, guys.”

“What the fuck,” Elijah says. “He’s got a thing for the little rabbit, huh?”

“Let’s not say anything like that ever again in regards to my dad,” I remind him, rolling my eyes. “He calls her his daughter. He doesn’t want to fuck her, Elijah.”

“I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” he mutters. “I got a call from Dad last night, and I think the way he talks rubs off of me.”

“Anything we need to know?” I ask.

“Not yet,” he says. “So are we done, picking a new bet or what?”

Elijah is deflecting, and I glance at Jared raising my eyebrow. His head bobs once to tell me he noticed, while Theo frowns in our friend’s direction. This is why I have to use a mixture of truths and misdirection, otherwise it’ll be too easy for them to pick me apart.

“I submitted her as our sacrifice at the beginning of April,” Jared says. “We’re stuck. The charter says that the person we choose has to be completely destroyed by the end of senior year, and can’t expire before the end of junior year.”

“We have to adjust what we’re doing if she’s this fragile,” Theo says, dropping his head forward to look at us all. “It’s interesting to see what her triggers are, since she’s got this fire inside of her. It’s almost a shame we’ll have to break the little mouse completely at the end of this.”

There’s no loyalty in these guys outside of one another. Lili lies just on the outskirts of our protection because we grew up with her. Dating the little mouse, Lili firmly threw the gauntlet on the outside of our interests, which makes her fair game to fuck with. I know Lili knows this, can take care of herself, and won’t give up Rachelle.

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