Page 12 of Rockwell Academy: The Twist

I nudge her to show I’m only teasing, and she shakes her head.

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s seriously good looking, in a demonic way, but his wounds run deep. It surrounds him. I live among tortured souls, but even I’ve never met anyone carrying as much baggage as he does.”

“He doesn’t travel lightly then.”

Siri rolls her eyes. “You wait until you meet him, Cassie. He’s intense and that won’t make for a happy home.”

“Why not?”

“Because one dark soul is enough and now two live side by side and it can only spell one thing. Trouble.”

She sighs as she stands and nods toward the door.

“I’m starving. Why don’t we head off to find Imogen and Summer and introduce them to the cafeteria? The guys can amuse themselves for once. It’s girl time now.”

“Good plan.”

As we leave the house, something prickles within me as I step outside into the cool sunlight. It’s as if change is on the horizon and not in a good way. Nothing is the same as we left it, except for one thing. I am crazily and stupidly falling for the darkest soul I’ve ever met and there is nothing I can do about that but hang on for the ride.

6

FRANKIE

Everything is right with my world as I sit on the veranda in my wicker chair, surrounded by my friends and beer.

We are finally catching up and it’s good to be back knowing that everything is in order.

I am particularly interested in catching up with Jesse because out of everyone, he is my brother from another mother and his easy grin is something I missed.

“How was your break?” I ask him as he sits beside me, chugging down his third beer.

“Interminable.” He sighs. “Fuck, the more time I spend away from home, the more I dread going back there.”

Santi adds. “Then don’t. You’re an adult now and can make your own choices. When college ends, you can take off and live life on your terms.”

I wait with interest for his answer because Jesse has been brought up to accept he will marry a local girl and set up a farm to benefit the community.

“Tell that to my parents.”

He guzzles another beer and sighs. “Fuck, I need to get laid. It’s becoming more difficult to think up reasons to head out oftown in the pursuit of pussy. It’s as if my father knows what’s happening and insisted on accompanying me.”

Ali laughs out loud. “Perhaps he has the same aim in mind.”

“Watch your mouth,” Jesse adds, a cheeky grin accompanying his words.

Ali laughs softly. “Well, I came here for a rest. My father had a couple of new additions to his playroom who were eager to make their mark. I swear life gets more hedonistic the older I get.”

“Torture me some more why don’t you?” Jesse groans and leans forward. “So don’t keep it to yourself. What happened?”

“Have you ever had two at once?”

Ali raises his eyes and Jesse groans. “Okay, rub salt in my wound.”

He retrieves his phone and bashes out a text and as the others chat shit, I lean in and whisper, “Miss Sloane, I presume.”

Last semester, Jesse was carrying out an extremely inappropriate relationship with our art teacher who has a sinister by line that I intend on smashing this semester. A lot happened in the last one and she was overlooked, but now I have the time and the inclination to put a stop to her trade. I used the break to do some digging of my own and that involved delving into the society she acts as a recruiter for.

Jesse doesn’t realize it but he is her current victim, which will happen over my dead body. However, I require him to carry on his ‘relationship’ with her as my Trojan horse so I can destroy her from the inside.

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