Page 10 of Bleeding Hearts
I wonder how she is. I haven’t heard from her, which isn’t surprising, but I’m worried. She’s getting more reckless. It’s like she doesn’t even care if she lives or dies anymore. I don’t know how to get through to her, but I know I need to before it’s too late.
Maybe she needs to talk about her alcohol issues and everything that happened.
“Earth to Alice,” Bones scoffs.
Blinking, I bring him back into view. “Shit, sorry, what were you saying?”
“Just that Evan can’t make it. He’s on a shoot, so I guess you’re stuck with me.” He leans back as he speaks, and I hearhis phone vibrate at least five times in quick succession, but he ignores it with a roll of his eyes.
“Ah, that’s fine. He’s been doing really well with Conan.” I nod. “He was showing me some of his work the other night.”
“The show-off.” Bones grins. “But he is.”
“Why was a meeting called anyway? We met recently.” I frown at Bones, who shrugs.
“I heard it’s about that game,” Liam whispers at my side. “Everyone knows it’s coming up soon, and the school hasn’t said anything.”
“I’ve heard about it. It’s not real, right?” I ask.
“Probably not,” Bones replies. “There’s no way someone could get away with that right now. Security is so tight everywhere after . . . after everything. The school is being watched like a hawk. Hell, they are still investigating.”
“Which makes it the perfect time, because no one is expecting it,” Liam says. “I heard it’s top secret. Nobody knows when it will start or how. They only find out the day of. There is no digital footprint, all word of mouth. Scary, right?”
I nod and glance at Bones, but he’s pulling his phone out, so my brain circles back to Lally. Should I text her? Call? Would she ignore me?
“I also heard your friend is involved.” My head snaps up. Bones is oblivious, smiling down at his cell. My heart starts to race, my blood turns cold, and a bad feeling unfurls within me, but Liam doesn’t notice. “That pink-haired one? Someone saw her with the poster, and when she was asked about it, she said it sounded like fun. I guess she signed up.”
“She wouldn’t,” I whisper.
Liam shrugs. “It’s just what I heard, but you know what rumors are like.”
I do, but I also know what Lally is like right now.
She’s searching for anything to cling to, even unhealthy things. An adrenaline fueled, life-threatening game is something she would do right about now.
“Alright, people, I won’t keep you long. I know we’re all very busy,” Autumn calls as she stands, holding a cup in one hand, but for once, she looks serious. We aren’t talking about futures, investments, or ways to improve the campus, like the proposed Pride takeover we have planned.
No, this is something else, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.
“I’m sure by now you’ve all heard the rumors about Risk,” Autumn murmurs, and my eyes widen at the topic. “We expected them just to be rumors, but we have solid intel. It isn’t a baseless whisper—it’s true. The game will be held in Pine Valley with students competing for money. It’s called Risk, and it’s said to test every inch of a person. Apparently, it was held in a different city last year, and four kids died. We need to stop this before it’s too late. I took my concerns to the school, but they said they will look into it, which means it’s up to us, so I’m asking for volunteers to keep your ears to the ground and report back. More than that, I want someone on the inside if we can. I want to know what’s happening before it occurs so we can stop anyone else from getting hurt. This campus has faced too much violence as it is—we don’t need more.”
The room is quiet as everyone digests the information. If they are talking about it here, then it must be true, and Lally is going to be part of it. Oh god, if they are as dangerous as they say, she could be hurt.
The idea makes me gag. I can’t lose Lally. Even when she’s cruel and pushing me away, she’s my world. She’s the center of it all, even if she doesn’t want to be.
I can’t let her walk into danger alone. If she’s in this, then so am I.
“I’ll do it.” I leap to my feet. The idea of Lally entering this game terrifies and angers me at the same time. Why is she doing it? Is it another outlet for her like drinking? Another reckless way to challenge death? I don’t know, but if this game is as bad as everyone says it is, then I can’t let her do it alone. “I’ll be your inside man.”
“Alice, you have nothing to prove to us,” Autumn murmurs. “You don’t have to volunteer each time?—”
“I want to do this.” I tilt my chin up and meet her gaze. “I want to help. The others can keep a lookout, and I’ll wiggle my way inside and find out more information. Everyone loves me, remember?”
She sighs, clearly hating the idea. “I know they do. You have that fucking trustworthy face everyone falls for, making them want to protect you, but this is dangerous, Alice.”
“What isn’t nowadays? I thought I was safe at school, but I wasn’t. I don’t want anyone else going through what we did.” I meet Bones’s eyes as his lips purse. “I promise just to look for information, nothing else. At the first sign of trouble, I’ll tell you and step back. Please, let me do this. If you don’t, I’ll assume it’s because I’m not a true member of Silent Rose and you don’t trust me enough to handle it.”
“You know that’s not true.” Autumn knows I’m manipulating her, but she can’t find a way out of it. What she said is true: everyone loves me. I make friends easily and always fit in, even when I was quiet. Now that I’m bolder and pushing myself to try new things, I’m surrounded by people—all apart from the one I want.
