Page 3 of His Pretty Little Lies
“I really don’t have any yet, but it can come in handy if need be.” You should always be prepared. You never know what obstacle might be thrown your way that you have to wiggle your way out of.
“You would frame someone?” Mary accuses. She really does know me.
“A girl will do what she has to do.” Also, Juliet, Golden Prep’s resident rocker girl, likes to vape, and she is full of information.Those quiet ones notice all kinds of shit. I can be quiet when I need to be, but I’m not great at it.
“Don’t get in trouble.” Mary tries to scold me, but there’s nothing behind it.
“I can’t get in trouble.” The school would try to reach out to my parents, who would be unavailable and get a message. Then my parents would likely forget about that message.
“I’ll ground you.” Mary lifts her chin teasingly.
“Mar, you don’t have to ground me to get me to binge reality TV with you.”
“I’ll ground you from reality TV.” I gasp dramatically. “I joke. I joke.” Yeah, I figured, but I wasn’t going to call her on it. “What else do you want for your lunch?” She disappears into the pantry to return with small bags of chips and Gushers. Huh.
“You restocked.” I wiggle my brows. My parents stock this place with food that tastes like cardboard. They swear it's good for you, but it’s a hard pass for me.
“Of course I did.” Mary appears insulted by my question. We have a few sneaky bins we keep in the pantry. “You should take extra.” She pushes the extra bag of Gushers toward me. “In case you want to share it with a boy.”
Here we go. I’m already shaking my head no. “I don’t do boys.”
“Fine, a girl then,” Mary offers up next. I take the extra Gushers because why not? Plus, she might stop with the whole dating thing if I agree.
“You’re supposed to tell me to stay away from boys,” I remind her.
Mary waves off my comment. “I want you to stay away from dark alleys and buildings.”
“You're strange," I tell her, pretending I have no clue why she would suggest I would be near those places to begin with.
Mary shakes her head at me. I know she’s worried, and honestly, it’s kind of nice. If not for her and the random other staff that my parents hire to come and go around here, I could be missing for a few weeks before anyone would notice.
“Kinsley.” There is a warning in her tone; this time, she’s dead serious.
“I should get going.” I shove my lunch in my bag. “And I promise I have no plans today for dark alleys and buildings.”
“Until new plans pop up.”
“I should be so lucky.” I kiss her on the cheek before I head out the door and down the elevator. When I step out onto the sidewalk, the city is already alive with energy. I make my way toward the school. The same walk I’ve been making for years now.
With each step that I draw closer to Golden Prep, my mind ventures toward Jax Marino. I could shove the vape into his locker and get him tossed off the football team.
As if that could happen. He could be busted with a human head in his bag, and the principals would offer to get the bag dry-cleaned for him to remove any signs of blood. That is how it goes when you’re a member of the Marino family. They are the most powerful family in this city. It’s annoying and oddly alluring at the same time.
The thing is, I don’t really see Jax abuse his power. He earned his spot on the football team. Jax handles a football like it’s a part of him, but more often than not, he seems bored on the field. I don't know what to make of him.
Is that the reason I'm so fascinated by him? I can never quite put my finger on it. I can't even say that it's because he's so attractive. There are lots of attractive people, and my eyes aren't always searching them out. Then, when I do find him in the crowd, he's always staring right at me. He doesn't try to hide it at all.
But he is a Marino; they don't have to hide. You're supposed to be hiding from them.
Chapter Three
JAX
The car is barely in my normal parking spot that I claimed years ago, and Nix is pushing at the back of Damon’s seat, wanting out.
“Fucking hell, Nix. Calm?—”
“Do not tell me to calm down.” Yeah, you don’t say that to a girl. Damon holds his hands up in defeat, getting out of our sister's way. She takes off like a freight train, almost tripping over her own feet. When she does, she shoots us back a glare like we’re the ones who almost tripped her.
