Page 24 of The Pact

MILA

Holy shit.

A football, a tutu, a sword, and a tiara.

That’s what is in the treasure chest on Roman’s arm.

My breath catches as tears spring to my eyes. It takes everything in me to hold them back. I want to hug him so badly, but he moved his arm away so I can’t see it anymore. He knows that I realize what the tattoo means.

It’s me. The chest is full of my treasure—the things the two of us played with as children.

I take a few deep breaths and try to listen to the teacher, but I can’t focus on anything else. Roman hasn’t forgotten about me. He all but wrote my name on his body. But much deeper than words ever would be.

I want to know more. I want to ask him what this all means. Why did he put that there? Does he miss me like I miss him? Will he talk to me now, or does he hate me like Jace?

My head swims with questions. Is Jace the shark, Hunter the turtle, and Roman the octopus protecting me?

Not that I’ll be getting answers any time soon. It’s obvious Roman is closed off now. He isn’t going to give me anything more. He’d already given me more than I could have asked for when he showed me the rest of his tattoo.

The bell rings, and he leaves the classroom first. Not surprisingly, he can’t get away from me fast enough.

Emerson walks out with me. “Hey, let’s meet up at lunch. I’ll save you a seat.”

I nod and smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. I’m still wrapped up in that treasure chest and all my treasure in it.

Em’s offer is a relief, though. At least I have one friend here. Might not be the three I'd originally expected, but one is better than none.

Lunch rolls around, and the cafeteria is busy by the time I arrive. I line up behind some girls and listen as they discuss Jace and how hot they think he is. How Britney needs to move aside and let the rest of them have a turn.

When one of them says she’s going to lure Jace away from Britney, convinced he’ll fall in love with her once he gets to know her, I scoff.

She turns to me. “Excuse me, but don’t you know it’s rude to listen to other people’s conversations?”

I chuckle. Is she serious? She’d practically broadcast her plans to lure Jace away to the entire school. I’m surprised Britney isn’t over here, clawing her eyes out.

“When the conversation is that loud, I can’t not hear it. But good luck with it all.”

They all turn to face me now, eyes narrowed, and the sneer on lure girl’s face is priceless. Making friends everywhere today, it seems. “Oh my god, you’re the new girl. The one who fucked all three of them. When you said they were each your first, I guess one in each hole would make sense.”

Okay, I need to accept that this is going to be the day that everyone talks shit about me. Probably more like a week, since Jace obviously has a fan club. At least I know the drill. It will all be forgotten when something else happens to give them something else to buzz about.

“I’ll tell you a little secret about Jace.” All four of them come closer, like the gossip-eating bitches I knew they were. “It was Jace. He was my first, but don’t tell him.”

All their faces form into an ‘O’ as they process the news. “No way, for real?”

I nod, even though it’s a lie. Let him think he was first, if only for a day.

When I see Emerson sitting with the other football players, I decide I’m good to eat my slice of pizza and soda somewhere else. I dump my tray down on a table full of students. A couple inch away, not wanting to be caught associating with me.

Fair enough. I can respect not wanting to be on the other end of Jace.

It doesn’t take long for the gossip to spread, and within five minutes, I hear Britney scream, “No, it’s not true,” while Jace looks over at me. Dang, those girls work fast. I need to remember their faces to avoid them.

It was a harmless lie.

Except, I realize my mistake the moment I see Roman. Then Hunter.

A harmless lie that hurts two others isn’t harmless. I’ve turned into a bully. It’s not a good feeling either. I messed up. I shouldn’t have done that. I was just upset with Jace from earlier, and I lashed out.

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