Page 66 of Cruel Prep (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 1)

I almost laugh in her face.

She wants to talk about positives? Fine. Let’s talk about positives.

Like how I’mpositiveFinn Foster is not a nice boy.

I’mpositiveI’d have a shitty time at the fall formal.

And I’mpositivemy mom is wrong by thinking we can look for the best in the people of Ravenlake Prep and find it.

There isn’t any good in that school. Or this whole fucking town.

Not from what I’ve seen of it.

But she already thinks I’m teetering on the edge of an episode. I can’t let her in on any of these thoughts. I need to put up a smiling front.

“Okay,” I lie. “I’ll try.”

She squeezes my knee one more time and starts to get up, but hesitates, her brows pulling together as she brushes aside my hair. “What’s around your neck? Where did you get that?”

My hand goes to the lock in a poor attempt to hide it, as though my mom will forget about it if she isn’t looking right at it. “Oh. Nothing. Just a necklace.”

“I’ve never seen it before.”

I let the lock go, the metal settling heavily against my collarbone, and try to shrug nonchalantly. “I bought it this summer, I think. I just found it in my backpack.”

I expect her to argue. To see the necklace for what it is. Ask who gave it to me, and why.

Instead, she just hums in acceptance. “Well, it’s cute.”

When Mom goes to take a shower, I get up and study the necklace in the mirror above the small kitchen table.

The links are solid metal and heavy. I’d need a special tool to break through them, and even if I did, I don’t know what Finn would do if he saw the necklace missing.

Give me another one, probably. Punish me for removing it.

The idea of punishment at the hands of Finn makes me shiver. It isn’t an entirely bad feeling.

28

Finn

“Where are we even going?” Viktor asks, trying to stretch out his long legs in the passenger side of my car. His seat is pushed all the way back, but he is only comfortable in luxury cars or big trucks. Sports cars aren’t made for the absurdly tall. “My ass is going numb.”

“We’re driving. Seeing and being seen.”

Viktor snorts. “What is this,American Graffiti? Are we out ‘cruisin’ for chicks’?”

I slam my foot on the gas for a second and send Viktor’s head back into the headrest. He curses me out under his breath and readjusts in his seat again.

The truth is, I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing. I just didn’t want to be home anymore.

Lily is becoming a real sticking point, and as if I’m not already thinking about her too much, now my dad can’t shut up about her.

He is more fixated than ever on getting her out of the school and out of Ravenlake.

“It’s up to you, Finn,” he says over and over again. “With my status around town, I can’t be tied to scaring teenage girls into dropping out of school. That girl and I were connected in the local press all summer, and it needs to be clear to everyone that we tried to welcome her in. That I tried to make her comfortable. So, the task of getting her out of our way lands on you. Are you taking care of it?”

All I hear is nonstop nagging to deal with Lily, as though it’s possible for me to think about anything else right now.

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