Page 114 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

“I didn’ttakethem. I stole them and flushed them,” I clarify. “I cost him a lot of money, and John has come to collect.”

She sighs audibly. “He contacted you?”

I tell her about the note on my car and the attack on my run the week before. Despite my outpouring of honesty, I keep the camping trip a secret. There’s no reason for her to knowquitehow deeply my dishonesty runs.

My mom runs a hand over my cheek, where the bruise used to be. It is faded now. “How did you get away?”

“Caleb.” Saying his name feels both familiar and strange, like looking down to realize you have a strange tattoo on your arm—both yours and not yours at the same time. “He has been taking care of Finn’s house next door. I know him from the underground fights, and he is an amazing fighter. He taught me to defend myself. He trained me and it saved my life.”

I know how my mom feels about the Golden Boys—she warned me against them the first day I ever snuck out to train with Caleb—but she doesn’t get angry.

Instead, she takes a deep breath, runs a hand through her hair that is just as curly as mine, and then claps her hands on her knees and stands up.

“Okay.”

I bite my lip. “Okay?”

“Okay,” she repeats. “It seems the first thing we need to do is take care of your debt to John or Bumper or whatever his ridiculous name is.”

I chuckle in surprise. “You sound like Caleb. He hates Bumper.”

“If he likes you and hates Bumper, then Caleb has good taste,” she says.

I don’t know if Caleb likes me anymore—my guess would be that he doesn’t—but I don’t really want to think about it right now.

“How much do you owe him?”

“I don’t want you to have to take care of my mess for me,” I say, pressing my hands between my thighs nervously. “I’ll get a job and save up allowance and—”

“I’m not going to let this punk torment you until you have the money,” Mom says, interrupting me, eyebrow arched. “Consider this a loan. You’ll be paying me back … with interest.”

I smile, relieved that my mom still sounds like my mom. Even after everything I just told her, she is still sassy and stern.

She still loves me.

The relief flows through my chest and down my arms, blanketing me in warmth. I never realized how heavy my lies had become, but now that I’ve dropped them, I feel one hundred pounds lighter.

I feel free.

Tears burn at the backs of my eyes, and I try to blink them away, but they force themselves out and down my cheeks. My mom kneels in front of me and grips my face in her palms, wiping my tears away with her thumbs.

“Everything is going to be okay, Haley. We’re going to fix this, okay? It will all be okay.”

I cry even harder. Because I believe her. For the first time in months, I really truly believe that things will be okay.

43

Haley

After months of dodging my texts and calls and only messaging me when she was spying for John, Estefania responds within a minute.

What money?

The money I owe John,I say.I assume if I give it to you, you’ll get it to him.

She is one of his lackeys now. As much as I wish it wasn’t true, Estefania has been roped into the Hell Prince drama, so when I wanted to get in touch with them about paying my debts, I texted her. Even after the betrayals, I’d rather talk to her than Levi or John.

When? Where?

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