Page 136 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

Four of the five Golden Boys look at one another, shrugging with indecision as they debate the stamina of their friend. I can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of all of it.

“The point is, if you two would like to stay here and enjoy Caleb’s hot dog, go right ahead,” J.C. says to a chorus of disgusted groans and muffled laughs. “But don’t be mad when you come back and there’s nothing to eat.”

Caleb grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd of onlookers, mumbling as he goes. “A bunch of assholes … nosy …no boundaries.”

* * *

“I can’t believe I wasn’t there to see Bumper get beaten up by his own ex-girlfriend.”

Finn shakes his head and takes a massive bite of his s’more. Strings of marshmallow fall over his lip and chin and Lily reaches over and wipes them away, sucking them into her own mouth.

“She has a name.”

“Right, of course,” Finn says, extending a hand to me. “Haley Cochran herself, in the flesh. We are honored.”

“It really wasn’t that big of a deal. He has no clue how to fight. Like, at all.”

“He doesn’t, but it was still epic,” J.C. says, winking at me.

Over the last few months, I’ve grown more comfortable around J.C. and Noah, but I was worried what the dynamic would be like once Finn and Viktor arrived.

Turns out, it’s exactly the same.

The Golden Boys are a strange kind of unit. They are all individuals, but if you’re “in” with one, you’re in with them all.

Caleb insists that Finn used to be much less personable before he got together with Lily, but they are so happy together that I can’t quite imagine it.

“He used to be more like Noah, actually,”Caleb said once.“Brooding, you know?”

I’ve never asked directly because I don’t know him well enough to be sure, but there doesn’t seem to be any reason for Noah’s perpetual attitude. It’s just who he is. And he’s nice to me, so I don’t really mind.

I’ll ask for his story only when the time is right.

But really, all of the Golden Boys are nice to me. Never in a million years did I think when I came to Ravenlake Prep that I’d find my way into the most popular group of kids in all of Ravenlake, Texas.

And yet here I am eating s’mores and drinking beer with them. I can’t imagine anything different.

“If you thought that was epic, you should have seen her knock Penelope out of her chair.” Caleb bumps my shoulder with his and laughs at the memory. “That bitch never saw it coming.”

I smile, but then I see Finn glance at Noah. Their eyes meet, and Noah shakes his head softly.

Caleb clearly doesn’t notice this exchange. He goes on for another minute about how shocked she was that someone finally gave her what she deserved.

“I thought Noah and Penny used to be friends,” Lily says. “That’s what Finn told me, anyway.”

Noah’s attention snaps back to Finn. I can’t read his expression very well in the flickering firelight, but he looks worried.

“They grew up together. That’s all I said,” Finn says as a way of explaining things to Noah.

Something is going on between them, but unlike Lily, I’m not nearly bold enough to ask outright. No one else seems to be bold enough, either.

“We were friends until … we weren’t,” Noah says with a casual shrug that doesn’t look very casual at all. “Now, she’s a bitch. That’s the whole story.”

The group falls into a tense silence, the crackling of the fire the only sound.

There’s more to that. To Penny and Noah. I can’t help but wonder what it might be.

Then, Caleb shrugs and pulls his perfectly roasted marshmallow out of the fire. “Either way, the bitch got a taste of my girl’s right hook and it was epic. Sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

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