Page 35 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

I need to sort this out.

I dump my half-eaten lunch in the trash can and prepare to march straight to the front office and demand to know which class Caleb is in right now.

I’ll pull him into the hallway and figure everything out once and for all.

Except, when I turn around, I realize I don’t have to.

Caleb is sitting in the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by members of the football team. He is in a pair of dark-wash jeans with a short-sleeved gray button-down, but most of the guys around him are in athletic shorts and Ravenlake Prep T-shirts.

I’m standing just outside the circle of jocks before I realize what I’m doing.

It takes a few seconds for them to notice me, but once they do, they go quiet, watching and waiting to see what is going to happen. It apparently isn’t every day that a nobody like me approaches a cluster of the most popular people in the school.

It’s only been a few seconds, but I’m tired of their staring eyes already, so I clear my throat.

“Caleb?”

He is still smiling when he turns towards me, laughing at something one of the other guys in the circle must have said.

But the second his brown eyes land on mine, they go hard. His entire demeanor shifts from easygoing, all-American guy to ruthless predator. His eyes bounce from me to the people around us and then back.

Always assessing. Always preparing.

Right now, Caleb looks very much like he does in the ring. He is cold and focused.

It makes the hairs on the back of my neck go up. I know before I’ve even begun that I’m outmatched.

I feel like the boy in the ring the night Caleb saved me from Levi: in for a very bad time.

But it’s too late to turn back now. All eyes are on me. Waiting. Watching.

“Can we talk?”

A few guys let out a low teasing whoops, bumping shoulders and laying their hands over their mouths, smiles wide.

Caleb doesn’t think it’s funny, though.

“I’d rather not.”

Outwardly, he looks bored. His head is tipped back, his body leaned precariously against the edge of a table. He looks cool and collected.

But I can see past the façade.

I cross my arms. “It’s important.”

“I doubt that.”

“I need. To talk. To you,” I say through clenched teeth.

Finally, Caleb’s calm façade cracks. “No, youneedto go back where you came from and leave me the fuck alone.”

“Oh, you want me to leave you alone?” I ask, false innocence ringing in my voice. “Last I heard, you and I were fuck buddies.”

The guys erupt in cheers and laughter and shouts. A few of them clap Caleb on the shoulders in what I can only assume is congratulations.

Unfortunately, the females at Ravenlake Prep aren’t going to extend the same celebration to me.

I’ll be reviled while Caleb is revered.

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