Page 36 of Cruel Elite (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 3)

She thinks, despite all the shit she has put me through, that I remained the same wide-eyed, optimistic little boy.

Oh, how wrong she is.

I’ll show her how wrong she is.

I lift a finger over my shoulder in a terse wave as I walk away, throwing a warning back to her. “You’ll be better off doing as I ask as we move forward. Otherwise, you’ll only make things worse.”

13

Penny

I followed Noah because I wanted to tell him about my run-in with Tank over the weekend.

Well, partly, anyway.

I also followed him because I can’t seem to help myself.

If I’d ignored his summons, I would have spent the entire day wondering what he wanted to say to me. What he wanted to do to me.

But the Hell Princes were the main part.

Whatever Tank wants with Noah, it doesn’t sound good, and surely, I should warn him, right?

Surely, we still mean enough to each other that I should want to protect him from imminent danger?

Maybe not.

Noah scares me. This version of him, angry and stone cold and threatening, is foreign to me.

But still intoxicating. I can’t be in his presence without losing my head just a little.

He has always had that effect on me.

Looking across the gym at him today took me right back to the start of high school. It feels like a lifetime ago now, the party and the closet.

It has been so long since his hands have been on me in that way, but I can still feel the ghost of them, grabbing my waist, drawing me near.

Back then, his touch was tender, gentle.

Now, it’s dangerous.

I should stay away from him and keep my distance. I’m just not sure if I know how to do that.

In my entire life, Noah has been the only person who knew me. He understood the hard parts about my life. Knew how to make me feel better.

Without him, I’ve been treading water.

And these days, the waves are getting dangerously choppy.

Maybe that’s why I should just play along.

If I let him feel like he’s winning, maybe he’ll get bored. Then, in a few months, I’ll be out of this shit town, away from my shit mom, and getting on with my shit life.

I’ll never have to see Noah again.

The thought curdles in a way I don’t expect.

We haven’t been close in years, but at least when I came to school, I knew I’d see him. In the hallways, talking with his friends, eating lunch.

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