Page 75 of Cruel Elite (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 3)

It will almost be like it never happened at all.

I shrug casually. “I hang out with a lot of people.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard,” Bangs girl says in an odd tone.

I’ve been a bitch long enough to recognize the trait in someone else.

She’s making fun of me.

“You’ve been Ravenlake’s willing sacrifice for a long time now,” she finishes.

I narrow my eyes at her and slowly lift my middle finger.

When I turn around, I hear her laughing quietly behind me.

Andrea doesn’t say a word.

25

Penny

By the time I get out of detention, it’s almost five and the winter sun is already starting to set. My car is one of only a few left in the parking lot.

I’ve been too afraid to check the texts on my phone to see if my mom has been looking for me, but I probably should.

If I can text her my excuse before I get home, she might have time to calm down before she sees me.

Hopefully.

I fumble in my backpack for my phone, digging through a mess of books, papers, and loose pens before I find it. I unlock it, slide into the driver’s seat, and check my messages.

None. Not a single one.

In a way, that’s worse.

Momma either hasn’t noticed I’m late or she’s too busy dreaming up punishments to text me.

Whichever it is sucks. A lot.

I decide not to bother texting and just see what I find when I get home. It will be a surprise.

I drop my phone in the center console and am about to start my car when the passenger door suddenly opens.

Tank slides into the seat next to me.

I’m so surprised I just stare at him. He smiles, revealing a gold tooth on the right side of his mouth, and plucks my keys out of my hand.

“Good to see you again, angel.”

The deep rumble of his voice shakes me out of my stupor, and I shrink back, my hand on the door handle. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

“I call ‘em like I see ‘em,” he says with an unapologetic shrug.

I clench my fists. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t bother running,” he says, pointing out the windshield towards a black truck with two men sitting in the front seat. “They’ll catch you.”

Pay attention to everything.

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