Page 13 of The Players

He smiled. “They all do.”

I whirled to go as he called after me. “I’ll see you later.”

“Maybe you will, maybe you won’t,” I said, wanting desperately to give him the finger, but I knew he’d simply laugh. My heart was still pounding.

He stood and watched me with that piercing gaze, hands back in his pants pockets. “I will see you later. Do you know how I know?”

I shook my head. “Some sort of fucked up ESP?”

“No. Because people do what I say, Vivian. That’s just the way it goes.”

Chapter six

Aftereverythingthathadhappened, and all the insane twists and turns the weekend had thrown at me, I still had to go to school Monday morning.

Waverly Academy was no different than it had been before the events of the games or the fallout afterward. The Lords still ruled, just in two different camps.

During classes and passing time, they mostly ignored each other. At lunch, Ty and Easton hung out alone together while Mills, Hector, and Lowell occupied the far side of the cafeteria. The two camps were divided against each other and that was made clear by the dirty looks they threw each other’s way from time to time.

The student body noticed the unspoken tension in the air, though exactly why the Lords had broken up was the source of much speculation. The few people who were there for the coffin incident had been coerced into signing N.D.A.s, at least that was what I’d heard. And there was no way I was going to tell anyone that I’d nearly died, buried alive because I’d agreed to go along with it for money.

Yet, the student body knew I’d won the cash. I’d overheard all kinds of jabs from “gold-digger” to “money slut” which was new. Some idiots even asked me to pay their lunch bills while their friends smirked behind them. I ignored it all.

It was something I was good at, pretending the asshats at this school didn’t exist.

One thing I hadn’t shared was my relationship with Lowell, Mills, and Hector. I’d told the boys it was best not to poke any hornets’ nests that were already buzzing by giving them more gossip fodder. We didn’t speak in class, we didn’t look at each other in the hallways, and I sat at my same table with Julian, Naomi, and her cousin, Tina. Naomi and I had become friends in the game last month. I hadn’t known Tina very well, but I’d gotten to know her through Naomi, and I liked her too. Both girls were sweet and unassuming, though Naomi had more fight in her than one might think. Julian became our friend when he’d helped us with the game, a fact he constantly reminded us of.

At lunch, he slid down next to me, his paper bag lunch in his fist and his face pinched with a look I could only describe as astonished. His dark brown hair was wilder than ever, with his dark coils springing out in odd places as if he’d been tugging on it, yet his Academy polo shirt and khaki pants were still uniform- appropriate. Julian hated to break the rules. Yet, he had for me last month, a fact that I didn’t forget no matter how much his constant worrying worked on my nerves.

“There’s new students? Why didn’t anyone tell me? And they’re related to Easton Hill? Jesus. Like we need more Hills in our lives. We need that like I need more Jewish guilt from my bubbe.” He pulled open his bag and dug inside before producing a turkey sandwich.

When he went to take a bite, I put my hand up and stopped him. “Hold on. Hold on. You are talking a mile a minute. New students? What are you talking about?”

Julian pushed my hand out the way, took a bite, and pointed with his free hand to the table Easton and Ty normally occupied alone. Then he talked over a mouth full of food. “You have eyes. Check it out.”

My gaze followed to the cafeteria table, and I nearly choked on my last breath.

Easton and Ty were no longer alone at their head table. Two lithe, blond teens in fresh Academy attire sat with their backs to us and their faces turned toward Easton Hill. From the back, I could have passed them off as any old Academy student, but I recognized the one with long blond hair and patent leather heels with the red bottoms that were certainly not dress code approved.

“She was in the parking lot,” I said to myself.

“What about the parking lot?” Naomi said, coming to sit in the seat on my other side. Her dark, curly hair was pulled up in a stylish bun, a look that showed off her high cheekbones and full lips. Naomi was gorgeous, a fact that was hard to ignore since I stood beside her every day.

But I needed to focus on her question and the fact that I couldn’t answer it. There were things I didn’t share even with my closest friends. It was too dangerous.

“That girl and boy at Easton’s table. Julian says they’re new students. I saw them in the school parking lot this morning.” I lied before nodding at them, keeping my eyes down so they didn’t realize we were gossiping.

But it seemed it didn’t matter. Everyone in the cafeteria was talking about the fresh meat. We didn’t get new students halfway through a semester here at Waverly. And we certainly didn’t get students that seemed to command as much attention as these two.

Tina sat down beside her cousin. Her red hair was plaited in two matching braids that framed her makeup-free face nicely. She slid her tray to the center of the table and leaned in after it. She waited until we leaned in too before whispering, “I got the scoop from Gilian who works as an office aide. Their names are Savannah and Spencer Bright. They’re Easton’s cousins from out of state. I guess they just decided to move here, though no one knows why. Who moves part way through their senior year? They’re living with the Hills in that giant house on the north end of town. And Gillian says that the Savannah girl is a real bitch.”

Tina whispered the last part so low I could barely hear her, but she was right to keep things like this quiet. Easton Hill’s family had donated so much money to the Academy he could do no wrong. We learned that when the administration looked the other way while he designed a game so dangerous it could seriously injure or even kill their students.

If Savannah and Spencer were related to the Hills, they were untouchable.

And they’d already decided to put a target on my back.

I inhaled deeply and pushed my lunch tray away. Suddenly, I had no appetite.

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