Page 28 of Jig's Last Dance

“Yes, Shawn,” Cindy says, rolling her eyes. “A game.”

“Whatever,” Shawn huffs, smiling with all her teeth. Cindy narrows her eyes but lets it go, glancing around at the rest of us.

Surprisingly, her gaze lands on me. Note, she’s ignored me since the unfortunate incident where I told her to fuck off after she said something derogatory to me. I don’t remember what now, but I threatened to kick her ass, and she’s steered clear of me since.

Not so tonight.

“It’s called pin the tail on the snitch.”

I cock my head, trying to ascertain what she’s implying. The way she’s gazing at me, I have to assume I’m the snitch. But for what, I have no clue.

“What?” Shawn says.

“Yeah,” Cindy shrugs. “We have a traitor in our camp.”

“Which would be who?” I hiss, slamming my hands on my hips.

Cindy smiles wide. “Really? Everyone knows, Alice.”

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask.

“Well, isn’t it true?” She cocks her head to the side, and my chest burns. If she doesn’t wipe that smirk off her fucking face, I’m going to do it for her.

“What?” I grind between my teeth.

“You picked the wrong team. We have loyalty around here, and bitches like you don’t belong.”

Everyone knows that our school and the goings-on within are strictly a McCafferty territory, so I assume she’s talking about Castinetti.

I have no time to confirm, though, before Shawn jumps into the fray. “Bitch, I’ma fuck you up.”

“Please,” Cindy sneers. “You wanna take me? Go for it. But it doesn’t change the fact that Alice is a fucking snitch.”

In our fucked-up world, letting a slur like that go makes me a target, and I’m not about that shit, which is why I hiss, “You’re dead.”

She comes at me before the words are out of my mouth, and I swing at her, huffing when she ducks out of the way. From the corner of my eye, I see Shawn entering what’s become a group effort, punching Cindy’s friend in the face.

I stagger back under someone’s fist before shoving into the bitch and knocking her to the ground. She flails beneath me as I pound her, satisfaction flowing through me when she cries out and clutches her bloody nose.

But then someone smacks into my head from behind, and I fall forward, rolling away. When I stand, sucking in a breath, Cindy is before me. She smiles wide and says, “This has been coming since freshman year.”

“You mean when you rolled around in your food? Tsk, tsk, Cindy. Didn’t anyone teach you not to eat with your fingers?”

She shrieks, and I meet her halfway, ducking when she goes for my hair and punching her in the stomach. “Bitch.”

“Fuck off,” I snarl, staggering back when she gets in a blow to my shoulder.

Cindy tackles me to the ground and starts wailing. Although I throw up my arms, she’s so fucking enraged, I’m not sure she even sees me anymore. Luckily, someone lifts her off, and I roll to my side, spitting out blood.

Shit. She got me good. Fuck that.

Jumping to my feet, I step forward but pause to find Jig pushing Cindy away with a grim smile. “What the fuck is going on, sunshine?”

“Screw you,” I mutter, moving to step past him, but he grabs me up and pushes me before him toward the bonfire.

“Nope, I think you’ve done enough damage. Or should I say she has?” he asks, cocking his head to the side as he studies me.

Licking my bloody lip, I categorize my aches and pains, noting my throbbing eye, split lip, and aching ribs. Cindy has more oomph than I thought possible, but Jig can take his assessment and shove it up his tight ass.

---