the fuck away from my brothers, you backstabbing little snake. Or so help me God, I w—”
“What in the world is going on here?” someone shrieks behind her. “Are you okay?”
When I look up, I see a stern-faced woman who’s visibly fuming. Her gaze keeps ping-ponging between Declan, who’s still on the floor, and the rest of us.
“Crap,” Sawyer mutters under her breath. “That’s Mrs. Beck.”
Perfect. At least now she’ll know why I’m late.
Jace yanks Bianca toward him. “Go to class.” He looks at Cole. “Both of you.” His attention shifts back to Declan. “I’ll handle this.”
They start to walk away, but Mrs. Beck halts them. “No one will be going anywhere. Not until I speak to Principal Ryan.” She pulls out her cellphone and brings it to her ear. “Sorry to bother you, Principal Ryan, but we have an urgent situation in the hallway by the science lab. It involves an injured student and the Covington boys.”
She practically spits out their last name as though it were rancid food.
“Nothing happened. I’m fine,” Declan tells her before she hangs up.
The teacher doesn’t buy it. “No, you’re no—”
“I was in a rush, so I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I ended up running face first into an open locker and busting my ass.” Rising from the floor, he juts his chin toward Jace, Cole, and Oakley. “They stopped to see if I was okay.”
As if on cue, the three amigos nod.
“It’s the truth,” Cole exclaims with a shrug. “Just wanted to make sure my teammate didn’t do something stupid and permanently injure himself.”
“Word,” Oakley chimes in. “It would be a damn shame if something terrible happened to poor Declan before the big game on Friday.”
“Before or after the game,” Jace grits between clenched teeth.
Irritated, Mrs. Beck turns to Sawyer and I. “Tell me what really happened?”
“We don’t know,” I blurt out, gesturing to my new friend. “We were in the bathroom the whole time. We didn’t see or hear anything.”
Beside me, Sawyer sighs. I can practically feel the disappointment radiating off her. “Yeah…what she said.”
I don’t like to lie, but I also don’t like to snitch. If Declan doesn’t want to tell Mrs. Beck the truth, it’s his prerogative.
Plus, there’s also a small part of me that doesn’t want Jace to take the fall for protecting his little sister. Even though he went too far, and it’s clear she hates me.
The teacher doesn’t look convinced, but it’s out of her hands when Principal Ryan and the nurse arrive on the scene and Declan reiterates that he ran face first into a locker.
“All right, if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do here.” He throws his hands up. “You’re all free to go.”
We start to disperse…but not before Bianca calls out, “I meant what I said, bitch.” She lunges in my direction. “Hurt one of my brothers again and they’ll need dental records to identify your traitorous corpse.”
Jesus. The girl isn’t just holding a grudge again me…she’s devising a plan for my murder.
As much as I’d like to blow off her threat, I can’t…because I have no idea why she’s pissed off in the first place.
I never hurt her brother. Unless you count me moving away abruptly, but that wasn’t my fault. I tried to reach out to him, but Jace ignored me.
All this fury the Covingtons are harboring for me doesn’t add up.
I’d never betray them.
“What’s your pr—”
“Enough, Bianca.” Jace steers her down the opposite hallway. “You need to chill.”
Sawyer waits until they’re out of earshot before she speaks. “I know it’s probably none of my business, but I have to ask. What’s the deal with you and Bianca? Why does she hate you so much?” Her eyes go big. “What did you do to her brothers?”
“I have no idea,” I tell her honestly.
But I intend to find out.
Chapter 12
Jace
“You going to Christian’s tonight?” Oakley asks as we head to our cars. “Rumor has it he’s throwing a back to the hellhole, so let’s get drunk bash at his place.”
I’m not surprised. Christian will find just about any excuse to throw a party. And given his parents are gone most of the time and have a huge house, he’s got the perfect set up to do it.
“I’m not sure.” The words I’m about to spew taste like poison on my tongue as I approach my Lexus. “Depends what Britney wants to get into later.”
That earns me a strange look from my friend. “I thought you two seemed