Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,128

together and send everything anonymously.”

“Anonymously?” Erina echoes, tilting her head to the side like a confused dog. “What's the fucking point in that?”

“Erina …” Mr. Aldrich warns, but then he stands up and wanders over to the food table, picking himself out a red velvet cupcake.

“Yes, anonymously,” I say, exhaling and waiting for Erina to type in all the recipient info. “Hey, by chance, do you happen to have a recording of Calix and me fucking at last year's Devils' Day Party?”

I wish I could've recorded her face in that moment. If ever there was an admission of guilt, this is it.

She sits there, stone-still, finger poised above the iPad. There's just something about blurting a dark secret into the bright light of day that chases away all the shadows. It isn't easy for most people to lie well enough to escape, even if it's only their body language that gives away their treachery.

“Why on earth would you ask me that?” she purrs, her voice almost maniacal as she glances up at me, the vines on her mask caught on the shoulders of her academy-issued blazer. Suddenly I feel like I'm the insect in this scenario, and she's the masterful artisan covering me with clear resin, trapping me. Fuck, this girl is scary. Calix did refer to her as a stalker, and as much as I hate the guy … I've realized now that it's love-hate, which is a totally different thing.

As far as I'm concerned … Calix is mine.

Erina cannot have him. Nor can she post a video that will follow us both around for the rest of our lives.

I lean down and put my palms on the table, looking her dead in the eyes.

“If you post that video tonight, I will see to it that you suffer for it.”

“How so?” Erina asks, her mouth curving up into a deviant smile. It's beyond absurd, the way that rictus grin stretches across her pretty face. “With your parents' money? Oh, wait, they don't have any. How about their considerable political influence? Nothing there either.” Erina stands up, the legs of her chair scraping across the floor with a screech. “You can't stop me from doing shit, Karma Sartain.”

I close my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts, opening them back up on Erina's creepily joyous face.

“Why would you want to hurt Calix? Don't you like him?”

“Like him?” Erina chokes, and the other students in the room glance our way. Luckily, they're all too busy trying to buy Devils' Day gifts before the first bell, so they don't pay us much attention. “He and I have been friends forever. When his dad sent him here, I followed.”

“You came to Crescent Prep on purpose?” I ask, surprised that anyone besides, you know, me would be stupid enough to do that.

“Calix and I have a future together,” Erina says, coming around the side of the table to get in my face. She fingers my tie, and I slap her hand away, narrowing my eyes as frustration and righteous anger bubble up inside of me. “And you are getting in our way. So, do I have a video? I don't know. I guess you'll have to wait until later to find out.” She wrinkles up her nose as she spits these last words, pushing the iPad up against my chest. “Your total is three hundred dollars. Cash or credit? We can take either.”

“Three hundred dollars?” I snort and shake my head. “For three items?”

“Check the price tags, sweetie,” Erina says, wrenching the iPad out of my hands. “But I'm guessing you don't have that kind of money?”

“She might not, but I do,” a voice says from behind me. Erina and I both startle, turning to find Barron Farrar in the midst of the early morning buying frenzy. His charcoal-stained hands are tucked into his pockets, his dual-colored eyes resting on me. “Here.” He pulls his wallet out and then flicks a credit card at Erina. It hits her right in the tit, which I enjoy more than I probably should. Then again, anyone that posts revenge porn—particularly when they barely know one of the people in it—is a total fucking asshat with no conscience and zero empathy. “Charge that, but don't give yourself a tip; you haven't earned it.”

He turns to me, reaching down to grab my arm, and puts his lips up against my ear while Erina seethes and bends down to pick the card up from the floor.

“You saw what was