Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,62
our personal pair of cops appear and a few, brave teachers approach, tearing the two sides apart.
“Oh, honey,” Ms. Keating says as she kneels down beside Kali and pulls out her phone, dialing up 911. Me, I’m just standing there as the rain starts to come down on top of us in thick sheets.
“Who did this?” Principal Vaughn roars as the boys walk off the fight on opposite sides of the brick walkway. He’s pointing at Kali who’s moaning and milking the moment for all it’s worth. She’s no more injured than I am, but I have a feeling that things are not going to go as well for me as they did for her. She is not above tossing me to the administration for punishment.
I open my mouth to admit to it before Kali can get the satisfaction, when I hear Hael’s voice.
“I did—” he starts, but Aaron’s own words drown him out.
“It was me,” he announces, and our eyes meet across the rainy courtyard. “It’s my knife.”
The cops cuff him quick and take him away in the back of a squad car while the rest of us are shuffled into Mr. Vaughn’s office.
With one student on their way to juvie, one on the way to the hospital, and eleven more crowded inside the narrow space, our corrupt asshole of a principal doesn’t have much choice but to assign us all two days of suspension starting tomorrow, followed by two weeks detention, and then cut us loose.
Prescott High cannot afford to expel thirteen students and lose all that state funding.
Besides, I know Principal Vaughn is still actively recruiting girls for his little side project.
And I’m willing to bet that he’s not forgotten how much I know about that.
The last two classes of the day are a serious drag. I can feel all the eyes on me, the wandering gazes that take in Vic’s gym shorts, that linger too long on my face. They’re all wondering why I’m shacking up with the boys that everyone is afraid of, wondering why I let a man I hate put his cock in me, wondering why I love it.
After class, I head outside and find Hael waiting for me.
“Let’s go,” he says, jerking his head toward that cherry red sportscar of his. My fingers trail appreciatively along the shiny paint job before I climb into the black leather front seat, trimmed with red detail. It smells like new car and Hael Harbin in here.
“Am I in trouble?” I ask, and one of Hael’s dark brows goes up.
“With who?” he asks, his voice so cocky and self-assured. I wonder if it’s all a front or if he’s as sure of himself as he pretends to be. “With Vic?”
“With Havoc,” I correct, because I can’t stand to hear Victor’s name right now. I shift on the seat, and the ache between my legs intensifies. My body wants more at the same time my heart is repulsed by what I’ve done.
“Why would you be?” he wonders, genuinely curious, his honey-brown eyes shifting my direction. Too pretty to belong to a jerk like Hael. “Yeah, maybe stabbing that bitch in front of the whole school wasn’t a good choice, but you’re new. You’ll figure things out.”
“Thanks for trying to take the fall for me,” I grind out, even though the words make my mouth hurt. Hael just gives that braying laugh of his and runs his fingers through his bloodred hair.
“Don’t thank me. It’s my official job, to be the fall guy. But Aaron just had to step in there and defend his sweet, little ex.” He laughs again as I tighten my mouth into a thin line, and we pull up in front of Aaron’s house. Vic’s bike is already parked on the curb. He leans against it, smoking a cigarette and staring into space.
He barely looks at us as we get out.
“Well?” Hael asks, as I notice one of the neighbors staring at us from across the street. We look too out of place in this perfect suburban neighborhood, like some sort of incurable blight. It’s only in that moment that it occurs to me what I’ve just done.
I’ve risked Aaron’s safety with his sister and cousin.
He’s just taken the fall for me.
The color blanches from my face, and I feel suddenly dizzy.
“Oscar and Callum are picking the girls up from school. Then we need to take Sophia to the police station to sign off on Aaron’s arrest.”