we should start off the night seeing what a Working Girl can really do,” she begins, nodding her chin in Greg’s direction. His laughter is disturbing and dark as he and the other boys push me down to the deck and pin me with my legs spread wide.
That’s when it really hits me that this is happening.
They’re going to try and rape me.
I try to scream, but I can barely breathe past Greg’s hand. Immediately, my flight or fight instincts kick in, and I begin to flail. But when the boys have trouble holding me down, they just pile on a few more Bluebloods until there are six people holding me hostage.
John gives over the holding of my leg to Mayleen, and then moves over like he’s planning on kneeling down between my legs.
That’s when I hear the sputter of a small engine, and the creak of a ladder before Zack Brooks appears over the edge. He doesn’t hesitate before he throws himself at John, taking the other boy by complete surprise. A fight breaks out, and even with John, Greg, and Ben all attacking him at once, Zack stands his ground.
Now that there are less people holding me down, I fight even harder, dislodging Mayleen and kicking one of the kerosene lanterns. It breaks and then plunges over the edge, fire trailing along the spilled oil. Flames begin to lick at the side of the boat, and in quick succession, the other lanterns go up, too.
The Bluebloods holding me down drag me over to the ladder and basically toss me down to the lower deck. I hit with a grunt, just before Ileana grabs me by the hair, and some of the other girls get hold of my arms and legs. Even though I’m kicking and screaming, and flames are licking at the side of the boat, nobody notices or cares. The lake is vast, and there are plenty of bonfires on the beach, stereo systems blasting music, and screaming teenagers. I’m just a drop in a bucket.
Another small yacht has pulled up alongside the one we’re on, and the girls drag me over.
I’m once again manhandled up to the top deck and shoved into a chair, ropes wrapped around my wrists and ankles.
Harper is panting and looking from me to the other boat where Zack is still fighting with his fists.
“Keep her here until everyone else shows up,” Harper snaps at Becky, and I’m guessing she must have Pleb friends on the way, seeing as almost every Blueblood save Myron Talbot is here. “I’m done with this girl; this shit ends tonight.”
Harper storms over to me, and I spit at her. Her palm quickly comes up and cracks me across the face.
“What is wrong with you?!” I scream back, but like I said, I’m pretty sure she’s a sociopath or a psychopath or what the hell ever. Tonight, I beat her at her own game. She doesn’t like that. Not one bit.
“Break her fingers.” Harper snaps this order at her cronies, and then leans down to get in my face. “You will never, and I mean never play the harp again. How do you feel about that, you little bitch?”
“How do you feel about my boot up your ass?” Zayd says, appearing at the top of the ladder. He’s bleeding from the edge of his mouth, but he looks okay otherwise. He’s followed by Tristan, Creed, and Miranda.
Harper sneers at them as Zayd unties me and pulls me up, dragging us to the opposite side of the boat, so Tristan and Creed can help create a human shield around me. The rest of the Bluebloods come up the ladder, creating a divide in the center of the yacht. Zack is the last one up, and he ends up trapped behind them on the opposite side.
There are flames dancing across the water.
How that happened, I have no idea. One minute, we were struggling on Harper’s boat, and the next, the lantern was being knocked over and kerosene was spilling everywhere. How it got on the actual surface of the lake, I don’t know.
My heart pounds as I clutch my hands to my chest like they’re precious gems. I almost lost my ability to make music with the harp … forever. That, and they … I can’t think about the almost rape. Not right now. The Idol girls crossed a line not once, not twice, but now three times. The boys are right: they really do want to kill me.