Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,103
you get this car?” I ask again.
“From me,” Cadee says.
“What. The fuck. Is happening?”
“I bought it with my million-dollar take-home from Dante.” Then she leans over and whispers, “I bought a house too!”
“What?”
“Well, it’s not a house. It’s the old Alumni Inn.”
“Why the hell would you buy that piece of shit? That place went out of business ten years ago.”
“Because it matches the car,” Ax laughs. Then he screeches the tires around a corner, slides the Camaro into the gravel driveway, and skids to a stop in front of an old rickety porch.
Everyone from rush is waiting for us. Even Dante. And… “Victor? I’m so lost.”
“Jesus.” Cadee laughs. “You are really bad at surprises.”
“I just don’t get it.”
Ax cuts the engine and then he and Lars are both out, flipping the seats back so Cadee and I can get out.
“OK. Someone want to explain what’s going on?”
Mona comes forward and stands on the top step. Everyone else flanks her as she plants her hands on her hips and grins. “Welcome to the ruling class, Cooper Valcourt. You are about to be officially crowned the King of Nothing.”
And then everyone is talking at once. And their plan—Dante’s plan—comes spilling out like a stroke of royal genius.
With one exception.
Dante is asking me for the truth.
And it’s not my truth to tell.
It’s Cadee’s.
The six of us sit in the office of the old inn—me, Lars, Ax, Cadee, Dante, and Mona. I didn’t want Mona here, but she has agreed to stay on campus with Dante next year. So she needs the truth.
“OK,” Lars says. “Do you want to explain why we’re all in here?”
“And not out there getting drunk, like everyone else?” Ax laughs.
Dante already knows Cadee’s secret. She told me. So he’s just leaning against the back wall with his arms folded over his chest. Giving us space to do this our way.
I look at Cadee. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Do. What?” Lars is losing patience. “What are we doing?”
“Lars, can you just stop talking?”
He shoots me a dirty look. “If we’re having the conversation I think we’re having—”
“We’re not.” I cut him off. “What you think happened never did.”
“What?”
I look over at Cadee. “Do you want me to tell it?”
She takes a deep breath, then shakes her head no. “I can do it.”
Ax walks over to her and bends down. Then he looks up at her with very soft eyes. “What’s going on, Cadee?”
She takes another deep breath. “I know there’s a lot of rumors going around about me.” She glances at me. “And Cooper too. I did have an abortion three years ago. Cooper was the one who took me to the clinic. But it wasn’t his baby.” She looks over at Ax, then Lars. “It wasn’t yours, either. It happened before we… started doing any of that stuff.”
“What’s that mean?” Lars asks. He looks at me. “What does that mean, Cooper?”
Cadee sucks in a deep breath and I squeeze her hand to give her courage when she lets it out.
But she doesn’t need my help.
She’s always been stronger than me. Always.
She puts up a hand and waits for silence and then she starts talking in a soft, low voice. “Cooper found me. By accident, actually. It was the first night my mom and I were living in the attic apartment, remember?”
She looks at Ax and Lars. They nod. We were all together that New Year’s Eve. And it really did feel like a new beginning. We were laughing outside in the woods. Drinking a little. Not Cadee, she wasn’t drinking that night. But I was.
And it was such a good night.
We had fun that night.
We kissed her, and made her laugh, and we laughed too.
And I remember thinking… I think I could love this girl forever.
And then it all went black.
“But my mother was new to the catering team,” Cadee continues. “So she was busy with the party and wasn’t thinking about me. But I was thinking about her. I told you guys I wanted to go inside and find her so I could give her a kiss at midnight.” Cadee’s chin begins to quiver and then her eyes are filling up with tears. She wipes furiously at them as they ride down her cheeks. “I just wanted to give her a kiss at midnight. Because my father…” She pauses again. Shakes her head. “Was gone. So I went inside…”
She stops and stares off at nothing. And I want to make her stop. I just want all