Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,31
and smiles. “I can’t actually take the credit. They’ve been using this costume for three years now. But I signed off on it this morning.”
“What uniform?” Lars asks.
But then an eruption of screams makes us all turn towards the Glass House to find Cadee dressed up in said costume.
“Oh, hell the fuck no! I am not wearing this!” Cadee is yelling at Victor English, who I kinda remember from our own summer rush.
“Oh, my God.” Ax laughs hysterically. “That’s so fucking wrong!”
Cadee Hunter is dressed up like a rubber duck. Complete with an orange beak hood, orange duck feet, and a wooden sign hanging around her neck from a chain that says, Hi, my name is Fugling. How can I serve you today?
I laugh. I can’t help it.
And then everyone is laughing. Us. All ten of the wannabe princelings and swanlings. Even the staff has come out of the kitchen to point and chuckle.
“I’m not wearing this!” Cadee yells again. “You all can go—”
“Be careful,” I bark, silencing everyone with my yell. “You better be careful how you speak to us, Cadee Hunter.”
Isabella tsks her tongue. “Call her by her name, Coop.”
Fugling. I sigh. But whatever. I need to keep Isabella happy this summer if I want her to be helpful. “You had better be very fucking careful what you say around here. One mouthy outburst from you, Fugling, and you’re out. No place to live, no summer job, no scholarship.”
“Which is probably a good thing,” Ax says. He’s made his way over to Cadee and he’s circling her like a predator. He licks his lips, like he’s going to be eating her for breakfast instead of the food the servers are preparing. “Just leave, Cadee. Why put yourself through this? You know you don’t belong here.”
Lars sighs.
“You got a problem with this, Lars?” I whisper it so Ax doesn’t hear. I don’t want him distracted. Cadee Hunter looks like she’s thinking we might not be worth all this effort. And that’s a good thing.
“She didn’t do anything. It was us stalking her.” Lars keeps his voice low.
“She agreed to everything we did that year. All of it.” I stress this part. Just so we’re clear. “We didn’t coerce her. She wanted it.”
“Right,” Lars says. “And so did we. She never said anything, Cooper. She kept her part of the bargain. Just leave her alone.”
“We have another year in this place. And then when we leave, she will be here, alone. Without us to run interference if she suddenly feels the need to put us in our places.”
“If we’re gone, who cares? So you guys bullied her a little? High-school kids who bully cute girls isn’t what I’d call a career-ender.”
Yeah, I sigh to myself. Because that’s not all that happened that year. Lars has no idea how much shit I’m covering up. And I’m never going to tell him. Because he would take Cadee’s side over mine without even blinking.
“Do we want her holding shit over our heads for the rest of our lives? And we won’t be gone. We all know where we’ll be.”
“I’ll be gone,” Lars says. Then he looks at me. “I’m in finance. That means I’ll get sent to the city no matter what. Not my fault you’ve been fucking off for three years and you’ll get stuck here like your brother Dane.”
“Fuck you.” I point at him. “Do not compare me to Dane.”
“Easy,” Lars says. “And anyway, we can’t erase her mind. She’s going to know our secrets forever no matter what happens.”
“Right. But if we allow her into the inner circle, she’ll have power. And if she’s smart, she will learn to grow that power. Then one day, Lars, one day we’ll be somewhere enjoying ourselves, the memories of High Court long faded, and we’ll turn around, and there she’ll be. She’ll make demands, or threats, or both. And whatever we hold dear when that happens will be up in the air. Why would you want to leave this loose end behind when we’ve spent the last three years doing everything in our power to avoid this very situation?”
“I get it. We should pay her off then. Pay her enough money that it’s in her best interest to forget about us.”
“Have you conveniently forgotten our fathers drained our bank accounts? And how fucking naïve are you, Lars? Do you really think they didn’t plan this? They didn’t put her here? I think they know something and they’re just using us to get rid