Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,32
of her.”
He folds his arms across his chest and looks me in the eyes. “And since when do you do your father’s bidding?”
“Since I have no choice.” It’s my turn to sigh now. “Listen, if you’re feeling guilty about this, we’ll pay her off when we get our bank accounts back. We’ll each chip in enough to keep her flush every month, as long as she stays quiet.”
Lars looks at me. His expression is flat. We’re not drawing the attention of anyone. Yet. “I get what you’re saying. I understand it, I agree with it. But the only way to truly erase the threat that Cadee Hunter presents to us is to kill her.”
“Jesus, Lars.”
“That’s what I mean. We’re not going to kill her. This isn’t going to work.”
“We have to make it work. She’s a nobody. All we have to do is scare her into submission and make her leave.”
We both glance over at Ax, who is still circling Cadee. Spilling insults. Telling her she doesn’t belong here. Describing what the rest of the summer will look like if she stays.
She looks like she’s trying hard not to cry, but that’s not what bothers me. The part that bothers me is that she’s succeeding. She doesn’t look ready to quit, that’s for sure. She has a little gleam in her eye. Defiance.
“You see that, right there, Lars? That twinkle in her eye? She’s planning something. She hates us. She wants revenge. All we have to do is break this girl. Erase that twinkle. Put her in her place and send her on her way.”
Lars takes a deep breath. “Fine.” Then he looks at me. “Just like senior year at Prep?”
Ax is suddenly up next to us. “What’s like senior year at Prep?”
“No,” I say, looking back at Cadee. “What we did to her during senior year at Prep will look like child’s play this summer.”
“What are we talking about?” Ax says.
“Ruining Cadee Hunter.”
“Breaking Cadee hunter,” I correct Lars.
“Excellent.” Ax chuckles, rubbing his hands together. “I could use a new target. When do we start?”
“Now,” I say. “Right now.”
CHAPTER TWLEVE - CADEE
The worst thing about my first day at my new job isn’t the way Isabella and her stupid minions, Selina and Valentina, humiliate me over and over again. I mean, yes, when I first saw that costume, I was livid. And when I went outside wearing it, as everyone in the camp made fun of me, I was humiliated. And then when Cooper, Ax, and Lars made it very clear that this is how it will be all summer if I stay, I felt defeated.
But none of that compares to the feelings I have right now.
The day is over. I was forced to serve them all. On my knees, several times. Crawling over to Ax, and Lars, and Cooper as I desperately tried not to spill their drinks on the tray I was holding. I had to kiss Ax’s feet a couple dozen times. Hell, at one point he had me massaging them.
Lars made me swim in the lake wearing the duck costume after Isabella spilled a bowl of maraschino cherries all over the front. That was how he wanted me to clean it.
I lost a duck foot and then they wouldn’t let me come out of the water until I went under and looked around the brown lake water until I found it.
Then Cooper said I couldn’t change. I had to wear the wet costume for the rest of the day until after dinner.
Valentina complained that I smelled and Selina dumped a box of powdered laundry detergent over my head. That was just a little while ago.
They’ve all gone home for the night. The pledges are staying in the student cottages across the lake and when I asked them if I could get a ride over there so I could sleep in my old garden cottage that the Chairman gifted me last night, they just laughed hysterically.
Victor and the other servers are cleaning up as I sit in the locker room, trying to peel the dirty, disgusting, soap-caked costume off my body.
I wish I was one of them. They weren’t anyone’s target today. They just did their jobs quietly and everyone left them alone.
“Knock, knock.”
I look up to see Victor staring down at me with sympathetic eyes.
“Do you have a boat, Victor?”
“No. Sorry, Cadee.”
“You don’t have a boat?” I sneer it. Because he’s just lying. Everyone has a boat. “Then how the hell did you get here today?”
“There’s