Clique Bait - Ann Valett Page 0,54

because I think we should work together.”

I shifted my weight and crossed my arms to match him, skeptical of what the highly esteemed Francis Rutherford would ever need from someone like me. Apparently, his way of controlling Lola wasn’t working.

“Tackling it from one end just doesn’t cut it. We need to handle it from both ends. You keep your side in line and I’ll keep mine,” he said.

I scowled—why did he think that the only solution was to control William? If this were all real, and my boyfriend was cheating on me, I’d probably dump his ass, not manipulate him to stay.

“What if I wanted to break up with him?” I asked, playing with the idea. Although breaking up with William could be the end of my Level One status, it could also be my emergency exit. “What if I just wanted out of all of this?”

A flash of anger crossed Francis’s face. “You won’t. Because if you do, I can promise I will make your life miserable. Wouldn’t want that, would we, Chloe?”

He made me sick. His expression lit up as he issued his threat, and the way my name rolled off his lips sent my skin crawling.

“No.”

“Good girl,” he said before sighing dramatically, as if our conversation alone tired him. “I want you to report anything back to me.”

Then he took a step closer—so close that his whispered words were as clear as day. “Otherwise, the only way to keep him away might be to go after his girlfriend too.”

Goose bumps erupted over my arms. I screwed my eyes shut as his laugh echoed through the hall.

“Chloe?” I heard behind us, causing me to open my eyes. Relief washed over me. He was here to save me.

“What’s going on?” William asked, now storming to where we stood edged to the wall.

“Nothing,” Francis said with a wide grin, daring to nudge me with his elbow. “Chloe and I were just having a nice chat.”

I glared at him as I stood closer to William’s arm. “Let’s go.”

We walked in the opposite direction of the cafeteria, toward the courtyard where students lay in the sun, books propped in their laps. A Level Three sanctuary.

“What did he do?”

I shook my head, confused. I knew Francis was despicable and a completely unreliable source, but I wasn’t about to confront William straightaway either. Not if it was true, and he was lying to me about Lola. I needed to think. “Nothing.”

To my surprise, he didn’t push. Instead he nodded to an empty table. “Want to eat out here instead?”

I contemplated the idea of eating out here in the fresh air with just William, like we were two friends oblivious to the web of drama that held us.

But for now I was riddled with the suspicion that maybe I didn’t know William as well as he wanted me to believe. After Francis’s threat—raw evidence of the monster he was beneath his golden-boy charm—I was preoccupied with a new hunger.

“I need to go to the library and study,” I said. “But I’ll catch you after school.”

The library, the oldest of Arlington’s buildings, was empty save for a few students hastily cramming beneath lamplight. It was the only building in the school not framed with stained glass, a dark retreat for silent studying. But though studying was my disguise, I was here for something much more important.

I found a shielded space between the shelves and folded onto a beanbag, taking out my phone. The images of Zach and Max were saved. All it would take was a few taps of my thumb and I could release them to the world.

But it wasn’t time for my revenge to be done with yet. I couldn’t reveal my true motives to Level One until I was sure each of them would get the karma they deserved. I needed to do it anonymously.

I hoped the printer was stocked with plenty of ink.

Skipping classes was new for me. I’d never been one to sacrifice my education, but I needed a time where the halls would be clear. I doubted what I was missing in math was nearly as important as distributing my first piece of evidence. A taste for what was to come.

Level One better be scared.

I’d printed out three hundred copies of the photograph, captioned with Aren’t boys mean to the one’s they like? Maybe to anybody else the picture would be harmless. But to Zach? After the scene he made at the party embarrassing Max in front of the school?

I