Clique Bait - Ann Valett Page 0,57

someone to challenge me.

“What are you looking at?” William’s voice rang smoothly from my side.

I looked around to make sure nobody was paying attention before slipping the card into his hand. “Maddy got it for me. For tomorrow.”

She was supposed to be taking me to a club.

“Nice,” he said. “You look terrifying.”

I scowled at him. “Thanks.”

“And you look terrifying now.” He chuckled, leaning against the locker beside me.

“You’re in a good mood,” I noted. William had walked the halls of Arlington like a storm cloud all week. News of a supposed injury had been leaked as the cause of his suspension from the team. Though both went unspoken by Level One, that and Zach’s scandal were all the other levels talked about.

“It’s Friday,” he said cheerfully. “And I don’t have to see a smug-looking Francis for two whole days.”

“Friday couldn’t have come sooner,” I agreed, thinking of all the moments I’d been stared down by Sophie or Lola.

“I’ll see you here after school?” he asked, his gaze flickering to the clock on the wall.

“Yeah,” I said, slipping the ID into my purse. We’d settled into an easy routine, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying the human contact too. Some days our between-classes hug was the only nice thing to happen all day.

When William had said he’d see me after school, I expected that he meant the place he usually did, where he leaned against the wall by the parking lot each afternoon with a charming smile spread across his face.

I didn’t expect to find him at the center of a crowd, faces eagerly watching some kind of commotion. I was just in time to see the first punch. And it was thrown by my fake boyfriend.

The whack of knuckle against cartilage was still echoing through the air as blood started dripping down the nose of Francis Rutherford, his eyes simmering with the kind of fury I’d never seen on anyone’s face before. This was not good.

Well, not for William at least. I had to admit, seeing Francis slightly crouched over, the corner of his eye already swelling along with his previously perfect nose, was a little satisfying. A lot satisfying. But then he straightened and lunged toward William, his hands colliding with his cheek.

“You son of a bitch!” Francis yelled, pushing William back until he hit the stone wall.

But before Francis could gain any leverage, William shoved him back, punching him again. God, if William kept going, he was going to get expelled from the school, not just the lacrosse team. Most of the surrounding crowd had started cheering and taunting, divided almost equally in support for each Level One.

The ones who weren’t were looking at me as if I was supposed to do something.

Bracing myself, I realized they were probably right. Girlfriend duties. I stepped forward, throwing my arms over William’s shoulders and yanking him away with all my might.

“Stop!” I said firmly. “He is not worth getting kicked out of school!”

William was panting, a mark reddening on his cheekbone as his green gaze pierced Francis’s over my shoulder. It was chilling. I’d never seen him look at someone like that.

“You start on me and then get your pretty little girlfriend to defend you,” Francis spat from behind me. “That’s not how this works, asshole.”

“Like you have any problem beating on girls too,” I said with venom, knowing he wouldn’t dare touch me in front of the student body. His eyes locked on mine with fury, but with William beside me I didn’t feel scared. In that moment, I wasn’t considering the mess or the complexities of Level One, I was only considering the sheer hate I felt for Francis.

I looked to William, who was still staring at him with so much disgust it rattled me.

“Let’s go,” I said. “Before a teacher sees this.”

I tugged at his arm, glad that we were in what was a quieter end of campus despite the hefty crowd that had grown at the drama. I couldn’t see any school staff around us yet, but I knew a gathering like this would attract attention.

As soon as we were out of earshot, I turned to him. “What were you thinking? I had no idea you could be so stupid!”

“He’s—” William started saying, but his breath caught. “He deserved it.”

“What happened?” I asked, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody had followed us. I saw the refuge of a half-open classroom door and pushed him toward it so we could be