Clique Bait - Ann Valett Page 0,68

drag an outfit from the closet and pull on some ankle boots, my head still groggy from my unsettled sleep.

I was late to class, which wasn’t good considering how much my work had been suffering. In fact, I’d received my first ever B since freshman year, and I was still riding on a two-week extension for an assignment in math. I fell into my seat next to Claire like a zombie. Her eyes searched my face, as if trying to uncover whatever drama was causing my haggard state.

The tired fog that was cloaking my mind quickly cleared when I saw Maddy in the hallway on my way to lunch. She was dressed as glamorously as always, her hair in a tall ponytail and her lips a deep plum.

“Hey, Chloe,” she said absentmindedly as I stopped beside her. Something seemed to have changed since yesterday, she seemed defeated.

“Hi, Maddy,” I said. I hoped she’d at least shield me from Lola and Sophie. “Coming to lunch?”

She nodded once before closing her locker and turning in the direction of the cafeteria. She seemed tense.

I looked at her, about to ask what was wrong when I sensed it myself. The atmosphere in the cafeteria was different. The whole student body was quieted, their eyes turning to Maddy and me as we entered. Instead of mingling between friend groups and standing up to get more food, everyone was seated, their attention directed toward the middle table.

Maddy lifted her chin and walked in front of me, and I couldn’t help but feel as if we were walking toward our execution. Perhaps we were.

It was then that I noticed what had drawn everyone’s attention. Sophie was pacing the area around the table like a lioness stalking her prey, her hips swaying slowly with each step and her smile wide. In her hands was a bell, its chime now silent. She’d already caught the attention of the whole lunch hall.

And that’s when Lola climbed up onto a seat and then up on the table, her stilettos sharp as they sat dominantly beside Level One’s lunch trays. By now, she had the attention of every single person in the room, except perhaps the teachers. They’d conveniently deserted the cafeteria as if anticipating her announcement.

“Sorry to interrupt your lunch,” she called, her sickly sweet voice hardly needing to be elevated as she addressed her subjects. Everyone was holding their breath in silence, anyway. “I have a surprise to share with you.”

Her eyes fell on Maddy and me, her teeth shining with menace as she grinned.

“I hope you all enjoy it. Feel free to share it with the world. It’s a gift from me to you.”

And then, as if we were in some kind of excerpt from an episode of Gossip Girl, the whole cafeteria erupted in a synchronized emission of text tones and vibrations. Even my own phone chimed in my pocket, and I pulled it out and unlocked it as fast as possible, my fingers clammy.

My hand flew to my mouth just as the student body flicked their switch from deathly silence to deafening noise.

Thin bronzed legs were stretched across two boys, black strappy heels barely clinging to each foot as they arched with euphoria. Her body was clad in lacy lingerie, but it may as well have been nothing with the way it was stretched across her chest. In one hand dangled what looked like a cigarette, the other cradled the cheek of one of her companions.

The faces of the guys were blurred out. Their hands were all over her, and from her expression, she reveled in it. Maddy Danton’s face was captured for all the world to see, oblivious to the camera pointing in her direction.

I couldn’t tell how old the photograph was, but I guessed it was the one Sophie and Lola had been talking about in the bathrooms. The one they were saving for her as punishment for jeopardizing Lola’s prized reputation.

Tearing my gaze from the picture, which had been sent in a bulk message to all 921 of Arlington’s students, I took in the horror-struck expression of Maddy standing beside me.

“You promised you wouldn’t.” Her eyes were cold with rage, her breath coming quickly. “You told me if I dealt with her you’d protect me.”

“Oh, babe,” Sophie said, clicking her tongue. “But you didn’t, did you?”

“I did everything you asked, I just needed more time—”

“We don’t have forever, Madeline.” A smirk brightened Sophie’s baby-blue eyes. “And your time is up. Good luck with your