Empire High Betrayal (Empire High #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,4

bad dream. I didn’t just see any of that.

“What happened?” James asked as he gripped my shoulders.

I jumped. I didn’t realize he was right in front of me. I couldn’t get the words out. I couldn’t breathe through my tears.

“Brooklyn, what happened?” His hands were on my face, trying to get me to focus on him.

“Don’t you dare touch her again, James,” Rachel said. “I swear to God.”

He didn’t listen to her. He just stared at me, his hands still on my cheeks.

And for some reason his kindness made me cry harder.

“You’re safe, Brooklyn,” James said. “Talk to me.” His hands were too gentle on my face. It was such a contrast to everything I’d experienced in the last hour.

I just wanted to go curl into a ball on the floor and sleep. I couldn’t speak. The words wouldn’t come. I tried to pull the map back up to cover my exposed bra. As if that would make this situation any better.

He was staring at me so intensely. “Did Matt do this?”

What? “No.” I finally found my voice. “Isabella. It was Isabella.”

“Jesus.” He let go of my face. He stepped around me and grabbed the door handle.

“What are you doing? You can’t leave. You can’t tell Isabella I’m here. She has Kennedy. She said she’d kill Kennedy if I didn’t leave town. She can’t know I’m still here. She had a gun. And a bomb.” It sounded so ridiculous that I thought he’d just laugh and tell me to leave and stop ruining his night. That he’d just ignore me like everyone else.

Instead, he shook his head. “Isabella’s always been nuts, but she’s officially lost her mind.”

Had she ever had it? “I don’t know what to do.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks, but it was no use. My eyes weren’t nearly as dehydrated as the rest of me. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I’m so sorry, James. I didn’t know that you’d be…” my voice trailed off.

“It’s homecoming,” Rachel said. “Of course he’d be with his girlfriend.”

He ran his hand through his hair so roughly that I was surprised he didn’t pull any out.

“Mr. Pruitt…” He took a step back. “Mr. Pruitt was in the lobby causing a scene right before we came up here. I didn’t hear what he was yelling about. But he’s probably still here. Let me call downstairs.” He ran over to the hotel phone.

“Where the heck is my dress?” Rachel said as she looked under the bed. Then she turned to me. “Can’t you wait outside?”

I shook my head. “I can’t leave. I can’t risk Isabella finding out that I’m still in town.”

“James, do you seriously believe her?” Rachel asked. “She’s probably just trying to get your attention. You led her on.”

Oh come on. Like I’d do this to get James’ attention, when I already had it fully clothed earlier tonight.

He was still on the phone and he held up his finger to her.

She cursed under her breath. “This is the freaking worst night ever,” she said. She abandoned looking for her dress and walked over to the door. “Move.”

I shook my head. “You can’t leave.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Rachel said. “You don’t get to kiss my boyfriend at homecoming and then come in here demanding his attention. Haven’t you already done enough damage for one night?”

Hadn’t she? And she was being awfully territorial when she was the one that had cheated on him.

“Rachel, you can’t go,” James said. “This isn’t a joke. She said Isabella had a gun and a bomb.”

Rachel laughed and lifted her hands in the air. “A bomb? Seriously? Where would a prissy high school girl get a bomb? It doesn’t even make any sense. I don’t know Isabella very well, but she doesn’t seem like some insane evil villain to me. I only hate her because your mother loves her and is always trying to gently nudge you two together. But that doesn’t mean Isabella is a monster. It means your mom is. God, why are we even talking about this right now?”

I had no idea why we were talking about James’ mother right now. This felt like a private conversation. Could tonight be any more awkward?

“You brought it up,” James said. “You know I don’t like Isabella. We’ve talked about this a million times.”

Rachel glared at him. “All I know is that Brooklyn kissed you. And either she goes, or I do.”

“Brooklyn isn’t leaving. And neither are you,” James said