Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,3
talk in circles around us. We don't like that.”
“He should say, we really don't like that,” Oscar tells me, taking a seat on Hael’s other side. Cal is sitting perched on top of another table, eating corn nuts and watching me like he'd very much like to see me run again, so he could hunt me down.
My fingernails dig into my denim-clad thighs.
I look across the table at the four fuck-heads, and I force myself to breathe, closing my eyes for a moment to brace myself. I think of my sister, Heather, and what could happen to her if I don’t do this. The thought calms me, and I open my eyes.
“I need my vengeance; I want my revenge.”
“And that means what, exactly?” Victor asks, cocking his head to one side, his tongue sliding across his lower lip. He cracks his knuckles as he leans back in his chair, his sweatshirt peeling open at the zipper and flashing all the ink on his neck. “Like I said, be direct.”
My eyes flash up to his, those two black pits, endless and full of shadows.
“My life is just a series of failures,” I blurt, hating them, hating them the most, those Havoc Boys. If I could, I'd set them on themselves. The best I can do right now is sic their monstrous cruelty on everyone else. “I want them all rectified.” Victor scowls at me, and I get the idea that I'm still being too cryptic for his liking. “I need you to … torture some people. I mean, like, the way you tortured me.”
I've practiced saying this so many times in the mirror that I don't even flinch.
The lenses of Oscar's glasses flash as he turns to look at me. The shine fades, and I can see the sharp interest in his gray eyes.
“Who, and how many?” he asks, as he glances down the line of Havoc Boys, like he's checking on their reactions. Victor looks interested, Hael looks bored, and Callum is staring at me with a handful of corn nuts in his palm.
“Seven. If we come to an agreement, I'll tell you their names. Not before.”
“Mm.” Victor makes a sound and leans forward. “You know we'll take any deal, no matter how savage, but there's always a price. The question is: what are you willing to pay?”
My voice is strong and clear when I reply.
“Anything.”
Victor smiles at me, and then pauses, looking up and over my shoulder.
“Sorry, I'm late.”
Aw, fuck, it's Aaron. My nostrils flare as he takes a seat across from me, and then freezes, green-gold eyes going wide. He doesn't move, doesn't say anything. We both know what happened between us before.
“Whatever. We know all we need to know anyway.” Victor stands up and comes around the table. I stand up, too, and he ends up coming so close to me that I can feel his breath stir my hair. “We'll get back to you on Friday. Remember, though, if you accept our price: you will pay up.”
Victor takes off, Hael following close behind him. Oscar and Cal share a look over the top of Aaron's wavy chestnut hair.
He, on the other hand, is still staring at me like he's seen a ghost.
“Of all people, I never expected you,” he says, almost like he's disgusted. He stands up and storms off, shoving chairs out of his way as he goes. I barely recognize him as he makes his exit, that sweet boy I once knew covered in tattoos, his body hard and taut with muscle. The only parts of him that are the same are the lips that gave me my first kiss, and that loose, mussy hair.
“He's going to have to learn to play nice,” Oscar murmurs as he flips open the cover on his iPad. I’m surprised he even has one. Other schools, nice schools, they have iPads and laptops. At Prescott High, we're stuck in the nineties. Or, rather, our funding is. We use lined paper, binders, and pencils. Lucky us. More than likely, Oscar probably stole the one he’s got in his inked hands.
“Yeah, we don't treat clients like that.” Callum pauses and then smirks at me. “Only marks. You know that, though, don't you, Bernie?”
I stand up and spin away in a whirl of white-blond and pink, storming out the door only to be snatched around the bicep by Victor. He pushes me into the brick wall and then puts a palm next to my face, leaning in.