Saint (Angelview Academy #1) - E.M. Snow Page 0,20

head and laughs. “No—I mean, none that I can confirm, anyway. There’s always rumors, and those guys screw enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve really happened.”

“Well they can fuck each other for all I care,” I spit out. “So long as it keeps them busy.”

Loni and Henry both laugh but I’m dead serious. Saint, Liam, and Gabe can all go fuck off and I don’t really care how they choose to go about the fuckening or who they do it with.

“Who’d top, do you think?” she asks with a giggle.

“Saint, for sure,” he replies. “That dude’s ego wouldn’t stand for it being any other way.”

I grin and close my eyes, feeling light and almost content.

Almost.

It’s been hard finding any peace of mind ever since Saint’s threat that first day. He haunts my thoughts, like an annoying song I just can’t get out of my head. I replay his words again and again, as if there’s some hidden meaning behind them, even though what he said was pretty damn clear.

You’ll regret staying. I swear to God you will.

I later found out that the weekend after he made that promise, he’d declared me “Open Season” at a party at Liam’s beach house. Open-fucking-season, like I was an animal, where anyone could go after me without repercussions because their lord and master had dubbed it so.

Astonishingly, though, he hasn’t breathed a word to me since that first day. None of them have. While their friends and admirers have terrorized me nonstop, none of Angelview’s gods have approached me. I can’t understand why, because it’s obvious Saint enjoys watching me suffer. I’ve caught him in the periphery of my vision, smirking as my self-esteem takes hit after brutal hit. He likes it. Likes watching me crack. Is probably hoping to see me shatter completely.

The other two don’t seem nearly as invested in my misery. After a few days, Gabe appeared to lose interest completely and doesn’t even really look at me anymore. Meanwhile, I’ve learned that Liam’s pissed off glare is his permanent expression for everyone. I take a strange amount of comfort in that—knowing I’m not really that special in his eyes.

But Saint … Saint is fixated on me, and ultimately it didn’t matter if the other two cared or not. Like Loni had told me two weeks ago, this is his world, and we’re just living in it.

Everybody else seems fine with that fact, too—just like Loni had also warned me. It’s disgusting, the way the other students treat him and his friends. The amount of hero worship I’ve seen boggles my mind because they aren’t heroes. They aren’t even good people. Saint’s the worst of them all, and somehow, the most adored.

Which isn’t right. It isn’t fair, and his stupid smirks and heartless laughs at my expense only make me more determined to stay and stick it out.

Two weeks down, thirty-eight to go.

Senior year could officially go add itself to Saint’s orgies.

7

I smell the chlorine long before I reach the pool. It’s sharp and reminds me of the bleach Carley uses to clean her bathrooms, but it’s familiar and comforting and draws me like a moth to a flame. Technically, I’m not supposed to be here. It’s the middle of the night and the building’s supposed to be closed, but Loni informed me that rule is only for the general public. Our student I.D.’s will get us in the rec center 24 hours a day, and if you know how to pick a lock, getting into the pool isn’t a big deal.

Fortunately, I learned how to pick a lock when I was ten. Another of my mom’s upstanding boyfriends taught me that little trick before he was locked up for stealing copper from new constructions.

I’m excited, my heart racing with anticipation. The moment I found out there was an Olympic-sized swimming pool at this school, I became desperate to swim again. I was on Rayfort’s swim team before the accident, and while I have no false hope that I’ll ever be welcomed on any team at Angelview, I can at least enjoy myself in private.

When I step into the cavernous room housing the pool, the air is warm and thick and I’m eager to get into the water. Dropping my towel on a nearby bench, I strip my oversize t-shirt hiding my red swimsuit over my head and kick off my flimsy black flipflops. Moving to the edge of the pool, I secure my long ponytail with the extra