The Secret Girl (Adamson All-Boys Academy #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,30

sneaking the last unopened soda away from them and cracking the top. The last thing I want is for them to stay here, but I figure if I make a big deal over it, they'll come back more often, just to piss me off. “Why is she such a ghost?”

They both turn back to me then with raised brows and slightly wide gazes, like I've just said something alarming.

I pull the soda can away from my lips and cock a brow of my own, pausing to push my glasses up with my middle finger. The long sleeves of my hoodie fall low and cover up my hands.

“Wait, is she … she's not dead, is she? I just meant she's got no online presence, no photos on Ranger's social media, or his mom's or—”

“She killed herself,” Tobias says—I think he was the one that spilled the beans about Jenica's name. Micah narrows his green eyes and elbows his brother in the side, but Tobias isn't done. “That's the story anyway. And Ranger's mother is a devout Catholic. She's ashamed. She thinks Jenica went to hell.”

Wow.

“Please shut up,” Micah whispers, giving Tobias a dark look. “You 're going to get us both killed by Ranger.”

“So Ranger's ashamed of his sister, too?” I ask, thinking how sad that is. If the girl really did commit suicide, she was clearly suffering. And then for her family to posthumously abandon her? Fuck.

“No, he thinks she was murdered,” Tobias blurts, and then his brother really does elbow him in the stomach. They both curl their lips up in matching snarls, and then lean in so close their foreheads almost touch. “He has a right to know.”

“Really, does he?” his brother asks, and then they're both standing up in unison and turning to face me. I swallow hard and take a drink of my soda to cover up my sudden nervousness. They're both looking at me like they can see straight through me. “Either way, you should just leave Jenica alone.”

“Unless …” his brother starts, and then they're all up in each other's faces again, glaring daggers. If they thought that small bit of information was going to dissuade me, it's done just the opposite. I want to know how she died, and why Ranger thinks she was murdered. Or why, after ten years, there's literally no information available either way.

“Let's go, Tobias,” Micah says, and I'm surprised that I actually did guess them correctly. Really, there's no way to be able to tell. As far as I can see, they're exactly the same in every way. Same hair, same eyes, same uniform, same voice. “I don't even know why we came all the way out here in the first place,” he murmurs, but then both twins pause on their way out and glance back at me. “Be careful out here. Strange things have happened on this campus.”

The twins turn and head for the door while I gape at their retreating backs.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” I call out, but it's too late. The twins disappear, closing the door behind them, and locking it. I never thought to ask where they got the key.

Culinary Club is my least favorite part of the week; the Student Council is intent on making my life hell. On Tuesday, Spencer grabbed me by the arms, and Ranger rubbed a hot pepper on my lips, making them burn. Today, I walked in the door and got a pie to the face.

As I stand at the sink, cleaning bits of banana and cream off my glasses, I notice that Spencer's missing. Not that I care. He's probably the meanest of the bunch.

Well … I glance over and find Church sitting in the chair in the corner, a glass of … something that looks like wine in a wineglass. I mean, it's probably not wine (probably some type of iced coffee), but the effect's the same. He looks like some sort of rich aristocrat, lording over his subjects.

My lip curls.

The way he looks at me, from those honeyed eyes of his, I can sense a deep well of cruelty just waiting to be tapped. When he smiles, I shiver. When he passes by me in the hall, I cringe. Pretty sure he's, like, a psychopath or something. Scares the crap out of me.

Turning back to the sink, I ignore him and finish cleaning up. A while later, the assholes send me down the hall to fetch some extra flour from the