The Sinners - Ruby Vincent Page 0,53

to make sure neither Leo nor anyone else tries to hurt me. I love them for that, but I’ve thought a lot about this since the police let him go, and dealing with Leo is something I have to do on my own. He took advantage of me. He tried to assault me. I’m going to see that he pays for it, and Cassius and Clay have to respect that and support me.”

“Okay.” I took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, but thank you.”

I patted her leg through the sheet. “I’ve thought it before—thought it while you were socking me in the eye—that you’re tough, Camila Walker.”

She chuckled. “So are you. Your return hit snapped my head off my shoulders. I see what my brothers like about you.”

“Is it weird for you that I’m with both of them?” I asked.

“Nah. Cassius and Clay are like two halves of one person. It used to make me feel like the odd triplet out, but they were never that way on purpose. They think the same. Act the same way. Want the same things. They’ve shared girlfriends before, but like I told you, you’re the first one I’ve liked.”

“I’m glad. It’d be cool if we could be friends for real.”

Despite whatever she was doing on that laptop, she raised her head to let me see her smile. “I thought we already were.”

I hugged her tight, then I hurried to get dressed before I did anything sappier.

Brandon and Craig’s room was the last one at the end of the boys’ hall. They wedged a sneaker in the door to keep it open and a thumping stream of hip-hop poured through the crack.

“I’ve arrived,” I announced.

“Ember.” Brandon peeled himself off the wall where he was talking to a girl from our homeroom. A quick look around confirmed the party was Ravener-free. It was also Angel-free. No surprise since the boys shamelessly told me they come to these to scope out a hook-up for the night. They had that covered now. Except for Hiro, who said he was taking his chance to find out if the dealer was using his method to slip product into the school.

I counted about twenty kids—seniors and a few juniors. Brandon was right about it being chill. People mostly talked, danced, and played pong on the makeshift table they made out of Craig’s and Brandon’s desks.

“Glad you came.” He peered over my shoulder. “Is Camila with you?”

“She’s finishing up something. She’ll come by later.”

“Cool. Gabriel was just here. He left with Nicole for a walk.” He waggled his eyebrows. “If you know what I mean.”

I laughed. “The entire party knows what you mean.”

“You know you’ve thrown a good party if everyone’s getting laid.”

“You go work on that with that pretty girl you were talking to.”

“Nah,” he said easily. “I invited you. What kind of jerk would I be if I ditched you? Come on. Let’s get you a drink.”

Brandon opened a cooler full of soda and presented one with a “Ta-da!”

I took my creamy drink with a laugh. Brandon was a goofball but a girl needed a guy like that in her life.

“Hey, do you know those guys?” He pointed them out. “They went to Wesley Middle too.”

“I do.”

Two guys with short hair and short pants talked in the corner between Brandon’s bed and the wall. They were a year below me in middle school. I recognized them when I came to the academy, but we never spoke to each other, so there wasn’t a reason to mention the connection.

“Sweet. It’s a reunion.”

Brandon tugged me over. I sensed that he was pushing my socializing, so I wouldn’t get bored and leave the party. I’d play along.

“Jorge. Mark.”

“Brandon,” one of the guys said. “Fun party, man. All it needs is beer.”

“For real,” said the other. “What happened? Saito’s back. He would’ve hooked you up.”

“Saito charges a lot for his services and his deliveries don’t come with an expulsion-proof guarantee,” Brandon replied. “Let the Raveners pull that shit. They can get away with it.”

“Damn if you ain’t right.” He thumped his friend’s chest. “Jorge and I were just talking about this communication workshop. Hart came into our class today and said we’re using a PE class next week to ‘bridge the gap’ between the OB and the Estate. Can you believe that?

“We don’t have the problem. The Raveners do whatever they want. Break all the rules. Treat us like shit. Then we have