Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Bella
* * *
The days after Pandemonium are quiet. Kaiser watches me closely. He finally gave in and fucked me. I’m sore but feeling good.
He doesn’t fuck me again, but he does touch me nonstop when we’re together. My plan is working. The poison is setting in.
I’m feeling like a real supervillain when it’s time for me to go to class. Summer orientation is kind of boring right now. They’re talking about sorting us into different Houses. Blah blah blah, mafia alliances, blah blah. I’m up to my ears in mafia alliances already. I can’t focus on the Vesuvios and figuring out who framed my father until I’ve dealt with Fraternitas, so I’m only half listening as I look for Honey. She’s not always able to sit with me; the professor pulls her up to help him with special projects. Today she’s in the back, though. When I crane my neck and catch her eye, she gives me a grimace and looks away.
That’s my first sign that something’s wrong. But I don’t think much of it because I can be clueless about these sorts of things.
After class, I wait for her in our usual spot in the library. Typically, Raine finds me here, but there’s no sign of her.
Finally, Honey comes in, drops her bag, and slumps down. She doesn’t look happy to be here. What’s going on?
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine,” she says in a clipped way that tells me she’s really not. “I’ve been banned from Club Empire. For life. As well as all Fraternitas properties.”
“What? Why?”
“Why? Because of all the shit that went down at Pandemonium, that’s why.”
“What happened?” I’m missing something. “Is Raine okay?”
Her face softens. “Raine’s in trouble. Her stepbrother thought she’d been kidnapped. He broke into the club with a bunch of armed men and demanded she be returned to him.”
“No way.”
“Way. Now she’s on lockdown. I don’t even know if she’ll be allowed to return to school.”
“I can’t believe that happened.” I wrack my brain, trying to figure out how I missed all the action. Oh yeah, I was getting dicked down for the first time in my life. “I was… out of it. With Kaiser.”
“It happened after you both went upstairs. It was a cluster. And it would’ve been fine, but everyone was out of it by then. We shouldn’t have taken the lip gloss.”
The lip gloss? Oh, right, the drugs I gave them.
“We both took it, and it was fine. But I think Raine kept sharing it. At one point, she poured some into a punch bowl she found…”
“Oh, no. I didn’t realize that would happen. I thought it would be fun for us.”
“It’s done,” she says wearily. “It’s not your fault; we’re the ones who took it with us. It just sucks.” She looks down at her notebooks. “You know, I’m kind of out of it today. I think I’m going to study in my room.” She stands, and I rise with her.
“Wait, you’re really banned? Is there anything I can do?”
“No.” She packs up without looking at me.
I feel panicky. Is my friend breaking up with me? “I’m so sorry—”
“It’s fine. We’re fine, Bella. I just... need some space. I need to figure some stuff out.”
It’s not you, it’s me. I remember characters saying this on Vampire Varsity when they broke up with someone. This feels similar, but pointing that out won’t help.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper again to Honey’s retreating back. She’s been more stressed now that we’re about to start school, so I don’t take it too personally. But what I did didn’t help.
Not everyone’s immune to drugs like I am. I need to remember that.
I hope Raine’s okay. I send her a quick text. “Thinking of you. Hope you’re okay.”
I know her stepbrother monitors her cell phone, so when the dots appear like she’s texting back, I don’t expect much.
“Hanging in there,” she texts, along with an emoji of a rain cloud and a smiling sun.
I want to apologize for the part I played in getting her in trouble, but I don’t want to say something incriminating. So I add a heart and let her know I’m here if she needs me.
It feels lonely, sitting at the big library table by myself. But I’m fine. I’m used to being alone. If I lose my friendships, it’ll suck, but I’ll survive. And I believe Honey; she might just need some time.
I tell myself the churning in my stomach is indigestion and open my textbook to study. We’re learning about how the mafia families sorted themselves into Houses. It’s stupid college games, but everyone acts like it’s important, so I’m trying to care. The Bulls undergo trials to test their strength. The Swords do puzzles and tests that require strategy and logic. The Saints require devotion, and the Serpents prefer deviousness.