“Okaaaay.”
She looks at me. “That’s it. The Elites don’t like my family.” She sighs at my raised eyebrows. “More specifically, my dad. When we first moved here, he rejected an offer to work with the Jameson Co. And the rest was history.”
“What do you mean?” I ask slowly. “Because he didn’t accept a job offer, they hate him now?”
Lily runs a hand through her hair, frustrated. “I know it sounds weird, but in this town, either you work for the Elites, suck dick for the Elites, or are valuable to them in some other way.”
“And if you’re not?”
“If you’re not and you’re poor, fine. If you’re successful...like my dad, then you’re basically Blacklisted.”
“Are you going to get another trash-can dumped on you for talking to me?”
Her eyes meet mine, and for the first time I see a flicker of worry. “Perhaps. But I’m hoping not.”
“What a fucked up town,” I mutter.
“It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” she says, comforting me with a hand on my shoulder. “But if you make it through, you’ll be okay.”
“How old were you?”
“It was just freshman year. The Elites train their children well.”
“Train?” I bark a laugh. “Like dogs?”
She looks serious, her hazel-green eyes unblinking and steady. “If they want to inherit the shitload of money their parents have, then yeah, they do whatever their parents want.”
Jesus. What sort of cult have I stumbled into? Where beautiful, frightening and dangerous teenagers walk around, doling out violence and at the mercy of the will of their parents. Where money is their only love in life, and they don’t care who gets crushed under their giant egos so long as they inherit the millions their parents possess.
“What did they do to you?” I ask suddenly.
Lily’s face transforms into a blank mask. It was so quick that I almost didn’t see it – one moment, she was wearing her emotions on her sleeve, the next she was an impenetrable wall.
“So, do you know?”
I face her. “Do I know what?”
She rummages in her bag and pulls out a gold-cased phone – it’s the latest Iphone, I notice. In fact – I scour Lily – she’s got the look of a rich kid. While not flashy, her uniform is ironed, her shoes are undoubtedly expensive, and the earrings in her ears... I lean closer... are diamonds.
Lily is rich.
But why is she not with those idiots?
She pulls up an app. “The school... We have an app. Basically, the Elites run it. It sort of serves as a blackmail list – if the Elites have dirt on you and you displease them, this app sends a text to everyone in school.” She bites her lip again, and she offers me a pleading expression. “Please, Ophelia, don’t get mad-”
“What did they send?” I ask, and the cold, hard truth blankets my body.
She closes her eyes and then hands over her phone. The color leaves my face. I stare at the picture. My hands begin to vibrate. I can’t feel, can’t think. All I feel is dead.
One of my nudes.
They sent one of my nudes.
I’m laying back across my bed, looking up seductively at the camera which my ex, Mark, is holding. My eyes are hooded and you can tell I’ve just had sex. Mark’s hickey claims my neck, just above my collarbone. My breasts are pushed up in my hands and my bush peeks out from between my crossed legs. I remember this picture – it was the first, and only time, I’ve taken nude photos.
I want to die.
I want to disappear.