“We should probably tell her about the types of parties the Rebels throw.”
My heart caught at the mere mention of their name. Sloane whispered back to Mercedes, her warm breath hitting the side of my face. “She’s never been to a party. She won’t know the difference.”
Mercedes’ hand clenched on mine. “You’ve never been to a party?”
“Don’t make her feel bad, Mer.” Sloane didn’t give Mercedes a chance to apologize—not that she needed to. I knew I was the odd one out in this trio. “But just a heads up—”
“What if we get caught?” I interrupted her, my heart slowly sliding down my body like a sticky sludge as the resentment from an hour ago turned into blinding anxiety.
We had to wait until the clock hit a certain time for us to sneak out and travel down the windy stairs to the main level of St. Mary’s, and that was when I really began thinking about what I was doing. If we got caught and Richard got word that I was sneaking around at night after curfew, he’d likely come to St. Mary’s himself to punish me, if not just take me all together.
Chills ran down my spine as we continued walking down the long hall. The only guidance we had were the flickering sconces on the walls, which seemed to get dimmer with each step we took, until we landed in front of a door at the very end of the long corridor. The tall, arched wood creaked as it opened, and once it shut, we were enveloped in pure black. I couldn’t see a single thing in front of me, and without knowing it, I gripped onto both Mercedes’ and Sloane’s hands again.
They didn’t let go, though, or laugh. They intertwined our fingers together, and my breathing calmed. After a few seconds of standing in the dark, a deep voice startled me. “Names?”
Sloane answered for us, and we heard, “I trust you to inform the new girl on our rules?”
She answered, “She’ll be fine. She’ll sit this one out.” Then, she began pulling me forward. Sit what out?
My boot splashed in something wet, and for a split second, I was taken back to a different place at a different time. A coldness set in my bones, and I shivered, which definitely didn’t go well with the already high anxiety swarming my body. “Are you okay?” Sloane asked, stopping her stride for a second.
My voice croaked, and I hated that. I hated it so much. “Yeah. I just don’t like dark, damp places.” My eyes still hadn’t really adjusted. “Where are we? And you didn’t answer about getting caught. What if we get caught?”
My nerves were getting increasingly worse, and I was certain it had everything to do with being in this place surrounded by familiar smells and sounds.
“We’re underground,” Mercedes answered.
I whipped my head over to her even though I couldn’t see her. “Underground? Like a basement?” The fear in my voice was like getting hit by a bus. I hoped they didn’t detect it too much.
Water sloshed as Sloane stepped forward, pulling us again. “Yeah. It’s basically soundproof. And we won’t get caught. The headmaster is usually asleep by now, and even if we did get caught, he’d tell us to go back to our rooms, and that’d be it. He’s cool, Gemma. He lets us be us.”
I breathed heavily through my nose, trying not to let the musty smell of the basement get into my head. This is St. Mary’s. Not home.
“Okay,” I answered, feeling irritated all over again at the mere glimpse of the past. I shook out my shoulders and nodded. “I guess it’s time I learn what a real high school party is like, right?” Screw you, Richard.
Sloane and Mercedes both laughed, the sound echoing throughout the emptiness of the hall. “Oh, Gemma. This is nothing like a real high school party.”
“No?” I asked as we continued walking forward. The closer we got, the more I could hear a slight thumping of music.
“No.” I could hear the smile in Sloane’s tone before she grew serious. We stopped in front of something. The air grew dense, the gap of emptiness closing. “And no judging. Okay? This is where we get to pretend we’re not trapped in a creepy boarding school away from our families, acting like we’re normal teens, because we aren’t.”
I swallowed back the fear and felt confidence slide back in. “I know all about not being normal, Sloane.” Trust me.
She breathed out a light laugh and then opened the door.
Chapter Seventeen
Gemma
It was jarring. The lights, the music, the smells, everything. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust, the mascara on my lashes feeling heavy as I blinked several times, trying to figure out what was in front of me.
Sloane and Mercedes didn’t let go of my hands as they pulled me farther into the room. Multicolored lights danced along their features, making their hair look blue. The music vibrated off my bare skin, and it felt intoxicating. I stifled a gasp as I drank in the scene as if I hadn’t had water in years.
“What—” I muttered, still being dragged by Sloane and Mercedes.
Sloane pulled me from the front, tipping her head back to see my reaction. “Hope you’re ready to dance.” Her voice was hardly audible from the loud music coming from the speakers, and I couldn’t believe that I’d hardly heard it at all from outside the entrance.
The warm breath from Mercedes graced my ear as she shouted, “The only good part of St. Mary's, besides the hot boys, are the parties. It almost makes it worth it.”