It’s a different respect from what they show the Darling cousins. They’re scared of Royal, and not in the uneasy way they were when Colt was on the move with a dog collar in hand, searching for a target. I duck my head and hurry to the restroom to clean up, grateful that I’m wearing black today so the coffee stain can be washed out easily.
When I walk into my next class and take my seat next to Colt, people whisper, but it’s different. They look curious and excited rather than disgusted by the school slut.
“What’s going on?” I whisper to Colt, ducking my head and turning it his way so no one else will hear us.
“Everyone’s trying to figure you out, Crystal Sweet,” he says with a grin. “You caused quite a stir this morning.”
“I wasn’t the one fighting.”
“You kinda were,” he says. “And even if you hadn’t been there, everybody in this school knows you were the cause of that fight. They can’t figure out what you are, where you fit.”
“Probably doesn’t help that you took the Dog label off me.”
“Nope,” he says with a grin. “Took us a while to figure you out, too. Now I’m just having fun watching you drive them all crazy while they try to guess where you’ll land.”
I cross my arms and smirk at him. “So, you’ve figured me out?”
“I know where you belong,” he says, leaning forward on his desk so he’s looking up at me with that adorable grin.
“Where’s that?” I ask, arching a brow.
“With us, baby,” he says. “You belong with us.”
“That’ll never happen,” I say, trying to picture a scene where I sit with the Darlings instead of my brothers.
“Oh, it’ll happen,” Colt says. “Trust me, Crystal Sweet. When my cousin wants something, he gets it. And he wants you.”
I shake my head and turn my attention to the teacher. But my mind returns to his words.
If Devlin and I love each other, if he really meant all those things he said to me on Friday night…
Maybe we could make it happen. Maybe we can bring our families together. Maybe we can all share the spotlight, the throne. My brothers can have the popularity and power they want, and the Darlings won’t have to give up their place. And Devlin and I will be in the middle.
Then I think of how angry and broken Royal is. Could I convince him to join the Darlings without him thinking I’m a traitor? After all we’ve done to each other, if I can forgive Devlin, does that make me a horrible person, or a bigger person? And if I could convince my family, could Devlin convince his?
The Darlings have something going at this school. They’ve achieved a delicate balance, something different from what my brothers had in New York. My brothers were popular, but the Darlings are more than popular. They’re untouchable. And for the most part, they’re benevolent kings, despite what I’ve experienced. I have to remember that I was the only person facing that kind of abuse. They made an example of me. And like Dixie said, they did worse to me because I didn’t just accept it like she did. I didn’t understand it. She’s always known it was more than being a target. She’s known it holds its own strange prestige.
People know that the Darlings might bestow favor upon them—and they’re here for it. The cousins might pull a nobody into their circle of exclusivity, elevate them to their dream for no other reason than that they can. They might give a girl a necklace and tell her she’s worthy. They might tell a guy he’s good enough to join their prestigious secret society and learn their secrets. They might invite someone like Dixie, who’s heard of their legendary parties and dreamed of them for so long, to come along.
Or they might not.
Most people at this school adore the Darlings. They admire them. They want to land a Darling boy as a point of pride, or because they know they could be set through the whole of high school if they get a necklace. And yes, there’s a little sliver of fear—just enough to make them remember that although they might join the Darlings for a night or a month of debauchery, they are never their equals. With one word, the Darlings can take it all away, like they did to Lacey. They revel in their favor, glory in it, because they know it might not last.
I can’t help but think how hard they must have worked for that. And here we came waltzing in like a bunch of entitled punks, thinking we’d grab the respect and adoration and fear of the entire school for no other reason than we wanted it. No wonder the Darlings fucking hate us. This isn’t just some throne their grandfather put them on when they were in diapers. It’s a carefully crafted empire, one they built together and maintain every day with artful care and attention.
Sure, a name means a lot. But Dolly has a name in this town. Even Dixie is related to the mayor. Lacey has a name and look what happened to her. A name isn’t enough. The Darling cousins did this. Their name doesn’t hurt, and their fathers’ and grandfathers’ reputations in the town doesn’t hurt. But these boys, they’ve done something special here, something unique, something even my brothers didn’t have in New York. My brothers were football gods, party boys, fuck boys. This is more than popularity. It’s worship.
Besides my brothers—before them—the Darlings had no enemies. No one challenged their rule, no one defied them. And it’s not because people fear them. Mostly, it’s the opposite.
So yeah, they’ve fought my brothers, but they have every right to defend their place at this school, one they’ve held for as long as they’ve been here. They’ve created an environment, and atmosphere, that benefits them. Why would they give that up?
It’s not all good, and I don’t agree with all of it. In some sick way, I have to admire the genius of it. There’s a reason the Darlings have a whole table full of Dolls and only one Dog. Girls want to be their Dolls. Guys want to be their friends. Everyone wants to be absorbed into their orbit. But there’s a limited number of spots at their table, and at the next one, and the next. That makes it even more special when a girl is chosen, honored, brought to their table and told she’s something special. It makes every girl want it, and more, it makes her think she might attain it.
But the Dog, she’s the reminder of what could happen. She’s the whipping boy. The hint of danger, the dark side of the Darlings that hides in ancient caverns under the library, the threat that it’s not all revelry and merriment. The reminder that if they get out of line, if they go too far, the Darlings only have to order it, and they could be the next one on a leash.
This system governs the halls of Willow Heights far more than money or names, more than the staff and administration. The Dolces came along, thinking we’d topple this thing that’s as organized as the mob, a tiny little gang with a hierarchy and unspoken rules we didn’t even bother trying to learn. So yeah, we deserved to be put in our place.
But now… Now I have a chance to do something about it. To sway things. And I won’t waste that opportunity, even if my brothers are too arrogant and proud to see it. I swore I’d get rid of the Darling Dog, and now I’m in a position to do it. I finally have influence, though it’s the furthest thing from the way I’d envisioned it happening. I don’t have influence with the other students, but I have influence with Devlin. And he makes the rules.