It never crossed my mind, and even when she says it, I don’t have to think about it. I have complete confidence in Royal, fucked up as that is. It’s weird how much I trust a man who hurt me more than I knew was possible. But I know he’s not scheming on me anymore. I wouldn’t put it past Baron to have put the idea in his head, but if that’s the case, he was playing Royal as much as me.
“I mean, I’d have gone to New York, too,” she says. “Even without Royal. The shopping there is to die for you, am I right? We used to go up for New Years Eve every year.”
“You are a mystery to me,” I say, shaking my head.
“That’s the milkshake that really brings all the boys to the yard,” she says, flashing me a grin. “If I’d gone, though, I’d still be dying of FOMO from missing all the drama here.”
“What’s the drama?” I ask.
“It’s Willow Heights,” she says, widening her eyes. “There’s always drama.”
“Even without the twins?” I ask. “I’m surprised the school survived an entire week without them. How did it not crumble to dust in their absence?”
She laughs and closes her purse. As we leave the bathroom and make our way down the hall, she fills me in. “They’re back today, so I’m sure there will be more drama. Most of last week, we were just watching social media to see what happened with that video. A bunch of parents are throwing a hissy fit because they were suspended from the team for a week, but it just happened to be Bye Week, so they didn’t actually miss any games, just practice. A bunch of others are saying that’s just good luck, because we’re undefeated this year, and they know we’d have lost a game if the twins weren’t on the field.”
“Is Magnolia okay?” I ask. I was more worried about that when I was out of town than anything. The Dolce boys may not have been here, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t out causing trouble. In fact, they’re probably more dangerous on the loose than when they’re at school all day.
“Yeah,” Gloria says. “She was here all last week. Why?”
“You know why,” I say. “She’s a Darling.”
“Right,” Gloria says, shuddering. “Sometimes I forget how bad they were my first year here. It was so much better last year, when the Darlings were all gone.”
“Better for you,” says a voice behind us. I turn to see Colt walking behind us, a cool expression on his face.
“Exactly,” Gloria says, smoothing her hair over her shoulders. “I didn’t have to look at your hideous face for a whole year. The Dolces blessed this school with peace at last.”
“And I’m sure you got down on your knees and worshipped them like the gods you think they are,” Colt says.
While they argue, I can’t help but think of how badly they beat Colt last year to get rid of the last Darling at Willow Heights. The year and a half before that, when the twins were only fourteen or fifteen, they and Royal burned his hand and cut off his finger, burned Preston’s face, and permanently disfigured who knows how many other Darlings. Baron said one of the Darling men died in an accident, which was probably not an accident at all. They probably killed him. And then there’s Mabel, who tried to kill herself because of what they put her through.
Now, when they’re seniors, bigger and more dangerous than ever, poor little Magnolia is the lone Darling besides Colt, who won’t fight them anymore. She’s a girl, and a freshman, and in no way prepared for their barbaric tortures. The fact that she dared to walk through the doors of this school at all makes her about the bravest little badass in history, to say nothing of her taking a stand against them by publicly opposing them when I did, and then taking that video…
“Remind me why you’re here again?” Gloria says to Colt as we reach our class. “Shouldn’t you be trolling the rooftops of Notre Dame or something?”
“Since the bleach seems to have hit your brain more than your hair, I’ll walk you through it again,” Colt says with a grin.
Gloria’s mouth falls open in indignation. “I do not bleach my hair,” she hisses. “I’m a natural blonde.”
Colt quirks a brow and gives her a lazy once over. “I’d ask for proof that the carpet matches the drapes, but you seem like the kind of girl who prefers hardwood.”
“Like I’d show you,” she huffs.
“Well, I’m here because I’m repeating senior year,” he says. “At least I have an excuse for forgetting.”
“Right,” she says. “The brain damage. Are you petitioning Willow Heights to add a short bus?”
“I need to find Magnolia,” I interrupt. “The Dolces will be on the warpath now that they’re back.”
“She’s not here,” Colt says, leveling me with that cool look.
“Where is she?” I demand, my heart skipping. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, and she’s safe,” Colt says. “You think we don’t know how the Dolces operate by now? Come on, Teeny. We’re not going to send the baby of the family into a pit of demons.”
“She… Left school?” I ask.
“She’s taking her classes online,” he says. “From a safe location.”