Son of a bitch.
Splashed across a row of lockers with bright pink spray paint read the phrase:JJ IS NO VICTIM. FRAUD. LIAR. WHORE.
My locker happened to be one of those defiled with graffiti. It wasn’t difficult to figure out who JJ was. Josie James.
Carter, I silently growled. No one but a small group, which included Carter, knew who I really was. I trusted the Elite and Mads, but Carter…
Fury rolled through me. The bastard. When Carter wasn’t trying to assault girls, he was fucking gossiping, spreading crap around the school. This had his name written all over it.
What the fuck did he want from me now!?
Did he just get off on torturing me? Probably. Perhaps he hadn’t been able to get what he was looking for off Brock’s computer… or he had. A frightening thought.
“What’s it like to be the most hated girl in school?”
I groaned and faced Mads, turning my back to the shit sprayed loud and obnoxiously for all to see. “I swear I’m going to end him before the school year is over,” I vowed with venom spitting in my tone.
“You’re thinking it was Carter?” she asked, eyeing the words behind me.
My nose flared as I replied, “The one and only.”
Mads’s gaze dropped to mine. She hugged her laptop to her chest, a sober look in her grey eyes.
“You’re not the only sister who got tagged.” I jumped at the sound of the deep voice that came from my left but relaxed a second later when I recognized who it was. Micah. I hadn’t even heard him approach.
“Kenna?” I assumed.
He nodded.
“What a fucker,” I said in disgust.
Micah flashed his panty-dropping dimples, ruffling the top of his platinum hair with his fingers. “Yep. Your stepbrother is a real winner.”
“He’s not my stepbrother. Not anymore,” I quickly clarified. “If the bastard is going to out me and my family, then….” I held out my arms and yelled, “It’s true. It’s all fucking true.” I was suddenly so damn pissed off at myself for not skipping the hell out of this day.
My little outburst in the hallway did exactly what I expected. High schoolers were so fucking predictable. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. They hollered back, because of course, there was some dumb jock who thought it would be hilarious to wolf call in the halls.
And it would have been if I’d been in the mood.
I wasn’t.
“You’ve lost your mind,” Mads replied, grinning. “And I love it.”
Micah threw his jacket over his shoulder, hooking it on a finger. “What about Ava? She could have just as easily written it. Does have a certain girly style to it.”
He had a point. Carter wasn’t my only enemy at the Academy. Either way, whoever it was, they were going to have to do a lot more to pierce this thick skin I’ve developed. “Amateurs,” I grumbled. I faced Mads and Micah as a slow sly smile curled. “I need your help,” I said.
Mads’s nose crinkled. “Uh-oh. You got that look on your face.”
“Whatever.” I spun the dial on my locker, keying in the combination. “It’s not like I’m asking you to help me get rid of a dead body. I just need you to spread something around school.” I opened my locker and quickly shoved in the button-up Academy sweater I’d brought with me.
Micah lifted a brow, interested. “What do you have in mind?”
Unzipping my bag, I took out my laptop and shoved the messenger bag into the locker. “Despite what my locker says, I want you to tell the truth about who I am. It’s time, and it’ll be one less thing Carter can hold over me.” This was one narrative I wanted to control. I wasn’t going to let Carter blackmail me again or try to use it against me, particularly to hurt the Elite. We’d done that game already.
Micah held his hand up, palm facing me, and dropped his voice low as he said, “I swear to the tell the truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth.” He couldn’t even deliver a sworn statement without smirking.
Mads jabbed him in the side with her elbow, as I rolled my eyes.