Page 73 of Broken by my Bully (Lessons in Cruelty Dark Academia #1)

Haven

My stomach rumbles, but I’ve gotten good at ignoring it over the past few months. I’m back in the ballroom, trying to blend into the shadow cast by a tall naked lady statue. And blending does not include sticking your neck out every time a tray of food comes past.

I wish it did.

I’m starving.

I knew I should have driven the Land Rover here. Now I’m stuck at this stupid dance, and Melissa’s not answering her phone. Unless I pickpocket someone, it’s not like I can call a cab.

Twenty minutes ago I was on Bastian’s feet, feeling like Cinderella. Now I’m calculating which drunk donor might not notice me stealing from them.

From princess to thief. That sure didn’t take long.

@lee.haven

Where are you?

Maybe I should walk back to the college. Should only take me an hour. I’m sure I can make it in these shoes. I tap my fingers against the side of my phone and then put it away with an angry sigh .

I should grab a few of those mini burgers to go. Maybe I can leave via the kitchen, wrap up a few snacks without anyone noticing.

Gotten really good at that, too. The diner will no doubt see a rise in profits now that I’m not working there anymore.

Asshole Bastian. I still can’t believe he did that to me. And he thinks one lousy dance can make up for the fact that he’s gone and blown up my life? What fucking planet does he?—

The second my phone vibrates, it’s in my hand and I’m opening Melissa’s message.

@parker.melissa

Meet me out back

@lee.haven

***

@parker.melissa

DO IT

I’m getting really sick of being bossed around. But she’s my ride home. And to date, my only friend at AHC…although ours a questionable relationship at best.

Glancing around to make sure I don’t spot anyone I know—Kai, Bastian, the dean…God, the list keeps growing—I hike up my skirts and speed walk to the ballroom exit.

I take the same route I did with Bastian, passing the restrooms and leaving via the smaller staff EXIT. The donation boxes are still here, and I give them another quizzical glance as I pass on my way around the building.

Unless I’m completely off my bearings, the back of the building should be?—

Melissa waves when she sees me, and I give her a quick, nervous wave back. There’s a large verandah moodily lit with rows of vintage light bulbs where couples have gathered, talking or sipping champagne as they puff on cigarettes or cigars.

Thank God I never got into that shit.

“Hey,” I say as I hurry over. “Can we go? I’m so done with this place.”

“I thought you’d never ask!” She seizes my arm, throws another glance over her shoulder, and then takes me back the way I just came.

Another thing I’m done with? Going around in circles.

“Can’t we just go through there?” I ask, pointing to the verandah.

Melissa snorts like a real lady. “What, you want to leave?”

“Yes.” I realize we’re detouring toward the woods around the same time Melissa comes up short. “Wait. Where…?”

She glances back over her shoulder, then leans in to me. “The real party.”

Another party in the woods. Where Ezra went. Where Bastian might follow if he’s still angry about my rejection. Where I know Kai will be.

“Come on!” She wreathes her arm through mine and starts off down some path only she can see, because all I see is lawn. We’re still heading for the trees.

“I don’t want to go!” I tug my arm free.

“Trust me, you’re gonna wanna.” There’s childish glee in her voice, like she’s fighting back a giggle.

I think it’s morbid curiosity. Why else would I let her pull me along without putting up more of a fight? I stare ahead at the trees, trying to see what she’s so obviously aiming for.

“You’re in college now. Your number one job is to step outside of your comfort zone.” She makes a point of grinning when she sees my scowl. Other than when she was stoned today, this is the biggest smile I’ve seen on her face. “Do you trust me?”

I shake my head. Trust is for people whose professors don’t make them strip in dressing rooms and quit their jobs for them. For friends who spit at you on your first day and make you suck their dick a few days later.

“Well, you should. This is the real Rain Dance, Haven. It’s gonna blow your fucking mind.”

These trees should feel familiar, comforting—like the woods where Kai and I played. Where we made promises. Where we learned that love and pain were synonyms.

But these aren’t those woods.

And I’m not that girl anymore.