Page 14 of Fractured Loyalties

Fourteen

IVY

I need to find Kade to apologize…

And ask what the hell happened.

I go straight to the trophy case in the hallway, where the football team’s endless parade of championships is immortalized in gold and glass. He’s always hanging around there… but the longer I wait, the more I realize he isn’t coming.

My eyes dart down the corridor, up the stairs, and across the math wing, but all I see are navy blazers and tartan skirts, moving in groups.

No Kade.

I pull out my phone and thumb through our last text thread. There’s been nothing from him since Saturday, the night of the party. The previous message is his, a string of fire emojis and a selfie that made me snort-laugh when I got it before the party, before everything turned to… this.

I type out a “Where are you?” and then delete it. I don’t want to seem desperate. Besides, I have no idea what I did at the party.

It all feels like such a blur. I’m altogether questioning my sanity right now.

I walk to his locker, the one with the faded Swim Fast, Eat Ass sticker under the lock. The door is closed, obviously. I stand there, hugging my books, and wait.

I feel exposed, and I can’t help but check over my shoulder for the shadow of Roman, even though I know he’s not here. He wouldn’t follow me into the school. From everything I’ve learned about him, I think he’s allergic to this building.

And I can’t blame him for that.

Finally, I see a couple of other guys from the swim team. I’ve seen Kade talking to them before. I can’t remember their names, but I swallow my fear and approach them, blocking their path.

“Hey,” I say, my voice so tight I almost choke on it.

The tallest one, a guy with dark eyes and equally dark hair, stares at me as if I’m the most significant inconvenience he’s ever seen. “Sup?”

I clear my throat, trying not to sound as if I’m inwardly panicking. “Have you guys seen Kade today?”

He glances at his friend, who’s a pale dude with razor-burn on his jawline and a Woods swim tee under his blazer.

He shrugs, then looks back at me. “Nope,” he says.

“Not since the party. He got drunk as fuck, though. He’s probably skipping today or something.

I swear it takes him days to recover from that type of drinking. He’s such a pansy.”

“Yeah,” the other nods. “He could definitely be in like parental-forced detox or something. His parents are fucking nuts, holding him rigid since he’s working for Robert Woods.”

Wait, he works for Robert Woods?

The dark-eyed friend laughs, distracting me from that thought. “Or maybe his dad just found his vape again.”

They don’t seem worried at all. I hate them for it. So, I try again, even though my cheeks are burning. “It’s just… I haven’t heard from him since Saturday. I’m kind of… worried.”

“Maybe he’s grounded,” the other says. “You should probably check the pool.”

I nod, thank them, and then turn on my heel as I am leaving. I hear the guy I spoke to say, “Hey, you’re that new girl, right? The one who lives with Roman Woods?”

I freeze, the name hitting me like a bucket of cold water.

The other snorts. “That explains so much. There’s a reason he had to hire Kade.”

I walk away, pretending I didn’t hear, but my breath is stuttering in my chest. I don’t want to think about Roman.

I don’t want to remember the party or the way he said Little Lamb in my ear as I came apart for him, or the way his hands dug bruises into my hips.

Or the way he looked at Kade with murder in his eyes when he saw us together.

Oh my God… what if…

I stop in the middle of the hallway, my heart pounding louder than the bell ringing out through the hallway.

What if Roman did something to Kade? Roman is violent and possessive, and he’s made it pretty fucking clear that he’s not afraid to fight—or to cross lines he shouldn’t.

What if he beat Kade to a bloody pulp or something? What if Kade is in the hospital and it’s all my fault?

I pull out my phone again—s till nothing from him. Panic simmers, and I click Kade’s name and try calling him this time, my thumb shaking on the screen. It rings four times, then dumps me to voicemail.

Do I leave a message?

“Uh, hey,” I say before I can think twice, my own voice echoing in my ear. “It’s Ivy. Can you, like… just text me you’re alive? Please? I can’t… I don’t… I’m worried about you.” I hang up, then stare at the black screen until I realize I’m holding up the line of people trying to get to Biology.

A flush creeps up my neck. I scurry into the nearest girls’ bathroom, lock myself in a stall, and sit on the closed lid. My hands are trembling so badly I almost drop the phone.

I shut my eyes and try, once again, to replay the night in my head, but all I get are snapshots. I remember Kade telling me I was beautiful, and making me a drink in the library, and… my head spun when I thought I was about to fuck him…

My stomach lurches, and my skin prickles with cold. As much as I hate what I did with Roman…

It makes me more sick to think about Kade fucking me.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I pull my phone back out and check Kade’s social media. No posts since the party. No stories, nothing. I even checked the Woods Private group chat, but it was filled with just dumb memes and a dozen missed messages about homework.

Damnit.

The tardy bell rings, echoing through the pipes. I force myself to stand, splash cold water on my face, and stare in the mirror until my breathing slows. My eyes are bloodshot, the makeup smudged under my lashes. I look like a raccoon.

Whatever. At least it’s a look.

I slip into my world history class and get the nastiest looks, but no one says anything. The mean girls are all in the back row, passing notes and giggling.

Blair looks over her shoulder, makes a face, then clearly mouths the word “tramp” at me. I don’t even want to contemplate why she might think that about me. So, I ignore it, slide down into my seat, and spend the entire class period making tiny origami cranes out of my worksheet.

Still, my mind keeps looping on the same thought. Kade is missing, and no one seems to care but me.

By the third period, my nerves are shredded. Every time someone walks behind me, I tense, expecting a hand to yank my hair or a note to be thrown at me. When the intercom buzzes at the start of Chem, my body goes rigid, and it takes a full thirty seconds to unclench my fists.

After class, I recheck my phone. Still no messages. I start to think about asking the office to call his house, but then I remember no one here is going to take it seriously. Kids miss school all the time. And I’d sound stupid, panicking after only one day.

I stare at my lap during lunch, sitting alone again, since Kade is not around. The clatter of trays and the chorus of laughter surround me, but it feels as if I’m sitting in the eye of a tornado of anxiety.

I can’t even look out the cafeteria windows for fear of seeing someone I know, and the few times I do risk a glance up, I see Blair’s army, all of them, hungry for blood, a table away.

Go fuck yourselves. I wish I could scream it at them, but that would break my shield of invisibility.

I consider texting Kade again, something dumb and casual that won’t make me seem manic, but I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I could say that would accomplish that.

“Hey…” a voice cuts through my thoughts, and for a moment, I don’t even think it’s directed at me, but then I look up, meeting a pair of warm hazel eyes.

“Hi…” My voice trails off as I try to place her name. I know she’s in a few of my classes, but my head is so fuzzy, I can’t come up with the answer.

“Tess,” she says, pushing some of her dark hair behind her ear. “I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you, but I saw you at the party Saturday, and I meant to say that I loved your dress…” She pushes up her black rimmed glasses, her hands holding tightly to her tray.

I nod, trying to process what she’s saying and also not to assume she has an ulterior motive for talking to me.

“Do you wanna… sit together?” I motion to the chair across the table.

“Yeah, sure,” she says, and then I remember to smile. It feels weird on my face, as if I’m trying to pull a scab off.

Tess sits, tucking her skirt under her like someone who expects to be judged for how she does it. She seems nervous. She glances up at me and then away, tracing the condensation ring of her drink with her thumb.

“So… are you okay?” she asks after a second. “You look kind of… not okay today. No offense.”

I laugh dryly. “I think that’s the story of my life.” The joke evaporates before it hits the table, so I try again, softer. “But um, I’m fine. I think.”

She smiles, a little lopsidedly. “That’s good. Many people don’t survive their first Woods party. Figure you’ve got a backbone, if you’re still standing.” She picks at her carrots and then offers me one.

“No thanks,” I say, my stomach churning. “I’m not hungry today. It’s been a shit show of a weekend.”

Tess nods, as if she already knows what I mean, and then starts talking about the party, as if she’s running recon for my social anxiety. “I saw you in the library with Kade on Saturday. Looked as if things were going pretty… well…” She shrugs, studying my reaction. “He’s cute.”

“Yeah…” I force a smile, but I can feel the color bleaching from my face. “It was… fine. I don’t really remember all of it.”

She grins. “That’s how you know it was a proper Woods event.” She pops one of her carrots, chews it, and then lowers her voice. “I heard Kade got into a fight after. But I don’t know much more. I’m a social outlier in this place—and Kade isn’t one to fight with.” Her smile falters.

The words tick in my brain for a second before I can formulate a response. “Who did he fight with?”

She pauses, frowning. “No one really knows,” she says, but her tone is laced with skepticism. “Someone said he left the party early and was super drunk, ranting all about Roman Woods being an asshole. Again, no one fucks with Kade.”

“ Oh. ” My throat grows dry, and I feel like I should press, but I can’t.

She laughs. “It totally tracks, though. I’m pretty sure the whole world thinks Roman Woods is an asshole.” She pauses, her eyes widening. “But you probably know that way better than anyone else. He’s your brother.”

My brother, who fucked me at the party.

I have to swallow the shame. But somehow, I still manage to smile through it.