Page 95 of Let the Game Begin

We walked into the large cafeteria to join the line of students with trays in their hands. The place was packed as usual, but that didn’t prevent me from noticing the Krew not far away from us. Xavier was talking to a girl, or rather, he was hitting on a girl while she stared fearfully at him.

Abruptly, he reached out and grabbed a lock of her hair, twining it around his index finger while the girl looked down. It looked like he was trying to talk her into doing something and she couldn’t say no; he was Xavier Hudson, and no one said no to him.

“What a dick,” Cory noted from behind me. He was; he really was. Xavier was the worst of the Krew: slimy, cruel, and pitiless. I had heard terrible things about him from Logan.

“Yeah,” I agreed, pausing to watch him. His black eyes and arrogant smile did nothing for me—except perhaps make me break out in hives.

Once I loaded up my tray with a bowl of soup, some chicken and potatoes, a bottle of water, and a piece of bread in a paper napkin—I turned andheaded for the table where my friends were waiting for me. I was careful to keep my meal balanced on its tray as I moved through the crowded space.

Suddenly, however, someone stepped in front of me and blocked my path.

It was Jennifer.

Her blond hair had been wrangled into two elaborate braids that fell over her firm breasts, clearly visible thanks to the tight T-shirt she wore. Her short skirt, on the other hand, barely covered her crotch, though she was wearing dark tights. She looked like an edgy model—beautiful and damned.

“Hey, Saint Selene, wanna come sit with us?” She gestured to a table on my left, and I looked over, almost afraid to see who was sitting there. First I spotted Luke, the seemingly normal blond guy, and then Xavier, who was staring intensely at me in such a twisted way that it made my skin crawl. Finally, I glimpsed Alexia and her blue unicorn hair before looking back at the blond girl before me.

“No, thanks,” I answered firmly.

“What’s wrong? Are we beneath you, princess? Not worthy to be honored with your presence?” she mocked me, tossing a knowing look back at her friends.

“I hope you all have a nice lunch,” I answered with artificial politeness, hoping they’d just leave me alone. My fingers tightened around the edges of my tray, and I tried to move past her, but Jennifer scattered my lunch all over the ground with one slap. I jolted; silence fell over the room as everyone turned to look at us.

My eyes caught on the puddle of soup that was spreading out over the floor before I looked back up at the smug bitch who was grinning at the ridiculous scene.

“What the hell do you want from me?” I demanded, feeling anger making the veins in my neck stand out.

“Show us how you clean up your shitty soup. Lick it all up like a good kitten,” Xavier cut in, clearly enjoying the spectacle, while, beside him, Luke glanced around nervously. There was no way I was going to buckle under their harassment.

“Fuck you,” I said, clenching my hands into fists at my sides. My heart hammered in my chest, and I could feel my skin getting hotter under the light sweater I was wearing.

“How aboutyoufuck me, baby doll,” Xavier answered back, winking at me.

I felt trapped. The Krew was known around town, and they scared people. They were unpredictable hotheads who would do anything to feel dominant and in control, and no one was willing to go against them for that reason.

Nobody was going to save me.

So I would have to save myself.

“We hear you’ve got a boyfriend back in Detroit, even though you’re messing with one of ours out here.” Jennifer advanced on me, pulling my gaze back to her. “A mutual friend…amazing lay, right?” she whispered into my ear, and I blanched.How does she know?Had Neil confessed it all to her? Did he tell her about us or about me and Jared?

I felt almost lightheaded. I was even struggling to stand on my own two feet.

“How… How…” I babbled, and she grinned in satisfaction at my chalk-white face.

“How did I know?” she finished my sentence for me. “Instagram and Facebook are things that exist, and your profile photos are of you and your boyfriend, all happy and smiling in Detroit. You tagged him, sweetie,” she said caustically with the pleased expression of someone who has her victim in her clutches.

Well, of course.

That bitch had stalked me on social media like a psychopath.

“He’s… He’s just a friend.”

“Friends don’t comment ‘I love you’ on every single one of your photos,” she answered, amused. She really had done her research.

Damn Jared’s need to be overly demonstrative on social media.

I didn’t care at all what the Krew thought of me, but I didn’t want them getting in touch with Jared and telling him what was happening in New York. Undoubtedly, they would frame it all in the worst, cruelestpossible way, and while I may not have loved Jared, I did still care about him. I didn’t want him to get hurt, especially not during such a tragic time in his life.