Page 27 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

CHAPTER TWELVE

RORY

I walked into school alone the next morning like a zombie, scrolling through Facebook and smirking at some of the pictures that the guys had tagged me in over the weekend. Belonging was a strange concept, one I was still adjusting to.

I walked along the hallway and noticed a crowd of students lingering, instantly putting me on edge. Someone pointed at me with a snicker as I approached, and my heart sank as my eyes met Tyler’s as he lazily leaned against my locker.

Claire was curled up under his arm with a nasty smirk on her face, but I focused on Tyler as I felt the familiar feeling of betrayal soak into me.

Within seconds, I knew that everything had been a goddamn lie. They’d played me.

Tyler showed no sign of affection towards me as I stopped in front of them, trying to keep my head held high and the fear off my face. I held down the panic as Claire spoke with amusement in her voice, saying the words that I’d been dreading.

“I told you they were making a joke out of you, Aurora. You lose.”

I kept my eyes on Tyler, who looked away instantly, making me snort in disbelief. “Coward’s way out? Nice touch, Ty.”

He winced under that smirk he’d plastered in place.

It wasn’t obvious to anyone else, but I knew him well enough to know I’d hit a nerve.

Part of me clung to hope that he’d start laughing and tell me it was a joke, but his silence spoke volumes as he finally met my gaze again, and I could see the regret in his eyes.

I forced a smile and kept my voice strong, not wanting him to know how my heart was tearing itself to shreds inside my chest.

“Joke’s on you then because I’m used to losing people. You think I’ll miss you and cry myself to sleep every fucking night? Don’t count on it. Oh, boo hoo, the rich boys don’t want to be friends with me anymore, how sad.”

I turned to walk off, but I ran into Caden, who had his signature smirk in place that I recognized all too well from when we’d first met, managing to hide the hurt as it washed through me.

I’d known it wasn’t just Tyler who’d turned on me, but the confirmation stung.

Caden was about to throw everything in my face and squash me like a fucking bug, acting like our time together hadn’t even happened. Claire was right, I’d been nothing more than a game to them, and I’d let them play me like a fiddle.

My heart ached as he threw his arms out wide, cruel torment in his voice that matched his smirk. “About time you got here, Aurora. The party just started!”

“Fuck off, Holloway,” I bit out, but I was sure he heard the uncertainty in my voice.

“Don’t be like that. Thought you loved me?” he tsked, giving me a look of confusion when I forced out a laugh before he masked it again as I spoke.

“Was that your game plan? Make the poor girl fall in love with you, then break her heart? I don’t even love my own father, so why the fuck would I love you? The only reason anyone could ever love you is because you have a nice bank account.”

He backed me into the lockers with a snarl, my back hitting the metal with a bang. I could tell he hadn’t expected me to stand my ground, but he should’ve known I wasn’t the type to lie down and take it.

I’d always bite back.

“You’ve mumbled it while I’ve been inside you before, but I get it, you were just talking to my dick, right?

I’ll take my comment back. Lukas stole your diary, you know?

All those little secrets that you hold close to your heart.

Who you hate, who you want to hurt, who you think you fucking love .

” He spat out the last one, making me flinch.

I thought I’d kept the diary hidden well, only getting it out to make little entries when I knew I was alone. I didn’t write everything in there, just some things.

How had the guys even found out about it?

My eyes met Jensen’s as he stood back in silence with a lost look in his gaze, but he kept his mouth shut and looked away, instantly dismissing me. This was why I didn’t trust anyone, they always used it to stab me in the back.

Lukas wasn’t here at all, choosing to turn a blind eye to it as if that was any better than being a part of this. I thought we’d moved on from the past, but apparently not.

He had his friends now, so he didn’t need me, which meant he’d sacrifice me for their entertainment. That hurt me more than anything.

Losing him once was rough, but a second time?

I returned my gaze to Caden and sneered, sounding braver than I was. “Who gives a shit? You don’t know anything that could hurt me, Caden. Fuck off and stop wasting my time.”

He laughed, but I could hear how fake it was as he tossed a picture to me, the image feeling like it burned my fucking hands as I saw who it was, causing me to drop it.

The man that haunted my nightmares stared back at me, my heart rate spiking at the memories of him forcing his way inside me, holding me down while I screamed.

My eyes flashed up to Caden’s and my voice trembled without permission as I acted stupid. “What’s this?”

He got in my face, his kind hands becoming cruel as he yanked my hair back in his fist to keep my eyes on his.

“You believed we cared about you? You even wrote it in your little diary that we were your everything and you finally fit in somewhere. The page about how you could fall in love with Jensen because there isn’t a mean bone in his body?

Well, guess what? He laughed when we found this picture in the back pocket of your diary, along with the old suicide note you wrote and obviously pussied out of doing.

That man in the photo is Tristan Holloway.

The man who ruined your fucking life is my father. Checkmate .”

I shoved him back to put some distance between us as my breath became heavy in my lungs, everyone breaking out into laughter. They didn’t even know what they were fucking laughing at, but they didn’t care.

Caden Holloway ruled the school, so if he laughed, so did they.

Jensen looked frustrated as he went to reach for me, apparently changing his mind about hurting me, but the damage was done.

“That’s enough, Holloway. I didn’t fucking laugh at that,” he said, a pleading tone that begged me to believe him. I punched him right in the eye, my body shaking as the emotional train wreaked havoc on me.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Jensen Gilbert.

This is why you were sorry yesterday? Why you wanted to spend just one last hour alone with me in the gym?

Because you knew this was the plan? You fucking knew and went through with it, even after I confided in you?

I don’t give a fuck if you’re sorry. I don’t give a single fuck about you . ”

He watched me carefully, ignoring the burning in his eye socket from my hit as he spoke softly. “I didn’t know all of it yesterday, but I told you not to trust anyone. I?—”

“Oh, fuck you,” I retorted, shoving past him and running out of the hallway before I could completely lose it in front of an audience.

I ignored my phone when Lukas called, and the calls and texts of panic from Jensen. Both of them were just as cruel as Caden and Tyler, no matter how bad they felt afterwards.

I headed straight to Caden’s Challenger in the parking lot and stabbed three of his tires on my way past, jamming my pocket knife back into my pocket before making my way to the bus stop and jumping on the next bus that arrived, not climbing off until it arrived in the Heights.

I spent the whole day at the park, watching dodgy drug deals and a bunch of kids vandalize a parked car, then when it started cooling off as the sun went down, I started walking.

The poor end of Ashburn Valley was on the border of the Heights, and it was home to a lot of illegal activities.

I had a cigarette as I walked the rest of the distance to the illegal cage fighting shed that I used to hang out at, the guy at the door not seeming happy about letting me in.

The Shed was well known and owned by the Bloody Psychos, all the locals called it that.

“We don’t want the trouble,” he said firmly, a scowl taking over my face as I noticed his leather jacket with the Bloody Psychos logo on it.

“What kind of trouble could I bring you? You’re part of a crew and I’m in fucking high school.”

“Yeah, you’re an academy kid,” he bit out, looking down at me with disgust. “You’re not welcome here. If you need a thrill, go to a theme park, little girl.”

“I used to fight here all the time! I’m not some rich princess, I’m from the Heights!”

“I doubt that.” He went to shut the door in my face but I put my foot out to stop him.

“Pauly used to run the fights,” I said quickly, hesitation on his face as he reopened the door.

“Friday nights always brought in good money, so I kept coming back. He taught me some of my moves, actually. Please, I’m not here to start trouble, I just need to make someone bleed before I explode and get my ass thrown in jail for beating up privileged rich boys. ”

It had been a few years since I’d been in the cage, and I was well overdue to draw some blood. I wished I’d never stopped fighting, but it had been hard to find places that allowed it once this place banned underage fighters.

“You knew Pauly?” he finally asked as he assessed me, a lump forming in my throat at the use of past tense. Pauly had ensured I’d been safe here, making sure no one touched me or caused me problems.

He’d been a big teddy bear among the young fighters, while others took a different kind of interest in them.

Thankfully, enough of the other fighters had liked the idea of the older men, meaning they left me alone for those who wanted it.

“Yeah. Big guy, bushy beard, love heart tattooed on his cheek because some asshole dared him to get it.”

The guy in front of me completely relaxed, glancing over his shoulder for a second before turning back to me.

“I’m the asshole who dared him. You can fight, but weapons stay out of the cage, and you’ll need to get changed. This isn’t mud wrestling, so your prissy outfit won’t work.”