Page 4 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

The guy beside him watched me with dark eyes, his short, light brown hair was spiked to look deliberately messy, and the third guy sat opposite them, his messy chocolate brown hair covering his eyes slightly, but the intensity in his stare burned through me.

When he realized I was watching him, his eyes narrowed, and he said something to the others as I held his stare. I didn’t back down to anyone, not even entitled rich pricks.

The girl that I’d just had restrained was waving her arms around dramatically, yelling at Caden and his friends to do something about dealing with my trashy ass, drawing their attention and causing the guy to finally avert his gaze from mine.

I left the room, heading towards the bathroom to clean up before anyone could answer the drama queen’s squawking. I’d have to get a note from the front desk to excuse my uniform, but surely having Josie Holloway as a stepmom figure would help that from becoming an issue.

Sure enough, one phone call to her from administration gave me a free pass, allowing me to wear my PE uniform instead with permission to shower in the gym.

They gave me a friendly reminder on my way out to be more careful, thinking I’d spilled it on myself, which was ridiculous since it was all over me.

The rest of the day went the same as lunch.

The girls would bully me relentlessly and no one stopped them, but I let them think they had the upper hand. A bunch of prissy high school girls weren’t going to get to me. I’d had it a lot worse at Hawthorne Heights High. Those kids were brutal.

They carried knives like me, and meeting someone’s eye in the hallway was one way to get yourself beat up.

I’d been in a few fights, I actually enjoyed fighting, but I’d learned early that it was easier to keep to myself.

I walked towards the school gates at the end of the day, intending on finding a damn bus home. It was nice of Josie to send a driver, but I didn’t want her help. Having expensive cars at our house regularly was just asking for trouble.

Someone called my name, and I looked over to find Caden and his two friends from lunch leaning on what I assumed was his car. My expression was blank, but inside I was practically having a fucking orgasm .

The shiny black 2020 Dodge Challenger STR Demon was begging me to drive it, but I wouldn’t admit my appreciation of it to him. I refused to stroke his ego.

“The fuck do you want?” I asked bluntly as I approached, earning a cruel smirk from him. He went to speak, but someone joined us and spoke instead, causing my heart to slam into my chest as they moved into my direct line of sight.

There was no way in hell that he went to my school.

“Rory? What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked with horror as his familiar almond eyes stared at me through the black hair that hung over his face.

He hadn’t changed a bit, other than the lip ring and eyebrow piercing.

Black ink peeked out at me from under the collar of his shirt, surprising me.

His mother never would’ve allowed him to get tattoos, and I guess the school turned a blind eye since Lukas was more loaded than the fucking bank.

“Hey, Luke. It’s been a while,” I replied lightly, wanting to throw up as anxiety and hate rolled through me.

Lukas James had been my best friend since we were babies until the last year of middle school.

He’d stabbed me in the back and walked away from me when I’d needed him the most. We’d been neighbors until my father’s fall from grace when I’d been eight years old, but we’d still managed to hang out and talk on the phone as much as possible when I’d relocated to the Heights.

Then he’d abandoned me and shown me how much of a coward he really was.

Caden frowned, not happy about being kept in the dark. “You two know each other?”

Lukas ignored him, moving towards me to jab a finger against my chest.

“You’re the new girl that everyone’s talking about? You took on Claire Davidson at lunch?”

He made it sound like we’d beaten each other up.

I shoved him back firmly, not liking him in my personal space.

“She’s lucky I didn’t beat her to a bloody pulp. A spoiled little rich girl is the least of my problems,” I scoffed. My emotions twisted inside me at being so close to him, and my heart beat painfully in my chest.

The sweet boy I’d fallen in love with as a little girl was gone, leaving behind a selfish monster in his place.

Caden growled, inserting himself between us and pointing at his orgasmic car, his angry green eyes on mine. “Get in, Aurora.”

“Doubt it, rich boy,” I huffed, crossing my arms and glaring up at him with defiance, and Lukas frowned with confusion, his voice coming out slow.

“How the hell do you two know each other?”

Caden went to answer him, but I spoke over the top. “We don’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I only got a few steps away before hearing Caden mutter not to touch me, just as a hand grabbed my bicep. I spun around, jerking my elbow into the side of Lukas’ head as panic overtook me.

No one was allowed to touch me without my permission.

He let go, rubbing the tender skin with a scowl, his black choppy hair sticking up with the motion as his frustrated eyes peeked out from behind his hair.

“What the fuck, Rory?”

I shoved him back, not caring that I was visibly panicked.

“Don’t fucking touch me. Ever .”

His expression softened and he reached for me again, but Caden pulled him back a step, surprisingly allowing me the space I so desperately needed.

“She said don’t, so leave her.”

“But—”

“I said leave her the fuck alone,” Caden warned in a low voice, and Lukas finally backed up to his spot next to the others, studying me with curiosity and annoyance.

I hoped me being here fucked with his perfect life.

Caden turned towards the driver’s side of his car, speaking over his shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?”

I’d probably come all over the seat when he started the engine and the vibrations hit my ass, so I waved him off with my hand.

“I’m fine.”

His green eyes met my blue ones, and it was like he was looking into my goddamn soul as he stared me down until he finally snorted. “You’re far from fine, if you want to be honest with yourself.”

Then he climbed into his car and slammed the door without another word, making me bite back a moan as the engine roared to life. The other three bumped fists and wandered off to find their own cars, but I didn’t stick around to watch.

I quickly turned and headed out the gate and along the road, only just managing to make it to the bus stop on time.

I sat in the back and put my head in my hands with a sigh, trying to contain the emotions that were begging to break free.

This was not how I’d expected my first day as an academy kid to go.

“What the fuck?” I snapped as I walked into my bedroom when I got home, finding it basically empty. The only things left were my bed and an empty set of drawers, all my personal belongings gone.

I stormed through the house, frustration sinking in when I noticed that Max wasn’t home, but when I powered up my phone, I found a text from him.

Max: Everything’s been moved to Josie’s, so don’t go to the Heights after school. Family dinner is at six-thirty, don’t be late.

The fact that he’d sprung this on me without warning pissed me off, even though I’d known it was coming eventually. I’d just hoped for a little more time.

Rory: Don’t bother waiting for me. I’m not going.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket before heading to my room to search for my hidden cigarettes that I kept stashed behind the panel in my closet, then I stomped outside into the cool afternoon air to light one, inhaling deeply to try and calm myself.

I sat on the porch with my back pressed firmly against the wall and my eyes closed, trying to block out all the rage in my head. I didn’t open them again until a car rumbled into the driveway a few moments later.

I knew the sound of that muscle car easily, so I wasn’t surprised when my eyes clashed with Caden’s as he climbed out from behind the wheel and started walking towards me.

I wasn’t in the mood to deal with his bullshit, I wanted to be left alone.

His car would have alerted the entire neighborhood of his presence too, thanks to the rumble of the engine, and sure enough, curtains parted as people peeked out of their houses to see what was happening.

I didn’t offer him a greeting as he joined me on the porch and slid down the wall beside me, lighting his own cigarette before speaking.

“Figured you might want a ride. Max is having a meltdown, so I offered to bring you home.”

I didn’t look at him as I took a long drag, exhaling as I answered.

“You figured wrong. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You might want to once it gets dark and cold. He shut the power off, apparently,” he said lazily, blowing smoke into the air. Max knew I wouldn’t leave this house unless I was forced, so cutting the necessities was one way to try.

“Of course he did. Joke’s on him, I’ve spent months at a time in this house with no lights or heating, so he’ll have to try harder than that,” I muttered, flicking the butt of my cigarette onto the lawn and hoping the whole place caught fire with me still in it.

I was being dramatic, I knew that, but this was my home, not that big mansion.

Today at school proved that we didn’t belong in that town.

“How do you know Lukas?” he asked bluntly, instantly making me tense. I wasn’t about to tell him my deepest, darkest secrets. My past was the past for a reason.

“We used to be friends,” I said offhandedly, making him frown as he glanced at me.

“Friends?”

I was quiet for a moment before a small sigh left me, deciding to give him just enough to get him to back off and stop digging.

“He was my best friend since we were babies. Shit happened in middle school and I’ll never forgive him, okay? Drop it. That’s as much as I’m willing to tell you.”