Page 9 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

CHAPTER FOUR

RORY

“ W hat the fuck happened to you?” Lukas demanded at school on Monday morning as he reached my locker, making me roll my eyes. The bruises were throbbing, but I ignored them and opened my locker to grab my books.

“None of your business.”

“Like how it’s not my business that you and Caden are messing around?” he asked dryly, causing a snort of irritation to leave me.

“Yep. Exactly like that.” I closed my locker and turned to face him, keeping my voice low. “You and I aren’t friends, and I don’t have to tell you shit. Stop trying to make it seem like you give a fuck about me.”

He followed as I walked in the direction of my homeroom, his voice gentle.

“I do care about you. You don’t understand what happened?—”

Rage coursed through me as I shoved him hard into the lockers beside us, ignoring everyone who was gawking at me as I got in his face. I assumed no one got to push the kings of the school around, verbally or physically, but I wasn’t going to take anyone’s shit.

Fuck the system that they had in place.

“I don’t have to understand anything, asshole. I fucking hate you, so stop trying to play nice with me. I’ll never forgive you for walking away that night.”

He looked genuinely upset, but he sighed, putting his hands up in defeat. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

I scoffed as I turned and walked away from him, my chest aching as I spoke over my shoulder. “So you keep saying.”

I’d just sat down in class when Claire sat her prissy ass beside me, a nasty grin spreading across her painted lips. “Where are your guard dogs today? I see you and Lukas are on the outs, so have they already lost interest in the pathetic charity case?”

A shadow fell over us before I could tell her to leave me alone, Jensen’s voice calming my anger as he spoke. “How about you try swinging a fist at her and fucking see, Davidson? She’d crack all that plastic in your face.”

She gritted her teeth and glared up at him with irritation. “Are you taking Caden’s place as the boss while he’s absent today?”

Caden was notorious for being fashionably late, apparently. Usually, he was with the guys though, so I had no idea where he was this morning.

I’d assumed he’d gone to stay with one of them last night when he’d left.

Jensen chuckled lightly, but there was nothing nice about it.

“Keep testing me and find out. Rory would kick your ass in a fight, and you know it. She’s got more mean in her than you do, so I wouldn’t even try it. Now get the fuck out of my chair.”

Claire was fuming as she crossed her arms tightly, refusing to move, and I had to hide my smile behind my hand as she snapped. “How the fuck is this?—”

“I’ll let Rory remove you, if you really want?

” he said flatly as he cut her off, impatiently waiting for her to get to her feet.

She growled and stomped across the room to her regular table without another word, and Jensen silently dropped down into the vacated seat, leaning back to get comfortable without a care in the world.

I raised an eyebrow, grateful that he’d gotten rid of her, but not understanding why he’d come to my defense.

“Thanks, but I can handle the rich bitch myself. You didn’t have to save me.”

He glanced at me with an amused smile before putting his arms behind his head lazily, placing his feet on his desk.

“You thought I was saving you? I was saving her , Rory. I know you’d beat her to a fucking pulp. Do you actually know how expensive one of these uniforms are? I don’t think Daddy Dickbag would be too happy if he had to replace yours due to blood stains.”

Max wasn’t paying a single dollar towards my education and Jensen knew it.

“The price tag’s a fucking crime, if you ask me,” I answered with a grin as I opened my notebook and started reading over my notes from English, but after a while, I realized he was still watching me.

I put my pen down and turned in my chair to look at him, my voice sarcastic. “Is there something you want to say, Gilbert?”

He chuckled, leaning forward and resting his arms on the desk.

“It’s not just some tough girl act you’ve got going on, is it? You literally don’t give a shit about anything, and you’ll throw punches whenever you think you need to.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

I shrugged one shoulder and smiled. “What can I say? I love to fight. I could probably take you on and win. You guys thought I was all bark and no bite? Cute.”

“Yeah, you are,” he grinned, making me snort.

“Fuck off. You know I have bite.”

“I meant that you’re cute.” He grinned wider, my body warming at his tone. My face flushed at his words, but I managed to speak through my embarrassment.

There was no way he didn’t notice the effect he was having on me though.

“Ah, thanks. I guess.”

“Since you live with Holloway, where the hell is he today?” he continued as if the conversation hadn’t turned awkward a second ago. Boys were weird.

I frowned, cocking my head with confusion. “You mean you haven’t spoken to him?”

“Not since Saturday morning. We left after your dad dragged you out of the theater room,” he replied, looking right at the bruise I was still sporting, questions in his eyes that he thankfully kept to himself.

“I haven’t seen him since he came and checked on me after that,” I mumbled, his eyes narrowing as he sat up straight.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen him ? You live in his fucking house.”

People were listening in on our conversation now, so I leaned closer to talk.

“We had a problem after you guys left. He took off, so I thought he was with one of you. Can we talk after homeroom?”

“No, we’re going to talk right now,” he replied bluntly, casually standing up as if we weren’t in the middle of class, giving me a frown when I didn’t move. “Are you coming?”

I gave him an unimpressed look, speaking in a hushed voice to avoid getting into trouble.

“We’re in homeroom, and unlike some, I need to behave and pass because I don’t have money to bail my ass out.” It was a small lie. I didn’t give a shit about passing.

“You’ll pass, I promise. C’mon, don’t make me drag you. I know you don’t like being manhandled, but I will if you force my hand,” he sighed impatiently, causing me to hesitate. He’d definitely throw me over his shoulder and drag me out if I didn’t go with him.

I grabbed my books as he walked towards the door, and Mr. Franklin frowned as I started to follow.

“Where are you off to, Aurora Donovan? Am I boring you? I’m about to take attendance.”

Before I could reply, Jensen raised an eyebrow at him and cocked his head, his voice low. “Doesn’t really matter where she’s going. Does it, sir? Mark her as present.”

Mr. Franklin appeared nervous as he glanced at me, not knowing what to do. It surprised me to see Jensen hold so much power over the teacher. I was pretty sure the man was terrified of him.

What kind of teacher cowered to their students?

Then again, from what I’d heard, Caden and the guys could buy the entire school's assets a hundred times over. Money was power, and that was concerning since it was in the hands of teenagers.

“But Miss Donovan?—”

Jensen didn’t let him finish his sentence, dropping an arm around my shoulders. I mentally fought not to jerk away, not wanting to look like an idiot in front of the entire room.

“Rory’s one of us, and don’t you fucking forget it, or I’ll call my father and you’ll be looking for a new job by Friday,” Jensen warned in a threatening tone, then he shooed me from the room as people started gossiping, my eyes wide at how he’d spoken to the teacher.

We were definitely going to get detention for that. Possibly suspended.

Once outside, I gave his shoulder a solid punch. “What the fuck was that? You can’t just talk to a teacher like that! We’re going to get suspended!”

“Holloway says you’re one of us, so I’ll give you the rundown on how it works around here.

Our parents donate a hell of a lot of money to the Academy, and in return, they turn a blind eye to a lot of shit.

Our great, great grandfathers built this school, so we’re school royalty.

Luke’s mom can’t stand the thought of Luke coming across as lower class, so that’s her reason to throw money around since she’s new money, not old money.

We could murder someone, and it would be swept under the rug. You following all this?”

The new money versus old money bullshit had gone on forever, and I didn’t understand it. They all had money and power, so what was the difference?

Lukas’ mom, Karen, was a stuck-up bitch who’d been embarrassed by her son’s friendship with me once we’d lost our money and moved to the Heights.

I bet she loved every second of our fallout.

I’d always hated her, she made Lukas’ life miserable and acted like he was never good enough.

“Sure. You guys are the kings, and we are your servants,” I offered with a curtsy, his lips spreading into a sly smirk.

“Servants? I like that, but you’re far from a servant.” He was completely full of shit.

“Are you blind? I’m the poor girl who?—”

“You’re the girl who managed to get in with the kings. Pretty sure that makes you a queen, babe.” He winked as he headed into an empty classroom and dropped down behind a desk, waiting for me to do the same before his smile faded. “Now, what the fuck happened after we left on Saturday?”

I fiddled with my hands for a moment before meeting his serious gaze. I’d heard talk about Jensen being an unforgiving violent monster, but I’d brushed it off as gossip.

Looking at him now though? I saw it. He was ready to go to war for Caden.

“Caden got the blame for my face. We were in my room, and Max and Josie came in. Max started yelling at Caden for hurting me, and I think Josie believed him because she asked Caden to leave the room and talk to her. His car left a few hours later, and I haven’t seen him since.”

“Your dad’s the one who hit you, yeah?” I gave him a single nod, and he muttered a curse before replying. “He’s probably at his dad’s.”