Page 171 of Ruthless Chaos

I’m tired of being her punching bag.

I’m about to lay into her again when Cassidy starts laughing suddenly.

It’s a shrill, unnerving sound—the kind that would make you run if you heard it in the woods at night. She laughs so hard her shoulders shake and she nearly slips beneath the surface of the water.

I look around. Tara and Nya are just as confused as I am.

What’s so funny?

“Oh, this is gold,” Cassidy says, wiping a tear from her eye. “Maybe he doesn’t want me, but do you think he wants you?”

I ball my fists. “Isn’t it obvious?” I sneer. “I’m his Courtesan. He broughtmehere.”

Cassidy chuckles. “Oh, so you’re his sex slave? I’m sure half the school population has fucked Alexander at some point or another.” She straightens, leaning toward me. “This is all just a game to him. He only cares about himself.” Her sinister smile grows, even as I feel mine shrinking.

“Tell me something, Allie.” Her eyes are filled with pure hatred. “Has he even made you his girlfriend, or did he just give you that sob story in the cabin and take your virginity in that rickety old cabin too?”

Too?

What does she mean bytoo?

“You think you’re better than me, but you’re just his latest victim. Alexander is a predator who loves ruining innocent things. He can’t help it. Who the fuck do you think told me that you’re a virgin? He boasted about it. He’s got you so wrapped up in him that you can’t even realize that he’s just fucking with your head.” She sneers, gripping the edge of the crater with her talon-like fingers. “You’re worse off than me, bitch. Alexander throws us all away eventually. You’re next.”

My whole world implodes.

Something shatters in my chest. Every part of me feels colder than ice. My eyes burn, and I’ve lost my heartbeat to the void of nothingness swallowing me up.

My vision starts to swim.

I don’t say anything else, only turn away from her and run as fast as my legs can take me. I hear Tara and Nya scrambling out of the water and calling after me, but I don’t stop.

I run and run and run.

I run all the way back to our hotel room and lock myself in the bathroom.

My face is wet with tears now, and I want to puke. Part of me wants to believe what Cassidy said wasn’t true, but it was too specific.

The story about his mother’s death. Taking my virginity in her cabin.

Tara didn’t tell Cassidy I was a virgin.

It had to have been him, he was the only other person who knew.

My thoughts are racing, but the world is moving in slow motion. I’m so numb I can’t even feel myself standing. All I can focus on is the stabbing pain in my chest.

Is this what heartbreak feels like?

I crumple to the floor, cradling my head.

Alexander was lying to me all this time. Stringing me along so he could have his cakeandeat it too. He probably does this to a freshman every single year—sucks them into his world, uses them until he’s satisfied and then throws them away.

Was any of it even real to him?

It couldn’t have been. He didn’t even want to call me his girlfriend.

The pain in my chest intensifies when I think of how insistent Tara was about defining our relationship. The same Tara I now know was close with Cassidy during her Freshman year—the same year she and Alexander were together.

My skin crawls. I scrape my fingernails over all the marks he left on my neck and chest, wishing I could scratch them off.