Tessa’s POV“Too many people will see us if we just go over and grab the phone,” I said, keeping my eyes on Amanda’s stuff.“If we don’t, she’s going to expose that photo to the entire world.”“We have to wait until everyone is preoccupied,” I told her. “If Amanda grabs her bag and goes anywhere, we need to follow her.”Ruby nodded in agreement.“Maybe we can get closer?” She suggested.“That’s impossible,” I replied. “All the other seats are filled, and we are already close to the field.”“I don’t mean up here. I mean down there,” she said, pointing to the field.“The field?”“Not exactly. But we can probably get in there,” she said, pointing to the box the players sit in while they wait to partake in the game. It was close to the cheerleaders and also attached to the gym.To be more exact, it was attached to the men’s locker room.“They would never allow us in there,” I said, glancing at her, shocked.She was quiet for a moment as she assessed the field. Before we could say anything
Tessa’s POVRuby screamed as I fell to the ground. I felt blood oozing from my nose. I was so shocked that I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.That is until Liz jumped on top of me and punched me again on the other side of my face.“I saw you try to steal her bag you stupid slutty thief!” Liz hissed. “I’ll teach you what happens when you take what doesn’t belong to you!”Liz swung and punched me again. I was frozen; I had never gotten into a fight before. I wasn’t a fighter. I clenched my fists, about to finally fight back when I heard Ruby’s voice.“Get the hell off her!” Ruby yelled, jumping at Liz and knocking her to the ground.Amanda ran over to Ruby and kicked her in the stomach to get her off Liz. Liz’s hair was now a complete mess as Ruby yanked it out of its ponytail holder.Amanda punched Ruby in the head, and Ruby went rolling off Liz from the impact. Amanda immediately kicked Ruby again as hard as she could in the stomach making Ruby vomit on the ground.“You fuc
Joseph's POV“Fighting is against school policy, Amanda and Liz,” The dean, Constance, seethed. “I expected a lot more from the two-star cheerleaders.”“She tried to steal my bag!” Amanda argued.“It’s true Miss Constance,” Liz agreed. “I saw the whole thing! I was trying to help her!”Constance looked suspiciously at the two girls before looking up at me from her desk. I stood in the back corner of the room with the two security officers who were there after the fight.“That doesn’t sound like something Tessa or Ruby would do. Is there any reason they want to steal Amanda’s bag?” She asked me.I was surprised that she directed the question at me.“I’m not exactly sure,” I said, trying to sound as even as I could. “All I know is these girls were kicking and punching both Tessa and Ruby.”“I see,” Constance said, leaning back in her seat. “And how are they? Are they okay?”“They were beaten up badly. We took them to the nurse's office. I’m not sure if they are still there or if they we
Tessa’s POV“Tess, you know this guy?” Ruby asked, staring wide-eyed at Carter who was standing in the center of my living room.“Uh…” I said slowly, not sure how to respond. “Yes?”Okay, that was lame. Carter gave Ruby a small smile and bowed his head slightly at her.“I’m Carter, Tessa’s cousin,” he explained.My eyes widened at his quick lie. Ruby gave me a strange look as she slowly put her phone back in her bag.“You never mentioned him before,” she said, furrowing her brows together suspiciously.“He’s a distant cousin,” I said, trying to sound as convincing as I could. “We aren’t that close.”I gave Carter a look when I said that last part and he only gave me a one-shoulder shrug. He then looked back at Ruby, like he really looked at her. She was bruised around her jawline from when she was punched, and she was still holding onto her stomach from when she was kicked. I was bruised too but Carter’s attention was fully on her.“What happened to you?” He asked sounding a little t
Tessa’s POVThe school after-hours was a ghost zone. I had never been here this late at night before, but I knew Joseph liked to stay behind to get some extra work done. The halls in the academic center were completely dark and I felt a little uneasy about being there.I knew if the dean saw me here at this hour, she wouldn’t be happy. The janitor was definitely around somewhere because I could hear the vacuum in one of the classrooms. I grabbed Carter's arm, and we scurried up the stairs to the faculty office wing.Thankfully, there was a light upstairs and we weren’t walking around in the dark anymore.We made our way to Joseph’s office, and I was about to knock, but Carter shoved past me and opened the door without hesitation. I frowned deeply at him and watched as he stepped into the dark room.“He’s not here,” he muttered, shaking his head with aggravation.“What?” I asked, stepping into the room behind him. “If he’s not at home and he’s not here, where could he be?“I don’t know
Tessa’s POV“Why would you bring her here?!” Joseph growled as he paced back and forth in Chief Mulligan’s office.Carter stood in the center of the room, taking all of Joseph’s wrath.“Don’t blame Carter… it was my idea,” I said, stepping toward Carter like I was trying to protect him from Joseph’s wrath.Not that I could do much.“Of course, it was,” Joseph shot back without even looking at me. “You shouldn’t have come here, Tessa.”“Look, we don’t have time to sit around and argue about this,” Chief Mulligan said, standing to his feet. “Tessa is here, so maybe we could utilize her. You said Ryan tried to capture her before, right?”“Yes,” both Joseph and Carter said at the same time.“He almost killed her,” Joseph seethed. “Which is why she needs to return home.”“Carter is my ride,” I said, motioning to Carter. “I’m not going anywhere without him.”“Then, you can both leave,” Joseph said, glaring at Carter. “You don’t need to be here either. Why are you?”“If you answered your pho
Tessa’s POVIf Mulligan hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen over from the force of Joseph jumping between Jordan and me.“What the hell is wrong with you?” Joseph growled with fury. “I’m going to fucking kill you, Jordan!”Before Joseph had the chance to do anything, Carter swung his fist and punched Jordan right in the face. A small crowd of people took notice and jumped out of the way before Jordan’s falling body knocked anyone down.I saw blood gushing from Jordan’s face, and I knew his nose was probably broken. Both Carter and Joseph stood over Jordan, breathing deeply through their noses like they were angry bulls.I looked down and saw blood running down my forearm. I hissed as my arm stung painfully from the blood. The pocketknife had clattered to the ground and the sharp edges were covered in my blood. I grabbed my arm, trying to stop the bleeding before it began to drip onto the ground.Mulligan was quick to jump in front of Carter and Joseph.“I’ll take care of it,” Mullig
Tessa’s POV“Chief Mulligan, can I speak with you for a moment?” I asked once if they were both distracted enough to continue their conversation.Carter and Mulligan both looked at me with narrowed eyes.“Oh, hey Tessa. We didn’t see you there. How’s your arm?” Carter asked, eyeing me carefully.I lifted my arm and pulled down my shirt slightly so he could see the bandage.“Good as new,” I told him.“Jordan won’t get away with it,” Mulligan muttered, shaking his head. “I sent him back to headquarters with a couple of others. He’s suspended until further notice.”“I understand why he did what he did,” I said, adjusting my shirt. “I know that he only wanted to make my scent more potent to Ryan. I can't blame him for trying.”However, he was stupid to do that in front of Joseph and the others. He should have known it wouldn’t end well for him.“Is that what you wanted to talk about?” Mulligan asked, furrowing his brows together.I shook my head and glanced at Carter; I knew if I told Cart