I sit in the chair pulled up beside Neil’s bed while one of his doctors gives Neil a checkup. Even though I’m not a big fan of medical procedures and stuff, I force myself to watch diligently as the doctor checks his pulse and then inspects the spider web of poison across the Neil’s chest. The doc
I sigh a little more, because yeah, this has turned into the speech I expected. You are going to lose, Chloe, he says, albeit with much nicer words. “Though I will tell you this,” Neil says. The worry falls away, solidifying into a cruel sort of darkness hallowing his features. “When the fight is
I’m down in the exercise room, practicing my punches on a punching bag when Beau comes in behind me. He watches me for a while. I feel the heat of his gaze on my back. Maybe I through a few punches extra hard just to impress him, but I’ll never tell. Either way, he doesn’t seem all that impressed.
My legs are wrapped around Beau’s waist. My arms are over his shoulders. Both of his hands are cupping my ass, at least until we come to a door. Then, we have to break, so that he can throw it open. When we are inside, he turns us. He slams the door closed, then pushes me up against it. His mouth
When I go to class the next day, I’m very surprised to be suddenly approached by Debbie. All I did was walk two feet through the door and she’s suddenly at my side. She whisper yells in my ear, “Is it true that you are challenging the Hayes’s Beta, Wyatt?” I stop walking, frozen down to my core.
He glares down at me. I’m used to it now so I glare right back at him. “I assume you’ve heard the rumors,” I say. He growls a little. Okay. Yeah. He heard them. And he’s pissed, more than usual. “You have to back out of the fight,” he says. “To hell with the consequences.” “Back out? I’m not
The morning of the fight, Angela knocks on my bedroom door. She smiles when I open it, and I pull her into a quick hug. It’s good to see her, though I’m always a little surprised when she makes time for me. Is this what it feels like to have a friend? “I want to show you my support,” Angela says.
“Archer, Beau, and Steven will be there,” I say. “Me, too!” calls Angela, reminding me of our audience. “Angela too,” I add softly. Neil pulls back, I think because of the mention of Angela. But instead, he only goes so far as to look down into my eyes. “It’s not the same as being there myself