Treasured Secrets (The Coveted Saga 1)

I bet if my mother knew there was a bunch of underage drinkers here I'd never have to go to another social function again. Of course, she'd also call every parent of everyone she knew was involved. That certainly wouldn't help my status at school.

Jared turned around with a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "No, I'm just too old to hang out with trash. I'm used to being around a more attractive crowd. Quite frankly, your thunder thighs are a total buzz kill. Gonzo's nose over there isn't doing anything for me either." He pointed at one of the girls standing beside Elaina. She grabbed her nose quickly and her face blushed with humiliation.

I stifled a laugh, even though his insults were absolutely terrible. He really needed to brush up on current cut-downs. Too old to hang out with trash? Gonzo? Thunder thighs? Sheesh. He sounds like my grandfather insulting someone. Ew.

Elaina snarled at him, suddenly looking rabid. She was about to say something else whe

n he turned back around. There was an oversized, pretentious portrait of her and her family on the wall. If I had known that this was her house, I would have never come.

Before I even knew what was going on, the portrait was on fire, blazing uncontrollably. There was no smell of smoke though.

My mouth hung unhinged as I stared in shock. A few gasps rang out as others took notice, but Elaina's back was to it. She had no clue.

Jared smiled menacingly, popping candy in his mouth so casually as he brought it to her attention. "I don't suppose you have a fire extinguisher, do you?"

The burning smell finally crept around as the smoke seemed to double, but she still didn't notice.

Elaina looked confused as she replied. "No… Why?"

He smiled as he continued popping the candy in his mouth. "Because you're going to need a damn good one to put that out. It's a scorcher." He pointed at the picture behind her.

Elaina whipped around to see her oversized, obnoxious family portrait blazing. The walls were scorching and the floor was starting to singe, much to my twisted delight. She and her hyenas were panicking and some of the other party members started laughing at their frantic attempts to put it out.

I elbowed Jared slightly in the waist and whispered to him. "Put it out before you burn the whole house down. You proved your point."

He just laughed as he flicked his wrist. The fire was extinguished as quickly as it had started, but the scorched remnants and smoky haze remained. The portrait was destroyed.

"My parents are going to kill me," Elaina wailed, tears filling up in her eyes.

Then Jared smarted off before we walked away. "Personally, I'd say the place looks a lot better now."

He pulled me away from the party quickly before anyone else could say anything to hurt my feelings. I felt like a spineless wimp once again - a pathetic cause for rescue.

We got back out to the car and he held the door open for me, grinning smugly as he ushered me in.

Everett came running up, sounding panicked. "Jared, was that you?" Jared nodded. Then Everett continued, relief covering his face. "Thank God. I was worried there was a blazer here other than you." Then realization settled in and he tilted his head, bemused. "Why did you blaze up the house?"

Jared kind of laughed lightly. "They were giving Aria a hard time. I thought I would distract them a little and wreak a little havoc on their perfect little lives. Mission accomplished."

Everett just nodded. "I can follow you if you're leaving."

Jared looked at me and winked, and then he turned back to Everett. "Yeah we're leaving, but where I'm taking her is completely safe."

Where was he planning to take me?

Everett was about to walk away when Jared called back to him. "Don't tell any of her family she left early. Her mom would be upset. And please, don't tell Iris that I torched the place."

Everett dropped a grin, shocking me more than Jared's pyrotechnics. I didn't know Everett even knew how to smile.

"Understood. No problem." Then he jogged back toward the party.

I rolled my eyes. "Why is he nice to you and not me? You might need to see if he hurt something after smiling for the first time ever."

"I've saved his life once or twice, so he tends to fancy me a bit. He isn't as bad as he seems. I promise," he said, sounding playfully haughty.

I shrugged. "I'll take your word for it."

He shut my door and quickly joined me in the jeep. "I think you'll like the place I'm taking you a little better than you liked this place."