The Help (Kings of Linwood Academy 1)

“Don’t think we don’t know you’re glad!” She turns to her minions as she speaks, and they all offer sounds of disgust to back her up. “You knew Trent would pick one of us, not a poor maid like you. And you were jealous she had a chance with River when you didn’t.”

My eyes roll unintentionally at that. River hated Iris. He shut her down hard at that party, and judging from how he looked when I found him outside that night, she was about the last person on earth he ever would’ve gone out with.

The red-headed cheerleader catches my expression, and it only pisses her off more. She steps closer, whispering more accusations and condemnations in a low hiss. I try to pretend she’s not there as I gather up my things and throw my backpack over my shoulder, but as I emerge from the locker room into the wide hallway, a forceful shove sends me stumbling.

I regain my footing and whirl around to face her. She’s still flanked by her little squad of cheerleading bitches, and the look on her face makes her delicate, beautiful features seem ugly. Apparently, her words weren’t getting the reaction she wanted, so she decided to go on the attack physically.

My skin buzzes with energy, and I can feel my hands curling into fists, ready to fight her.

At least she hasn’t gone after my exams again—although the shitty part is, I’ve stopped studying very hard for my Business and Econ class, since I’m worried any good grades will now be suspect. I’d rather fail one class than get booted from the entire school.

“Just admit it, Pool Girl! The whole school already knows it—it’s so fucking obvious! You were jealous of Iris. You wanted what she had, even though you’ll never be good enough for it!”

Her voice is a loud screech, designed to draw a crowd. The students in the hallway around us stop and gather in clusters, watching and whispering amongst themselves.

Savannah advances on me, her blue-green eyes narrowing to slits. “Maybe you’re the one who fucking ran her over. Maybe you just couldn’t stand to watch her be better than you for another second.”

My heart rate jumps as my stomach turns. I didn’t kill Iris, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone talk about her death as if it wasn’t accidental.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I say, my voice as raspy as it was right after the man attacked me in the parking lot. “I didn’t—”

She steps even closer, her cherry lip balm scent invading my space as she glares me down. “You’re a menace. Who else are you gonna go after, huh? Are any of us fucking safe?”

My hands are still in fists, and on any other day, I would’ve already punched her. But her words have thrown me so far off balance I’m not sure what to do. If I attack her, it will only make the rumors that I somehow had a hand in Iris’s death spread faster. Savannah probably knows that, which is why she had the fucking balls to step up to me like this in the first place.

She opens her mouth to taunt me again when I feel the atmosphere shift in the hall. A second later, four large, tall bodies surround me—Lincoln and River on either side of me and Dax and Chase behind. They’re so close I can feel each of them, as if they’ve formed a human shield around me.

“Savannah, you need to shut your mouth. Right now.”

Lincoln’s words are quiet and serious, meant for her and her alone. When he and the others stood up for me in the cafeteria the day she tripped me, their response was meant to be public, to embarrass her and bring her down a notch.

This isn’t public. This is private. And it’s not for show, it’s a genuine warning.

I can hear the difference in his tone, can feel it in the way the hairs rise on the back of my neck, and it’s obvious Savannah can too. Her face pales a bit, then flushes. She swallows, and I can see her trying to find the bravado she had before.

“You can’t—”

“Yes, I can.” Again, his words are simple and direct, and that somehow makes the threat come through even more strongly. “Whatever you’re thinking of, I can. And I will, if you don’t back off of Harlow this fucking minute.”

Savannah gapes at him like a fish. Her little cheerleading minions all look like they wish the floor would open up and swallow them under, but she tries to rally her defiance. I’d almost have grudging respect for her if I didn’t hate her so much.

She doesn’t run this school though. The kings do, and she fucking knows it.

Her body deflates a little, and she finally steps back, out of my space.

“This isn’t over, bitch. I’m watching you,” she whispers, fixing me with a look of pure loathing, and I know those words aren’t for the benefit of the crowd either.

She means it.

Finally, she gestures to her followers and storms off down the hall, and my muscles unknot as she disappears out of sight. I can still feel the heat coming off the four men around me, can feel my body encased between theirs, and it stuns me a little.

The moment in the cafeteria was one thing, but this? This is something else entirely.

The kings of Linwood just made it clear to the whole school—I’m one of them.

I’m theirs.

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