Wicked Liars (Windsor Academy 1)

“How did this happen? Who took these pictures?”

Bentley and Reed are standing on either side of him, their expressions not revealing anything.

Kingston shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine. It seems as if Donovan Bradshaw’s pool house has hidden security cameras. Someone must’ve leaked the footage.”

“I don’t believe you.” I shake my head. “I don’t even remember this. When did this happen?”

“Oh, new girl, you wound me.” Bentley flattens his palm over his heart. “How can you forget the best dicking of your life?”

I glare at him. “I did not—” I lower my voice. “There was no dicking. I would remember if I had sex with you. Especially both of you.”

Bentley raises an eyebrow. “Those photos indicate otherwise. Are you denying you’re the girl in the video, telling us to take our shirts off? You couldn’t get on our jocks fast enough, sweetheart.”

I bite my tongue. There’s definitely no denying that it’s me in that video.

Kingston leans into my ear. “You know what I remember? I remember how fucking hot you looked choking on my cock.” He pulls back and smirks. “Look, princess, I don’t like having these pictures floating around any more than you do, but what’s done is done. And as we told you Friday night, that was a one-time thing. You’re not nearly a good enough lay to warrant a repeat.”

A chorus of “oooohs” and “burn” roll through the crowd.

My eyes are filling with tears, but I refuse to let these assholes see me cry. “Fuck. You.”

Kingston shakes his head. “Didn’t I just say that wasn’t going to happen?”

I raise my clenched fist, but Kingston sees it coming from a mile away and pushes me away. The laughter increases tenfold as I stumble backward and fall on my ass. I know I’m about to break down, so I get up, duck into the nearest bathroom, and lock myself in a stall. However many minutes later, the door to the girls’ room opens and several people shuffle in. I hold my breath, not wanting to alert them to my presence.

“Oh my God, did you see her face?” A girl laughs. “Priceless!” She sounds like Peyton, but I’m not positive.

“The truth hurts,” a second girl says. “I heard she wanted Reed to join in too, but he shot her down and just watched. I don’t even know why Bentley or Kingston fucked her when they could’ve had us. She’s not even that pretty and she’s a total slut. Obviously.”

“Oh, Whit, don’t pretend you wouldn’t fuck all three of them if given the chance,” the first girl says. “I know I would.” Yep, that’s definitely Peyton.

“She’s still a whore,” Whitney huffs.

A third girl says, “She’ll learn real fast not to fuck with us. If that cunt thinks she can break Peyton’s nose, steal our men, and get away with it, she has another thing coming.”

I try looking through the crack in the stall, wanting to identify the other girl, but like everything in this building, they’re not your standard cheap metal. These are thick wood and go down to the floor. The gap around the edges is almost nonexistent. It has to be Imogen. Those three always seem to travel together.

“Anyway,” Peyton continues. “At l

east the kings formally admitted to their mistake and shunned her. Now, no one will touch that reject. And by the time the royals are done messing with her, she’ll wish she never met any of us. If I’m lucky, she’ll run away back to the streets and live with her pimp or something.”

I already do regret meeting you assholes.

“I can’t wait to see it all unfold. She won’t even see us coming.” I believe it was Whitney who said that.

That’s what you dumb fucks think. A little harassment and spray paint won’t scare me away. Not when I have so much on the line.

AINSLEY AND I ARE EATING lunch in the library. My last two classes were so awful, I just needed a break from it all. Especially considering I have to sit by the three dickheads next period.

“Okay, walk me through this again.” Ainsley takes a bite of her sandwich. Thankfully, the library has a little café, so we won’t be hungry for the rest of the afternoon.

“I’ve already told you everything. You saw the pictures.”

She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry I didn’t see the alert before you went inside the building. I could’ve saved you all that embarrassment if my phone wasn’t on silent.”

“It’s not your fault. I had to go to my locker eventually. I’m sure those vultures would’ve waited as long as they had to.” I take a bite of my own sandwich, despite the fact that my gut is still churning.

Ainsley stares at me, biting her bottom lip in concentration. “Okay... I’m just going to say it. Those pictures—and especially the video—are pretty damning, Jazz. There’s no way of denying that you’re the girl they’re with.”