A Rose to Keep (The Society 1)

I found Heather in the cafeteria eating. My appetite was long gone, and I settled for a large coffee.

“Do I even want to know what everyone is watching?” I asked.

Heather sighed. “I’ll show you if you want?”

She had a cell phone. The screen was cracked, but she refused to change it for another.

“It’s not of me, is it?”

“Nope. In fact, your video has been wiped from the whole internet. There’s not a single trace of it.”

“You’re kidding right?”

“I checked. It’s all gone. No evidence of your hot body for anyone to see.”

I rolled my eyes. “This is good news, right?”

“Yeah, it’s good news. Do you want to see the video?”

Another look around the cafeteria, and I needed to know who they were watching. “Go on. I know I’m going to regret this.”

Heather clicked on her cell phone before handing it to me. I tapped on the center of the screen and frowned.

“Yeah, baby, suck it, you know you want to. That’s it. Take it deep. Choke on it. You’re a little slut, aren’t you?”

I recognized the voice, but it wasn’t the guy who was being filmed. No, this showed Chloe, completely naked, sucking a guy’s dick. I knew who it was as well. She pulled up off his length and smiled.

“Make me choke on it.”

I turned off the video, not needing to see any more.

“It gets worse,” Heather said.

“Than that?”

“Yep.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t want to know anymore. I’ve seen enough.”

Heather nodded and went back to eating her food. I rubbed at my temple, feeling the start of a headache.

“Are you going to eat something?” Heather asked.

“No. I feel a little sick.”

“The nerves. You thought more people were going to mock you?”

“You got it. Now I just feel bad for Chloe.”

“Please, there is nothing to feel bad about. She got herself in that … predicament.”

“Look, I know she’s a first-class bitch and I don’t like her, but I don’t think we should call her names and treat her like crap. They had no right to film.”

Heather sighed. “She wanted them to.”

“What?”

“It’s all in the video. Whoever loaded it up made sure her consent to be filmed was on it. Everything that happened, she wanted. The dirtier the better.” She took a bite of toast.

“Oh,” I said. “It still doesn’t make it right. She wanted to be filmed, but not, you know, the whole school saw it.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Either way, I can’t walk with you to homeroom. Principal wants to see me.”

“What about?”

“I have no idea, but we’ll meet up in biology?”

“Sure.”

I left the cafeteria and went straight to homeroom. I took a seat in the back and stared out the window for the longest time.

“Where’s your stalker?” Gideon asked, taking a seat beside me.

“Busy.”

William leaned up against the window, blocking my view. Dante and Mateo took the seats in front.

“Did you think that was really necessary?” I asked, looking at all four guys equally.

“Was what necessary?” Gideon asked.

“You can all pretend not to know, but I recognized your voice.” I looked toward William.

He shrugged. “No one has a clue who is in the video.”

“Did you see the video?” Gideon asked.

“Some of it.” I didn’t want to be talking to these four about the video and sex. It was just … wrong. I sat back, folding my arms, determined not to speak to any of them.

Gideon moved in close. “Do you think they were going to stop with one video?” he asked. “You are ours to protect.”

“I didn’t accept the selection. I don’t want to. When are you guys going to realize I don’t want any of this?”

“You don’t understand. We can’t change our mind and we won’t.”

“You want to protect me, take Chloe. She’s not going to stop, and to be honest, I don’t want to be the reason for you ruining her.”

“Chloe’s a bitch.”

“That doesn’t mean she has to have a video of herself for everyone to see.” I took a deep breath. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”

“Why won’t you just accept the selection?”

“Because I don’t have to,” I said.

“Neither do we,” Gideon said.

I leaned forward and turned my attention to Gideon. He was the leader. The one I needed to drill my message home to.

“End this. I mean it. You don’t like me. You’ve never liked me. You never even wanted to know me. This, whatever this game is, doesn’t involve me. I have no desire to better myself through my connections to you.”

“What do your parents think?” Gideon asked.

“What?”

“I’m sure you told them you turned down the selection.”

“They have nothing to do with this.”

All the guys visibly moved as if my confession was the most interesting thing I’d said. I had no idea what was going on.

There was no sign of Mr. Connors, and I couldn’t help but sense I was losing whatever argument we were having. I didn’t like it.