The Lies We Tell (The Four 1)

A frown crossed his face as he released me, glancing around us, and spoke to me in a low voice. “Yeah. Well. I thought I’d keep my distance for now, after Cavendish and Lowry fucking threatened to break my jaw if I made any advances towards you.”

“What? Are you joking? When?”

“Last week. The assholes cornered me outside my apartment.”

For fuck’s sake. “Were they serious?”

“Deadly. Honestly, Winter. I’m not afraid of them, but it’s not worth my time to…y’know.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’m sorry, James. I have no idea what their problem is.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I would’ve thought it was obvious. Cavendish is into you, and he doesn’t like to share.”

Ha. “Hmm. He’s pretty good at denying he’s into me. But even so, he doesn’t get to dictate who I’m friends with.”

“Maybe you should try having a conversati

on with him. I’m sorry, too. I like you, Winter. You’re gorgeous, and sweet, and fun to be around. But I don’t want to cross him. His family could make things…difficult for my family.”

“I see. Look, I’ll speak to him. All I can say, again, is I’m sorry. Sorry you got caught up in all this. Caiden needs to learn that he doesn’t get to control everything.” My mouth twisted, and I stepped away from James. I needed to give Caiden a piece of my mind.

The group of girls I’d come with had disappeared while I’d been talking to James, so I wandered towards the bar, looking around to see if I could see anyone I recognised. I waved to a girl I vaguely knew from one of my classes and finally spotted Kinslee, at the bar already, drink in hand.

“Drink?”

“Not at the moment, thanks,” I told her. “I had a feeling I’d find you here, though.”

She laughed, then peered at me more closely, her brows pulling together. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Only that I just found out from James that Caiden and Zayde threatened to break his jaw if he dared to flirt with me or anything.”

Her brows shot up. “Wow. Caiden must be into you.”

“Either that, or he’s a possessive asshole.”

“Both, probably.”

“Th—” My words were cut off by a loud screech of feedback from the DJ’s microphone, and his voice boomed around the headland, bouncing off the walls, echoing all around us.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Alstone College’s annual Guy Fawkes celebration. I’m here to give you all a rundown of tonight’s events for our newbies, and for those who need to refresh their memories.”

He grinned widely. “We’ll begin our first game in a few minutes. The captain of our winning team will do the honours of lighting the bonfire, then we’ll get the party started. I’ll announce a few more games during the evening, then we’ll end the celebrations with a fireworks display that I’ve been promised will be even more extravagant than last year’s, although I’m not sure how anyone could top that.”

He stopped talking to take a swig of drink, then cleared his throat and continued. “When you arrived, you will have been given a strip of material: red or blue. This is your team colour for the first of tonight’s games.” He ducked down behind the table, then reappeared, holding up a strip of material in each hand.

“The material must be tied around your waist so that it can be easily seen. The object of the game is simple. Try to tag a member of the other team, without being caught yourself. If you’re caught, you’re out of the game and must give up your material to the person who tagged you and return to the area here.” He pointed and the spotlights swung around to illuminate the large area in front of the DJ, where most of us were already standing.

“The winning team will be the team who has the most members remaining at the end of the game. When you hear this sound—” He pressed something and a loud klaxon sound echoed around us. “—that means the game is over. Everyone clear? Basically, try not to let the opposing team catch you.”

I groaned. This sounded like hell. “Tag? Really? Do we have to do this?” I muttered to Kinslee.

“No, but it’s fun. Get into the spirit of it.”

Okay, I could do this. I wasn’t usually one for these kinds of games, but the palpable excitement in the air was contagious, and despite my reservations, I found myself shifting towards the edge of the crowd, ready to run.

“Everyone, tie your material round your waists, and spread out as much as you can. When I sound the klaxon, the game will begin.”

There was a rush of movement as people hurried to find a good hiding place. I tried to remember the layout of the ruins from my previous visits and quickly raced through the crumbling archway to the far side of the castle, my heart pounding. There was a gap where the walls were completely missing, then a little corner section where I should be able to hide.