Chapter 3 WAR BEGINS.
SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW.
As I'd suspected, Roxanne didn't wait before firing the first blow. It came before the second period that day, like a silent, slow poison, but I felt it.
The photo hit before the second period.
I didn’t even get the chance to breathe.
There it was, blasted across every group chat like gospel. A shot of me curled into Lucien’s lap, my head tilted back in laughter, his hand on my waist as I belonged there. Like I was his.
A doctored photo, but for some reason, everyone believed it, even though they knew Lucien and I never hung out, not even for a project. His wing of the school was completely different from mine, and off-limits to the scholarship kids.
Everyone still believed it, and it spread like wildfire. The rumor is going wild across the school. I heard the whispers before I saw the caption.
SELLING YOURSELF FOR TUITION? DADDY'S WORK AS THE HELP MUST NOT BE PAYING OFF.
The first time I saw it, my heart didn’t break.
It clenched, tight, hot, furious, ready to burn them all for their allegations. My first kiss was today, in front of the entire school, and not by the one I had wanted my whole life.
I'm not like the rest of them; I'd been saving myself for Matt, thinking of the day he'd come around and hoping it would be soon. There was no way it could have been true.
By the time the bell rang, three more rumors had already spiraled:
A fake chat where I was begging Lucien to sleep with me
A whisper that I was pregnant with his child.
And the worst?
That I was being passed around like a discount whore.
Funny how fast the world turns on you the second you stop being quiet.
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I slammed my locker shut and forced myself to walk straight, back stiff, chin high, just as Lucien had said earlier this morning. Even when people whispered loud enough for me to hear, their sneers like vicious animals ready to prey on me.
Even when girls stepped aside like my skin might infect them, even when boys whistled as I walked by, acting like they hadn't slept with more than half the school.
They wanted to see me burn, to see me fall, to see me crawl, but for some reason, I felt strong. Maybe it was Lucien and the power he had slowly rubbing off on me, but I made a choice.
I wouldn't fall, not for them.
Fuck their status, their parent's money, their wealth.
I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
Rounding off the corner, and heading to my next class, I stop in my tracks, the sight of the last person I wanted to see before me.
Matt.
Lookin away, I move to head into the class room, only to be stopped abruptly by his wrists closing around mine.
"Come with me." He had said, pulling me along and not stopping till we got to the east staircase.
A spot we shared often times, especially when the bullying got too much.
Slo,” he said, soft and syrupy calling me by the endearment he had given me years ago, like he hadn’t stabbed me in the back less than a day ago. “You don’t have to do this. We both know he’s using you.”
Removing my wrist from his hold, I stare him deep in the eye, something I struggled to do up untill yesterday, when I thought we had a chance, and he hadn't backstabbed me
. “You really think I need saving?”
His expression twisted into something condescending. “You’re better than this. You used to care about what people said, your future. Your reputation. You used to be someone I would be proud of, but now, you're just what?”
“And you used to be someone I trusted,” I shot back. “What happened to that?”
Matt blinked, faltered for a second. “You’re not being rational. Roxanne’s just upset—”
“You mean the same Roxanne you cheated with? Or a new one I don’t know about yet?” I cut him off, not ready to listen to what he had to say.
He flinched.
I smiled at that, pure pride filling me at the sight of the effects of my words on him.
“Slo, just—” He started, but I couldn't care less.
Not anymore.
I stepped around him, not bothering to look back. “Don’t call me that. You don’t get to anymore.”
I felt it before I saw him.
Lucien.
Watching me from the third-floor railing like a god surveying his kingdom, his jacket slung over one shoulder, shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, jaw sharp, tie hanging loose like he didn’t have a care in the world.
But he was watching me.
His ocean blue eyes looking down at me in pride, a smirk on his full lips, his golden hair still in place, like it had a mind of it's own, and would not dare ruin his appearance.
He stared at me in a particular way; it made my heart beat faster, my chest constricted as I stare back at him, and something in me shifts as I realize what his stare is about.
It's like I’d done something he approved of.
Something brutal. Something strong.
Like I made him proud.
And I liked it.
By lunch, the flames were everywhere, consuming it all with nothing left in it's wake.
That fake chat? It’d gone viral., spreading through the entire school, even the janitors knew about it. I could tell from the way they looked at me as they cleaned their spot, their eyes full of pity and worry.
They were also treated worse than animals in this school, so they catered to the scholarship kids in secret, treating us better than anyone else here had.
The rumor about me being pregnant? Spread like wildfire in the cafeteria as everyone whispered loud enough for me to hear;
'You think she'll abort it?'
'Um, yes. Eldrich certainly wouldn't want some charity case pregnant with his grand kid.'
Two girls said from where they'd sat, their group of five snickering as they ate their salad, their paper thin bodies almost disappearing as they snickered.
The whispers about me being "passed around"? They weren’t even whispered anymore, everyone said it to my ear shot, not caring that I was human as well.
And Roxanne?
She laughed loudest, her victory smirk plastered on her face like a permanent tattoo as she moved through the cafeteria, the one place the scholarship kids and some of the elite got to be in a place together; but it was still divided according to class. The scholarship kids were to sit at the farthest part of the hall, closest to the trash cans.
All of a sudden, like an angel smiled from above, everyone's phones pinged loudly in the hall. Some buzzed, some rang, and like clock work, everyone pulled them out to see what was going on.
As did I.
With wide eyes, I read the tabloids on my screen, shock and confusion gripping me.
The news had changed, everything had changed. I stared at the black, white and red words on my phone in shock.
There were four new rumors.....
That Roxanne and Matt were caught in the drama closet by a teacher.
That their sex tape was going around.
That maybe Matt wasn’t as “loyal” as he pretended to be.
That Matt's father's company was going bankrupt.
What the fuck??
Who could have done this?
Like the devil himself whispered in my ears,' look up', I looked up, my eyes moving around in interest.
And there he was;
Lucien Knox fucking Ravenscroft.