Chapter 75 THE MISSING STAR.
LUCIEN'S POINT OF VIEW.
I watched on the sidelines with my hands in my pockets. The cameras clicked and flashed at every turn, while the hall buzzed to life with each second that passed by. The national debate wasn’t supposed to be just any event; it was Sloane’s ticket to being placed on the map. I understood why she was so worried.
She had too much riding on this, and all I could do was stand by her side and provide as much support as I could.
I waited for her to finish in the bathroom. Since she left it, I didn’t bother going to her. She needed space, and I would give it to her.
However, my chest flared with something I could not recognize. I looked around, my shoulders tense for some reason, as I waited for Sloane to walk back to me.
Something wasn’t right…I just didn’t know what it was yet.
The crowd buzzed to life as the moderator spoke, but all I could feel was tense. The hair on the back of my neck rose as I looked around the hall for whatever made me feel this way.
After some time, the moderator announced a cooking competition, a shift in the original plan that even I did not know about.
What the hell is going on?
“A cooking competition? That’s odd…why would that even be considered? The stage has been set for a debate.” Killian muttered beside me.
“I know. Something’s not right.”
I pulled my phone out and shot Sloane a text.
‘Hey, there’s an update. It’s no longer a debate; it’s now a cooking competition, but you’ve got this. No one can beat you, not even at cooking, baby. I’m here for you. Feeling better now. Baby?”
The text read was delivered, but there was no response.
“Ah..where is Sloane Bishops?” The moderator asked, calling her name again. I watched with furrowed brows as I looked around the hall. For some reason, my eyes locked in on Roxanne.
She stared at me with a snide smirk…and it unsettled me.
“Where is Sloane?” Cassian whispered, putting his book down for the first time in forever.
“Everyone, go check. Search the entire school if you have to.” I ordered and got up. We each went our separate ways, as my legs pushed me hard towards finding my girl.
I could not shake the uneasy feeling…all my mind screamed at me was that something was fucking wrong, and Sloane needed me.
Before I could turn to the other side of school, her voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Lucien!” Roxanne called from behind me.
I turned to stare at her, and for some reason, all I could see was that same smirk on her face. It was like she knew something none of us did.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to ask where you’re going?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I said, standing still. I wanted to play a mind game with her, because I knew Roxanne like the back of my hand. She has done something. That smirk on her face betrays her, the way she’s smiling like all she wants to do is laugh hysterically…it hints at something….something I have a feeling I’ll fucking hate.
“Why do you even like her that much? She isn’t better than me. I mean… she’s plain, she’s boring, hell, I bet she can’t get you off as I did.” Her smug smirk is back on her face, but all I can think of is how she dares compare herself to Sloane.
My Sloane.
“Don’t you dare. The only good thing about you, while I had you warm my cock, was your inability to have a fucking gag reflex. But you’re passed around, aren’t you?” I chuckled at the sight of her smug smirk disappearing. “You know, it’s a fucking joke among the guys, about how every guy on both the hockey team, the lacrosse team, and the fucking football team has had turns with you.”
I stopped in front of her and whispered;
“Must be hard to be a fucking beacon of chlamydia and every damn sexually transmitted disease known to man. Ah!” I hissed, backing away sharply. “Don’t touch me. I might get contaminated.”
“How dare you?!” She screeched like a banshee, charging at me with her fists to my chest, but before she could touch me, I moved away from her. The abrupt way I moved made her fall to her face.
She spat the grass out before huffing and puffing like she would blow the house down. “Sloane will never win! I made sure of it. She won’t even get here in time! I hope she chokes on toilet water.” She screeches and laughs manically.
Bingo.
“You’re so dumb, you fell right into my trap,” I said, and ran over to the girls' bathroom while shooting the guys a text to check there.
In no time, I stopped in front of it to see that the guys had gathered there already, along with Seraphina, who stood beside Theo. But I could barely focus on them; my eyes went straight to Sloane, who was in Cassian’s arms while he cradled an ice pack against her head.
The sight of her blood trickling down her neck and staining the collar of her shirt has me freezing in my spot.
An image of my sick mother coughing up blood in bed flashed into my mind, her clutching onto her handkerchief while she tried to hide how weak she was, just so she could suffer another round of playing Legos with me.
Eldric was never home at that time, and even at that age, I knew he was with one of his many mistresses.
“Sloane.” I rushed towards her and pulled her towards me. She fell limp against my side, whimpering low as she grabbed onto my shirt with weak fingers.
“What the fuck happened?” I could not help how dark my voice came out, because all I could see was her and my sick mother. The blood stain made me grit my teeth, as different images I thought I’d buried flooded my mind, as well as the urge to puke, but I stifled it and held onto my girl.
“We found her like this,” Seraphina answered, making me stare at her, but she wasn’t looking at me or any of the guys. Her eyes were solely on Sloane, the blue specks were filled with worry, as she clutched her phone tightly until her knuckles whitened.
“Lucien,” Sloane whispered, making me turn to her instantly. “It was..Roxanne. She did this.” And next thing I knew, she went limp in my arms.