Chapter 150 Chapter One Hundred And Fifty
"So." Marcus moved to the next section, and I followed, both of us working while we talked. "Jake and that other girl, Nicole, I think… I think they're using her.”
I shook my head, that didn’t make sense to me, “They’re just a bunch of juniors Noah adopted. They come round the house at weird ass times of the day, and hang out with Lena to gossip and shit, but they’re basically harmless.”
“But that can't be all there istoo it, right?” Marcus snapped his fingers, “ When you really do the math, you’ll see that Lena is their new face against Allison. Kind of like a shield for them to hide behind while she does all the dirty work for them, making me and Allison look bad to avenge Jake and Nicole. And so if anyone takes the fall for it, it’ll be her.”
“You can’t do math to save your life, Marcus.”
“I’m serious. They’re taking the back seat to all this, so that way when it all goes to shit, they can just act innocent. Because after all, they’re only just friends with her, right? And so Lena’s going to get the blame, because to everyone she’s the popular one, and therefore the mastermind.”
I shook my head, grabbing a thick biology textbook and shoving it onto a shelf. "He's just a stupid kid. We're all just a bunch of stupid kids. Jake and Nicole are not some criminal master planners plotting world domination. You’re giving them far too much credit for this.”
Marcus stopped what he was doing and pointed across the library at Noah, who was currently handing books up to Jake with one hand and typing furiously on his phone with the other.
Who the hell is he talking to? I wondered.
"I bet that's why he's with her too. There's a much bigger picture he has than just pissing you off, Jace."
His voice dropped even lower. "I can see that shit, deep in his eyes. Better be careful. Your worst enemies are closer than you think."
I followed his gaze to Noah, who chose that exact moment to look over at us.
Our eyes met across the library. His expression was smug and satisfied, that look in his eyes made my blood boil and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was up to something really bad.
What the fuck is his endgame?
I'd been so focused on Lena, on protecting her and trying to fix what I'd broken that I hadn't stopped to think about why Noah was really here.
I had plenty of other upstanding teenage family members littered across America, why the fuck was Noah the one who got shipped over here to be a ‘good example’, especially considering the kind of ugly history we both had?
Why did he really transfer to Westbrook? And why had he gone out of his way to get close to Lena specifically?
The pieces Marcus was laying out started to form a picture that I really didn't like.
"Mr. Reeves?" One of the teachers poked her head into the aisle where we were working. "The girls need supervision in the cafeteria."
Mr. Reeves, who'd been sitting at his desk and staring at us, straightened and adjusted his tie. "Of course. I'll return shortly."
He shot a pointed look at all of us. "I trust you can all behave yourselves for ten minutes without burning down the library."
"No promises," I muttered under my breath.
The moment he disappeared through the library doors, the atmosphere changed.
It was just the four of us now; me, Marcus, Jake, and Noah separated by thirty feet of bookcases and years of built-up tension.
Marcus waited exactly five seconds before leaning in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Have you and Lena had sex yet?"
I nearly dropped the book I was holding. "What the fuck kind of question is that?" I hissed, checking to make sure no one had heard him. "Are you insane?"
"Is that why you're so hell-bent on getting her back?" Marcus continued, completely shameless. "Because she hasn't let you hit yet? Or are you still convinced you two are in love?"
"We can hear you!" Jake shouted from across the library, his voice echoing off the high ceiling.
Marcus flipped him off with a grin, then turned back to me, lowering his voice only slightly. "Come on, confess to your priest, Jace. Tell me everything."
"I'm not fucking talking about this with you," I said through gritted teeth, my face hot.
"Oh, come on. I'm bored as hell here. My sneaky link isn't talking to me, football doesn't start till tomorrow, I don't have shit to do, man."
He nudged my shoulder. "Besides, you always used to tell me about this stuff. Why are you being such a pussy now?"
I sighed heavily, glaring at him with all the frustration I'd been holding in all day. "Yes," I admitted finally, my voice barely above a whisper. "I do think about us being together that way. I mean having sex. A lot, actually."
Marcus's grin widened.
"But that's not all there is to it," I continued quickly, cutting off whatever crude comment he was about to make.
"These days, my main concern is just keeping her from constantly getting into trouble. Especially with Allison." I slammed a book onto the shelf harder than necessary. "She has no idea what she's walking into."
Marcus's expression sobered instantly. His face went pale, his usual playful attitude disappearing. "I'd tell her to stop if I were you. Only one of them is going to win at the end of this, and it won't be Lena."
He pulled another book from the cart, now moving stiffly. "Take it from me. It'll be prom season soon, and anyone who stands between Allison and prom queen is fucked. Like, seriously fucked. Last year she literally got a girl's college acceptance rescinded over it."
I grabbed a few more books, needing something to do with my hands so I wouldn’t break something. "What about your girl?"
I asked, eager to shift the conversation away from my disaster of a love life. "You've seen mine. Are you still keeping yours a secret?"
I smirked at him. "I mean the blonde little thing I saw running out of your window the last time I came over to your house?"
Marcus went bright red, the color spreading from his neck to his ears like wildfire. "Forget about her," he said quickly, too quickly.
"Thanks for the advice on Lena, by the way," I added sarcastically. "It totally worked. She hates me now, so that's great."
"Leave blondie to me, and pay attention to Lena so she’ll hate you a little less and then maybe let you hit," Marcus insisted, obviously uncomfortable.
"I told you I'm not in it for the sex, Marcus. Get that through your head."
"Whatever. But we both know she may be in actual physical danger considering how Allison gets, so if I were you I'd worry about that instead. I definitely can't get her to stop, and neither can you. No one can. So it's up to you to get out of her way or get run over."
"I said I'm working on it." I bit out.
Suddenly Marcus thumped himself on the head with his fist, going, "What the hell am I going on about? Girls this, girls that. Who gives a shit? Jace, think about yourself for once, especially since Lena clearly doesn't appreciate you thinking about her!"
My amusement died immediately, and my grin faded. Suddenly, I no longer had the energy to even smile. "Look, I..."
"What are you going to do when your Dad gets that call from Sinclair? He's literally going to come all the way here and kill you himself, and that's best-case scenario!"
Upon realizing just how shitty things were about to get for me, and just how much of a risk I was taking for Lena's sake, I set down the book that I'd been holding and sighed heavily, "Tell me about it…"