Chapter 44 Chapter Forty Four
Allison's foot slammed against the turf with enough force to make several people flinch.
"I'm not doing it!" Her voice cut through the murmurs of the crowd, causing everyone to gasp. "Fuck you, Jace! You're just as bad as I am!"
Jace opened his mouth to respond, but she wasn't finished.
"Why should I be the only one to apologise when you..." She whipped around, pointing at the growing circle of students surrounding them. "When all of you sat back and watched? Huh?"
The words hit harder than Jace expected. He felt his jaw clench, felt something uncomfortable twist in his gut because she was right.
He hated to admit it, but she had a fucking point.
Before Lena had become... whatever she was to him now, he'd been just as much of an asshole.
Maybe worse.
Because at least Allison was consistent in her cruelty. Jace's name held weight in that school, especially with Alison. He had been in the perfect position to help, to say something, to do literally anything, and he'd chosen not to.
He'd chosen his reputation instead.
He felt sick to his stomach when he remembered the exact words he said when he found Alison bullying Lena... Angle the camera better, I want to see her face.
Fuck.
Allison saw the hesitation on his face and pounced on it. She stepped forward, closing the distance between them, her finger jabbing into his chest.
"Who the hell do you think you are to judge me, you hypocrite?"
Now it was Jace's turn to stagger back, and that small retreat seemed to fuel her even more.
"You stood there and filmed me! Remember?" Her voice rose louder and louder with each word. "You laughed! You made jokes! You were right there, Jace, every single time, and you never said stop!"
"That was before..."
"Before what? Before you decided you wanted to fuck her?" Allison's laugh was sharp and cruel.
Jace's face went pale with shock.
"That's right, I'm not stupid. I know exactly what's going on between you too!"
She sneered at him, "Does having a crush on that pig suddenly give you a conscience? Does wanting to get into her pants magically make you a good person?"
Marcus shifted uncomfortably. "Allison, maybe you should—"
She rounded on him so fast he actually took a step back too.
"Even you, Marcus!" Her finger found a new target, stabbing the air in front of his face. "Don't you dare stand there acting all innocent! You helped drag her to the pool!"
Marcus raised his hands in surrender. "Whoa, hey..."
"Heyy, my man didn't do shit," Donovan cut in, moving to stand beside Marcus. "Don't pull him into your fight with your-"
"Did I say I was done talking?" Allison's voice dripped with arrogance as she turned on Donovan. "Huh? Did I? You glorified lackey!"
Donovan's mouth snapped shut.
"Marcus was there that night. That night when that bitch nearly did us all a favour and died. He didn't do anything about it either."
"Allison." Marcus's voice went low and urgent, his eyes darting anxiously to the crowd. "Stop talking. Right now."
But she was on a roll, feeding off the shocked gasps and widening eyes around them. "What? You think people don't know..."
"Stop." Marcus grabbed her arm, pulling her slightly away from the centre of attention.
"People are recording. If you keep talking about this, if what happened gets out, we could all get expelled."
Jace's blood ran cold. He looked around and sure enough, at least a dozen phones were pointed their way, some students even pushing closer to get better angles.
His mind raced.
If word got to the teachers that they'd been involved in something as serious as a near-drowning, if it came out that they'd all just stood there while Lena nearly died at that party...
Expulsion would be the least of their problems, they would go to prison.
His fucking father would murder him.
"Allison," Jace said, his voice tight. "Shut the fuck up."
"I don't care!" She wrenched her arm free from Marcus's grip, her voice rising to a near shriek.
"My dad practically owns this place anyway. Who's gonna expel me? Huh?"
The crowd had grown even larger now. Jace could see some teachers starting to push through the mass of students, their faces concerned.
"What's going on over there? Break it up!"
This was spiralling out of control.
Allison turned back to face him, and her smile was pure venom.
"I'm not filming anything. I'm not apologising to anyone."
She took a step closer, invading his space. "In fact, I will be at your beach house today, and you won't be able to do anything about it."
"Like hell you will."
"Oh, I will." Her eyes glittered with malice. "But you know what? I'll make you a deal. If you want me to apologise to that whale so badly, you're gonna have to go first."
Jace felt everyone's eyes on him. The crowd had gone eerily quiet, waiting to see what would happen.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"You heard me." Allison crossed her arms, her hip cocked to the side. "Go on, Captain. Leader of the football team. King of Westbrook High."
She gestured mockingly toward the podium where the announcer's mic still stood. "Get on up there and be the bigger person. Show us what a real role model looks like."
The challenge hung in the air between them like a dynamite about to blow, tension so tight you could feel it in the air.
Jace's feet stayed firmly rooted to the ground. His throat went dry.
Apologize. To Lena. In front of everyone. Admit that he'd been a piece of shit.
Admit that he'd encouraged them to film her humiliation, that he'd laughed when his teammates made jokes about her weight, that he'd treated her like she was invisible until he needed something from her.
His father would lose his goddamn mind. His reputation would take a massive hit. People would talk.
They'd question everything about him, his leadership, his authority, whether he deserved to be captain at all.
The silence stretched on... And on.
"That's what I thought."
Allison's voice was smug, her smile triumphant.
She flipped her long blonde hair with enough force that it smacked against his face as she turned away.
"Come on, girls. We're done here."
Her entourage fell into step behind her like trained puppies.
As they walked past, Jace heard one of them, Tracy, he thought, say loud enough for everyone to hear, "I told you he wasn't all that."
Another girl high-fived her. "Total asshole."
The crowd started to scatter, but not before Jace caught the looks on their faces.
Disappointment, disgust. Some shook their heads, while others sneered.
A few just looked away when he caught their eye, like they couldn't even stand to look at him anymore.
His teammates stood frozen, unsure what to say or do.
"Well, that went well," Tyler muttered under his breath.
Marcus said nothing, but when Jace met his eyes, the judgment there was clear as day.
Jace groaned, a sound of pure frustration ripping from his throat. "Fuck!" He ran both hands through his hair hard enough to hurt, tugging at the strands.
This was supposed to be his night! His fucking victory!
He'd just played the best game of his life, broken out of the slump that had been killing him for weeks, and now it was all turned to shit because he couldn't.... because he didn't...
"Goddammit!" He turned on his heel, ready to storm off to the locker room and put his fist through a wall or something equally stupid, when he heard something.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, deliberate clapping coming from behind him.
Jace froze, then slowly turned around.
His eyes widened in shock when he recognised who it was under the bright lights, a face he thought he'd never see again.
What the fuck was he doing here?!
Noah stood a few feet away, a smirk plastered across his face that made Jace's blood boil.
"I guess some things never change, do they, cousin?"