“Lunch then,” Hael replies, stroking a thumb down the seam in his jeans and giving me a devilish sort of grin in response. “Meet me in front of the cafeteria.”

“Deal,” I say, leaning back against the door to study him. I swear, it still smells like sex and sweat in here. “But don't think I'm not expecting you to return the favor.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Hael growls as he pulls us out of the driveway and starts off toward the school. I always know when we're headed in the direction of Prescott High because the houses get considerably less nice, smaller, and much closer together.

“Am I not allowed to ask for reciprocation?” I quip, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Ehh, on the contrary, I think that's how a Havoc Girl should sound,” Hael says, parking in his usual spot, right next to the dumpsters and just outside the perimeter fence. It's the exact same spot we fucked in yesterday. “But don't worry.” He leans over to take off my seat belt and puts his hot mouth right up against my ear. “I give as good as I get.”

Hael climbs out, leaving me to follow along behind him and around to the front of the school where we both endure the usual pat-downs, metal detectors, and rude inquiries intended to make us feel like fucking terrorists.

As soon as I get in the hall, I can feel it, his eyes on me.

“What?” I ask as Vic steps out of the shadows of one of the classrooms, and Hael freezes up. Maybe our having sex isn't as much the non-issue as he made it out to be? But Victor doesn't say a word, sweeping up the hall toward his first class and carrying a dark shadow with him that makes me shiver.

“Fuck me. We might be in trouble,” Hael murmurs, but then he just shakes it off and keeps going, leaving me to brave my English class alone.

Kali isn't present today which is a goddamn blessing. I swear, I can still see a drop of red blood on the floor near her desk. It makes the class a little easier to get through as Mr. Darkwood returns both of my poems covered in red marks and asinine suggestions that I'll never take. My poetry might not be good, but his is lifeless, rigid to form, and dull as drying paint. I ball both of the pages up, chuck them, and then start over again.

Guilt tastes like ash on my tongue.

I'm tasting the remnants of yesterday.

But a cherry-red Camaro can't take away the question in your eyes:

Who are you? And what have you done to me?

Victor Channing is not in a good mood when I pause outside the cafeteria and find him standing there. He's waiting, maybe? I guess we've all been eating lunch together every day since I joined Havoc.

What'll it look like if Hael and I both disappear, as we'd planned?

I stand there awkwardly, trying to think of what to say. Vic seems quite content to keep silent, staring at me and refusing to avert his gaze. Luckily, Aaron, Oscar, and Callum show up before the stifling silence chokes me to death.

“Are we intending a funeral?” Callum asks, trying to lighten the mood with one of his deep, dark chuckles. “Because the atmosphere is tense as fuck.”

Hael appears, swaggering down the hall like he owns the world, and wearing a cocky take-no-shit smile.

Vic doesn't smile back.

“After school, we all head straight to Aaron's. Is that clear? Any other deviations from the plan I should know about?” he snaps, and Hael's smile disappears.

“No boss,” Callum says, lifting his hands up in a placating gesture. He exchanges a look with Hael who at least has the good grace to cringe, running a hand over his red faux hawk.

“About yesterday—” he starts, but Vic is already pushing his way into the cafeteria, and Aaron is staring at me like he's never seen me before.

“Interesting,” Oscar observes, slipping in after Vic. Callum looks between the three of us, pushes his hood off his blond hair, and then chuckles again.

“Jesus Christ,” he says, and then he leaves, too.

The dynamic between Hael, Aaron, and me isn't pretty.

Aaron is clearly furious, but doesn't know what to say.

“We're gonna go take care of that errand and then smoke by my car,” Hael says, his voice neutral, edging on the verge of a challenge as he stares Aaron down. “That cool?”

Aaron just stares right back at him. They're about the same height, same build. If a fight were to break out, it'd be a close one. But we really don't need to show any discord on campus.

I should just suggest we eat in the cafeteria. That'd be the simple solution to a tense afternoon. But somehow, Aaron's and Vic's attitudes make me want to leave with Hael.

“Smoke, huh?” Aaron asks carefully, and then laughs, this caustic, awful sort of sound. “Right. I bet that's what you did yesterday. Smoked.” He shakes his head and shoves his shoulder into the swinging door, the one covered in Sharpie and stickers. There are more penises drawn on that door than there are in the entire student body.

“Am I in trouble here?” I ask Hael, turning to look at him. His gaze is on the cafeteria door, jaw tight. He moves his honey-colored eyes over to me, but he can't seem to force that cocky smile onto his face. “I thought this was part of me joining Havoc. I recall Vic using the word 'plaything'.” My own jaw is clenched when I say that. It's a cop out, I know. Me and Hael, this has nothing to do with me trying to be a good Havoc Girl and perform my duties, and everything to do with trying to piss Victor off. Apparently, I'm succeeding. “Are we not allowed to fuck each other?”

“Maybe we're just not fucking each other to their specifications?” he muses, shaking his head. “Whatever. If Aaron or Vic are mad about it, they can friggin’ talk to me.” Hael tucks his inked hands into his pockets and then gestures with his chin. “You coming, Blackbird?”

I follow him down the hall, opposite the direction of the front doors and straight toward the principal's office.

Hael has the keys which doesn't surprise me; I bet Havoc has access to every room on campus.

“Here?” I ask, and he laughs, this shit-eating, I-own-the-world asshole sort of laugh. It makes me want to punch him, not suck his dick. “We'll get caught. And there are cameras.”

“The cameras,” he says, pointing up at one in the corner with a blinking light. “Are cheap ass, battery-run fakes that Vaughn got from Wal-Mart. You think he really wants cameras in here? Isn't this where he propositioned you?”

My mouth flattens into a thin line.

It is.

Hael's right. I open my mouth to ask him how he knows, but he's already way ahead of me, sitting in Vaughn's chair and leaning back. He crosses his arms behind his head and looks me over.

“He propositions all his victims in here,” Hael says as I close and lock the door behind me. Fuck, this is risky. But really, what can Principal Vaughn do if he catches us in here? We know all his secrets. It's just a matter of time before the cliff edge he's standing on comes tumbling down.

“How many girls has he asked?” I say, but Hael just shakes his head.

“No time. Don't worry about that right now.” He grins at me, and I hesitate just a brief second before letting the subject go. Hael's right, we're running on limited time here. I know on Fridays, Vaughn holds a staff meeting in the teachers' lounge. He's usually on his way back to his office when I start heading for fifth period.