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  “A challenge I’d be more than happy to help you with.” He leaned in closer to me.

  Feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed by his stench, I inched further away. “So anyway, I was hoping to find out how you dealt with your financial issues.”

  “Let me show you,” he crooned. He stared at me lustfully and gave my thigh a squeeze.

  I immediately jumped up and ran to the door. But he had closed and locked it, so all I succeeded in doing was getting pinned against the exit. “Get the hell off me,” I grunted as he leaned into me with his full tubby weight. I would have screamed more, but he covered my mouth with his hand.

  “Apparently you haven’t done as much research as I thought. I guess I was mistaken to think you understood how everything works,” he spat at me. “Let me explain it to you. Nobody gets anything for nothing. I had to pay my dues the same way to get what I needed. Actually, you’re lucky: being a male what I had to do was a tad more degrading. But I assure you, if you’re nice to me, I can be nice to you.” He muttered, “Now, if I let you go are you going to behave?”

  I bit down on his hand until I tasted blood and thrust my knee up, but missed his groin. He leaped back, sputtering, “You’ll regret that…”

  I didn’t hear the rest of his statement because a loud ringing filled my ears when his fist met the side of my head. I stumbled sideways, stunned, but managed to steady myself on a side table. I grabbed some weird gold sculpture that I guessed was supposed to be art and held it over my head, ready to smash it into his face if he came any closer to me.

  He startled me by bellowing out a loud, satisfied laugh. “You foolish little twit. You’re a newbie, a nothing. If I don’t claim you, then someone else surely will. And they may not treat you as nicely as I’m willing to.” He started to slither closer, a sneer painted across his lips. I didn’t doubt that he was telling the truth. Avery had made it clear that being a fast-tracker was all about power. I had none, but it gave me an idea.

  I turned and matched Mr. Dwighton’s sneer with one of my own. With all the condescension I could muster, I snickered. “Don’t you even try to threaten me. You’re the misguided fool. I assumed you knew who my boyfriend is. I’m not coming to you because I’m naïve and have no other options. My weakness is pride. I simply want to succeed on my own and not just sit back while Avery Huntington gives me everything.” Mr. Dwighton’s eyes widened at the sound of Avery’s name. Knowing his name had the desired effect I was hoping for, I pushed past Mr. Dwighton and started to open the door – but then he slammed it back shut.

  He whispered in my ear, “Do you think he’ll still be your boyfriend after I tell him what you’ve been up to?” The feeling of his moist breath on my neck made me cringe.

  Calling his bluff, I snapped back, “Do you honestly think he’d believe I was willing to give you what I won’t even give him? He’s offered me the finances I need already without any strings attached, but I wanted to succeed on my own. So get the hell out of here. And please just try to tell him your lies, if you’re feeling suicidal.” This time I made sure my knee found its target. He stumbled backward in pain and I finally pulled the door open. “Out!” I screamed as he limped out of the door.

  As soon as he left I locked the door behind him and crumpled to the ground. I hated Avery for being right. And now I was at risk to be taken down by someone as pathetic as Jett Dwighton. If he didn’t believe my lies and questioned Avery all hell could break loose for me. Even if he didn’t I was screwed. How the heck could I expect to grow a business if I couldn’t get the capital? I let the tears fall down my cheeks and wallowed in my own self pity for a while. I couldn’t fail Byron this way.

  If only Byron were here. He had always been there to save me from the messes I created for myself. Like when I lost my temper and told Mr. Pelham that he was a jackass. I watched the back of his head and ears turn bright red, but before he could turn around, Byron stood up and somehow got the whole class chanting, “Down with math.” The two phrases didn’t sound anything alike to me, but Mr. Pelham either bought it or forgot about what I said as he tried to find out who started the chant. Byron got a week of detention as a reward for protecting me.

  Another time I caused the two of us to miss the tram and as a result we missed curfew. That meant we were both in for some serious trouble. But as usual, Byron came up with a plan to save us both. He had me hide my tablet, and then smashed his. Then he smeared grass and dirt on his pants and picked up a rock and skinned the heels of both hands. Quietly he led me down the neighboring row towards the woods. When his parents finally saw us, Byron was leaning his weight on my shoulder while he limped on his ‘twisted’ ankle. He immediately went into a lengthy tale of how he was showing off in the woods using a fallen tree as a balance beam. He broke his tablet and mine was at home so we couldn’t contact anybody. So, I had to carry his weight the entire way back from the woods. Our parents were just so relieved that we were both okay. We never got in trouble. Byron limped on that ankle for the next two weeks and had to use his dad’s old tablet until he got a new one for his birthday present.

  It didn’t matter if Byron despised me now. It was my turn to be there for him. I dried my eyes and forced myself to leave the room.

  The reality of what Jett Dwighton wanted from me finally sunk in and a sudden wave of nausea hit me. Quickly I found the first available bathroom and emptied the contents of my stomach.

  “You do realize it is better form to close and lock the door before purging yourself,” a familiar amused voice teased.

  I wiped my mouth, straightened up and turned to meet Autumn’s bright smiling face. The moment she took in my distraught appearance her face fell.

  “Oh, honey, I leave you alone for a few minutes,” she sighed as she locked the door. “What on earth happened?”

  “Jett Dwighton tried to claim me as his own,” I murmured, too embarrassed to explain I was so naïve that I had practically invited him to. “I name-dropped Avery to get away from him, but then he threatened to lie to Avery about what happened.” I dropped my face into my hands.

  “Well did anything happen?” she asked. There was a slight accusing edge to her voice.

  “No, nothing happened, unless you count a bite to his hand and a knee to the groin as ‘something’.” I met her stare with my own, insulted that she could question my integrity.

  “Oh, well this is simply delicious,” she bubbled. Then she answered my confused expression. “That Dwighton jerk is wearing the evidence on his hand now. All we need to do is straighten you out a bit. You are looking rather disheveled. Then we can tell Avery and sit back and watch the fallout. It should be interesting. I haven’t seen Avery mad in a while – well unless you count Trevin, but it’s not like he could do anything to him.” Autumn seemed to be more lost in her thoughts than actually talking to me.

  “Avery warned me. He’s going to be furious that I didn’t listen to him,” I whimpered.

  “Well I’m sure he’ll be mad at you for being so stupid. I mean, really, do you think I was going around introducing you to everyone for my health? Your association with Avery and I is your only protection from all the creepy old geezers out there.” My face crumpled. “Oh, don’t worry. You won’t be the target of his wrath; that will be Dwighton,” Autumn said with a dismissive wave. She proceeded to straighten my hair and remove my crushed fabric flower.

  “I’m not sure I can face him,” I admitted. I blinked a tear away, feeling embarrassed and pathetic.

  “You just wait here and leave that to me,” Autumn said as she fluttered out the door.

  I nervously paced back and forth while I waited. I wasn’t really scared of what Avery would do. I was just embarrassed and didn’t want to face his disappointed look as he said he told me so.

  They seemed to take forever. Eventually I stopped pacing and just sank down onto the small chaise sofa in the corner of the room.

  Shortly after there was a light knock on the door and Autumn came in follo
wed by Avery. “Hey.” I smiled sheepishly.

  Avery sat down next to me. “So, Autumn told me you’ve had an interesting night.”

  I looked up and noticed she had left the bathroom to give the two of us privacy. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it,” I responded glumly.

  “You’re too stubborn for your own good, you know,” Avery chuckled as he pulled me to him. He gingerly kissed my forehead and stroked my hair. “Maybe next time you’ll listen when I try to warn you about something.” His voice was gentle. There was no trace whatsoever of annoyance. It just made me feel worse; I’d rather have him yell at me.

  “I wasn’t even asking him for help. I just wanted to know how he managed to raise enough credits to grow his business on his own,” I started to protest, but the look of concern on Avery’s face stopped me short. “I guess I sort of found out,” I sighed.

  “Look, I know you want to help your friend and all, but you can’t be so reckless. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He rested his chin on my head and added, “Next time you might not be so lucky.” He brushed a stray hair away from my face, but managed to brush across the spot where Dwighton had hit me.

  Wincing, I cried, “Ouch, careful.”

  Abruptly Avery pulled away from me. “Autumn told me you weren’t hurt!” he bellowed.

  “It was nothing worth mentioning. After I took a bite out of his hand he took a swing at my head. I’ll have a bruise tomorrow, but that’s the extent of it.” I rested my hand on Avery’s arm in an attempt to calm him down, but he pulled away. He stood up and grabbed his tablet out of his suit and began furiously typing.

  “Hey,” he said to whoever answered. “Jett Dwighton overstepped. I need you to take care of it for me.” As soon as he’d barked the command, he switched the tablet off without waiting for an answer.

  “What exactly is going to happen to Dwighton?” I asked.

  Avery sat back down and curled his arms around me. “He won’t be in a position to threaten or harm anyone again, so don’t worry about him anymore,” he said flatly, but I could feel his arm vibrating with his lingering anger. “Come on; let’s get out of here.” He pulled me to my feet before I could respond.

  Silently he escorted me out of the party and onto the tram. He didn’t say a word to me during the ride or the entire walk back to my apartment. I expected him to leave me at the door without saying anything, but he followed me in.

  For a moment we both just stood there staring at each other. When the tension of the silence became too much, I started to say, “Avery, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you…”

  Before I could complete my apology, Avery crossed over to me and curled me into his arms. His entire body had started to shake. Into my ear he breathed, “I’m not mad at you. It’s just the thought of someone hurting you or touching you that way…” His voice trailed off as he began to shower me with kisses on my forehead, my face and my neck. Then his lips met mine, overwhelming me with their urgent longing. I wanted to comfort him, to promise him I would never do anything to make him fear for me ever again. I wanted to tell him I’d forget about accumulating my own power and tell him that it didn’t matter to me anymore.

  But it did.

  Avery felt my lack of participation and pulled away. He gave me a bewildered and confused look. But he didn’t make me re-explain my feelings. Instead he gave me a slight smile and said, “I should go.”

  I smiled weakly back. He turned, and quickly left my apartment, leaving me alone with my torn up feelings.

  Chapter 13

  After a restless night of sleep I managed to drag myself down to my first class of the day with Mrs. Glabough. Fortunately today’s lesson plan was simply a review of yesterday’s brainstorming. She might have mistaken my quiet demeanor for intent listening. But really, all I was doing was replaying the events from the gala over and over again in my head. I berated myself for being so oblivious to the blatant signs that could have saved me from the whole ordeal: Dwighton’s lustful glare, the way everything he said somehow sounded like he had an inside joke, his insistence on finding a more secluded area to talk and him locking the door behind us. Those were just a few of the things that should have alerted me to danger. But I had been too ambitious to pay them any heed.

  I was surprised to find Avery waiting outside of my classroom. He wanted to have breakfast with me before my next class began. He led me down to the cafeteria. It had been completely transformed since school began and the rest of the fast-trackers arrived. No longer did I have to wait in line to fill my own tray: now waitresses and waiters served us all at linen clad tables.

  Avery led me to a small table for two and immediately a waitress appeared to ask us what we wanted. Avery barked out our orders and the girl disappeared. Usually I would have protested his assumption that I couldn’t order for myself, but I was too busy staring at the blossoming bruises on his knuckles.

  He noticed the direction of my stare and hid his hands by crossing his arms on the table.

  “Is he dead?” I asked.

  “No.” There was a finality to his expression and tone that told me the matter was not to be brought up again. It was an icy, cold, hard expression that frightened me. But as soon as I blinked it was gone. “Are you planning on attending the inaugural celebration of the Wessington Museum’s opening?” Avery asked in an overly pleasant tone.

  I forced my tone to match his and answered, “Yes. I’ve always liked museums; it should be fun.”

  “I’ll pick you up at six. We can get dinner before.”

  I never answered him, because the waitress returned with our food and drinks. Either way, apart from out of politeness there was no point in an answer. Was there?

  I ate most of the meal in silence, only pausing to answer miscellaneous attempts at small talk from Avery. But he really didn’t seem all that interested in talking and quickly let the conversation drop.

  The teachers in all of my morning classes seemed pleased with my silence. They must have taken it as a sign that I had come around to their way of thinking. I simply didn’t have the energy to correct them. I still didn’t agree, but I was beginning to doubt if another way to power existed for me, other than what they were promoting.

  I was relieved when lunchtime finally arrived. I had no problem finding Autumn in the lunch crowd. Even if she hadn’t been at the largest, most ornately decorated table, I would have spotted her. She had a presence that demanded the attention of the room.

  Once again she took the time to introduce me to everyone, but this time she didn’t bother whispering the who’s who into my ear. Instead she blatantly announced it to the entire table. I assume the main difference was that now everyone was our age and really wasn’t anyone. The worth of these people was determined by their parents – at least until they married or inherited.

  I also noticed, with only a few exceptions, the status of the parents determined where each girl sat around the table. The more powerful, the closer they sat to Autumn. So it took a little effort to keep my jaw from dropping open when she motioned to a waitress for a chair and told me to sit down next to her.

  “So you’re the one who snagged our Avery’s attention,” a curly-topped brunette named Gracie purred and gave me a disproving glare. I assumed my taking her spot on Autumn’s right had something to do with the look.

  “Oh don’t bother asking, she’ll just insist the two of them are only friends,” Autumn interjected before redirecting the conversation to shoes, clothes and gossip.

  Gossip upon more gossip seemed to be their favorite topic. No one was safe, but the newbies seemed to be their favorite subject. I hadn’t met them yet, but apparently there were six male newbies living on the sixth floor and one of them was extraordinarily hot. And everyone was debating who would claim him as their own or if he would be stupid enough to try playing the field. It took me a while to figure out that the ‘who’ they were debating over were women their parents’ age. Most of them were widowed, but a few that they broug
ht up were still married. It took most of my effort to hide my shock. Morals were clearly in short supply with all of the fast-trackers.

  Once they got bored with the newbie boys they moved onto the newbie girls. No one had anything nice to say. In fact they took pleasure in guessing who would be the first girl to flee. When I asked what they meant, they explained it was just a matter of time until most of the girls fled to silver jobs and silver marriages. They were all under the impression that the smarter ones would do it sooner rather than later.

  I was tempted to ask just where I fell on their list, but then they might have actually given me their honest answers. Autumn seemed to sense my unease and redirected everyone to the latest fashion faux pas. It was surprisingly educational. I had thought I might be going overboard trying to develop a signature color, but listening to the girls I realized I wasn’t giving my fashion nearly enough attention. The wrong choice of shoes or style of hair could quickly cost one favor with the other girls. But the more I listened the more I realized there was much more too it. The fashion blunders were simply the outlet of choice for some other underlying drama that the girls couldn’t publicly air. So if someone had it in for you and had the social pull necessary, even the best fashion sense couldn’t save you from their public ridicule.

  Eventually I was able to get Autumn by herself and ask her what had been nagging me all morning. “Do you know what happened to Dwighton?” I candidly asked.

  “Well you certainly have a way of getting to the point,” she critiqued. “Why do you care? The man was a sleaze who wanted to have his way with you.” She dismissed my concern with a wave.

  “If I was the cause of a man’s death, I’d at least like to know about it. I’m not a baby who needs to be coddled and protected from information,” I protested. Although truth be told, I did want to be protected. As much as I disliked Jett Dwighton, I didn’t want to be the cause of his death or his suffering. I would have been happy to just pretend the whole incident never happened.