Alamort

15. Saint

All My Friends – THE WLDLFE

D ing. Ding. Ding. I jump up from my desk to find the source of the noise. I scatter blankets, pillows, clothes, and whatever the fuck else is lying around. Where the fuck is it? Ding. The phone continues to go off, signaling Priya is on it. I have it to set up to notify us of everything she does. It was easier than I thought to get my hands on her phone. The fight was the perfect distraction. Unplanned, but perfect. She didn’t notice a thing. Not to mention the guys were proud of my sticky fingers. Not that I would fuck it up, just that they didn’t think I had the balls to go through with it. The constant coddling to protect me from myself is getting to be too much for me. I’m treated differently and it makes me feel like I’m not a part of the team we created together. They think I’m fragile. Breakable.

Priya . I throw around her name a couple of times to see how it feels. She was unapproachable. Talking to her was like prying out teeth. How something that seems so innocent could be a devil in disguise? I’ll never know. Well... I chuckle out loud to myself. Looks can be deceiving. I realized she didn’t want to be at the party when she refused to participate in drinking, dancing, or mingling. Let alone talk to me.

After she finished drooling, she immediately stiffened and closed herself off with the resting bitch face she’s had since she walked through the school gates. I smirk at the thought she doesn’t find herself immune to us as she thinks she does. I find the duplicate phone underneath my bed, in a box. Leave it to Mal to think it’s a game. I roll my eyes at his antics. He’ll need to try harder and maybe shut off the sound next time. I click the lock button to unlock the screen and sit back and watch the software do its thing.

I watch raptly as she clicks onto a web browser. My heart drops in my stomach when her screen shows she’s searching for the girl who went missing a couple of years ago. Crew is going to want to know about this, or maybe I need the reassurance that everything is fine. My palms start to sweat and queasiness forms as a memory tries to niggle from the back of my mind. Shaking my head, I send a group text to the guys downstairs to come up here.

Within three minutes, we gather in my room. Bennett on my unmade bed, Crew taking residence in the chair he’s claimed as his own in the corner closest to the door.

“We have a problem.” I state calmly when I’m anything but. I show them the phone with the articles she’s currently scrolling through.

Crew shrugs unbothered, “Wipe it.” Within a couple of seconds, all articles and websites that have to do with Megan Riley are erased from the internet as if it never happened. Everyone at this school knows the topic of the missing girl has been off limits since Malice had taken an interest in her.

“Was that all?” Crew states. Irritation claws at me. Before I can say something that would test all of our patience, Ben is there to break the tension.

“He means, was there anything else that she’s been doing?”

“Oh, no. Not even a text message. But she did get detention on Saturday with Brian.” Bennett looks at Crew, doing the twintuition thing. Being around them has me in on almost all their looks towards each other. I’m assuming Brian never let them know about Priya, like he was supposed to.

Bennett snickers, “Did you see what Amber did to her?” Crew responds to him by rolling his eyes and picks invisible lint off his crisp white shirt. “Child’s play Ben.”

Ben shrugs. “Yeah, but now there’s a bet on who will sleep with her first. Some guy bet his Bentley Bacalar that it would be him. She’ll be hounded constantly. All because I made sure we ran into each other in front of Amber the morning of her meeting with Brian. Nothing makes that girl jealous than me touching someone else.” He sighs, like it is so hard to be fought over. I know the fucker gets off on that toxic shit.

“And then what?” I question Bennett to see what his plan is.

He shrugs again. “Amber will tear her apart without me having to do much. Just looking at her sends Amber into a rage. If she thinks someone is threatening her spot with me? She’d die for that shit. Not to mention she poisoned the last person she thought was threatening her position in the family.”

“And does she have a spot here, Bennett?” Crew spits. Angry at the thought of being tied to her forever.

“No, of course not. She knows what this is. I’m just not ready to give up the free head any time I want.”

It’s my turn to roll my eyes at him. “You have slept with everyone at this school, teachers included.”

“True, but hear me out. Her head game is on point, fellas. I also can’t help that the cougars love me. What can I say? Look at this face.” He grins, showing off his dimple, giving him a false look of ‘boy-next-door’ when he is more like the serial killer next door. Unaware they’re stuck until they’re too deep in his web.

“Saint, there’s nothing to worry about with the Riley girl. Don’t trip on it. There is no body. So, there is no evidence. Mal took care of it, and if there is one thing we can count on him for, it’s protecting you. Has Priya’s parents texted her at least?” I go to defend that Malice cares about them, in his own twisted way. He doesn’t play well with others, but he has with them.

“Um, no. Nothing.” I touch my lip piercing with my thumb. “Not even a phone call. I have it set up to record her calls. So even if we miss it, we still have it.” He curtly nods his head and signals for Bennett to follow him out.

I sit back in my chair, causing it to creak under my weight. Now that I think about it, it is kind of odd she hasn’t heard from her parents. All the research I did on her prior to her arrival depicts a happy family with two daughters. Dressed up to the nines for charity events, always near her mother, father, or sister, with a smile on her face. Her parents sent her here on a big donation in their name to make sure she had a place. She was a straight-A student all throughout high school, joined tutoring, chess and even the debate team at one point. I look again, seeing more articles on her sister than her. What am I missing?