“You put her on blast, I’ll help her do the same thing to you.” I shrug. “It’s as easy as that.”
Natalie doesn’t say anything, but she’s visibly trembling. With fear. With anger. Maybe a combination of both. “You’re an asshole.”
“That’s old news, babe. Tell me something I don’t know.”
With a huff, she turns and walks away, plopping into her chair a couple of rows over with an extra loud, “Humph.”
Malcolm chooses that moment to enter the classroom, his gaze zeroing in on Wren standing by my desk, his eyes narrowing.
He doesn’t look pleased.
The one who has the most to lose out of all of us getting ratted out by Wren is Malcolm. He’d be sent back to England—the last place he wants to go. He has a volatile relationship with his parents, especially his mother. Everything he does is not good enough for the woman. If he were to get kicked out of school and sent back to the UK?
Forget it. She’d be furious and probably cut him off financially.
Malcolm heads for his desk, which is on the other side of me, closest to where Wren is standing. He bumps right into her, not even bothering to say excuse me or sorry, which is unusual because he’s British and polite as fuck, before he settles into his desk, glaring at her.
“Do you mind?”
Wren rubs her arm where he ran into her, blinking rapidly.
What the hell? The motherfucker hurt her.
If she starts crying, I’m going to lose my shit.
“Watch it, Mal.” When he glances over at me, I give him a look, one that says, lay the fuck off.
He shrugs. “She was blocking my way.”
“She’s a girl. You ran into her like you’re a linebacker or some shit.”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Wren adds.
I turn my attention to her. “Say what like it’s a bad thing?”
“That I’m a girl. Like it’s a curse, or I’m subhuman or whatever.”
“Well…” Malcolm drawls. “You’re the one who said it.”
Ezra laughs.
I remain quiet, my anger simmering just below the surface.
“Women are only good for one thing, don’t you think, Crew? That’s what you’ve said before.” Malcolm hesitates for not even a second. “Fucking. That’s it. Oh, and cooking. Guess that makes two things.”
“You’re disgusting,” Wren whispers, her gaze shifting to mine. “And you’re no better, considering you’re sitting there letting him say such awful things.”
My anger rises at Wren being her typical judgmental self. “What do you want me to say? That I think Malcolm is right? That women aren’t good for anything else but a quick lay? He might be on to something.”
“You’re such a dick, Lancaster!” Natalie screams from her seat, laughing her head off.
She’s only getting away with saying it because Skov still hasn’t waltzed into the classroom. It’s like a free-for-all in here right now.
“She’s right,” Wren says, her voice eerily calm. “You are a complete—dick.”
My mouth drops open. Ezra is in near hysterics, he’s laughing so hard. Even Malcolm is chuckling.
Wren turns on her heel and rapidly walks up the aisle, snatching her backpack from the floor before she jogs out of the classroom. Running right past Skov, who watches Wren leave before she pulls the classroom door shut.
“Why does that girl keep running out of my classroom when she’s never ditched before a day in her life?” Skov asks no one in particular as she heads for her desk, shaking her head.
“What the hell was that all about?” I ask my friend. “Did you purposely run into her to hurt her?”
Malcolm glares at me. “I don’t trust her. You shouldn’t either. That little goody-goody will eventually tell on us, and then we’ll be fucked.”
“Calling her out and making her look stupid in front of the entire class is your way of trying to keep her quiet then?”
He has the decency to appear contrite. “If she’s afraid of us, maybe she won’t say anything.”
“Scaring the shit out of her might drive her to confess what she saw, too.” Shit, I don’t know what’s going to keep Wren quiet. Maybe I should be nice to her for once. “Don’t forget she could ruin everything for you—for us—with a single visit to the headmaster’s office. Great plan you’ve put into place, my friend. Really solid.”