RAMSAY.

Word had gotten out about me.

Clint showed me where my second class was, and Alex was waiting for me after that one to walk me to our third. Trent was in my fourth period, and with each class, I caught more and more people shooting me looks. The conversations and whispers went quiet when I got close. I wasn’t expecting this much attention. I knew the triplets were popular, but this much focus was a lot. I found Gem in the cafeteria, and mentioned this when she asked how my morning had gone.

“Yeah.” She moved forward in line, grabbing a salad and a water. “That’s because we’re outside the city. There are a ton of smaller towns surrounding us, but they aren’t big enough to have their own schools so everyone congregates here. Plus, Pine Valley is across the river. Pine Val is way bigger than us.”

“With the distance, that’s allowed?”

“They aren’t that far away. District boundary lines are broad here. Really broad.”

“Wow.”

At the register, Gem glanced at me. “You don’t have your ID yet, do you?”

I shook my head. “I was going to ask one of my cousins to cover me.”

“Not a problem.” She handed her card to the lady. “It’s not like this is the only time we’ll be eating together.” She gave me a wink as she took her card back, and then we scanned the cafeteria.

It was bustling with people. Almost every table was full, and the door was opening and closing constantly. People were in the hallway, and I could see a store that had a whole line of people waiting to get food from there. “I could’ve paid for my own food there.”

Gem shook her head. “That’s all junk food. This line has some healthy choices. It’s all good.” She nodded toward a table in the far corner. “Look. That one’s mostly empty. I know the girls sitting there.” But as we approached, those girls got up and headed out, heads bent together, laughing and talking. They hadn’t seen us coming, so I didn’t take it as a sign of my social status.

Gem grinned at me. “Even better.” She went around to the far side, and I sat with my back to the room. She looked beyond me. “I don’t know if your cousins will come in. The elite crowd don’t usually eat in here. They get their food and go outside, or to a fast food place.” She went to take a bite of her salad but paused and straightened upright. “Oh. Whoa.”

I turned, feeling my phone buzz.

Alex: Where r u?

Clint calling.

I answered while trying to see what Gem was looking at. “Hey.”

“Where are you?” he barked into the phone.

There was a crowd gathering in the middle of the cafeteria, and Gem was on her feet. Everyone was on their feet. People started running to see what was going on.

“In the café—

He hung up, but as I swung my head around, I found him over by the door. He nodded to me as both Alex and Trenton appeared. Seeing I was okay, they ran forward. Clint held up a hand to me, yelling, “Stay there!” Gem heard him and grabbed my arm. “Fuck that.” She pulled me with her.

Clint angled through the crowd, coming to my side. “You should go somewhere else.”

Gem frowned at him and tugged me around. We hopped up onto a table to see better. In the middle of the crowd were three guys I recognized, which shocked me. I shouldn’t recognize anyone. I barely knew enough people to recognize someone, but I did.

And it wasn’t my cousins, which also shocked me. Macon Rice, tattoo guy from the front office, was trading punches with the dark-haired guy that’d been talking to my cousins, and standing directly behind that guy was Mr. Raiden from first period. I still didn’t know his first name.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The crowd was chanting, egging them on, and Macon and the other guy seemed evenly matched. One would punch, and the other would counter. Then the one guy got in a couple of roundhouse kicks to Macon’s face, and that pushed him back, but teachers and security were running in. They pushed through, but Macon and the other guy wouldn’t stop hitting each other. Clint growled and jumped off the table, pushing into the crowd. By then, Alex and Trenton had moved forward as well. Clint grabbed the dark-haired guy, wrapping his arms around his arms and yanked him back. Trenton did the same with Macon Rice, and Alex stood in the middle, his arms held out between them. All three of them were yelling for the other to stand down. I couldn’t stop myself as my gaze trailed toward Mr. Raiden, who I found staring at me with an intensity that made me jump back in surprise.

Glowering hatred came at me, and as I readied myself and stared back with a good fuck-you look, his jaw clenched and he swung his gaze back to his buddy. Macon and his friend were yelling at each other, and he kept trying to swing around my cousins.

Then Mr. Raiden stepped up. He said something I couldn’t hear, but it was short and simple, and as if he’d flipped a switch, the guys stopped fighting. My cousins dropped their arms. The guards grabbed the two fighters as the teachers started waving for the crowd to disperse.

“Fuck you, Scout!” Macon yelled.

Scout? That was his first name?

Raiden started for him, and Macon melted backward. Almost literally. It was somewhat comical to watch. My eyebrows shot up. “If that dude had the power to stop the fight like that, why didn’t he step in right away?” “Oh.” Gem looked at me, biting her lip. “I can see the job of filling you in on all the school gossip has fallen to my shoulders. I suppose your cousins aren’t going to tell you the hierarchy here.”

I frowned at her.

“Come, my child. You have much to learn.”

Most everyone was sitting back down now, but a group still lingered in the middle of the room—a few guys and a bunch of girls. They were talking with my cousins. I followed Gem to our table. “Okay.” Gem dropped into her seat, giving me a shrewd look. “First off, I have a feeling your cousins are going to head over here any second, so I gotta start at the top. The top being Scout Raiden.”

Scout. That was his first name. Why’d he have to have a hot name too?

Figures.

“And the reason he didn’t fight is because he can’t.”

“What do you mean? The dude was in a fight last night, Clint said in class.” She nodded. “Like a sanctioned fight, as in a fight in a league where people can bet and make money off him.”

“Like a pro?”

“That’s the rumor. He’s too young for the UFC to give him a contract, but he’s on his way. He moved here a year ago when he was starting to really get noticed. I guess his uncle is some big guy in the UFC world and has been training him. Miles something. I don’t think they have the same last name. I don’t really know, but his uncle’s loaded. I do know that. He has a gym on the river. Other guys pay to work out there, but Scout was the reason it was built. All I know is that the guy can fight. Like, for real fight.”

“What if he has to fight?”

She shook her head. “It can’t happen—or, I don’t think it can. I’m kinda fuzzy on the rules myself. Self-defense might be one thing, but even there, it’s frowned on. But if you want to know someone who’s going to end up famous, he’s it. He’s getting a name in the fighting world right now, and he’s probably going to get a contract when he turns nineteen. The UFC has only signed two other nineteen year olds. He’ll be the third.”

I glanced over and saw he was grinning at something Clint said. His face was normally locked down. Guarded. But when he grinned, it made me do a double take. He wasn’t just stunning. The guy deserved to be on a runway or a magazine cover at the very least. Ugh. Why’d he have to be so hot?

“What’s he like?”

“Like?”

“His personality. He’s friends with my cousins, but they’ve never mentioned him.”

Gem shrugged, eating her salad again. “He’s okay, I guess. He doesn’t talk to anyone except for Cohen and your cousins. I guess you’ll get to know what he’s like.”

“Cohen was the guy fighting Macon? You mentioned him earlier.”

“Yeah. Cohen Rodriguez. He and Scout have been tight since the first day. I think they knew each other before he moved here, but he’s gotten close to your cousin too.” I looked over again, unable to stop myself.

As if hearing our conversation, Scout stopped grinning and turned. His eyes found mine, and his amusement fled. The same hatred as before simmered there as he glared back at me. Then I realized I’d been glaring first. I turned my back, frustrated. What was my problem?

No. Wait. I knew.

I wanted to fuck Scout, but I wasn’t going to because of the last guy I slept with. And thinking of him, a wave of emotion swept through me, threatening to choke me. No, no, no ,The panic was coming in. I wasn’t going there. I couldn’t, unless I was okay going comatose for a full week. But, damn, that feeling in me was rising, building. Spreading. It was too fast, too strong. I knew what was happening, and I couldn’t stop it. I was already too far gone. The attack was here. I knew what I needed to do to handle it. I shoved up out of my seat, muttering, “I gotta go.” So dramatic, but . . . gah. I thought I’d dealt with this stuff. I thought I had pushed these emotions out of me, destroyed them, but they were still there, and they were taking over. They always took over. I’d be paralyzed if I didn’t do something soon. I passed the hall with my locker and sailed out of school. I was on my bike within a minute, and I was leaving the parking lot when the tears started falling. I couldn’t hold them back any longer.

Shit, shit, shit.

Talk about teenager tragedy. It was the first day, and I was skipping lunch with a sobfest choking my insides, but damn. Damn!

I couldn’t go there. I didn’t know Scout. I hadn’t even spoken a word to him. He reminded me of him. That was why. That was all.

When I thought of him, I also thought of my dad . . . and I could not go there. I wouldn’t. This was old crap that hadn’t been counseled out of me.

That was it.

That was all.

I’d be fine.

I could take a day.

My mom would understand.

Just one day.