Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
I don’t know what to say. I wrack my brain and finally figure out what I want to know first. “Are you okay?”
She sighs before answering. “I’m okay.”
She’s not okay. Fuck. The back of my throat gets tight. I want to do more than throw cronuts. “Do you think they drugged the punch?”
“Maybe? I don’t know. It was my first college party. That’ll teach me.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” I briefly rest my fingers on her arm. It might be overreaching, but I’ve noticed that touch comforts some people.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for telling me,” I say solemnly. She trusts me. She really is my friend. A real-life human friend, not a carnivorous plant.
She opened up and told me a painful thing. Like a real friend would. I feel a connection with her, and that means a lot. It also means I’ve got her back.
Anyone who hurts my friend is my enemy.
And they will pay.
“Someone should teach them a lesson,” I say, testing the waters. Honey doesn’t know about my supervillain tendencies yet. She seems like a kind, sensitive person, but I’m sure I can convince her to join me on the dark side.
We have cronuts.
“I just want them to leave me alone.”
“They scared you.”
“They’re scary. I can’t believe you stood up to Penn like that.” I shrug. I don’t get scared. I get angry.
Honey blows out a breath. “Karma will get them. It’s summer, so they can pretend they’re kings of the campus. They’re just drunk with power right now. But their reign will end soon.”
“It will?”
“Yes,” Her face grows shadowed with a mixture of the worry and wonder I saw on her face earlier. But then she tilts her head, and the lost expression takes on a touch of malice. “When the fall semester starts and the mafia kids get here, they won’t be the biggest bullies on campus. Not even close.”
2
Bella
* * *
I love my new best friend. Hanging with her is better than attending orientation. We’re learning some interesting facts about Unitas University in our first year class, but Honey knows all sorts of extra facts about the university’s history and the four mafia families that helped found it. And she has a key that will unlock any door in the school. “All doors but one.”
After she told me about her night of horrors with the lacrosse team, she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. So I didn’t bring it up again. Better to keep her out of my plan for payback so less suspicion falls on her.
Which is why, when I return to campus on Saturday, I go alone. I’m carrying a big basket full of a special surprise for Penn and Radley and all their friends. I also dressed in a sexy cheerleader outfit with heavy makeup to disguise my face. Plus, I added streaks of pink to my hair to match my pink and black pom poms and put it up in high pigtails on either side of my head.
I look like I’m ready for Halloween, several months early. And a bit deranged.
YOLO!
The point is, no one will recognize me.
Supervillain Rule #1: Your best offense is a good disguise.
Anonymity is a weapon. Anyone who’s suffered second-degree burns after mistaking a giant hogweed flower for Queen Anne’s lace knows this. Nature hides the deadliest poison in the prettiest bloom.
I’m almost to the sports dorm where the lacrosse team lives when I sense someone following me. I turn, and no one’s there. But I can feel myself being watched.
Weird. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I am about to enact an evil plan. It’s good to be wary, but I don’t think the lacrosse team has any idea what’s coming.
“Mwahahahaah,” I try out my evil laugh. It needs work.
I still feel someone watching me when I reach the sports dorm, but I ignore the sensation and focus on the two guys loitering by the door. Their eyes widen as they take in my costume. “Hey,” one says while his friend checks out my boobs. “You here for the party?”
“Yes,” I lie.
“You’re a little early.”
I hold up my heavy basket. “I have these gifts from the athletic department.”
Snacks and an energy drink with a special surprise. “Good luck at your big game tomorrow!” I give them each their gift and thank them when they hold open the door for me. “See you at the party!”
“Should we tell her it’s not a costume party?” one asks, and the other shushes him and says something crude about how my pigtails would make great handholds.
I smile to myself and continue down the hall. Two players down, eighteen to go. By Sunday, I’ll be that much closer to unlocking supervillain status.
And the lacrosse team will learn to never fuck with my friend ever again.
3
Kaiser
* * *
It was a simple job: shadow the Poisoner’s daughter. Monitor her every move. Don’t engage, unless one of the Poisoner’s enemies tries to harm her. Then, protect the asset.