“I’ve been told I’m many things,” he pondered thoughtfully. His hand moved to stroke her face. She slapped it away instantly. “But I can show you what they are, if you like.”

  “Fuck you,” she spat.

  “That can be arranged.”

  “I’ll scream.”

  “Then I’ll be doing my job right,” he drawled. His other hand moved to the other side of her head, enclosing her in his space. She couldn’t look anywhere without seeing his features overwhelm her senses. Annie shifted her body, angling for a suitable position to knee James square in the balls, but he was quick; his gaze captured her careful movement.

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” he growled in her ear. James pushed his knee between her legs. Annie gasped at the intimate contact.

  “Get off -”

  “Quiet, love,” he whispered. His mouth trailed a heated passage down her neck. “Someone might see you.”

  Annie fought his hold, wrestling out his grip to no avail. It seemed he was enjoying her struggles, smirking at the frustrated grunts she released.

  “Careful, you’re making my body want to do bad things,” he bit her lip. “I didn’t know a virgin could have such a wild side.”

  An icy wave of disgust took over her body. She could kill him.

  “I suppose it would turn a sick fuck like you on,” Annie murmured.

  James stiffened. He leaned back, observing her. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me.”

  “No, I’d like for you to repeat that,” he said tightly. He leaned closer to where she stood. “Spit it out, princess.”

  Annie gave him a slow, mocking sneer. “Can’t get a girl like a normal human being, so you threaten the scholarship kid. I knew you were an arrogant piece of shit, I just didn’t have you down as a pathetic, violent pervert.”

  James went quiet.

  His blank expression became unnerving.

  Annie wanted to jump off the school tower. Where did that come from? She had never spoken to anyone like that - let alone James fucking Knightley. She breathed heavily, terrified of the consequences.

  This was it.

  The culmination of her time at Barcourt.

  She supposed it was too good to be true.

  She wished she could have survived longer for Patty’s sake.

  Annie sighed heavily. James considered her form for another tortuous, long moment. And then as quick as the thought entered her mind, he released her from his hold, moving back from her. He was silent, not moving an inch of his face to his usual trademark smirk.

  Her wide brown eyes followed his movement. He retreated, going back the way he came. Her gaze followed him until he disappeared around the corridor, leaving her standing there with her troubled thoughts.

  This wasn’t a truce; this was war.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The following morning, she walked into the dining hall, grabbing her food, when she realised exactly the magnitude of his threats.

  The students in the hall looked at her pointedly, with even some groups whispering under their breaths, staring at Annie’s arrival.

  That was odd.

  She was a recluse. A nobody.

  So why was she attracting so much attention?

  Her existence was supposed to fly under the radar.

  Now she was the elephant in the room.

  “Watch it, freak,” a rough voice murmured, shoving past her. They threw a splash of a cold liquid at her shirt, completing drenching her. She gasped, jumping slightly. Another splash of water hit her, only this time it came from above. It ruined her uniform.

  “Aw, look, she’s made a mess of herself,” a high-pitched giggle came from the back.

  Annie’s cheek burned in mortification.

  Looking up, she saw that the students were sniggering under their breath, rolling their eyes at the scene.

  Do not cry, she thought.

  This wasn’t worth it.

  Steeling herself, she searched around the room to find a pair of brooding, green eyes stare at her with an intensity that almost blindsided her.

  James tilted his head. He was silently sending her a message; he wasn’t letting her out of his sight. She saw that Theo, Jasper and Tristan were seated around him, watching her in interest. It was only Tristan who looked visibly uncomfortable, with a tight, tense face.

  She should have known this would have happened.

  Maybe it was better this way - get everything out in the open. Fuck the element of surprise.

  Annie straightened her back, deciding to take her dignity out of the nosy stares of the dining hall. As she walked past the clusters of students by the tables, she caught Anchal and Verity smirking behind their mouths, trying not to laugh.

  Irritation festered in Annie’s gut.

  Who were they to laugh at her? Hadn’t Anchal done enough? She felt herself stop by their table. God knows what she was doing; she was practically burning a hole into their foreheads. Anchal’s smile dropped faintly as she watched Annie with interest. Verity quirked her perfectly arched brow.

  “What?” She barked.

  This caught the attention of the surrounding students. Annie clenched her fists. Why had she stopped at their table? It wasn’t as though they were directly responsible for her misery.

  “You think this is funny?” Annie murmured tightly.

  “Pretty fucking hilarious.”

  “Well, it’s not. You should know better than to take part in this.”

  “Oh?” Verity’s voice became strained. “And why the fuck is that?”

  Annie was itching to open her mouth.

  Mr Lyle’s admission about Natasha’s scholarship status threw a curveball. Natasha was Verity’s best friend. And now she was dead. Annie wondered if Verity had bullied Natasha in the same way.

  Verity sneered, marring her pretty face. “Are you just going to stand there?”

  “You should be embarrassed.”

  “Excuse me?” Verity stood up. She sauntered around the table, coming right in front of Annie. They were face to face; angry meets contemplative.

  “I said it should embarrass you. You all of people, taking part in this Baron bullshit when your own friend suffered the same consequences.”

  “Fucking bitch,” Verity shouted, shoving Annie in the shoulder.

  A faint gasp came from their table. Annie could tell that her words had hit their mark; some students around them whispered under their breaths, part incredulous that the scholarship nobody had grown some balls overnight.

  She thought she saw a vein bulge in Verity’s forehead.

  “Don’t you fucking dare mention her. Ever,” Verity’s voice trembled.

  There was fury, anger and despair etched into that voice. Her cat-like blue eyes glittered in unrestrained tears. Annie had hit a sore point, alright. She just wasn’t sure what had possessed her to come for the queen bee.

  Maybe she went too far.

  But Annie couldn’t stop.

  The rage just kept itching at her to keep going, and going, and going until there wasn’t nothing left.

  “You’ve learnt nothing, then.”

  “I don't have to learn shit, bitch. The only person who needs to get a lesson on manners and knowing their place is standing right in front of me.”

  “Good luck with that,” Annie scoffed. She turned away, moving to exit the hall. That was her plan until she heard footsteps echo behind her, and a sharp tug pulled at her hair.

  Annie let out a pained yelp, grabbing at the assailant’s hands. Verity growled, pushing her back. Her hold was unforgiving and full of rage.

  “You’ve been getting on my nerves, bitch, and I’ll be glad to see the back of you,” she hissed, pushing Annie down to the floor.

  Annie felt hot tears sting at her eyes, but she forced herself not to cry. What did she expect? She had opened her mouth in front of Verity and her crew. Expecting a lukewarm reaction was wishful thinking.

  The students laughed loudly, allowing themselves to drop the act of decorum. Their elitist masks were back on full display. They revelled in the destruction of the lower class. Even better if it was done in the comfort of their dining hall, away from the comfort of adult eyes.

  Verity loomed over Annie. “Not so nice, is it? To suffer.”

  “It’s nothing new, not at this place,” Annie trembled with anger.

  “You have seen nothing yet,” Anchal said from the table.

  “Easy for you to say, isn’t it? When you’re sitting on the other side of the coin. You don’t get to see anything beyond your shiny houses and cars, do you?”

  “You need to fucking fix that chip on your shoulder,” Verity crossed her arms.

  “It’s pointless trying to talk to you.”

  Anchal and Verity’s faces paled, stiffening at the words. They didn’t react with anger this time. Was it because what Annie had said was right? Were they culpable for her death?

  The students watched on, not uttering a word. Sounds of chairs scraping back echoed in the large hall. The girls turned their heads, watching the Barons walk over to where Annie had fallen. She moved to stand up, but Verity put her foot on Annie’s shoulder. Hard.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Verity said.

  “Wise words, Coxwell,” Jasper drawled, leading the group. Tristan and Theo hung back indifferently. James walked alongside Jasper. He leaned over where Annie was trapped onto the floor. “Sometimes the trash likes to fight back. It’s necessary to put them in their place.”

  Verity released her foot off of Annie, rolling her eyes as she turned away. She had enough of this scene.

  Annie said nothing, watching intently what the boys’ next actions were.

  “Got nothing to say?” Jasper scoffed.

  “Get off the floor, Annie, and get out of here,” Theo sighed. He rubbed his eyebrow. Apparently bored with the conversation already.

  “No,” James spoke suddenly. He crouched down to Annie’s level, watching her with an avid interest that reminded her of a hungry tiger. “She should stay here. Where she belongs.” He grabbed a glass of flavoured milk that rested on the table beside them, clutching it in his hands.

  She could see it coming. He was going to pour it all over her head. And what? He was expecting her to sit there and take it?

  With quick thinking, Annie grabbed the glass, shoving it in James’ direction, watching as the milk splashed all over his immaculate uniform.

  “What the fuck!” Jasper’s eyes bulged.

  “James -” Theo started.

  James didn’t even flinch; he grabbed Annie the collar of her blazer, shoving her towards his frame. “You’re fucking asking for a death wish. You know that?”

  Annie didn’t have a quick reply. She licked her lips in anxiety, sick to her stomach. James’s eyes glanced quickly at her action. His vision darkened considerably.

  “I know all about you, welfare kid. No parents, poor and no friends - I’d feel sorry for you if it wasn’t so fucking pathetic.”

  Annie’s gut clenched, her chest heavy with an unrecognisable pain.

  James’s eyes morphed into a black shade, almost feral. This was the monster she knew belonged to a Baron.

  “You don’t know shit,” Annie hissed.

  “Don’t I?”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “That’s not what your records say.”

  “What did you just say?”

  “Oh, you mean these old things,” James motioned to Jasper with his hands, who grabbed a pile of papers from his bag. Those papers that held her past. He handed them to James, who practically dangled them over her head.

  “Now, what we have here, ladies and gentleman,” James announced boisterously. He let go of Annie, addressing the room. “This is a case of a young girl with a plethora of issues. I mean, this shit you just cannot make up. No family, it says here,” he picked up the papers, looking at the bottom, searching for a detail. “Father; deceased. Mother; deceased. Wow,” he looked at Annie with a mocking face of sympathy. “Tragic. My sympathies, Howell.”

  “Give me that,” Annie trembled. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

  “I’m not done.” James sang, not looking at Annie as he walked around her, looking through the pages.

  “Mate, stop it,” Tristan murmured quietly.

  “Scholarship kid, poor family - that’s a given. Lives with her godmother? Patricia Adams. Aw, what a lovely touch; a fairy godmother. Little Annie here is like Cinderella -”

  “Shut up!” Annie shouted.

  Verity and Anchal weren’t laughing anymore. Their troubled faces looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Anchal looked like she wanted to leave the room. This level of torture was uncalled for, even to their standards.

  James stared at her. His expression tensed, stiffening at her forlorn face.

  “Why? You’ve sat here, casting judgment on all of us, and you think we don’t have the right to reciprocate?”

  She wanted to tear herself out of her skin. To fly far, far away from here.

  “Annie, I’m not the monster you think I am,” he mumbled.

  “Oh?” She scoffed in derision. “How'd’you work that one out?”

  “No, I’m merely... the man who sets things right.”

  “You’re acting more like a violent thug than a man who thinks he’s doing something.”

  “This mouth of yours,” he sighed loudly. “Come here.” He beckoned her to come where he stood. She remained firmly in her place.

  “No,” she shook her head.

  “Do you want me to force you?”

  Annie glanced around. The students looked on with anticipation.

  Nobody was going to come to her rescue. No matter how much she pleaded with her eyes, they weren’t interested; their allegiance rested with the powerful. And Annie was anything but.

  “Fuck you,” Annie took a step back.

  James followed, moving a step forward. “Close the doors.”

  Annie frowned, but she realised that he was motioning for somebody to close the door. A large thud echoed in the distance.

  She straightened her back. Her eyes moved to Tristan and Theo - the seemingly sane members of the group - but James didn’t like that. Not one bit.

  “Look at me,” James’ hands held her face suddenly, forcing her to look at him. When had he gotten so close?

  “Don’t touch me,” she wriggled out of his hold to no avail. Her eyes were swimming with tears. Her throat weighed down by a heavy lump.

  He searched her gaze, piercing her with his unrelenting expression.

  “You deaf?” Annie whispered.

  “Why couldn’t you just keep quiet? I would have left you alone, you know.” She felt him play with the ends of her hair. Annie moved out of his reach, wincing.

  “Stop it.”

  “Annie, I can’t just leave this alone. You really want to push a Baron and get away? With no consequences? No repercussions? Sweetheart, that’s not how it works here. Cross our paths, hope to die.”

  “Will you listen to yourself? You sound ridiculous. All of you,” Annie spat out, looking around the room.

  “They don’t care, Howell,” he breathed. “None of them do.”

  “Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  He clenched his jaw. Her question threw him off.

  “Mate,” Tristan said.

  “What?” James snapped loudly.

  “Defoe,” he nodded to the window.

  In the last window of the hall, they could see Headmaster Defoe walking up the stairs, heading straight to the dining hall. Cursing under his breath, James motioned to Jasper to unlock the doors. He unlocked the doors, allowing him ample time to act normal. He released Annie from his grip.

  A few seconds later, Defoe arrived in the hall. Right on time.

  “Can anyone here explain to me why there are classrooms with no students and a dining hall full of them, all missing their first lesson?” He drawled, his dark eyes glaring at the tables.

  No-one said a word.

  “Am I speaking gibberish? Hm?” He bellowed. His eyes latched onto the boys. “I’m going to give you all the benefit of the doubt that the Barons had nothing to do with this.”

  A light cough. A shifting of the feet. Pin drop silence.

  Headmaster Defoe’s caught Annie in the middle.

  An odd placement. She avoided his gaze, blinking quickly, willing the tears away.

  “Get to class,” he commanded. “All of you.”

  The students stood up, shuffling quickly as they tried to leave without catching Defoe’s wrath. Annie waited until the Barons walked past before leaving. She didn’t miss the way James turned back, giving her an unreadable expression. Those smouldering green eyes did something to her body. She felt smothered, yet an object of obsession. James Knightley had never looked at her like that before.

  A shiver ran down her spine.

  “Not you, Miss Howell,” Headmaster Defoe blurted.

  Annie went still. Was she in trouble?

  James lingered in the doorway, frowning at the sight. Defoe lifted an eyebrow. “That doesn’t mean you, Mr Knightley.”

  Annie really thought he was going to put up a fight, after all he had no trouble doing so with her this morning. But to her relief, he walked out of the hall, leaving her with Defoe.

  “Miss Howell, I’ve been informed by Mr Lyle that you’ve been having some trouble... adjusting to the term.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I’m sure you think you are, but from where I was standing,” he lingered, observing her. “It didn’t appear that way.”

  She inhaled deeply, plastering the brightest ‘everything’s fine’ smile. “I just... we were just talking about something, but it’s nothing. Really. I’m sorry to have troubled you so much.”

  He considered her statement. Did he have a bullshit detector hidden in there too?

  “Miss Howell, you know that despite appearances, I take the welfare of my students seriously. Notwithstanding the events of last term... I wish for all my students to feel safe.”

  “I-I know -”