19. Failed + Forlorn

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It was an exceptionally dreary Friday with dark clouds hanging low in the grey sky. Small raindrops swirled on the bitter wind, clinging to my clothes and hair as I entered Goldcrest High School on this bleak October morning, grateful for the shelter of windbreaker.

Wielding my hot coffee in one hand and my AP Calculus book in another, I dropped my bags in my locker and headed to class as quickly as I could, not particularly in the mood to run into any familiar faces this AM.

I follow Haven into the small, fluorescent-lit classroom without any unwanted interruptions and slid into my desk at the back like it was any normal day. But it wasn't just any normal day. Today, after school, I would be going to...

Soccer tryouts.

Soccer tryouts was one of the most stressful days of the year for me, even more so than midterms or final exams. I wasn't quite sure why, though I felt this weird sort of pressure to make it on the team. Somehow, it seemed like playing honored my dad's memory. Soccer was one of his most favorite things in the world. Without fail, he took mom, Haven and me to every single one of the Brixton King's home soccer games, and we'd all sit right at midfield, cheering as loud as we could.

Even though I was only 4 at the time, I still remember the year that Italy, the country of his ancestry, won the World Cup - I remember seeing my dad jump and holler and run around, celebrating with so much joy that it infected the entire household for days on end.

I didn't care how silly it sounded, or how much time it took up. I had to make the team and I had to play - for my dad. I wished, more than anything, that he could see me play, cheer me on from the sidelines, give me advice on how to better my game. I wanted to make him proud, and making the team helped me feel like I was somehow.

Right as the ear-splitting screech of the starting bell rang through the air, Layla Wright strutted through the classroom door in clicking tan leather thigh-high boots, a white skater skirt and an extremely tight long-sleeve nude crop top. She shoots me a too-sweet smile as she spins on her heel to gracefully sit in the chair of the desk at the front center of the room.

"Yesterday's test scores are coming your way," Mrs. Bridges, our AP Cal teacher, drawls as she begrudgingly stands from her desk and beings passing out our graded papers. "Look alive."

Haven and I exchange a nervous glance from across the room. AP Cal is the only class we have together, and I know how much of a struggle it is for him. He never wants my help, though. Must be a guy thing, like not asking for directions and only looking at the pictures in instruction manuals.

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed that Mrs. Bridges got all of our tests graded in one night. Sure, there are only 15 of us in the class, but still, she usually takes several days, sometimes a week, to get our scores back to us. Even though she teaches Advanced Placement, she's not a particularly motivated teacher.

"Not sure what happened on this one, Rhodes," she grumbles at me as she slaps my test down on my desk. "It's like you were solving different problems entirely."

Peering down at the graded test, my stomach swoops and sinks through the floor. A cold sweat breaks out across my palms as a huge, glaring red letter - "F" - leaps off the page and burns itself into my retinas.

"Failed?!" I whisper to myself as the sweat spreads from my hands to the back of my neck and my armpits. There was no way. There had to be a mistake. I had never failed a test before. I studied way too fucking hard for this shit to happen. This was literally impossible. I flip through the test pages, feeling about as small as an eraser shaving as I study the multitude of red markings on my work.

I quickly deduced that although I was using the correct formulas, all of my numbers were... wrong. Even the numbers I had initially copied from the problem were incorrect. What was supposed to be 1s were 7s, all my 3s turned to 8s. Defeated and perplexed, I slumped back in my seat, worried that this could drop my grade too low to recuperate before the end of the quarter. This has been a chapter test.

Sharing a glance with Haven, who has a slightly green tint to his face, I can tell that he's gotten a similar mark.

I can feel hives starting to form along my collarbone as my mind quickly moves to the absolute worst case scenario, as it usually does. I imagine not being able to go to college and being forced to stay in Goldcrest, working some lame day job while everyone I know goes on to live their dreams.

Just as Mrs. Bridges begins her lecture on exponential growth, I happen to hear a small giggle from the front of the room and glance up to catch Layla's evil grin before she turns to face the front of the classroom.

I can almost feel the figurative lightbulb above my head ding on.

There's no fucking way.

Could Layla really have had a hand in this? Is that even possible, or am I just being paranoid?

I know there's absolutely no way that I screwed the test up this badly. I know that I can at least copy problems, and yet, according to these papers, I couldn't even manage to do that correctly.

My test had been meddled with. And the top suspect was Layla fucking Wright.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Haven scribble something on notebook paper, ball it up and chuck it to me while Mrs. Bridges draws graphs on the board.

Uncrumpling the paper, I see Haven's small scrawl:

"Someone fucked with my test."

Red-hot rage boiled in my blood. My jaw clenched as I gripped the sides of the note so hard that my knuckles turned white.

I didn't hear another word of Mrs. Bridge's lecture because I was too busy staring at the back of Layla's perfectly curled blonde hair, wishing I could rip it right out of her pretty little head.

Coming to my house to attempt to bribe me into being her boyfriend's mistress was one thing. She had threatened me, and I figured she would eventually act on it. Sabotaging my future was something I could handle, something I would've been able to make a deal with her to stop. Basically, I could have handled it reasonably, civilly even.

But fucking with Haven's future? Oh, hell no. That took things to a completely different level. Sis had officially just fucked with the wrong damn person.

The rest of the class passed quickly as I fantasized about ways to put Layla in her place.

I listened to the clock count down with growing enthusiasm.

Tick...

Tick...

Tick...

B-RRRRINNNNNGGGG!

The moment the bell sounded, I was on my feet, racing after Layla's leather, heeled boots, completely fueled by outrage.

"Layla!" I screech once we're in the hallway and I'm almost caught up to her.

She stops in her tracks and slowly spins around to face me, a toothy smile plastered on her glossy pink lips. "Yes, Fallon?"

"What did you do?" I growl, narrowing my eyes and utilizing an absurd amount of self-control to not punch her in her smug face.

"I told you that you didn't want me as an enemy, honey," she flips her buttery blonde locks behind her shoulder. People are beginning to slow their pace in order to stare at the standoff happening between me and Layla.

I'm surprised by how even my voice sounds as I respond to her. "And I told you to fuck off, but apparently you're just as bad at listening as you are at revenge. You screwed Haven and me more sloppily than a coked up hooker, because my test is now in your handwriting. All I have to do is tell Mrs. Bridges and your ass is grass."

"Awh, Fallon," she smiles like the sun radiates from her fucking asshole. "You're seriously naive enough to think that I lifted a finger in this? That's adorable," she giggles and turns to continue walking away.

My hand flies out to grab roughly at her wrist as I pull her back to face me, not ready to let this bitch get away with so much bullshit. "Fix this shit, Layla. I'm not fucking joking. I swear, I'll show Mrs. Bridges. Do you really think there's any college that would accept a sabotager?"

"You'd need this little thing called evidence, sweetie. And besides, haven't you ever heard of a chain of command?" She laughs, her blue eyes sparkling with vengeance. "Mrs. Bridges will just take the test to Principal Wright, and who do you think he'll believe? His beloved niece with a 5.0 GPA, who also happens to be the captain of the cheerleading squad that pulls the attention of schools like Princeton? Or you... The sad little outcast from a family that was excommunicated from the Founder's Council - the girl with one friend, a troublemaker of a brother, a low-life, strung-out mother and a dead dad?"

I can't help the tears that well up in my eyes as she smiles down at me patronizingly. I want to claw her fucking throat out. I feel like my entire body is shaking with pure hatred.

About 20 students have stopped in the middle of the hallway to listen to us, not even bothering to be subtle about it. My teeth grind together as I fight back tears, not wanting this demon to break me so easily. "You really shouldn't brag about sleeping with your uncle, Layla. Incest is illegal," I hear a couple gasps from the growing crowd of onlookers, and I step forward to get more in her face as I continue. "I don't know why he'd even touch you, though. You literally look like you were poured into your clothes and forgot to say 'when,'" I bite, severals snickers echoing through the crowd.

Layla's lips press together. "No need for insults," smiles diplomatically, holding her hand up in the stop signal. "You can stop all of this, Fallon. All you have to do is join the cheer squad. Tryouts are today," she shrugs and continues smiling, her eyes brimming with something challenging.

"Seriously?" I scoff incredulously. "All of this, just to get me to join the fucking cheer squad?! If you want to keep an eye on me that badly, just hire a fucking PI," I seethe, glaring up at her. "Now get the hell out of my way. I'm going to go talk to your fuck buddy of an uncle and make sure you get the consequences you deserve." With that, I shove past her, causing her to stumble, and from the sounds that follow, she fell on the floor.

Good fucking riddance.

I know it was mean, but I really don't give a shit right now. Layla acts like she's the queen of this place, and she screws with anyone who doesn't do what she wants. Somehow, I managed to get myself caught in the crosshairs of her sights, but I'm not going to just sit back and take it, and I'm sure as hell not going to give in to what she wants from me.

I stalk through the crowded halls toward Principal Wright's office, not exactly sure what I'm going to say, but intent on making sure that my accusation is heard.

"Fallon!" A deep voice calls out from behind me. I don't stop, but I hear the sound of running feet and suddenly feel a huge human walking next to me, the scent of clove and perique filling my nostrils. "That was amazing! You're fucking incredible!" Jayce laughs as he ruffles my hair with his large hand.

"Thanks," I grumble, fixing my hair and wishing he'd go away even though my heart rate picks up significantly at his presence. "She fucked with me and Haven's test. Made us fail."

"Damn," he whistles, running his hand through his hair. "She's fucked up."

"Yep, and you're dating her."

He shoots me a disapproving look. "You know why I have to."

I sigh, just wanting to be left alone right now, "You don't have to do anything, Jayce."

He's silent for a moment. "Well, what'd you do to piss her off?"

"You're the one who's cheating and using her! I didn't fucking do anything, and neither did Haven! But apparently, she wants me to join her damn cheer squad so badly that she's willing to literally fuck up grades and potentially entire futures to get what she wants!" I barrel into the front office and tell the secretary that I need to talk to Principal Wright immediately.

Our secretary, Mrs. Hayes, barely ever moves or looks up from her computer. Today, though, I guess the amount of fire in my voice really got to her, because she practically fell out of her chair with wide eyes and scrambled back into the staff offices when I pummeled her with my order.

"Damn, Tink. Are you that demanding in the bedroom?" Jayce smirks with a raised eyebrow, his brown eyes as warm and welcoming as always. "Because that's hot as hell."

"Fuck off," I fold my arms and plop onto an aging chair to wait.

Jayce chuckles and shakes his head, his wild hair falling in front of his eyes as he annoyingly takes the seat next to me. "I really wish Layla was a dude, so that I could go beat her up for fucking with you and Hav."

"That would make you gay."

"Hey, I'm dating your brother, remember? It'd be the good boyfriend thing to do."

"Ah, that's right," I can't help but smile slightly at the memory of the two of them claiming to be together.

"I talked to Layla, by the way."

I blink in response, confused as to why he wants to continue bringing up that bitch.

"About hanging out with you while she's gone."

"Oh, right," I shift in my seat, a bit nervous about the turn of the conversation. It reminds me of the butterflies I felt when he originally asked for the photoshoot on Wednesday. It's slightly distracting me from my fury. Slightly.

"She's fine with it," he smiles down at me and shrugs, his huge shoulders bulging from underneath his red Goldcrest Athletics hoodie.

"I find that hard to believe," I mutter. "What did she actually say?"

"She said that she's happy that our friendship is, and I quote, 'Growing exponentially,'" he uses his fingers to make air quotations and I feel my heart drop into my stomach like a bowling ball.

"Great," annoyance drips from my voice as I realize that Layla literally managed to reference the lesson we just had in AP Cal, probably to rub her handiwork on my test into my face even more. She is actually that fucking calculated and extra.

"Miss Rhodes, Principal Wright is ready for you," Mrs. Hayes says as she pops her circular face around the corner and waves me toward her. "Just Miss Rhodes," she glares disapprovingly at Jayce when he stands up with me. He just shoots her a charming smile, causing her to become rather flustered.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow, Fallon. Be ready to spend all day with me," he gives me a sweet look that would probably have stopped my heart if I wasn't so determined to expose Layla.

"Miss Rhodes?" The secretary pesters from behind me.

"Yes, coming," I spout, re-orienting my mind to focus on the heinous crime that was committed against me and my brother sometime before we held our test papers this morning, and not on the feeling I got in between my legs whenever Jayce Solis smiles at me.

~~~

Sheeeeeit Layla aint messin'. What would you do if you were Fallon???

More coming soon ! And I promise there will be more Jayce in the next update 😉

So one of my favorite things is reading and responding to your comments, just last night I was telling my husband how happy it makes me when yall leave tons of comments on my chapters! It seriously makes me so giddy. 🤗 So THANK YOU for commenting because I freaking love it!!!

Alsoooo I'm a total Harry Potter and Percy Jackson nerd, so what's your house and who is your godly parent? I'm Hufflepuff and daughter of Athena ! According to the quizzes on Pottermore and ReadRiordan.com, anyway :)

AND WHAT'S YOUR FAVE SONG RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YA GIRL NEEDS SOME TUNES (might even end up adding them to my playlist for this book!)

Lastly... do I have any Wazers out thereeee?:) IF SO LOOKY LOOKY OMG 👀 ⬇️

If Jayce and Haze were friends ^^ hahah

^Haze checking out Winter and Jayce checking out Fallon ayeee XD

As always, more coming soon !

READ ON SQUAD. xx

♥️