Forbidden Games (Forbidden Ties Series Book 2) (2 page)

              After the weekend, the school was still abuzz with the video from the football game. Against my aunt’s pleads, Cade decided to go to school on Monday. He held his head high as girls whispered around him. Guys, on the other hand, reached to give him compliments.

              “High five, Cade!” yelled a male student in a letterman’s jacket. “Pussy Pounder!”

              Cade smiled brilliantly as he smacked the guy on the hand. I blushed a little knowing that it was me they were talking about. Still, no one else knew this save for Cade.

              “Men,” sighed Penny from our usual spot at the lunch table. “Of course they get praise for having sex, while the girl in that video would have been shunned as a slut.”

              “Preach!” Jill exclaimed.

              “It was probably that bitch, Angie,” Penny shivered. “It grosses me out to think of her naked beneath him.”

              “I’m sitting right here,” I reminded her.

              “Sorry!” Penny apologized. “Probably the last thing that you want to think about is your cousin naked.”

              “No worries,” I said shaking my head. The truth was I was also extremely disgusted by the thought of naked, plastic Angie being railed by Cade; I decided to pretend that their never occurred.

              “On a different note,” Penny started to change the subject. “Are you guys excited for the pep rally today?”

              “Not really,” Jill scoffed.

              “You have
zero
school spirit,” Penny said while glaring at her. “Today they are announcing homecoming nominations!”

              “This soon?” I asked. “It’s only a few weeks into the school year.”

              “Homecoming happens before Halloween,” Penny stated. “It’s extremely important at Mayville Academy; everyone shows for the game and the dance.”

              “No, it’s not important,” Jill shook her head while picking at her remaining garlic french fries. “Homecoming is stupid.”

              “No,
you’re
stupid,” Penny said, seemingly offended by Jill’s lack of enthusiasm.

              “Thanks, Penny,” Jill said as she sat upward in her chair. “But let me remind you all that we’re the losers of this school. Girls like Angie Oberstone and her disgusting friends are the ones that get nominated for these things.

              “Is there such thing as voting
against
someone winning?” I grinned.

              “Count me in!” Jill added.

              “Voting already stopped last Friday,” Penny seemed pleased with herself for knowing this.

              “Did you vote?” Jill asked her.

              “Of course!” Penny exclaimed.

              “Who did you vote for then?” Jill smirked.

              “Please don’t say Angie,” I added.

              “Hell no!” Penny said while squinting her face. “I nominated myself.”

              “You filled out a ballet for
yourself
?” Jill laughed. “Is that even possible?”

              “Do you think that the President of the United States votes for someone else?” Penny replied.

              “This is
homecoming
!” Jill reminded her. “The annual event were bratty kids fight over who is prettier.”

              “I think that it would look good on my college application,” Penny said turning her head. I could feel that Jill’s tirade against homecoming was having a negative effect on her, so I chimed in the conversation.

              “That’s great,” I said smiling at Penny. “I hope you get the nomination. If you had asked me to, I would have voted for you in a heartbeat.”

              “Thanks,” Penny smiled at me. Suddenly, a chime played over the intercom. “Oh! That’s the pep rally call! Time to go, ladies!”

              The halls were flooded with students on their way to the rally. I had to hold tightly onto Penny’s book bag as she led up through the crowd. Once at the entrance of the gym, we saw the stands quickly filling with bodies.

              “Hurry!” Penny screamed as she ran toward the steps up to an empty row of seats. “Let’s get these ones!”

We followed her as we pushed through swarms of people buzzing in the massive room. When we finally found reached seats, others tried to push us off of them, but Penny held her ground.

“That was pretty awesome,” I laughed as I watched Penny’s hair fly about the place, warding off potential seat predators.

“Peppy rallies are vicious!” she yelled. “Don’t trust anyone.”

“Good to know,” I smiled.

“
She’s insane
,” whispered Jill.

“I heard that!” Penny yelled before something caught her eye. “Look, Jill!”

“What?” Jill asked annoyed.

“It’s your boyfriend!” Penny pointed to the floor where a group of teachers and students were setting up some of the production lighting.

“Where?” Jill asked as she sat upward in excitement. It was strange for me to see her become so perky in an instant.

“See him?” Penny asked as she leaned into me. Her finger pointed at a tall, thin guy parted hair. His school uniform seemed to hang off of his arms as though it were several sizes too large. “That’s Allen Dunbar, also known as
Jill’s weakness
.”

“I’m in cute nerd heaven,” Jill said seemingly in a trance just as the room went dark. The crowd began to cheer, and I clapped along with them. Penny seemed to be the most excited as she wildly mashed her hands together and made loud noises toward the stage.

“Mayville Academy!” shouted a voice over the loud speaker. Everyone cheered even louder. “Give it up for your ringleader, Principal Bale!”

The crowd was not as enthusiastic to hear from the principal who made his way to the podium. He was a large man with dark colored hair and skin. His shirt and tie seemed to protrude outward as he walked.

“Before we get started,” Principal Bale began. “I’d like to address the events that took place during the halftime of last Friday’s football game.”

Sounds of laughter echoed all around the gym. Teachers standing on the sides signaled the students to quite.

“Go, Cade!” yelled a guy from the center of the crowd. This caused even more of an uproar.

“Let’s all be mature about this,” Bale said. “I want you all to understand that this prank is also a sex crime. Because of the delicate nature of the event, Mayville Academy is going to catch who is responsible. This person will be indefinitely expelled. Anyone with any information is requested to contact school administration. If you know who is in charge of the prank, the reward will be no homework for a week, which will be quietly upheld so that your identity is not given away. Thank you.”

The students cheered again as Principal Bale left the podium. My eyes searched the crowd for Angie to see if she was sweating bullets. Suddenly, I saw her walking past the principal. Her make up was caked on even more than usual and an orange tan spread across her repulsive body.

“Hello, everyone!” Angie called out as she spoke into the microphone. I wanted to slap her again, only this time it would be so hard that she couldn’t fake another smile. Somehow she was getting away with it all and felt no remorse. “We are all here for the main event which will be homecoming nominations! As your senior class president–“

“
She’s
class president?” I asked in disbelief.

“Like I said,” Jill explained. “She’s grotesquely popular. I wouldn’t be surprised if she calls her own name out for the homecoming queen nomination.”

“–to make this year simpler,” Angie continued. “The student council decided to only take the top two king and queen nominations.”

I looked over at Penny whose fingers were crossed in her lap. It seemed as though she had her hopes up to win. Though I wished it for her, I knew that none of us would be popular enough to find a nomination outside of our own.

“And the nominations for homecoming king are….” Angie held out the last word as she opened a royal blue envelope. “Cade Vandercamp!”

The crowd went crazy with cheers of Cade’s name. I looked around for him as I saw him make his way through the crowd toward the floor. It was great to see that Cade could overcome a terrible situation. Once near the podium, he raised his bandaged hand into the air while keeping a comfortable distance from Angie.

“And the second nomination goes to Allen Dunbar!” Angie shouted as she gave Cade a twisted glance. The crowd started laughing hysterically at the announcement.

“What?” gasped Jill. From the back of the room, Allen looked around in surprise. His friend with jet-black hair slapped Allen on the back as he pushed him toward the front of the room. Slowly, Allen walked next to Cade who shook his hand. The two were about the same height with Cade looking confident and Allen looking distressed.

“Now for homecoming queen nominations,” Angie recited with a glossy grin. “The nominees are Angie Oberstone and Mairead Worthington!”

“What the fuck?” I gasped after hearing my name echo through the crowd.

“Who is that?” asked a girl sitting nearby to her friend. That was how I wanted to spend my final year in high school, oblivious to the rich kids that surrounded me. However, as I stepped in a spell toward the podium, I knew that the students of Mayville Academy wouldn’t allow me to carry on so easily.

              The weather was transforming the landscape of Mayville. With each crisp breeze, trees shuddered their drying leaves. I watched the foliage gracefully flutter to the ground, joining heaps of their brethren that had drifted there before. Change wasn’t just in the air; it was on the ground, and in my mind.

              Whoever nominated me for homecoming queen was pulling a hoax. It wasn’t possible for me to have enough votes because of how unknown I was at the academy; those girls in the gym asking who I was only sealed this statement. I knew that this was part of some sadistic plan that Angie was cooking up for me. After all, she did promise retribution for me slapping her at the fair.

              As I walked home, I pulled on my jacket to shield me from the onslaught of cold weather. I expected California to be warm and sunny like it was on the television. Mayville was too far north where the mountaintops saw snow, and the scenery experienced true seasons.

              After reaching the house, I pulled my keys from my book bag and unlocked the door. Usually, Alice greeted me while she spent the afternoon tidying up the home. Instead, I was met with silence.

              “Hello?” I called. My voice ricocheted off of the ceilings and onto the floors where it met back around my ears. It appeared that I was alone.

              Making my way into the kitchen, I saw a note on the refrigerator in Alice’s handwriting:

              We’re at a PTA meeting – be back around 5PM XO

              It made sense to me that the PTA would hold meetings after the incident. Though I was nervous over the content of their discussion, I also felt relieved to have the house to myself.

              After grabbing an apple, I started for my room to put away my book bag. Once inside, I hung the bag over a hook on the wall and decided to change from my uniform.

              My drawers were filled with clothes. Many of them I had felt too self-conscious about wearing because they weren’t name brands. I probably shouldn’t have worried about this, but this town appeared to be judgmental– and being the new girl was difficult enough.

              I nearly shut the drawer when I saw my bikini sitting on top of the pile. It was black and almost unnoticeable, but as the softness of the fabric braised my hand, I stopped on it.

              “
Why not?
” I thought as I began to remove my clothes. A dip in the spa tub in the indoor pool seemed like a great way to get my mind off of things. I slipped on the bikini, grabbed a towel from a linen closet, and made my way to the indoor pool space.

              A flood of humid and warm air enveloped me. The indoor pool was small with a black bottom that stylishly matched the floor. Uncle Tim had shown me how to operate the heat on the tubs, so I twisted the levers that sent warm jets around it.

              I sank into the warm water, letting the heat clear out my thoughts. Soon, the embarrassment of receiving a nomination in front of a laughing school sunk away from me. Then thoughts of Angie’s fake smile started to fizzle and fade. Soon I was left with only blissful thoughts that mostly surrounded Cade. I wanted him there with me to cuddle and soak in the tub.

              “Hey there,” I heard a familiar voice from above me. My eyes opened to see that my wish had come true. Cade was standing in his board shorts, showing his tanned, shirtless body. It was the perfect moment for him to arrive.

              “You’re here!” I exclaimed. “I was just thinking about you.”

              “Good thoughts or dirty thoughts?” he winked.

              “All of the above,” I teased.

              “I saw you come downstairs in your bikini and couldn’t help but to follow,” he explained. “Mind if I join?”

              “Get in here,” I purred. Then Cade slowly sunk into the water. He swam next to me and kissed me on the lips. “Can we do this here?”

              “I’m assuming you didn’t read the note.”

              “I did, but what if they–“

              “Relax, Mairead,” he smiled. “They won’t be back for another couple of hours.”

              “We still need to be careful,” I warned. “Through the bubbles, I didn’t hear you come in the room.”

              “Yes, but I’m sneaky!”

              “Not as sneaky as Angie.”

              “Oh, no,” Cade grumbled. “So you’re thinking what I’m thinking?”

              “That she abused her power as class president and maliciously voted me into being nominated for homecoming queen?”

              “Yep. After all, she is that ridiculous. I think she did it to that Allen kid, too.”

              “I don’t get it,” I said, puzzled as I gazed into the bubbling water. “What’s her game?”

              “Don’t worry about Angie,” Cade sighed. “She’s just trying to beat you out of homecoming queen so that you’ll be embarrassed by it. Though you don’t even care.”

“I don’t care in the least bit.”

“Good. She knew that Allen wouldn’t receive more votes than me and it’s always been her dream for the two of us to be kind and queen together.”

              “Do you want to be king?”

              “Honestly,” Cade said a he looked me in the eyes. “I’d rather just spend that night with you.”

              Cade brought brevity to my life that always made me feel at home. I smiled, knowing that our forbidden romance rested under the water. Still, I wondered if it would ever come boiling to the surface.