Fallen Crest Public
Page 17

“Mase!” Nate called, waving me down.
He was standing at Strauss’ locker. The two were lounging back and watching the girls. A group of cheerleaders were next to them. I wasn’t surprised. The exile had been broadcasted loud and clear. Kate and her friends weren’t on friendly terms with us anymore so there was a vacancy at the top. There was always attention from girls, but it was different since the exile. The girls had become more aggressive with the guys, and more competitive with each other. My eyes fell to the left of Strauss and saw some of the drill team. Two had seductive grins on their faces while their friends were glaring at the cheerleaders.
That was one benefit when Kate reigned. She kept the hierarchy in order.
“Hey.” I nodded to Nate and punched Strauss in the shoulder. I pulled it back at the last second so it turned into a friendly nudge.
Strauss gave me a halfhearted grin, his gaze lingering on an ass that walked past us.
“How’d that family pow-wow go? Did you guys get everything straightened out?”
Shit.
Strauss glanced at Nate as well. His hostility hadn’t been kept in check, but Strauss didn’t comment on it.
“It wasn’t like that, Nate.”
“Figured I should jet, just in case it was. I wouldn’t want it to be awkward.” He fixed me with a pointed look.
I lifted a hand and raked it through my hair. This wasn’t a scene I wanted to happen here.
“Logan!”
Turning, I saw Logan had a girl pinned up against a locker. He was grinning right in her face, and her cheeks were flushed. She lit up, smiling widely, and took a deep breath. It lifted her br**sts, and Logan fixed his gaze on those. He didn’t look away, and the girl squirmed again. “Logan, stop.”
Strauss grunted.
The girl didn’t want him to stop. She was giggling, pressing against him, and pushing her br**sts out even further.
“Mr. Kade,” a loud voice boomed from the end of the hallway.
Logan stepped back, dropping the girl at the same time. She squealed again, this time not from enjoyment.
“Both Mr. Kades are here. Two for one deal. Lucky me,” the voice said again with the same gusto. A hand came down hard on my shoulder at the same time.
Logan glanced up, meeting my gaze with a dark look before we moved as one. I turned around, dislodging the hand as Logan took a few steps to stand beside me.
I spoke first, “Principal Green.”
Dressed in a grey suit, green tie, and standing over six feet, he was at eye-level with me. The older man, in his early forties with graying hair, lifted his lip. It was an imitation of a smile, but it didn’t match the resignation in his eyes.
Logan snorted.
The principal inclined his head. “Something funny, Mr. Kade?”
He rolled his shoulders back, a cocky smirk coming over him. “Nah, Principal Green, except you look ready to drop on your feet. Busy night with the missus?”
Disapproval replaced the resignation. “I am here to give you both a warning.”
“A warning?” Logan locked gazes with me again. “We haven’t done anything.”
“Yet,” someone coughed from behind them.
Nate, Strauss, and some of the others laughed at the comment. A girl added in a groan, “They can do anything to me that they want.” Her friends giggled and began whispering together. Someone snapped at them, “Shut it. Stop being so annoying.”
Kate.
The girls fell silent.
Principal Green surveyed the crowd in the hallway, shaking his head at the same time. “How is it that you two command so much attention in this school? I’ve never met another person, much less a pair of brothers that can compete with the level of power you hold over my student population.”
Logan shrugged. “We’re cool, an inspiration to others.”
A smattering of laughter started again.
Principal Green drawled, “I highly doubt that.”
“It’s true. We’re like a walking Hallmark card, full of quotes and bible verses. We make people feel like they’ve been touched by an angel.”
“Oh, shit,” someone laughed.
Another commented, “He makes people feel touched all right.”
A third snorted, “And not from anything angelic.”
I cleared my throat and everyone shut up. “What’d you come here to say?”
“I got an interesting phone call from our local police.”
I glanced at Logan. What the f**k? Then I narrowed my eyes at the principal again.
“They’re screwed,” a guy laughed.
Principal Green twisted around. “Don’t you people have classes to go to?”
A few left. Most stayed.
He sighed. “I’d rather not have this conversation with an audience. Mason. Logan. Both of you come to my office?”
It was asked as a request. It wasn’t. We followed him to his office. As we were about to turn right into the main office, Sam was coming from the left. Both of us saw her and she stopped mid-stride. The arm that held her books fell to her side and her mouth opened. A questioning look came into her depths, but I also saw the hurt still there. My jaw clenched and I turned away.
Logan wolf-whistled at her.
She didn’t reply. I felt her gaze burning into the back of my skull. My shoulders tensed and I gripped the handle on the office door harder than necessary. I knew Logan caught the exchange and I knew my little brother wouldn’t understand.
Fine. He could explain it to her himself. Then Logan would understand.
As we took the two seats across from Principal Green’s desk, Logan bumped his knee against mine.
I ignored him.
He hissed, “What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Mase,” Logan hissed again.
“Okay, boys,” Principal Green started.
I ignored him too. “Remember the thing you talked to me about last night?”
“Oh.” Logan fell back against his chair. He let out a long breath. “She knows.”
“She picked up on it. You can tell her.”
“What? No way—”
“Gentlemen,” their principal clapped his hands together and leaned over his desk, “am I interrupting a little spat between the two of you?”
Logan rolled his eyes and slumped down his chair. I leaned forward. Principal Green had never done anything to screw us over, but he was an adult. It was bound to happen. “What do you want? We haven’t done a thing so the police stuff has nothing to do with us.”