BLUE BLOOD

37 | it's about time you stopped

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[entry]

We were in a private room, away from the party. I had made sure no one saw or even suspected that our separate exits of the party were related. The door was locked, and everyone else was too drunk or high to even notice.

At least, I hoped so.

Fear bloomed throughout my whole body. He wanted a secret. And not a fake one. No, he wanted the sort of secret that was worth something. That sold a part of my soul in telling him. "Why would you ask for that?"

For the first time ever, his eyes glimmered. This was what he found intriguing. "Why do you want my vote?"

I wasn't going to tell him that and he knew it. Touché. "Fine. I won't ask, but the problem is, I don't have a secret to tell you."

"Then I don't have a vote for you," he replied, unbothered. Avery had anticipated my response. Fuck. "Everyone has a secret, Ella. You're lying if you say you don't have one and I don't make deals with liars. Or at least, bad ones."

I glared at him, as thoughts ran through my head. It made me uncomfortable the way he looked at me knowingly, as if he could read me easily like a book. No matter how hard I try, he seemed to know my intents and my motives. "It would ruin my reputation."

"That's what makes it a true secret," Avery shrugged. "Information with stakes. Why do we protect our secrets so dearly? Because they cause damage."

"Why do you want leverage over me?" I whispered, wondering why he was doing this to me. "Why can't you just let me off the hook, this one time?"

"This one time?" Avery laughed, genuinely amused by my words. "And then what? You'll come back and ask me to let you off the hook just another time? Contrary to what you believe, you don't deserve everything in the world for free. Yes, I was born privileged, but your cause isn't exactly a noble one. So give me a legitimate reason as to why I should help you for free."

I stared at him, speechless, desperately trying to rack my brain for an answer.

He nodded slowly, looking tired all of a sudden. "You can't."

"I don't understand," I shook my head, dropping all my games because I knew it wasn't working with him.

"People like you don't." He stated it as if it were a fact, and it stung not because he meant it with malice, but precisely because it wasn't intended to be rude.

"You don't give a damn." I fiddled with my drink, self-conscious. "Not about popularity, parties, or even your reputation. How? Why?"

"How are you so certain about that?" he lifted an eyebrow.

"The rumors," I answered without thinking, before amending, "The lack of them, I mean. If you sleep around, you do it very privately because no one knows any details of who or when." I cringed, realizing how that sounded. "Sorry, it's just- Every once in a while you hear a scandal or something outrageous about Blake, Erik, Mason..."

"Cole," he smiled, humorlessly, guessing that the fact bothered me daily.

I ignored his input. "But you don't hear anything about you. Isn't that strange? Does no one question it around here because I haven't heard a word."