The Class Reject: A Pariah in Purgatory (Book II)

Chapter 8

Maybe that's why the guys wanted to start small with this revenge scheme, she closed her eyes, letting the curt November air assault her cheeks. But she was numb. And dumb, apparently.

"We have to be prepared for what comes next," she said, exhaling. "It's not going to get easier. And I can't always be the field man just because you want to keep your girlfriends' hands clean. You saw what a flop today was. And you two encouraged me to continue this."

"You're right." Jeno crossed his arms as Wallace nodded. "But all we can do now is wait."

Yet some how waiting always felt harder than putting it all on the line.

***

"You know it's the weekend, right?" Levi said as he closed Headmaster Edsel's door behind him. In a few hours it would be Friday night. And he had fun shit to do. "I don't remember signing up to be your lackey."

"Yet you still came anyway." He tossed a phone at the boy and he caught it mid-air. He raised a brow.

"Last I checked, this isn't a shining letter of recommendation for Yale's BS/MD program."

"It's a precursor to it," Edsel said as he placed some files in his cabinet. "But I'm sure you can hack it. I know I couldn't."

Levi clicked his tongue. "Just because I'm Middle Eastern doesn't mean I'm a tech genius."

"I thought being a millennial does." He frowned. "Either way, you have until Monday morning. And don't make your snooping noticeable."

"Okay, Captain Obvious." Levi gave him a salute. And he was off to crack the code.

***

Penelope and her mother were bickering in Spanish as they drove to their Hartford mansion.

"I sent you to an all-girls Catholic school for a reason," her mother went on as she exited the highway. "I took off time from a high profile celebrity case for you—I can't believe you!"

"You're acting like I'm the one who did it!" Penelope shook her head. "Shouldn't you be more concerned that I'm being blackmailed? I never shot a video. I'm not fucking insane."

"You watch your language in my presence, pinche idiota," the woman sneered, pulling into one of their six garages. Penelope groaned as she opened her door. She stormed toward the front door when her mother snapped her fingers. Penelope stopped in place, but she was shaking almost violently in frustration.

"What?"

As her mother stopped in front of her, she braced herself for a slap or a verbal lashing. Instead the woman's brown eyes darkened as she pointed to an old trophy on a shelf. One would probably question why it was in a garage, but the quick answer was that her brother's award room began over-filling years ago.

"When you were born, your brother was so excited to finally have a younger sibling. But it didn't take long for him to realize that you were completely unremarkable." She folded her arms. "You know, he doesn't even ask of you. I thought he was being extreme before, but little did I know he was on to something. If I knew you were going to be a typical American spoiled brat, I would have sent you to Colombia to gain a shred of humility." Her mother scoffed before shifting to open the door.

"To think how excited I was to have a little girl," she went on. "Who knew you'd step on all the work I've done to empower women?" She shook her head, stepping past the marble-floored foyer. Her heels echoed inside the expansive and welcoming space, but Penelope didn't know if she could actually enter, or if her mother was simply mocking her. But once she stepped one foot in, Dr. Van Helsing didn't even turn to say, "I didn't give you permission to come in."

"Then why did you bring me here?" Penelope's arms dropped dramatically to her sides. "If I'm such a hopeless burden, then you could have left me at school." She bit her lip. "But I'm sorry—I never wanted any of this to happen."

"I saw the video." Her mother shook her head. "Not your appalling child-pornography, but the one from the award ceremony with Miren. It doesn't take an idiot to know that you did that to her."

Penelope's mouth widened with disgust. "Are you seriously accusing me for that? Did you see what she did to me—she put me in a cast!"

"I overheard the other girls saying how you used to splash her in the hallway," she countered, her voice almost as harsh as her expression. "And then you ruined that award for her. Believe me, if she didn't beat the shit out of you, I would have."

"But I didn't—"

"We should have adopted her when we had the chance," her mother went on, pulling out a glass bottle of scotch from the dresser, pouring it into a glass. She took a small, sobering sip before turning to the girl. "Then maybe you would have died on the streets instead of her. "

Tears were pouring out of Penelope's eyes as she shook her head. "You don't mean that."

Her mother shrugged, before throwing off her heels and starting for the staircase. "Pack up what you can and take the bus back to school. And don't you dare think of coming back until I can stand to look at you."

***

"You've got to look at this." One of the male students extended his cellphone to a friend in the locker room as Parker pulled his shirt over his head. Conditioning for the spring soccer season had already started. And although it meant sacrificing his Friday evenings just to kick a ball around, it was a welcomed distraction to the void that was suddenly his life.

"Holy fuck." The boy's friend turned to Parker with eyes that resembled a deer in headlights. He narrowed his eyes at him.

"Is everything okay, dude?" Parker wrinkled his nose. "Because it's sort of weird to stare at people in the locker room."

"It's sort of weird to be staring at your bare ass." Parker snatched the phone from him, replaying the video. And when he saw it, he could barely breathe.

"What the fuck is this?" He managed to get out as the boys just shook their heads and shrugged.

"Apparently someone messed with Rosemunde's rally today," one of the boys offered before extending his hand to knuckle punch Parker. "But totally tapped a van Helsing! You're our man!"

Parker twisted his arm before stormed out of the space. Who the hell made a sex tape of him and Penelope? And why would they unleash it for the masses? What could they gain from that?

He was as shameless as an eighteen-year-old high school senior could be. This couldn't faze him—right? But his mind was ringing long before his phone started to. He pulled it out and frowned at the number.

 It was his father.