Red Leather (Book 2)

Chapter 7

"Robbie and Jen used to go out. Didn't you know?" Sal asked.

"Everybody knows. It was all over the news," Yuri added.

"The kidnapping broke them apart. Jen's not even in Alistair anymore."

"And Rob..." They stopped talking in turns, and shared a meaningful glance. It wasn't one of happiness.

"Well," Sal bit her lip. "He's healing. But his new boyfriend is super nice."

I thought back to the names on those doves. Robert and Jennifer, the sole victims of the tragedy that had made this town so famous. I made note to keep Sal and Yuri as very close confidants.

They had information that I needed. Keys that could open unmentionable doors.

After saying goodbye to her younger sister, Yuri walked me to the gym. Her pale eyes studied me, that sadness fading from her face. "You said you like to cheer, right?"

"Yep."

"I thought so. You look like a cheerleading type. You can still apply for the team, you know. If you want. Come – I'll introduce you to Lacey."

Lacey, while bearing a scary resemblance to the late Michaela Castell, was nothing like her. She didn't seem self-conscious or willing to please at all. In fact, I could see straight away that her approval had to be earned.

I gritted my teeth. Challenge accepted.

She said she'd had more than enough flyers in the squad, but my own achievements from my previous school couldn't go unnoticed. I was also really starting to miss cheering, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before I got what I wanted.

I always got what I wanted.

Try outs were next Tuesday. I walked to my assigned locker by myself, studying the posters on the walls. The lunch bell sounded deeper here – more sluggish than what I was used to – and as the new student, I received many more stares in the corridors.

Good. Let them watch. Let them see that I could turn this school on its head.

I arranged what little there was in my locker into neat, organized piles. Out of the corner of my eye, a boy too tall for his skinny limbs was gawking at me. His locker combination was easy to remember, as he made no attempt to cover the digits.

A common mistake.

Just to rile him up further, I dropped my pencil case in front of where he stood. Slowly, I bent over to pick it up, giving him a very generous view of my cleavage. His face turned pink in seconds.

I smiled.

"So what do you guys do here for fun?" I asked Becca, looking around the roomy cafeteria. It wasn't so much a cafeteria as a lounge where people hung out – double doors opened out to a patio, where I could see people soaking in the bright sun. It was chic and modern, and not at all like what you'd expect at your typical high school.

But then again, this wasn't your typical high school.

"Oh. At school? Not much," she shrugged, pushing her chicken salad around her plate. She'd eyed my bottle of water earlier, and it seemed that my refusal to eat had made her a little self-conscious. Good. "We usually hang out with the jocks. They're just awesome to be around."

"Tell me more." I had to know everything.

Sal and Yuri spotted us, and walked to our table with their trays. Soon enough, our table began to fill with people I'd briefly met in some of my classes. Some of whom I'd never even met before. Popular, and very beautiful people. It seems that all high schools were all the same, regardless of how rich their inhabitants were.

Becca continued. "Well, there's Jack, Hendrix and Seb. They're probably the funniest guys you'll ever meet. Known them since kindergarten." She paused for a second. "In fact, I think I've known everyone here before I could even talk."

Yuri perked up, flipping her black hair over her shoulder. "Oooh. Remember the day care centre our parents used to take us to?"

"The pink and orange one? With the cotton candy paintings?" A girl asked several seats away from me. Tamara Lilley. She was pretty enough, but I could see the faint smattering of acne through her makeup. Every so often, she'd stylishly tousle her blonde hair, subtly moving locks of hair to hide her cheek and jaw line.

The girl with the square face next to me wasn't eating, too. She wasn't even on planet Earth. Her name was Cora – and I could remember it because it made me think of 'collarbones,' which were bulging out dangerously from her neck. Her eyes looked kind of hollow, and every thirty seconds she would pull down her sleeve to hide her skeletal wrists.

Huh.

And a couple of girls who I didn't know were at the right side of the long table, talking to each other like they'd been friends since birth, just like Becca was implying. One had a wide mouth that smiled a lot, and the other had edgy bangs that seriously needed a trim. Then there was Sal, who was tiny and very junior looking with her glasses. Yuri had better posture and longer hair.

These were my new friends. New people to meet, to uncover, to be adored by. And most importantly, new people whom I could rip to shreds.

Fresh meat was always the richest.

"It was so much fun! Remember when we lost Sal in the ball pit when she was five?" This brought out a round of giggling, followed by a 15-minute trip to memory lane in which I had no idea what they were talking about. But I smiled and laughed and nodded along, taking in all of the silly little stories, because every bit of info counted. It made the layers of mystery peel away from some people, and I could see them more clearly now, see into their lives and fears and dreams.

Soon, I would be able to see their souls. And that's when I would strike.

***

Author's Note: Just to make it clear, RED LEATHER is the sequel to WHITE LIES. I apologise in advance, also, because I will be making references to things that you probably won't get. So, yeah. Sorry about that.

This is the link to Renee's tumblr. Tumblr is basically a place where you can create blogs. So you can ask Renee questions and bitch about people and stuff.

http://r3dleather.tumblr.com/