The Cruel World Page 21

  “Ow.” I rub at my shoulder.

  That really hurt.

  I’ve played paintball before, it’s something we do to train at Spy School, but it’s been a while. I forgot how much it hurts.

  The crowd cheers and Jensen nods at me, which is as much of a congratulations I will get from the guy who just lost to me.

  I hear screaming get closer as Kal runs up to me and lifts me off the ground, spinning me around.

  “You were unstoppable, Roxy!” Kal yells excitedly.

  I hold on to him, trying to keep myself from falling over. “You should’ve listened to me! We could’ve won together.”

  He puts me down as Alek and West come up.

  Alek wraps his arm tightly around me, lifting me in a similar fashion to Kal, but he does it without the dramatics of spinning me around.

  “Well done. I am proud of you.”

  West grunts, so Alek lets me go.

  West steps up to me and clears his throat. “You did good, Princess.”

  I throw my arms around him, not giving him a choice on if he’s going to hug me or not. I want a hug. He wraps his arms around me, holding me against him. He doesn’t try to lift me off my feet. He just holds me against him. Butterflies fill my stomach at the gesture, so I pull away, not wanting to make things harder on myself.

  My cheeks are warm and I’m certain my face is bright red. I hope they think it’s from running around playing paintball and not because of the hug West and I just shared.

  “Where is Ian?” I ask, looking around.

  Kal rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “He’s waiting in the car.”

  “Oh.” I hate the sinking feeling in my chest.

  Why did Ian have to make things so complicated for us? And how do I fix it?

  “I’ll talk to him.” West makes a tight fist.

  I grab his hand to get him to loosen his grip. “No. It’s fine. Ian can’t help how he feels. He shouldn’t be punished for hating me.”

  West gives me a hard look. “Roxy, he can’t keep treating you like this.”

  I know he’s serious because he called me Roxy.

  I shake my head. “West, it was literally yesterday that you fed me strawberries, trying to prove a point. You hate me too. Or hated me—honestly, I can’t keep up anymore. Just let me take care of the Ian thing, okay. It’s my problem. Not yours.”

  He clenches his jaw. “Fine. But if you don’t figure it out soon, I will. I’m the team leader. It’s my job to make sure you all get along.”

  “Thank you.” I stand up on the tips of my toes and kiss him on the cheek. His eyes widen as he looks at me, but he doesn’t say anything.

  “Okay, enough of this.” Kal scoops me up, putting me on top of his shoulders.

  I scream. “Kal, put me down!”

  But he doesn’t listen. He just carries me around, shouting about how we won. I eventually give in to him and just go with it—it’s better that way with Kal anyway.

  I did it. I may have completely screwed up that first day, but I brought things back around and managed to claim the victory for my team.

  Maybe now, we can be a family.

  Congratulations, I guess.

  Kal refuses to let me off his shoulders, so I just let him carry me around while other teams congratulate us on our win.

  Jensen, Cole, and Rook walk up to us. West and Alek both glare at them, and I imagine Kal is doing the same, though I can’t see his face since he has me on his shoulders.

  “Congratulations, Roxy,” Rook says, grinning at me. “You were awesome today.”

  “Yeah, you rock.” Cole hold his fist up and I bump my knuckle against his.

  “Thank you,” I tell them.

  “You were really good today,” Jensen says. “Are you sure you won’t join our team instead? We could really use somebody like you.”

  West steps between Jensen and me, crossing his arms over his chest. “She isn’t going anywhere.”

  I grin. “Thanks for the offer, but West is right. I am happy where I am.”

  He grins. “I understand. There are no hard feelings. I hope that we can be friends.”

  “Absolutely,” I say.

  “Not,” West says. “She means to say absolutely not. Because it’s not happening.”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “Of course we’ll be friends.” I look at West. “Right?”

  He rolls his eyes. “Princess, that isn’t happening. So don’t get your hopes up.”

  Yeah, maybe he’s right. Maybe our teams are destined to always be rivals. Whatever rivalry they had before was only made worse when the three of them invited me to join their team. We’ll never get along and I’m just going to have to deal with that.

  I shrug at Jensen and he laughs.

  “Regardless, I’ll be seeing you around Roxy. You’re an all right chick. If these guys get tired of you, know you have a place to go.”

  West lets out his breath in a huff. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  I tap on Kal’s shoulder and he sits me back down on the ground. I take a step closer to West, hoping to calm him down a little bit. “He’s right. I’m happy. But I will be seeing you guys around.”

  “Not if I can help it,” West mumbles under his breath.

  Ah, that’s right. I never did tell West what Michael Sinclair told me.

  Jensen motions at Cole and Rook and the three of them walk off, leaving me alone with West, Kal, and Alek. Ian’s absence only reminds me that he’s waiting in the car because he couldn’t stand to be around me.

  I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I hate how much my chest aches. But most of all, I hate that I lost my best friend.

  Before I have time to think too much about it, I spot my mother and father approaching us. My mom has a smile on her face—it’s a smile I know all too well. It’s her fake smile. I know her well and I know that she’s probably disappointed that I won. She was probably wishing that I’d lose.

  West, Kal, and Alek see my parents coming too because Kal and Alek both step closer to me, crossing their arms over their chest. West steps halfway in front of me and I see that he’s clenching his jaw. He was with me when we went to get coffee with them—he knows how bad it is, at least partly.

  “Well done Roxy.” Mom grins at me as they come to a stop. “Really, that was pure luck how you managed to win.”

  “Pure luck?” Kal throws his arm around me. “More like pure talent. Roxy is awesome!”

  Mom stiffens at Kal’s compliment, obviously thrown off by the fact that they’re defending me. Of course she can’t understand why anybody would ever like me. In her eyes, I’m unlikeable.

  Her smile freezes. “Well, I guess you had to win to make up for being such a failure last time.”

  My dad surprises me when he steps forward and wraps his arm around me, giving me a hug. “I’m proud of you. You did good.”

  “Thanks.” I squeeze him back, shocked at the gesture.

  My dad doesn’t hug me very often. Usually when he does, it’s when my mom isn’t around. I think if he shows me affection when she’s around it upsets her. He does whatever he can to keep the peace.

  He steps back and I see that my mom’s face is bright red. I know she’s going to probably yell at Dad later, but she won’t do it in front of the guys. No, she waits until she’s somewhere private to let her temper show. She doesn’t want anybody to know the truth—that she’s not perfect.

  “I’d love to take you to lunch to celebrate your win,” Dad says.

  “We’ll be going with her,” West warns in a tone that tells me him coming isn’t negotiable.

  Dad nods. “Of course.”

  Mom sighs, shaking her head. “I can’t go. Another team was wanting to speak with me about all of my accomplishments I’ve made as a Royal.”

  I want to roll my eyes, but I refrain.

  Dad grins. “It’s quite all right. I’ll meet up with you after.”

  Mom doesn’t say anything. She just turns
, leaving us there. None of us say anything for a few seconds.

  Finally, Dad clears his throat. “Well, then, I suppose I’ll meet you kids there.”

  West, Alek, and Kal don’t move.

  “Uh, sure. Sounds good,” I say.

  Dad turns to leave first, then I turn to look at the guys. They still haven’t moved.

  “You guys okay?” I raise an eyebrow.

  Kal shakes his head. “I can’t believe I used to look up to your parents. They suck.”

  “Your mom sucks,” Alek says.

  “No. Her dad does too.” Kal frowns. “He just stood there and let her mom talk to Roxy like that.”

  My heart swells.

  I put a hand on Kal’s shoulder. “It’s fine, I promise. I’ve put up with a lot worse from her. It was tame because the three of you are here, but I appreciate you sticking up for me.”

  “We should get going.” West turns and starts walking toward the Jeep. The rest of us follow him.

  I really have no idea why the guys are acting like this—wasn’t it just yesterday they would have agreed with my parents that I suck? And now they’re sticking up for me. I just don’t get it.

  Kal grabs onto my hand and starts pulling me behind West. Alek grabs onto my other hand. I laugh, shaking my head at the two of them.

  “We only hold your hand to make West jealous.” Alek winks at me.

  “Good luck with that,” I say, knowing that me holding hands with Kal and Alek won’t make West jealous. West doesn’t care who I hold hands with, as long as it isn’t anybody from the rival team. He doesn’t like me like that. The way I feel is very one sided.

  “Ah, Roxy, you’re so clueless.” Kal smirks. “But that’s all right because we still love you.”

  West, who is far ahead now, looks back, narrowing his eyes. He stops, waiting for us to catch up with him, and then he pushes Kal and Alek away from me.

  “Do you guys have to act like children all the time?” West complains.

  Kal smirks at me, giving me a look that tells me, ‘I told you so.’ But he’s still wrong. West is just a stickler for the rules. After all, he is the one who made the whole no-dating-Roxy rule in the first place. It’s a good rule, obviously. I wish Ian would’ve listened to it. If he had… things would be better now. He wouldn’t hate me. And I wouldn’t feel so guilty.

  West paces beside me. He doesn’t hold my hand, but he does walk close enough that our hands brush against one another every once in a while. I try not to read into it as we make our way to the Jeep. I know it doesn’t mean anything.

  West and I are just friends. That’s it.

  When we get into the Jeep, Alek and Kal both rave about how awesome I did to Ian, saying he should’ve seen it. Ian doesn’t say one word. He just mumbles something under his breath that I don’t understand and stares out the window, not wanting to even look my way.

  Ian is probably the only person on the team that isn’t glad I decided to stay on the team. I’m sure he wishes I would’ve left. And maybe, if I were a less selfish person, I would have. But I can’t do that. Not even for Ian. The only thing I can do is hope that he and I will, one day, be friends again. Until then, I hope we can both survive.

  Saturday, December 16

  An uneasy feeling.

  Today, we’re leaving The Island and heading back to our little condo.

  I will miss the huge house on the beach, but I am eager to get back home. I have an uneasy feeling today and I just want to get back home—I’ll feel better then.

  There is a knock on my door just as I zip up my suitcase. When I open up, West is on the other side.

  “Hey.” I grab my suitcase off the bed and he walks over, taking it from me.

  “I thought you might need help.” He motions to the suitcase.

  I shake my head. “West, I might be a girl, but I’m a girl who trained at Spy School. I’m strong enough to carry my fifty-pound suitcase down the stairs.”

  He smirks. “Just humor me.”

  “Fine.”

  “And it’s probably more like seventy or eighty pounds.” He walks out the door in front of me.

  I laugh, following behind.

  He’s probably right about how much it weighs.

  “I’m ready to get home,” he says, as we walk down the stairs. “I like it here, but something about this town makes me antsy.”

  “Me too.” I push a piece of hair behind my ear. “I feel like something is…”

  Voices coming from the living room cause my voice to trail off.

  I recognize that voice.

  When West and I walk into the living room, I tense up when I see that it’s not just Alek, Kal, and Ian in the living room. Michael Sinclair is also in there. He smiles when he sees West and I walking down together.

  “Great! You two are here,” Michael says.

  We walk up to him, and I am anxious as we do.

  Whatever this is, it can’t be good.

  Or maybe it will be. Maybe he’s just here to give us our next assignment. That wouldn’t be so bad—something for us to focus on when we get back home. Training is getting a little boring anyway.

  Michael smiles at me. “Miss Villareal, you were great yesterday during the games. Congratulations on bringing the final win to your team.”

  I lower my head a bit, my face growing warm. “Thanks.”

  “But that isn’t why I’m here.” He turns to West. “To congratulate you on winning, I insist you guys take a jet home. You can fly back in style.”

  West sits my bag down. “That’s nice of you to offer, but our condo is only an hour drive away from here. And we brought our Jeep.”

  “Don’t worry about your Jeep. I will have somebody drive it by later,” he says. “And I insist you guys take the jet.”

  His words are kind enough, but his tone insinuates that there is no room to argue.

  Michael Sinclair is forcing us to take the jet.

  The question is… why?

  But none of us ask the question that I know is on all of our minds. Because when Michael Sinclair asks you to do something, you do it. You don’t argue.

  “Thank you, Sir.” West’s voice is tight and his fists are clenched. Nobody is fooled by West saying thank you, but I’m sure that Michael isn’t surprised by West’s reaction.

  “Excellent.” Michael motions toward the front door. “I have a car waiting out front to take you to the airport.”

  My stomach is in knots as we begrudgingly make our way to the door. The guys all carry our suitcases, but Michael stops us.

  “Oh, no need for the luggage,” Michael says. “I’ll send your stuff with the Jeep.”

  I freeze for a moment when he says that.

  Why am I getting flashbacks from the time he dropped us off in the forest?

  “But, Sir—” Ian protests.

  West cuts him off. “Ian, get moving.”

  I understand Ian wanting to argue. Usually, he’s the quiet one, but after last time we got onto an airplane without luggage, I can’t blame him for being wary. He’s still got on a cast for another month.

  We all walk slowly as we head to get in the black SUV that is waiting for us in front of the house. I think we’re all trying to delay the inevitable. The whole time we’re walking, I can’t help but feel like this is my fault. After all, wasn’t I the one who almost said yes to joining another team? I called Michael Sinclair while I was in the hospital—I practically tattled on my team. But then I remember that West called him first, to tell him what he did.

  Ian gets into the front of the SUV, next to the driver. I start to climb into the very back, but West tugs my wrist and Kal and Alek climb into the back and West and I get into the center.

  As soon as the doors are shut, the guy takes off before any of us can even buckle our seatbelts.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell the guys, chewing on the side of my lip. “All of this is my fault.”

  “No,” West says, his voice hard. “None of this is your fa
ult. We don’t even know what this is yet. So we can’t start casting blame. We just have to trust that Michael Sinclair knows what he’s doing.”

  “Yeah, but he knows we were fighting,” I object.

  West shakes his head. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who put strawberries in your brownies.”

  “Yeah, Roxy, it’s just as much our fault as yours.” Kal leans forward, putting his hands on the back of my seat. “All of us were being mean to you. We deserve this. I’m just sorry you’re going to be stuck with us with whatever we’re doing.”

  Ian huffs. “Well, I hope we don’t have to jump out of a stupid airplane this time.” He turns in his seat to glare at me. “And I do think it’s your fault. None of this happened before you joined the team. We were all happy.”

  “Happy? We were bored.” Kal puts his hand on my shoulder as he defends me.

  “I prefer boring.” Ian leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Ian, that’s enough,” West demands. “Like I said, we’re not casting blame. We are all going to get along. If we can’t, this is going to happen to us a lot.”

  Ian turns back around in his seat, looking at West this time. “She should’ve just said yes to the other team. If she had, we wouldn’t be going through this.”

  Tear press against the back of my eyes, so I turn to look out the side window, not wanting to hear anymore. West yells at Ian to stop it or else he’ll be running a marathon twice a week for the next month after he gets his cast taken off and the okay from his doctor. That, at least, shuts him up.

  When we get to the airport, I notice there is another SUV parked by the jet that is waiting on us. I have an ache in my stomach at the sight.

  Michael Sinclair’s earlier words come back to me.

  We all get out of the SUV, but I grab onto West’s hand to stop him as the rest of the guys board.

  “There is something I have to tell you.”

  West turns, giving me his attention. “Something you have to tell me right now?”