Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Kimberley 

No! I can’t believe it’s them. What the hell are they doing here?

The Icons.

Caden, Ben, and Darren.

They were the most popular boys in school, and my best friends during my first year at Hollowcrest Academy Prep after I transferred in as a sophomore. And then suddenly they… weren’t.

I’ve spent countless hours trying to figure out what the hell made the switch flip inside them, but I finally decided it doesn’t matter. Whatever it was that made them turn on me, the honest truth is that they were never really my friends.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I knew there was a possibility I’d run into them in town sometime when I agreed to come back to Evergreen Bay with Dad, but I didn’t think it would be today. My first day. And I never expected to see them here.

Peering around the hedge, I can see that the three of them are headed toward a building opposite Davis Hall, striding across the quad as if they own the place.

They’ve always been cocky like that, and although I found it funny when we were friends, now I just find it off-putting and infuriating.

As if drawn by the heat of my gaze, Caden’s focus shifts toward me a little, his head slightly cocked. I duck back behind the hedge as my heart slams in my chest like it’s trying to escape my body.

I’ve been trying to hold it off, but hatred washes over me in a wave. The time when those men and I were close, truly inseparable, seems like ages ago. Like a dream that never truly happened.

It was back during sophomore year of high school, after all, when I was so much more innocent and trusting than I am now.

Jesus, I’ve changed so much. They changed me so much.

What went down between us was something out of a reality TV show, and I never told anyone about it because it was seriously over the top.

After I’d known the Icons for almost a year, all three of them asked me out on separate occasions, wanting to take our friendship to a whole other level.

Even though I hate to admit it now, I did have a crush on each of them for different reasons, but I didn’t know how to handle interest from all three of them. To say “yes” to one would ruin my relationship with the others, and maybe even wreck their friendship in the process.

So I turned them all down.

That’s when the bullying started. And things went too far after that. Way too far. And other things happened that further destroyed our relationship.

I’m obscured behind the shrub, but I can just catch a glimpse of them through a hole in the branches. All three of them look just like I remember them, though a little taller and a little older.

Caden still has that rough-around-the-edges exterior, with silky, dark brown hair and striking blue eyes. Everything about him is angular and kind of disheveled, but perfectly disheveled. And I’m sure he’s just as much of an overt asshole as he was back in high school.

Darren was always the mischievous one, and I doubt that’s changed. His lopsided smile, light golden brown hair and green eyes got him out of trouble with female teachers more times than I can count.

The goddamn dimples in his cheeks flash as he chuckles at something Caden says, and the sight of them makes my heart squeeze even as my stomach clenches so hard it feels like I ate ten pounds of cement.

Darren was always the charmer, but he has a cruel streak under that sweet exterior. Of the three of them, this man is the one who looks the most benign, but looks can be deceiving.

As I found out the extremely hard way.

Ben, the fucking asshole, looks just as sullen as ever. His hair seems even more jet-black than it was before, as if it’s started to actually repel light, and a memory of his transfixing gray eyes gives me chills.

I found that dark, brooding quality irresistible when I was a young girl with fanciful dreams of saving a tortured bad boy, but as it turned out, I never got a chance to save him.

Instead, he tried to ruin me.

I can’t keep all the memories from flooding back as I remain crouched behind the hedge, my body not allowing me to move.

It still blows my fucking mind that one day we were best friends, and then the next, almost overnight, they came after me with no holds barred. I wasn’t exactly the head of the cheer squad, but I’d never been bullied before, so when it started to happen, I didn’t even know what hit me.

It went so far that all three of them labeled me as the “school whore” and spread it all over social media. No one would speak to me unless it was to mock me, and over the course of a year, I watched as my world literally fell apart. Darren, Ben, and Caden were popular enough at Hollowcrest Prep  that they had the power to destroy me, and they nearly did.

But I won’t let them do it again.

My entire body is buzzing with energy, and my hands have clenched into such tight fists that my nails are digging into my palms. When I got the offer from Evergreen Bay, I promised my dad I would make the most of it, that I would take this opportunity to turn my life around after the disaster of high school and set myself up for a good future.

And nobody, not even the three gorgeous nightmares from my past, will stop me from doing that.

I can’t see them through the hedges anymore, and part of me is almost sad about that. If they’ve gone inside the building, that means I lost my chance to march up to them and scream in their faces, maybe punch them as hard as I can or knee them in the balls.

But maybe it’s just as well. I need to be smarter than that. I’m on a provisional admission at Evergreen Bay, and I have a feeling getting into a fistfight on my first day wouldn’t do much for my standing at this school.

No, what I need to do is just keep my head down, focus on passing my classes, and avoid those three men at no costs.

Sucking in a deep breath through my nose, I release it in a slow exhale. Then I uncurl my fists, rubbing absently at the crescent-shaped divots in my palms as I stand up. Training my gaze on the door to Davis Hall, I march forward, placing one foot in front of the next like I’m summiting a mountain instead of walking across a manicured lawn.

“Well, well, well. Kimberley Smith.”

I’m almost halfway across the quad when a deep, silken voice from behind me makes me jump.

Motherfucker.