Chapter 092
HANNAH
I rolled my eyes at the ceiling.
What had I walked into? Some kind of stupid girl debriefing meeting where Julia told her followers new ways to be mean to people just for no reason?
I was just about to yell something insulting and then walk out, but Julia's next words kept me rooted to the spot.
"Right," she said. "Now listen carefully, girls. If anyone asks you where Asher is, tell them he had urgent pack business to attend to with his dad, okay?"
There were murmurs from the girls.
I clapped over my mouth to stop a gasp. This was confirmation. Something had happened to Asher.
"Julia, is everything okay? Did anything happen?" This was from Heather, one of Julia's closest bubblegum chewing friends. "Asher usually never misses school and-"
"Just shut the hell up!" Julia snapped. There was a loud thump. "Are you trying to tell me that you know my boyfriend more than me now? Are you his mother?”
"No. No," Heather said quickly. "I just thought-"
Julia cut in. "If you were such a great thinker, how come you got Ds in almost all your tests this semester?"
Heather fell silent. The others giggled.
"Don't think.," Julia continued. "Just do exactly what I say." She paused. "In fact, I want you to spread the word about something. Tell everyone that Asher's father is giving him more responsibility, that he's doing really well, and that he's definitely going to be a good Alpha. Gossip about it, but in a way it won't seem to come just from you guys. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Got it."
"We'll do it."
"Good," Julia said. "Now run along all of you. I need to fix my makeup. I think it looks a little smudged."
"You look perfect all the time," Heather said.
Ugh!
Already she was trying to suck up to her bully. There was a collective shuffling of feet as the girls left the bathroom. When the echoes of their footsteps had died out, I pushed open the door of the stall.
Julia was staring dejectedly at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes widened in surprise when she spotted me. She spun around, her jaw ticking.
"You!" she said, glaring.
I smiled and was happy to see that my smile irritated her.
"Yes... me?" I asked.
"What were you doing in there? Do you always lurk around like a piece of shit?"
"Scared that I might have heard your conversation?" I waited for her reaction. Her face went a little white, but she said nothing. "Something happened to him, didn't it? Your precious Asher is not helping his father on pack business like you want to have your friends think. He’s probably in serious trouble, and you want the entire school to believe that he’s away, being a good Alpha’s son. Take it from me: if you want to convince them next time to believe a lie, make the lie sound a little... natural. You were defensive and trying too hard there."
"I don't know what the hell you're blabbing about, Hannah. I think you've got one of your delusions coming on again."
I laughed. "The only one delusional here is you if you think you can deceive me. I'm not one of your stupid, gullible friends, Julia. I know what happened. I know Asher tried to break the bond tie. You were there when he did it." She twitched a little at my words. I knew she was wondering how I found that detail. It was good for her to think Alpha Wallace had a spy right in Asher's house. It would make her uncomfortable and scared. "I know Asher's plan backfired, and he's hurt, maybe even dying now. No. Definitely dying. I know-"
"You know nothing!" she yelled. Finally, some emotion. My grin grew wider. "You're crazy. You're talking nonsense, and-"
"And your boyfriend must have done it because he thought I was the weaker wolf, right? Maybe you even convinced him of that." By the sudden stiffening of her shoulders, I knew I had hit the mark. "Too bad he wasn't as strong as you thought he was. Oh, and how long do you think you can keep up with the lies? In a week, maybe less, people are going to start talking when they don't see Asher? Or are you and his father working on a clone or body double for him after he dies?"
Julia, her arms swinging by her side, took a step forward. I did too.
I almost wished she would hit me and give me an excuse to put her in the hospital like I had done before.
She stared me in the eye.
Her voice shook a little as she said, "You must be so happy that you're alive and that you survived that."
"Well? Shouldn't I be?"
Julia started to say something but thought better of it and stopped. Her throat worked convulsively as she swallowed.
"You won't be lucky all the time," she finally said. "Watch your back."
Julia stormed out of the bathroom. As I watched her leave, a smile curled my lips. I had just gotten an idea.
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