The Class Reject: A Martyr in Maelstrom (Book III)

39

Although Artemis was no longer suspended, she was suspended in thought. Constantly. And naturally they were dangerous ones.

She'd like to think that the anonymous video was just some warning—maybe something meant to deter her from playing Nancy Drew. But Olive was the ball of controversy now. Other than requesting that Dumb (Levi) and Dumbass (Soren) go try to cure whatever plague had poisoned the school, her hands were relatively clean.

Then again, relative was the operative word.

"Access ID card?" Artemis looked up, not realizing she had stumbled upon the St. Rosemunde grounds. Usually the gates to the Catholic school hell were open, but today they were sealed. She raised an eyebrow at the security officer. The usual donut eater from before was replaced with a man who looked like a personal trainer/body guard for a famous popstar. And although a good chunk of students here were kids of famous popstars, this felt like overkill.

"Ok." Artemis started searching for her card, trying to hide her suspicions. But she knew what this was. A few days away from school and it shuts down completely? Her eyes widened as another more alarming thought set in. Was this related to the video?

"Oh, let the poor girl in," Levi then said, emerging from behind the man. He patted the guard's shoulder, which looked harder than a rock. The boy winced jokingly before taking Artemis' hand. "Come on."

"You only get one free pass," the man said firmly, blinking at Artemis, as if he was taking a picture of her with his eyes. "Apparently some crazy shit's been going on here."

"You don't say?" Levi said lightly as he led the girl through the gates, his lips curling up into a smile that was too devious for Artemis not to pick up on. "Then you'll have to keep me posted." The giant guard grumbled something in confirmation.

"I'm sure you can't be that eager to see me," Artemis said as they walked the paved path toward the greenery that separated their schools—in other words, the longer, more isolated way back to her hostel. Levi just snickered as if he'd won the lottery.

"On the contrary," he informed her, folding his arms. "I think I may have something that'll put me in your good graces." Artemis snorted.

"Like what?"

"A video." To this news she groaned. Another video? She felt her heart sink to her stomach as her eyes met his worriedly.

"Please tell me it's about cats."

"You know you're the only person I can't li to," Levi replied, his grin fading only slightly as Artemis cursed. "Come on, it's not that bad."

"Isn't it?" she was rubbing her temple now, contemplating why she was contemplating anything. Everything sucked, and she should have realized months ago that you couldn't fix suckage. But a small part of her, the part that hadn't given up on justice and the truth still wanted to know. She shook her head. "Spill."

"Alright," the boy said, taking out his phone. He prepared to hand it to her before stopping, his eyes—perhaps the most serious they had ever been in his life—landing on hers. She would have been taken back by the intensity, but it was a little hard not to get lost in his gaze. She didn't have feelings for him, but it was obvious he felt them for her. Yet somehow Levi the Snoop had become one of the only decent males here. And when his grip firmed on her hand—she had forgotten they were holding hands—she felt her heart beat with something that wasn't just anxiety.

Affection?

But before she could get distracted, the video was playing. There was no sound, but the site was obvious.