Gilded Cage

Chapter 38

Mr. Tilton's classroom was located on the second floor of the main academic building. Zac and I barely made it out of the west stairwell when we saw Trick glaring in our direction.

He stalked towards us like a great hulking beast as his face twisted into a look of pure disgust. "What the hell are you doing with my sister, Mazur?"

Not wanting to incite Trick's volatile temper, I tried to pull my hand away, but Zac tightened his fingers around me. I shot him a warning look. He shot one back. With an exasperated sigh, I turned to my half-brother.

"This has nothing to do with you," I said with a steely gaze. "Now get out of our way. We need to get to class."

"Nuh-uh," Trick replied. He stopped right in front of Zac and folded his arms across his chest. Aggression thrummed from every pore in his body. "You think I'm gonna let you fuck with me and then hang around my sister?"

Testosterone clouded the air as the boys eyed each other as though seconds away from tearing into one another.

"Maybe Cate wants to hang out with me."

"Doubt it."

"Cate is her own person," Zac said coolly. "You're a dumbass if you think anyone can force her to do something against her will."

I rolled my eyes. "You're right, guys. I am my own person, so please let me answer for myself."

Too caught up in their pissing contest, both Zac and Trick ignored me.

Trick snarled, "You trying to get in my sister's pants by saying shit like that?"

"What if I am?" countered Zac defiantly.

"Oh, my God," I groaned. "Both of you are being total dipshits right now. Stop it."

It felt like I hadn't even spoken.

Trick took a step closer towards Zac. Zac let go of my hand and tried to maneuver me behind him. I refused to budge and instead wedged myself between my half-brother and my new boyfriend. I felt like a zookeeper trying to keep the peace between two alpha gorillas. I raised my hand to Trick's chest and gave him a slight push.

"Go to class, Trick," I ordered. "Now!"

Trick stared down at me through squinted eyes and deep scowl. I glared back menacingly. He took a step back.

Trick growled, "This isn't over between us, Cate. I don't wanna see you anywhere near this shithead!"

"You know we've been sitting next to each other in AP History all semester, right? It's not possible to avoid Zac," I explained bluntly.

"Yeah! Better get used to having me around, motherfucker," Zac interjected heatedly, "because Cate and I—"

I slapped my palm over Zac's mouth and finished his sentence for him, "Need to get our asses to second hour before we get detention for being tardy!"

Trick's eyes darted between the two of us suspiciously. I quickly removed my hand from Zac's mouth. As fate would have it, my typically slow-witted and clueless half-brother decided to choose this very moment to wise up.

His small eyes narrowed sharply. "What the fuck is going on here? Are you two dating or something?"

"Yes," Zac answered proudly before I could stop him.

Trick's face darkened. "You fucking prick!"

A small group of spectators were beginning to gather around us. Their whispers erupted into excited chatter. I cursed inwardly.

Unable to react or intervene, I heard Trick's roar of anger as his meaty fist came flying towards Zac's face. With lightning fast reflexes, Zac pulled me into his chest, twisted his body around to shield me from the blow and then thrust me to the side right as Trick's fist made contact on his upper back. Zac grunted in pain and stumbled a few steps before he righted himself again. He immediately flipped back around with his fist. His knuckles collided forcefully into the side of my half-brother's head. The crowd hooted and hollered in the background as Trick and Zac started lunging after each other in earnest.

I wanted to scream in frustration. There was no fucking way I was going to let these two idiots reenact their fight from Aleah's party. The last thing I wanted was for one, or both, of them to end up in urgent care again. I knew I needed to break the boys up before teachers got involved. But they would only continue to ignore me if I asked them to stop nicely. I needed to play dirty.

After scanning the crowd for some water bottles, preferably a chilled one, I saw a clear plastic bottle poking out from some kid's backpack. It was one of those extra large 32-ounce containers. I yanked it out of his side pocket. He protested. I told him to pipe the fuck down and proceeded to unscrew the cap. With a flick of my wrists, I aimed the contents of the bottle directly at Trick and Zac.

Water and ice splattered all over them. Stunned and soaked, Zac and Trick instantly froze in mid-tussle.

"Fuck, that's cold!" Zac yelped.

"Son of a bitch! What's wrong with you, Cate?" Trick shouted at the top of his lungs.

I handed the bottle back to the guy. Shock was written all over his face. Then, I glanced back at boys, arching an impassive eyebrow at both of them.

"I hope you guys have an extra change of clothes. Otherwise, it's gonna be a chilly day for you poor babies."

"Fuck you, Cate! I need to go get my gym clothes right now. I'm freezing my balls off over here," Trick announced, dripping wet, as he stormed away. "You can bet your ass we're gonna talk about this when we get home!"

"Sure, whatever you want," I called after him.

"I can't believe you got me, too," Zac complained, shivering a little, once Trick was out of sight. "You have the worst fucking aim, babygirl!"

I smiled sweetly. "I'm so sorry about that, but I didn't know what else to do. You two kept ignoring me, and I was worried you'd get in trouble if one of the teachers saw you fighting. I think I have an extra towel in my locker. Would you like me to get it for you?"

"Yes," Zac replied sullenly. "And I want you to towel me off. And kiss me to make it all better."

Zac's face had a few red marks and bruises from the brief tussle with my half-brother.

"Anything for you, baby," I cooed as I gave him a gentle peck on his injured cheek.

Seconds later, we were hustling towards my locker to grab the towel. Luckily, it was also located on the second floor. As the cluster of students that had been surrounding us began to disperse, a few of their passing remarks caught my ear.

One of the guys asked, "Did you hear what Zac said? Looks like him and Cate are dating!"

"No way! Really?" his friend exclaimed, "but didn't Lily say that Cate is going to be disowned by her dad?"

One of the girls chimed in, "Yeah, I dunno what the hell he sees in her! She's such a bitch, and, soon, she's gonna be on, like, food stamps or something."

Her friend made a face. "Ugh, poor people are so fucking gross!"

Their pettiness didn't catch me off guard at all. In addition to my run-in with Frankie, I had already experienced a similar round of running commentary from my classmates in first hour. I couldn't lose my nerve now or show any signs of weakness. Despite the physical blows that just took place between Trick and Zac, I sensed in my gut that the real fight had yet to begin.

Lily would be waiting for me in second hour, and I needed to take that psycho bitch head on. I had every intention of confronting her to reclaim my own fucking narrative and respin the hell out of her accusations. My future at Ashton Wellesley depended on it. I desperately needed to convince the majority of our classmates to believe my bald-faced lies over her half-truths.

Goosebumps trickled across my skin in anticipation.