Chapter 11: Mutual Agreement

Lilac’s P.O.V

“So…you’re saying that you didn’t see what happened that day and you suspect it was an accident?” Principal Addison gave me a narrow eyed look through her glasses as she pulled up the CCTV footage from that day on her computer screen. “Even after watching the video?”

“I...” I turned to look towards Serena, who was sitting next to her mother in a designer dress that probably coasted more than 15K total. She narrowed her eyes at me as well, just as Serena smirked. Shaking my head, I turned back to the Principal, completely ignoring, or tying to ignore the red eyed stare of Alpha Krimson who stood right next to her. “I honestly don’t know. I went to the Staff room to help the teachers out with the assignment and while I was walking to my next class…the accident…happened.”

“Your friend, Liam Hunter, he reported that it might not actually be an ‘accident’.”

I looked up at Alpha Krimson sharply, especially at the way he said ‘friend’. Why did it sound like he was accusing me of something?

But looking into his eyes wasn’t a good idea, because every time I did, I always found myself flabbergasted and confused…and at a loss for words. Like I did now…

Lowering my eyes, I shook my head to get rid of this giddy feeling inside my heart, the way it fluttered as it always did when Krimson was near.

“He…must have misunderstood the situation.” I told them quickly. “Serena and I…had a disagreement that day, about the project we were partnered to do together. He must have mistook that and thought we weren’t on good terms.”

“So you really are alright?” The Principal asked once more, her face concerned. I really appreciated the way she was trying to find ways to protect me and I was always going to remember this…

“Yes.” I nodded, my hands balled into fists.

“Well, that was a waste of time.” Krimson sighed. “You can leave while we apologize to your classmate for causing a disturbance.”

The words hurt more that I had thought it would, so I got up from the seat silently and walked out of the room.

“You see, Mrs. Addison, my daughter even warned her.”

I closed the door as Mrs. Stonewater’s voice faded the further I walked away from the room. I suddenly felt exhausted, and it was only the start of the day.

Seriously? Is this what my life has come to?

“Hey!”

Startled, I turned at the sound of that voice to find Liam running towards me from across the hallway.

I turned and began to walk away in the other direction, but he caught up to me in no time with his long strides and caught a hold of my arm.

“Why did you lie?” Liam held onto my hand tightly, his eyes narrowed onto my face. “After all the trouble I went through to tell the Principal that I witnessed the whole thing? You just go up there and deny the truth?”

“I didn’t deny it, I told them the truth.” I wiggled my hand in a futile attempt to get free. “I really think that Serena just tripped and I was merely in her way! If there was anyone else, they could’ve fallen as well.”

“You’re lying!” His grip tightened even further.

“I’m not and you’re hurting me!” I snapped at him finally. My heart raced inside my chest at the fight, but I think it might be a bit more than that…

Was it because he was the first boy to ever stand up for me? Or was it because I had turned into a weirdo who just liked mouthing people off.

I wasn’t like this with anyone else, was I? Then how was I like this with Liam?

“And how did you know what happened?” I asked suddenly, as I stopped struggling altogether. “Were you listening in on the conversation?”

Liam immediately let go of my hand and took a hasty step back. “No.”

This time, it was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. “You were, weren’t you? Why?”

Liam sighed, putting his hands into his pockets. “Look…can we just…stop fighting and come to a mutual agreement or something? My dad sees you as his daughter and I…I was…I’m sorry I was a jerk to you yesterday.”

That had my eyes going wide in surprise. Did Liam Hunter…the school’s bad boy and the future beta of the pack…just apologize to me?

“Mutual agreement? Not to try to bite each other’s heads off the moment we see each other?” I asked. “Or do you want me to do the entire project?”

“I earn my own credit scores, thank you very much.” Liam huffed before he sighed once again. “And…yes. Mutual agreement. To be…nice to one another.”

Nice to each other? Hmm…that didn’t sound so bad. Maybe we could see past the initial disagreements we had and actually start to…nah! Being friends…was too much of an attachment. Mutual agreement it is.

“Cool.” I agreed, holding up my fist. “Mutual agreement it is.”

“Cool.”

He bumped fists with me before he awkwardly scratched his nape and pointed towards the hallway. “I…er…have class.”

“Me too.” Great…now we had nothing to say…and somehow, that made me smile.

“See you…later.”

With that, Liam sped past me and down the hallway and I too, made my way back to my class, surprisingly, with a smile on my face.

What I wasn’t aware of however, was the pair of red eyes that had watched the entire ordeal.

*

*

Serena and I stood opposite to each other at the alleyway behind the school in the afternoon.

None of her goons were with her and that’s how I knew that she had kept this matter as low-key as possible. And that proved that she wasn’t as stupid as she let others think she was.

 “My, my…” She tsked, shaking her head. “Look how the high and mighty has fallen.” She smirked, stepping closer to me. “I wasted so much time and energy on trying to get you to do my bidding... if only I’d know before…I’d have you lick dirt off my boots with your tongue.”

She trailed two fingers down my cheeks before she lifted up my chin with her sharp nails. “Things would’ve been so much easier if I’d known about your greedy little mind. Come on. Do it. Lick my feet. I’ll throw in a thousand more.”

Slapping her hand away, I held out my palm for the money, half expecting to be cheated…but she just smiled and took out a ward of cash from her backpack and handed it to me. But before I could take the money, she dropped it from her hand and it landed it right at her feet.

Swallowing hard, I fisted my hands and bent over, snatching the cash from the ground before she did something even more humiliating. I took the bundle and placed it inside my backpack.

With that, Serena flipped her blonde hair away from her shoulders and walked past me, but not before shoving my shoulders.

I watched her leave impassively…before I let out the breath that I had been holding as I hunkered down on the ground. When I finally uncurled my hands, I saw tiny crescent shaped scars on my palms that were already bleeding.

No…this wasn’t wrong…this wasn’t filthy.

What had been happening to me for the past four years…that had been filthy.

Very few people in this pack had a moral compass, so if they were to question me about my ways of making money…fuck them. I wasn’t a prostitute selling my body off to people. I wasn’t a home-wrecker or a thief. I had been working for free all this time, just to earn the right to breathe in this pack, because even the air here wasn’t free. It took its price from my soul and my sanity.

And now I was finally doing something so I could get the fuck out of here.

I was done being the naïve child they thought I was. I was done with this pack…with Krimson.

“Lily?”

Dani’s small voice caught my attention and I found her standing over me, looking at the cuts in my hand with trembling lips.

“Are you going to start crying again?” I asked her with a smirk. “Should I get you a jug? You’ll fill it up in no time.”

“Stop it!” She huffed, wiping at her eyes as she hunched down to a sitting position next to me. “Don’t make fun of me for being sentimental!”

“You cry after watching cartoons!” I chided her light-heartedly. “What am I supposed to say?”

“It’s not ‘cartoons’, it’s anime!” Dani corrected as she took out two band-aids from her bag and applied them to my palms. “And I’m crying because you don’t cry anymore…”

She was right. I don’t know what had happened…but one day, after that incident at the infirmary with Krimson four years ago…I had just stopped crying. No matter how much punishment I took…no matter how hurt I felt…I just couldn’t cry anymore.

“I’m gonna miss you when I leave.” I told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“I’ll miss you too.” Dani said quietly, as we just sat there, watching the cars go by on the road and afternoon turn to evening.