Forbidden Games (Forbidden Ties Series Book 2) Read online

  “Did you vote?” Jill asked her.

  “Of course!” Penny exclaimed.

  “Who did you vote for then?” Jill smirked.

  “Please don’t say Angie,” I added.

  “Hell no!” Penny said while squinting her face. “I nominated myself.”

  “You filled out a ballet for yourself?” Jill laughed. “Is that even possible?”

  “Do you think that the President of the United States votes for someone else?” Penny replied.

  “This is homecoming!” Jill reminded her. “The annual event were bratty kids fight over who is prettier.”

  “I think that it would look good on my college application,” Penny said turning her head. I could feel that Jill’s tirade against homecoming was having a negative effect on her, so I chimed in the conversation.

  “That’s great,” I said smiling at Penny. “I hope you get the nomination. If you had asked me to, I would have voted for you in a heartbeat.”

  “Thanks,” Penny smiled at me. Suddenly, a chime played over the intercom. “Oh! That’s the pep rally call! Time to go, ladies!”

  Pep Rally

  The halls were flooded with students on their way to the rally. I had to hold tightly onto Penny’s book bag as she led up through the crowd. Once at the entrance of the gym, we saw the stands quickly filling with bodies.

  “Hurry!” Penny screamed as she ran toward the steps up to an empty row of seats. “Let’s get these ones!”

  We followed her as we pushed through swarms of people buzzing in the massive room. When we finally found reached seats, others tried to push us off of them, but Penny held her ground.

  “That was pretty awesome,” I laughed as I watched Penny’s hair fly about the place, warding off potential seat predators.

  “Peppy rallies are vicious!” she yelled. “Don’t trust anyone.”

  “Good to know,” I smiled.

  “She’s insane,” whispered Jill.

  “I heard that!” Penny yelled before something caught her eye. “Look, Jill!”

  “What?” Jill asked annoyed.

  “It’s your boyfriend!” Penny pointed to the floor where a group of teachers and students were setting up some of the production lighting.

  “Where?” Jill asked as she sat upward in excitement. It was strange for me to see her become so perky in an instant.

  “See him?” Penny asked as she leaned into me. Her finger pointed at a tall, thin guy parted hair. His school uniform seemed to hang off of his arms as though it were several sizes too large. “That’s Allen Dunbar, also known as Jill’s weakness.”

  “I’m in cute nerd heaven,” Jill said seemingly in a trance just as the room went dark. The crowd began to cheer, and I clapped along with them. Penny seemed to be the most excited as she wildly mashed her hands together and made loud noises toward the stage.

  “Mayville Academy!” shouted a voice over the loud speaker. Everyone cheered even louder. “Give it up for your ringleader, Principal Bale!”

  The crowd was not as enthusiastic to hear from the principal who made his way to the podium. He was a large man with dark colored hair and skin. His shirt and tie seemed to protrude outward as he walked.

  “Before we get started,” Principal Bale began. “I’d like to address the events that took place during the halftime of last Friday’s football game.”

  Sounds of laughter echoed all around the gym. Teachers standing on the sides signaled the students to quite.

  “Go, Cade!” yelled a guy from the center of the crowd. This caused even more of an uproar.

  “Let’s all be mature about this,” Bale said. “I want you all to understand that this prank is also a sex crime. Because of the delicate nature of the event, Mayville Academy is going to catch who is responsible. This person will be indefinitely expelled. Anyone with any information is requested to contact school administration. If you know who is in charge of the prank, the reward will be no homework for a week, which will be quietly upheld so that your identity is not given away. Thank you.”

  The students cheered again as Principal Bale left the podium. My eyes searched the crowd for Angie to see if she was sweating bullets. Suddenly, I saw her walking past the principal. Her make up was caked on even more than usual and an orange tan spread across her repulsive body.

  “Hello, everyone!” Angie called out as she spoke into the microphone. I wanted to slap her again, only this time it would be so hard that she couldn’t fake another smile. Somehow she was getting away with it all and felt no remorse. “We are all here for the main event which will be homecoming nominations! As your senior class president–“

  “She’s class president?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Like I said,” Jill explained. “She’s grotesquely popular. I wouldn’t be surprised if she calls her own name out for the homecoming queen nomination.”

  “–to make this year simpler,” Angie continued. “The student council decided to only take the top two king and queen nominations.”

  I looked over at Penny whose fingers were crossed in her lap. It seemed as though she had her hopes up to win. Though I wished it for her, I knew that none of us would be popular enough to find a nomination outside of our own.

  “And the nominations for homecoming king are….” Angie held out the last word as she opened a royal blue envelope. “Cade Vandercamp!”

  The crowd went crazy with cheers of Cade’s name. I looked around for him as I saw him make his way through the crowd toward the floor. It was great to see that Cade could overcome a terrible situation. Once near the podium, he raised his bandaged hand into the air while keeping a comfortable distance from Angie.

  “And the second nomination goes to Allen Dunbar!” Angie shouted as she gave Cade a twisted glance. The crowd started laughing hysterically at the announcement.

  “What?” gasped Jill. From the back of the room, Allen looked around in surprise. His friend with jet-black hair slapped Allen on the back as he pushed him toward the front of the room. Slowly, Allen walked next to Cade who shook his hand. The two were about the same height with Cade looking confident and Allen looking distressed.

  “Now for homecoming queen nominations,” Angie recited with a glossy grin. “The nominees are Angie Oberstone and Mairead Worthington!”

  “What the fuck?” I gasped after hearing my name echo through the crowd.

  “Who is that?” asked a girl sitting nearby to her friend. That was how I wanted to spend my final year in high school, oblivious to the rich kids that surrounded me. However, as I stepped in a spell toward the podium, I knew that the students of Mayville Academy wouldn’t allow me to carry on so easily.

  Never Alone

  The weather was transforming the landscape of Mayville. With each crisp breeze, trees shuddered their drying leaves. I watched the foliage gracefully flutter to the ground, joining heaps of their brethren that had drifted there before. Change wasn’t just in the air; it was on the ground, and in my mind.

  Whoever nominated me for homecoming queen was pulling a hoax. It wasn’t possible for me to have enough votes because of how unknown I was at the academy; those girls in the gym asking who I was only sealed this statement. I knew that this was part of some sadistic plan that Angie was cooking up for me. After all, she did promise retribution for me slapping her at the fair.

  As I walked home, I pulled on my jacket to shield me from the onslaught of cold weather. I expected California to be warm and sunny like it was on the television. Mayville was too far north where the mountaintops saw snow, and the scenery experienced true seasons.

  After reaching the house, I pulled my keys from my book bag and unlocked the door. Usually, Alice greeted me while she spent the afternoon tidying up the home. Instead, I was met with silence.

  “Hello?” I called. My voice ricocheted off of the ceilings and onto the floors where it met back around my ears. It appeared that I was alone.

  Making my way into the kitchen, I saw a note on the refrige
rator in Alice’s handwriting:

  We’re at a PTA meeting – be back around 5PM XO

  It made sense to me that the PTA would hold meetings after the incident. Though I was nervous over the content of their discussion, I also felt relieved to have the house to myself.

  After grabbing an apple, I started for my room to put away my book bag. Once inside, I hung the bag over a hook on the wall and decided to change from my uniform.

  My drawers were filled with clothes. Many of them I had felt too self-conscious about wearing because they weren’t name brands. I probably shouldn’t have worried about this, but this town appeared to be judgmental– and being the new girl was difficult enough.

  I nearly shut the drawer when I saw my bikini sitting on top of the pile. It was black and almost unnoticeable, but as the softness of the fabric braised my hand, I stopped on it.

  “Why not?” I thought as I began to remove my clothes. A dip in the spa tub in the indoor pool seemed like a great way to get my mind off of things. I slipped on the bikini, grabbed a towel from a linen closet, and made my way to the indoor pool space.

  A flood of humid and warm air enveloped me. The indoor pool was small with a black bottom that stylishly matched the floor. Uncle Tim had shown me how to operate the heat on the tubs, so I twisted the levers that sent warm jets around it.

  I sank into the warm water, letting the heat clear out my thoughts. Soon, the embarrassment of receiving a nomination in front of a laughing school sunk away from me. Then thoughts of Angie’s fake smile started to fizzle and fade. Soon I was left with only blissful thoughts that mostly surrounded Cade. I wanted him there with me to cuddle and soak in the tub.

  “Hey there,” I heard a familiar voice from above me. My eyes opened to see that my wish had come true. Cade was standing in his board shorts, showing his tanned, shirtless body. It was the perfect moment for him to arrive.

  “You’re here!” I exclaimed. “I was just thinking about you.”

  “Good thoughts or dirty thoughts?” he winked.

  “All of the above,” I teased.

  “I saw you come downstairs in your bikini and couldn’t help but to follow,” he explained. “Mind if I join?”

  “Get in here,” I purred. Then Cade slowly sunk into the water. He swam next to me and kissed me on the lips. “Can we do this here?”

  “I’m assuming you didn’t read the note.”

  “I did, but what if they–“

  “Relax, Mairead,” he smiled. “They won’t be back for another couple of hours.”

  “We still need to be careful,” I warned. “Through the bubbles, I didn’t hear you come in the room.”

  “Yes, but I’m sneaky!”

  “Not as sneaky as Angie.”

  “Oh, no,” Cade grumbled. “So you’re thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “That she abused her power as class president and maliciously voted me into being nominated for homecoming queen?”

  “Yep. After all, she is that ridiculous. I think she did it to that Allen kid, too.”

  “I don’t get it,” I said, puzzled as I gazed into the bubbling water. “What’s her game?”

  “Don’t worry about Angie,” Cade sighed. “She’s just trying to beat you out of homecoming queen so that you’ll be embarrassed by it. Though you don’t even care.”

  “I don’t care in the least bit.”

  “Good. She knew that Allen wouldn’t receive more votes than me and it’s always been her dream for the two of us to be kind and queen together.”

  “Do you want to be king?”

  “Honestly,” Cade said a he looked me in the eyes. “I’d rather just spend that night with you.”

  Cade brought brevity to my life that always made me feel at home. I smiled, knowing that our forbidden romance rested under the water. Still, I wondered if it would ever come boiling to the surface.

  How to Win

  “Guess what?” Jill shrieked as walked next to me in the hall at school the next day. Class was over for the afternoon, and I had never seen her so excited. If I had closed my eyes, I would have assumed that she was Penny.

  “What?” I grinned.

  “I’ve decided to help you win homecoming queen!” Jill screamed.

  “Thanks,” I said softly. “But, honestly, I don’t want to compete.”

  “No,” she said, stopping me the path. Some students passed us and pointed at me, as if to say, that’s the random girl who got nominated. “Mairead, you have to try! It will be the biggest slap in Angie’s face when you win!”

  “I’ve already slapped her in the face,” I reminded her.

  “Yes, but this time it’ll be in front of the entire academy. Oh, and it’ll be less violent so you won’t get in trouble.” Penny seemed hopeful, but still, terrible doubt simmered inside of my head.

  “How are we supposed to pull this off?” I asked.

  “Every year, voters consist only the people who care about this crap, so they pick people like Angie and– no offense, your cousin, Cade.”

  “None taken. I’m just happy that you’re admitting that this is all crap.”

  “It’s complete garbage. I just believe that if we get all of the people who wouldn’t normally vote to select you and Allen, then we can make this happen.”

  “Oh, I see what this is,” I said as I playfully jabbed Jill in the side. “This is just about Allen.”

  “And you.”

  “Right, and me, who doesn’t want to win at all.”

  “Look,” Jill said as she grabbed the sides of my shoulders. “I need your help. Clearly, people know you enough to vote for you.”

  “They don’t even know that I existed.”

  “Then maybe it’s because of Cade. Whatever the reason, you need to stick it to Angie.”

  “Stick what to Angie?” Penny asked as she walked up to us in the hallway. She seemed less energetic than usual.

  “I didn’t tell you!” Jill exclaimed. “I’m helping Mairead win!”

  “Great.” Penny showed no enthusiasm as she opened her locker. After grabbing some books, she stormed off down the hall.

  “What’s up with her?” I asked. “It’s like you two switched personalities.”

  “Don’t worry about Penny, she’s just a little jealous.”

  Suddenly, I remembered how badly Penny wanted to be homecoming queen. I felt like I had done something wrong. Before I could wallow in my newfound pain, I looked over to see one of Angie’s friends smiling as she walked down the hallway. I recognized her as the tallest of the group. Her body was so thin that it made her head appear gigantic and bobbing. The massive amount of hair coming from her scalp added to the look.

  “Oh no!” Jill said in a wave of panic. “I just thought of something terrible.”

  “What?” I asked her while still fixated on Angie’s friend who was now sifting through her open locker.

  “Wouldn’t it be awful if you won and not Allen?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “As in, you’d be homecoming queen alongside your own cousin.”

  Suddenly, my palms became clammy. Panic raced across my entire being at her words. Jill inadvertently uncovered Angie’s s malicious plan. She wasn’t trying to humiliate me by beating me. No, Angie wanted me to win so that Cade and I could be seen together as a couple by the entire school. She knew who the other girl was in the video.

  “Jill, I have to go,” I said as I started for Angie’s friend who was now turning the corner.

  “Okay…” she sounded confused. “See you later.”

  I raced through the hall until I found Angie’s friend. My hand reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with a look of disgust when she saw me.

  “I need to know where Angie is,” I said sternly.

  “Why?” the girl scoffed as she smacked chewing gum between her teeth. “You wanna slap her again?”

  I knew that this girl wasn’t going to give her friend up so easily. The only th
ing left for me to do was level with her.

  “You can’t honestly like Angie,” I said plainly.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “She’s class president and soon to be homecoming queen. What’s next? Prom? Valedictorian?”

  “What’s a valedict-whatever?”

  “Just focus on prom,” I said, avoiding the question.

  “She said that I could be prom queen.”

  “And you believe her?” The girl blinked at me a few times before opening her mouth.

  “Angie’s been acting super sketchy lately,” the girl explained. “She keeps leaving sixth period early. But I saw her a few minutes ago walking with some creepy looking dude.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “In there,” the girl pointed toward a hallway with a dead end.

  “Thank you so much!”

  “I’ve gotta go,” she explained. “I’ll deny it if she heard we talked, so don’t bother spilling the beans.”

  “I won’t,” I said rolling my eyes. I needed to find Angie and to stop her from this terrible plan she had been cooking up for me.

  As I neared the hallway, I opened the door to each of the rooms. The first was an empty science classroom. Then next was the Audio Visual room. I stepped inside to see monitors still buzzing.

  “Hello?” I called out, but there was no reply. There were several doors to small editing rooms in the back. All of them were open and empty, except for the room on the end, which had the door closed shut. I stepped up to it and slowly twisted the handle. It was stuck, almost as though it were bolted. However, with a little more force, the handle popped, and I entered.

  The room was dark, but I could still make out everything that was happening in front of me. The familiar face of Allen’s black haired friend from the pep rally looked at me in shock. He was wearing a dark shirt and no pants as he sat on top of a computer table. Below him was Angie, on her knees, and slurping on his cock with her mouth.

  The Negotiation

  “Fuck!” yelled the black haired guy as he jumped off of the table. His quick movements sent Angie falling backward. Grabbing his pants he covered his erect cock with them so that I couldn’t see.