Empire High Betrayal(41)

I lifted my hand to my forehead, and when I pulled my fingers down they were bright red. The exact same red as the note. What the hell? “Am I bleeding?”

Matt grabbed my hand. “No. It’s…lipstick? Maybe?” He stopped me when I went to reach for my forehead again.

“Why is there a bullseye on my forehead?” I looked over at Isabella who was laughing with her minions.

“You didn’t do it?” Kennedy asked.

“Why would I put a target symbol on my forehead in red lipstick? I fell asleep in gym and there was this crazy note…”

“I can get it off,” Kennedy said. She poured some of her water bottle onto a napkin, leaned forward and started blotting my forehead.

“Did you say something about a note?” Matt asked.

At the exact same time, I looked over at Isabella. That creepy smile spread over her face as she stared back at me. She slowly shook her head and then lifted her finger to her lips. I was far away from her, but I could practically hear the chilling “shh.” And I was pretty sure there was an “or else” attached to it based on the wicked glint in her eye and the way she ran her fingers across her throat again.

I swallowed hard. What was she planning on doing if I told someone about the note? I thought about what Miller had said. To text him if Isabella talked to me at all. But she hadn’t technically said a word to me. And she’d made it seem like she would definitely kill me if I told anyone.

“Baby,” Matt said. “If Isabella’s bothering you…”

“No. Nothing like that.” I tried to focus on my own table and not on Isabella’s. I didn’t want her to slit my throat for tattling on her. “It’s just lame that she claimed your table,” I said. My cover up was as lame as the fact that Isabella stole their table, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“I know, it sucks,” Kennedy said. “I can’t believe Isabella won the Untouchables’ table. Shouldn’t you guys walk over there and kick her to the curb?”

“We’d rather be sitting here with you two,” Matt said and smiled down at me. “It’s just a stupid table.” He pushed some of my hair away from where Kennedy was scrubbing my face. “Was it Isabella who drew that on your forehead?” he asked.

I shook my head. It wasn’t a lie. I didn’t actually think she’d done it. For some reason, I’d blamed Cupcake, but that didn’t make any sense either. He was the one with a bullseye on his junk, and if I ever got an opportunity I was going to kick him right there for what he’d done to Kennedy.

“Well, it’s gone now,” Kennedy said and handed me the napkin to wipe off the lipstick from my fingers. “So whoever did it can stop laughing,” she said a little louder so that the students around us would get the hint and stop laughing too.

“Thanks,” I said as I scrubbed my fingers. “Can we just talk about something else?” I looked back over at Isabella’s table. The Caldwells should have been there. And if not them, the Hunters should have claimed it as their own. But Isabella? She wasn’t untouchable. She was just an asshole.

Isabella’s evil grin spread over her face again when she saw me staring.

I turned away. God, what the hell was she looking at me like that for? She was about to do something awful, right? That was the only explanation.

“How has the rest of your day been, minus the whole bullseye thing?” Matt asked.

Horrible. Isabella keeps watching me. It feels like my heart is going to beat out of my chest. I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “It’s been okay.” I started bouncing my leg up and down. Maybe I should just leave. Isabella was always the freaking worst at lunch.

Matt put his hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing. “You heard what your bodyguards said. If she’s bothering you, all you have to do is text them.”

“She hasn’t actually spoken a word to me. She just keeps…smiling.” That wasn’t exactly an incriminating offense. And technically it probably wasn’t her who left the note. Or the one that had written on my forehead. But who the hell else could it be? I hated Cupcake, but he didn’t hate me.

“Well, she also did that thing,” Kennedy said and pulled her fingers across her throat. She lolled her head to the side and stuck her tongue out.

“She did what?” Matt asked, looking more upset by the second.

I took a deep breath. “It’s fine. She hasn’t even come near me. I’m not scared of her.” I tried to sit up a little straighter. But I wasn’t feeling brave at all. Because I was freaking terrified. Shh. Or else.

“Oh my God,” Kennedy said. She was staring over at Isabella’s table.

I turned to follow her gaze, just in time to see Isabella plant a kiss on Cupcake’s lips. What the fuck? Cupcake plopped down in the seat next to Isabella. He was smiling too, but it didn’t look evil. Just cocky and idiotic…the same way he always looked.

“Is she serious?” Kennedy said. “It’s not enough that she steals the Untouchables’ table, she has to make me look like an idiot too?”

“Ignore her,” I said. But that was easier said than done. Because Isabella was getting exactly what she wanted. Tons of attention. She’d taken the most prestigious table. She’d stolen Kennedy’s boyfriend. She was on an insane power trip. And now she had a new minion to do her bidding. A minion who wasn’t scared of drugging people. Fucking Cupcake.