The Hit List (2 page)

Adam moves closer to Brielle, placing himself between her and Luke. His face has lost all traces of boredom. “We’re just going to leave. We were on our way to lunch.”

Luke’s gaze shifts to me. “I’m Luke, by the way. Your roommate will never introduce us so I might as well.”

He holds out his hand to me and I take it. His fingers close around my hand, while ocean blue eyes pierce into mine. The corner of his mouth tips up when my finger twitches under his.

His eyes are gorgeous, and the way his hand fits around mine is perfect.

Oh, my God, no. Just no. I can’t do this again
.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sadie.” I take a step back to release his hold on me.

He grins at my movement. It doesn’t seem to faze him. “I’ve heard about you. You’re the second best dancer in this school, but you’ll have to work to stay there.”

The statement catches me off guard and I stare back at him for a few seconds before answering. I may be new, but I’m not taking that.

“What if I don’t want to be second best?” That’s not what I came here for. I know he’s just trying to shake me, but I can’t stop my competitive side from emerging.

He leans forward and I have to take a step back to maintain my personal space. His grin widens. “You’ll never be the best so it’s useless to try.”

“Why not?” It sounds like a challenge. One I would be happy to win.

He’s taller than me and I have to look up to see his eyes under the hair that’s flopped onto his forehead again. His smile has fallen somewhat. “Because then you’d be better than me.”

“And we all know no one can ever be better than you,” Brielle says, rolling her eyes. Adam laughs from behind me. He tries to cover it up with a cough, but he’s not very successful. “I’m hungry. Let’s go.” Brielle walks down the sidewalk away from us.

Adam follows quickly behind her. I’d rather follow them than stay here with Luke. I take a step in their direction, but Luke grabs my wrist and pulls me back. My arm rests against his chest. It’s not terrible.

“Los Angeles is totally different from New York. Let me know if you need someone
nice
to show you around.” The warmth of his breath on my ear rivals the sun beating down on us.

He doesn’t wait for my answer. Instead he walks the opposite way down the sidewalk. The muscles in his back move in all the right ways as I watch him walk away.

Yet another person who has read that article. It’s fine. I can deal with this. It’s not like I needed to start over anyway. Fresh starts are for dreamers.

2

The hallways are emptier after lunch now that most of the students have found their rooms. We pass a window on our way to the dorm room. Students fill the lawn, most just chatting. My eye lands on Luke and his friend, who are still playing Frisbee.

Luke runs to catch it, but abandons his efforts when a girl with dark hair walks past him in the opposite direction. He walks backward to continue talking to her. His friend throws up his arms in frustration of the abandoned game.

Adam walks back to me and leans closer to the window. “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” I take a few steps, but they’ve stopped in front of the window.

Brielle scrunches up her nose. “Luke is such a pig.”

“You really shouldn’t let him get you going like that.” Adam pushes off the wall next to the window and continues down the hallway. I fall into step beside him.

Brielle follows us. “I can’t help it. He’s an asshole.”

“Maybe he’s changed,” Adam says.

I shrug. “He really doesn’t seem that bad.”

She’s blowing this way out of proportion. It almost makes it seem like she wanted him to be worse than he actually was.

Her mouth twists into a grimace. “He hasn’t changed and he
is
really that bad.”

Adam raises his eyebrows and holds his hands up in the air. “Forget I mentioned it.”

Brielle pulls a key out of her pocket and unlocks the door to our dorm. She lets the door drop on Adam after she walks through. He barely catches it before it hits him in the face. He glares at her back.

“His mom probably told him to tone it down.” Brielle flops onto her bed. The click of her phone screen unlocking echoes in the room.

Why would his mom even care? This is college, not kindergarten. “Why?”

Brielle stares at me. She drops her phone on the bed to give me her full attention. “You don’t know who his parents are, do you?”

I shrug and shake my head. “Should I?”

Adam drops the magazine he’d picked up from Brielle’s nightstand. “Probably, since they’re the heads of the department.”

My mouth drops open. No freaking way. No wonder he thinks he’s the best dancer here.

Brielle nods and picks up her phone again. “Right? Which pretty much gives him free rein to do whatever the hell he wants. He might only be a sophomore, but he acts like a senior. And he’s been taking classes here for years, even if last year was his official first year.”

“Even if he wasn’t, it’s not surprising he would find his way to you on the first day. Luke has hot blonde-dar like I have gaydar. You probably had his meter spiking the second he stepped foot on campus.” Adam thumbs through the magazine from its spot on Brielle’s bed. He flips too fast to actually read anything.

“Gross.” Brielle throws a pillow at Adam. He catches it and throws it back at her head.

“Well, at least you won’t be fawning over Luke this year so that’ll be one less distraction. The rest should be easy for you.” Adam traces lazy circles on her comforter with his finger.

“I don’t even want to think about it anymore. I’m over it.” Brielle grabs a pillow from her bed and wraps both arms around it.

Adam frowns and plays with her brown hair fanned across his legs. He twirls a bit around his finger and holds it tight for a few seconds before releasing it. The spiral curl loosens, but stays intact. “You just keep telling yourself that.”

She glares at Adam and turns to look at me. “If you take one piece of advice at this school, it’s not to get involved with Luke. He’s nothing but trouble.”

Adam waves her comment off. “She’s exaggerating.”

“No, I’m not.”

From the little experience I had with Luke, he didn’t seem as bad as Brielle makes him out to be. He actually seemed a little helpful by offering to show me around. He can’t be that bad.

“How’d you spend your break?” Adam runs his finger against the back of Brielle’s neck. She scrunches her shoulders up to protect herself, but he continues.

“What break? I can’t take time off. Not after my chat with Miss Catherine at the end of last semester. Not if I want to dance in Fall Showcase in three months.” Brielle moves to the other side of the bed, out of reach of Adam.

Fall Showcase was one of the selling points for The Conservatory. A chance to get in front of some of the biggest talent agencies in the country and possibly walk away with a job and a contract with one of them. I’ll take it. If it means putting myself before everyone else I meet here, so be it. I’m done living my life for those around me. It’s time I put myself first.

If I do well at Fall Showcase, I can secure my future again. I can prove that I’m not some washed up has-been who will never be as good as she once was. I didn’t leave the classical ballet world because I wanted things to be easier, and I won’t give up without a fight.

Adam crosses his arms. “It’s not that bad.”

“Miss Catherine made sure to tell me if my technique didn’t improve, I’d be looking for a new school at the end of the year. She said I wasn’t taking this seriously.” Brielle slides off the bed and starts digging through a drawer, throwing clothes around randomly.

She sounds like she’s serious about school now even though she might not have been last year. If I had met Brielle a year ago, our similarities would have been enough for me to be friends with her.

But it’s not a year ago and I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to dance.

“I’m sure that had nothing to do with you showing up to class hungover all the time last year,” Adam says.

I glance up at Brielle. She must have had a reason to act that way unless she likes throwing money down the drain along with her dancing career.

The glare she throws him brings new meaning to the phrase “if looks could kill.”

“You got in here, so obviously you have the talent,” I say. I meant it as encouragement, but she doesn’t take it that way.

She looks at me like I’m dumb and I struggle to keep my face neutral. “They don’t just look at technique in auditions. If they see potential in you, you’re in. If you don’t live up to that potential, nothing can save you, especially not Miss Catherine.”

Okay, then.

Adam sighs. “Stop it. Seriously, you’re fine. Just focus on why you’re here. They can’t kick you out if you don’t give them a reason.”

“I can’t leave. If I leave, they’ll be right and I swear to God, I will not let them be right about this.” She slides off the bed and paces in the tiny walking space down the middle of the room.

A look of understanding passes between them. I chew on my lip. I want to ask her who
they
are and what she doesn’t want them to be right about, but there’s a reason she didn’t elaborate.

Adam shrugs, playing off her statement, but his face remains serious. “Don’t let them be right.”

Brielle’s face softens and she gives him a small smile. She grabs a nail file off her nightstand. “Here’s my advice to you. Don’t piss off the teachers. They’re your best bet at making it into Fall Showcase. Don’t be like me and have every single one of them on your bad side within the first month. Freshman year really counts. Don’t blow it like I did.”

I can’t even imagine having teachers on my bad side. From the time I started dance, I’ve always been taught to be respectful. This means too much to blow it off. I’ve worked too hard and lost too much.

My phone whistles in my pocket. It’s a nice distraction from the nerves that have started to twist in my stomach in anticipation for tomorrow. And maybe Mom texted me back after I called yesterday. But it’s not her. It’s never her. It’s just a stupid email.

Whatever. Adam and Brielle discuss their plans for the night, and I glance at the screen.

The email is the newest post from the unofficial blog of The Conservatory run anonymously by some of the students. I subscribed to it a couple months ago in anticipation of coming out here. Aside from the boring gossip about who’s dating who and who told off which casting director after a terrible audition, some of the posts have some useful information. Like new warm-up routines or which performances are playing at some of the lesser-known theaters in the area.

But the most recent post isn’t like any of the other posts I’ve seen on the website. It’s the rules for a game.

THE HIT LIST

September 3

Welcome to The Hit List: a game of sexual conquest.

We’re back and bigger than ever in our third year. This isn’t like the games you may have been a part of in the last two years. It’s not just a couple of guys making a list of the hottest girls on campus. It’s people voting on which girl is worth the most points every week. And weekly rankings of our guys to see who is scoring the most with our ladies.

Everything will be played out online. The Hit List is about to blow up the Internet and readers of this blog have a front row seat to all the action.

For those of you who pretend to have no idea what I’m talking about and for those of you who actually don’t, let me explain. Over the next several months, a group of guys will be testing just how far each of them can go with the girls of their school. Points will be awarded based on the type of sex act. The hotter the act, the more points they’ll get. The hotter the girl, the greater the chance they’ll be worth bonus points. One guy will come out on top by scoring the most points. He’ll win the money from the pool and bragging rights.

If you want to join the game, email me using the address in the sidebar. Sorry ladies, guys only. You’ll have plenty of chances for fun if you make it onto our list. Here are the rules:

RULES

1. Initial buy-in to the pool is $50 and will take place on September 7. Subsequent buy-ins will take place every Friday and can be in any amount of your choosing.

2. Points accumulate from September 7-November 30. No points for past or future activities.

3. The guy with the most points accumulated by November 30 wins the pool and bragging rights.

4. All activity
must
be consensual between all parties involved.

5. Communication between The Hit Man and the Hitters will take place through emails only.

6. Hitters are in charge of keeping track of their own points and proof items.

7. Hitters are responsible for discreetly storing and destroying any proof or other trails leading back to The Hit List at the end of the point period.

8. Anyone found to be in violation of these rules will be removed from the score board immediately and will forfeit any money they have contributed to the pool.

9. You may not alter a girl’s state of consciousness using drugs/alcohol without her permission. But if the girl gets that way on her own, she’s fair game.

10. You must obtain some sort of proof of your conquest. See list of acceptable proof below.

11. Cock-blocking is a perfectly acceptable form of defense.

12. No coercion or bribes of any kind to get more points.

13. Use protection.

14. Above all else, have fun and get laid!

POINTS

ACCEPTABLE PROOF

1. Underwear

2. Bra

3. Picture

4. Video

5. A well known item worn/used by your conquest

More details will be provided later, along with The Bonus Girls of The Hit List.

Until then, happy hitting!

~
THE HIT MAN

“What’s this Hit List thing?” I ask, holding my phone out for them to see the email.