Claimed by the Devils

Chapter 11

Rowan POV

We didn’t go to the party.

Instead, the guys decided to head out to pizza. I loved Chinese food, but I was in the mood for some pizza. Lots of melted cheese, spicy sauce, everything on top, including pineapple. I didn’t care how gross I sounded. You had to have pineapple. It tasted so good. My kind of pizza was the one you struggled to lift to eat because it was weighed down with everything on it.

Just thinking about it now, I was starving.

Lucian drove, as he always did. After climbing out of the backseat, we headed into the pizza place. It was a small place called Gino’s. Really nice. I’d always liked this place and with All Saints not being too far, I knew he got a lot of orders from us.

As I entered the stall, my phone vibrated in my pocket. We headed to our own private booth. We all reached for our cell phones at the same time.

I didn’t bother trying to question what it could be and immediately opened the video attached to the text.

Does this b***h really have what it takes to be selected!

The title pissed me off, and then when I saw a clearly frightened Aria, I was pissed off. A quick glance at my buddies, and I knew they were watching the same thing.

A couple of other kids from our school were in the pizza place, and most of them were laughing.

“You know this is Chloe’s handiwork,” I said.

I didn’t like that the entire school got to see Aria naked. The view was somewhat blurry, as if the person holding the camera was shaking or scared.

Laughter filled the room as the doorbell rang, and I turned to see Aria had entered the pizza place.

Her face was bright red, and my anger fled. Lucian got to his feet and we all joined him. My hands clenched into fists, and I was ready to pound every single fucker’s face in.

Lucian grabbed the first person he was close to, took the guy’s phone, and slammed it to the floor before doing the same to his face on the table.

The laughter died down.

“I suggest you all delete that f*****g video right now, and the next time you look at her, you do so hoping she forgives you.”

Each person held their cell phone and started to erase the video.

Heather wrapped her arm around Aria, and the two walked toward a small booth.

I wasn’t having that.

“Come and eat with us. No s**t. Just food,” I said.

“What do you think?” Heather asked.

“I … I just want to get a pizza to take out. I don’t want to eat here anymore. I’m not really hungry.”

She clearly was hungry. One moment she wanted to eat the next she didn’t.

“Don’t let them affect you. You have every right to sit here and eat.”

I stepped out of the way of the booth.

“Come on. We won’t bite.”

“It’ll be fine,” Heather said.

I watched as Aria slowly squared her shoulders and took a step toward us. She brushed past me, and I got a heavy scent of vanilla. She always smelled so good, and now, I wanted to eat something sweet.

Aria slid into the booth, followed by Heather. Lucian sat opposite, and I had no choice but to sit next to Heather.

Silence fell across the table.

Aria looked pale. Her hair fell around her in waves, and I saw the redness around her eyes and the tip of her nose.

“Have you guys ordered?” Heather asked.

“Not yet,” Elliot said.

“Awesome. I’m starving. I’m thinking everything on it, and I’ll get you your usual,” Heather said.

“Do you want my guys to go and order for you?” I asked.

“Sure.”

Heather put a hand on Aria’s.

“I’ll be back.”

Together, we walked up to the line. Aria moved away from Sebastian and I sighed.

“How is she?”

“You saw the video, right?”

“Yeah.”

“She called me after it happened. It was a f*****g prank.”

She rubbed at her temple.

“I thought her belonging to you guys meant this crap wouldn’t happen.”

“It won’t.”

“You could have fooled me. No one knows this, but Aria … she’s afraid of the dark, okay? Someone turning out the lights and putting her in total darkness scared the crap out of her.”

“We had nothing to do with it,” I said.

“I’ve got an idea who had something to do with it, and if you think long and hard, so do you. It wasn’t funny. She’s got a big f*****g bruise on her hip from where she fell. This is … Aria … she’s not, she’s different, okay? She doesn’t like to show off everything. She’s a private person.”

“You don’t need to go preaching to me. I already get it. We had nothing to do with it. You want me to keep on saying the same s**t to you?” I asked.

We stepped forward, making it to the cash register. Heather ordered for herself and Aria while I handled my and the guys’ order.

I refused to let her pay, taking care of the bill with a single swipe of my credit card.

“I can pay,” Heather said.

“Yeah, and now you don’t have to. Consider it a gift.”

“Don’t hurt my friend.”

Before I could say anything, Heather walked away, annoying me. She had no right to tell me what the f**k to do.

I arrived at the table to silence. Taking a seat, I tapped my fingers on the counter and counted to ten.

“So, this isn’t awkward at all,” I said.

Sebastian smirked.

“I think it’s best if we eat somewhere else.”

Aria nudged Heather as if to get me to move.

“It has been a killer week,” Lucian said.

“I don’t even want to know what Coach has planned for us all.”

“I thought I was going to die with all the running,” Heather said.

“What about Mr. Connors?” Sebastian asked. “The dude is f*****g weird.”

“I don’t see the reason to go about the whole relationship stuff.”

Aria pushed some hair out of her face.

“We all know why it’s suddenly a big deal. The school is trying to delicately handle the whole date-r**e drug stuff. They should just make a stand and say it’s f*****g wrong. Don’t do it.”

“Agreed,” Rowan said.

“What do you think it’s really all about?” Lucian asked.

“Possible manipulation,” Aria said.

“Of what?” Heather asked.

“Do you think the school is going to try to brainwash us into thinking some f****d-up relationships make sense?”

“Probably. Don’t get me wrong, we know some of us are going to end up in arranged marriages. It’s all about power and greed. Money makes our world go around. If they’re not rolling in wealth, they’re out of there. I heard about a girl a couple of years back, her family went broke.”

“Brooke…”

I snapped my fingers, trying to remember her name.

“Drawing a blank here.”

“Highweather,” Heather said.

“My point is her family lost her fortune, she lost her place at school, and you can’t even remember her name,” Aria said. “None of us are in control of our futures. It’s already decided for us.”

I heard the hint of sadness in her voice.

“Go on, spill. What’s being controlled with your future?”

“That’s my business and my parents’.”

We all stared at Aria.

“I’m going to say career choice,” Lucian said.

“What makes you think that?”

“Your parents are lawyers. If my memory serves me well, your entire family are lawyers.”

“Or doctors,” Aria said.

“Yep, that is me.”

“And you don’t want to be a doctor?” I asked.

“I don’t know what I want to be.”

From the look Heather gave her, I knew it was a lie. Aria knew what she wanted out of life and it wasn’t to remember the law of the land.

Our food came, and I made a mental note of the vegan pizza Aria ate. Heather wrinkled her nose and Aria took a large bite. The two were clearly close, which was another thing that annoyed me.

We ate in silence. The meal wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t great because the tension in the room was high. We were all tense, waiting for whatever argument was going to come next.

Heather and Aria finished their food first and thanked us, but left. I wanted to follow her, but I kept my ass in my seat.

“Do you think she has any idea what her parents do?” Elliot asked.

“Not a chance. I think if Aria knew what her parents were involved with, she would’ve run f*****g miles by now.”

I brought my attention back to the table.

“What are we going to do about Chloe? That video is a big f**k-you to all of us. We run the school. She needs to learn to get in line.”

“I’ve already got it covered,” Lucian said. “She wants to play this game, then she needs to realize she’s messing with the professionals.”