All four men laugh as they walk away, pausing a few steps ahead to turn and wait for Adrian to follow. I expect him to argue, to fight, not that he deserves an ounce of leniency if what they said he did is true. But instead, he pushes up onto his hands and knees, lowers his head and moves forward, crawling along the floor like a dog behind his masters.

The congregation around me all watch in a state of utter shock as The Elite leave with Adrian following behind them. No one dares to say a word, the entire school has been stunned to silence.

“Oh my god, look at them,” Courtney whispers excitedly from beside me.

I jolt, unaware she was even there, consumed by the scene happening in front of us. “It’s barbaric.”

“They’re The Elite, he broke the rules.”

“What he did was illegal, they should turn him over to the police. They’re kids, not gods, they don’t get to allow people to break the law,” I blurt.

“They are gods, look at them, look at the power they have, the way everyone wants them, wants to be them,” she says, her voice breathy and reverent.

“It’s wrong.”

“Stop being such a little bitch, Starling, they’re the kings of the school and we’re their queens. We’re untouchable now, next year we’ll be Elite. Stop being such a brat and suck his dick, fuck him, let him do whatever the hell he wants to do. God, I’ve already sucked off Evan, I’ll do them all if that’s what they want. This is the dream.”

Wide eyed and appalled, I stare at the girl I thought I knew so well. I know she wants to be popular, but to condone this, to tell me to offer myself to these cruel boys for status is baffling to me.

“Starling,” Sebastian calls, snapping my attention off Courtney. “Let’s go get lunch.”

My feet feel frozen to the ground, and I know my eyes are wide and full of fear, shock and realization. My plan to embarrass Sebastian and force him to distance himself from me suddenly feels pathetic. It wouldn’t work, because Sebastian and The Elite are too powerful, too popular for anything I could say to have an impact. He wants me and until he stops wanting me there’s nothing I can do, other than hope I survive.

Hopelessness consumes me as I step forward and take Sebastian’s outstretched hand. “Don’t look at him,” he demands, tipping my chin up with his finger when my eyes go to Adrian. He’s still on the floor on his hands and knees, his head lowered, despite the fact that the whole convoy has stopped and is waiting for me.

Leaning into me, Sebastian presses his lips against my cheek, before sliding his mouth to my ear. “He gave drugs to an underage girl, then had sex with her when she was so high on coke she couldn’t say no. This, what we’re doing to him, is only the start of his punishment. The only reason he’s not in the hands of the cops is because the girl doesn’t want her name released to the media, which it would be if she were to press charges. His family has enough money to buy him off any charges they could make stick, but they’re not rich enough or powerful enough to defy us.”