"I sit on the cold metal. The cushion is missing. "This is how Yates has been for decades."
He speaks to the spiderwebs on the ceiling. "We're all terrified--afraid of the second we'll be forced into the arena or targeted or marked."
One of the narrators of Kacen Callender's We Are Villains compares Yates (private boarding school to Lord of the Flies (dystopian novel). It's a very apt choice of books. A group of kids stranded in a wilderness with no adult supervision devolves to savagery. At Yates, apart from teaching and coaching, adults are missing in action. A trio of teens has the power to terrorize their peers without fear of anyone reporting them or retaliating. When a student is marked their peers are encouraged to and rewarded for assaulting them. There's an arena where students who displease the trio are forced to fight much bigger peers who beat them savagery.
It's with the knowledge and tacit approval of the adults supposedly in charge.
At the time the book is set in the alpha group consists of Liam (president), Preston (second in command), and Sadie (the girlfriend attracted to him by ambition rather than affection). Although their peers defer to them, many (especially those who have been targeted, marked, or savagely beaten in the arena) want nothing more than their downfall.
They may get their wish. The previous year a scholarship classmate, was found dead after a campus fire. The school and town police haven't done much to find the killer. But suddenly incriminating photos have been showing up on the student Discord. Rumors begin flying. The trio begins fracturing. Students eagerly await the chance for revenge on their former tormenters.
Whole lotta espionage and backstabbing going on...
...and a most excellent read for hard core chiller affecianados.
On a purrrsonal note, here in Penobscot County, Maine it's the calm before the storm--literally if you can believe the Channel 5 meteorologist. From the windows I can see blue skies punctuated by puffy clouds. Sunlight and warmth are streaming in. But in the afternoon those skies are supposed to grey up and dump too much accumulating snow. Eugene will have to plow at night. We might lose power. It's supposed to snow into tomorrow which is the day before Christmas which could prevent Katie, Adam, and Jacob from coming up. And it's the last thing I need for going anywhere. I have to walk through a woods path that nobody clears to get to the bus stop. The snow can get thigh high on me since I'm such a shortie. And yesterday I discovered a tree down across the path. Not a huge tree. But a ton of snow ❄️ will make it a lot harder to break it up with the saw I stole from Eugene 2 1/2 years ago. Because if I don't do something nobody will.
A great big shout out goes out to you whenever you are with best wishes for happy holidays.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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