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“You don’t know who you are messing with,” Jenny snarls. “Who do you think you are, you little bitch? Go back under whatever dumpster you crawled out from.”
“Oh, me? Well, well…where to start?” Lila says, her voice both brittle and dangerously soft. “I’m the friend of the girl you’ve given a busted lip to. And I’m beyond pissed right now. You don’t want to know what happens when I’m mad, because I get really unpredictable.”
Yup, it’s official. My only friend has turned psychotic.
I don’t know how it happened…or what exactly triggered our friendship. Maybe it’s the fact that we are both outcasts at Berkshire and lonely. Maybe it’s just that we both needed a friend.
But in the last three months since our first acquaintance under my willow — our willow tree, Lila and I have hit it off. I was right about her being a genius, because she really is.
Beautiful and smart as well as a perfectionist.
With kind eyes and a gentle soul.
And a sarcastic mouth.
Oh, and while I have the boobs — she’s got the ass. We balance each other like that.
A perfect friend combo.
Lila lives with her grandparents ever since her parents passed away in a car accident a few years ago — an accident that I know Lila still holds a lot of guilt over. She has never said it out loud, but I hear it in her voice whenever she talks about them. With such longing and pain. Her words are always filled with regret and sorrow.
She puts her phone away. “So, are you going to make yourself scarce, or should I make true on my threats? Oh, because trust me — I will do it. You don’t want to test my boundaries.”
Jenny’s friends are the first to run along, leaving her behind. Laughter bubbles in my chest, but I disguise it with a cough. So are these Jenny’s so-called friends? Karma is a bitch, truly.
“You’re going to regret this,” Jenny snarls, taking a step toward Lila. But she can’t do anything. She won’t do anything, not without her so-called friends backing her up.
And that’s when I realize just how powerless Jenny really is. She had Jasper and was using him as a shield. But now he’s not hers anymore, and knowing the type of person Jasper is, he couldn’t care less about Jenny and what happens to her. He had his fun and has probably already moved along to the next girl.
Jenny is all alone now, and Lila — sweet Lila, stands her ground, looking like an intimidating queen, not once showing fear. Her eyes narrow on Jenny, silently challenging her.
Lila is the personification of defiance.
Jenny makes a frustrated sound in the back of her throat, before she flips her hair and stalks away. She slams the door closed, and I release the breath I’ve been holding.
“You are trouble, Riley Johnson,” Lila says, but there’s no heat in her tone.
“I told you so. Warned you before we even became friends.”
She opens the tap and then rips off a bunch of paper towels from the dispenser, before running them under the water. Lila squats down next to me and gently wipes my bruised lips. “Hmm, looks a bit swollen, but you’ll live. Anything else feel broken?”
I mutely shake my head. Lila nods in satisfaction. “Good. Now, you’re going to stand up and walk out there with your head up. They are going to see your busted lip and your ripped skirt, they will whisper and laugh behind their hands, but you will walk. You will not lower your gaze and you will keep your spine straight. You will walk out there, Riley — because you are the bravest girl I’ve ever had the pleasure meeting. Do you understand?”
I nod again, frustrated tears burning my eyes. Lila is not judging me for being weak, but I hate that she had to see me like this. And I hate how, because of me, she now has a possible target on her back.
When I blink, the tears slide down my cheeks. Lila wipes them away. “How did you know I was here?”
“I was waiting for you by your locker. I saw you going into the restroom and then they followed behind you,” she tells me. “My sixth sense told me something was not right.”
“Are you really going to release that video?” I ask her shakily.
“No. Because releasing it will only embarrass you further and ruin the image you are trying so hard to fix.” Lila pulls me to my feet. “I don’t care what happens to Jenny and her bitchy friends, but I won’t do that to you.”
“They are going to make your life hell.” Because of me.
She’s quiet for a second, thoughtful. Then Lila slowly grins and there’s nothing sweet about it. “Not if I make their lives hell first.”
***
