I cringe. This isn’t going to end well.
I’d kind of expected a confrontation up at Shadle Creek and was relieved when one never happened, but it looks like she’s been biding her time and now this seems to be her golden opportunity to put the new girl in her place.
Her upper lip curls into a sneer and four more girls close in beside her. I brace myself for whatever verbal lashing she has to offer, knowing it likely has to do with her being kicked out of the Devil’s cabin that first night, when the next thing I know, an open palm slaps me across the face. My head snaps to the side, my mouth dropping open as my hand jerks up to clutch my cheek. I barely register the sting and all I’m thinking is, WHAT. THE. HELL?
The blow had come out of nowhere. I’m so startled by the violence that I don’t react other than to clutch at my face, my eyes wide and my body immobile.
“You’re such a stupid whore,” she snarls, spittle flying toward me coupled with her vile words. All eyes turn toward us, the silence in the previously boisterous hallway deafening.
Goddammit.I can’t hit her back. Her friends have stepped forward, forming a half circle around me. If I hit her, they’ll step in and help. I don’t have friends here and I don’t feel like being jumped, but the urge to fight back has me clenching my hands beside me into tight fists as I take a deep breath, my nostrils flaring.
I step forward determined to force my way past her but she shoves me back into the lockers. My back slams into the cool metal surface and a single manicured finger lifts and points arrogantly in my face.
I grit my teeth together, refusing to rise to the bait. The shove was hard. The slap harder. But she isn’t that strong. Neither have done more than surprise me and I refuse to stand here and cower to the school’s resident mean girl.
I tilt my chin up, meeting her emerald gaze head on.
Silvia’s one of the it girls. In the eyes of the students here, she’s at the top. And I’m at the bottom. I don’t expect anyone to come to my aid, which is why I’m surprised when the crowd parts and Emilio swaggers toward me, an easy grin on his face—but I don’t miss the bright hot fury in his eyes.
He assesses the situation before him, a tick forming along his jaw and between one second and the next, I can tell he’s come to some sort of conclusion about what’s going on here.
A flash of concern crosses over Silvia’s face when she spots him before she tries to mask it with cool indifference. Hands propped on her hips she purses her lips while she continues to stare down her nose at me.
Emilio makes a noise to catch her attention before snapping his fingers like he’s just realized something interesting. “You were at the campout this weekend, right?” he asks, moving closer toward us.
When he’s only a foot away, he leans next to the lockers beside me, lifts one hand and rubs his bottom lip with his thumb as he gives Silvia a considering look as though he’s trying to place her.
She mistakes it for interest and turns her full attention toward him. Her scowl is now a seductive smile, and at this point I’m all but forgotten. “I was.” Her words are breathy. She pushes her shoulders back, ensuring her breasts are thrust out toward him before lowering her head so she can look up at him through her lashes.
I roll my eyes, at her come-hither expression. It’s so blatantly obvious I can’t imagine guys actually fall for this crap.
Emilio pushes off from the locker, his eyes darkening as he closes the distance between them. I guess her little seduction tactics really do work.
“Yeah, I remember you. I almost fucked you.” His words are husky, shot full of arrogance.
When he’s a scant few inches away, he raises his hand to cup the side of her neck, his thumb resting in the center of her throat. “MmmHmm. We can rectify that anytime you’d like.” She leans toward him as he dips his head to whisper just loud enough for our ears to hear.
“Pass. You must either be blind or stupid then, because if you were paying attention, you’d know Allie’s with us. She’s Devil property and we don’t take kindly to people fucking with what’s ours.”
His thumb presses firmly against her throat and she gasps. The skin around his grip whitens and her eyes are wide, suddenly filled with fear.
Then he releases her and steps back as if nothing happened. An easy smile slips into place and he tosses an arm around my shoulder, drawing me in to his side.
“We gonna have problems, Silvia?”
Her lips tighten, heat now coloring her face and neck.
“She’s an outsider,” one of the girls beside Silvia spits out.
It’s the wrong answer to Emilio’s question. His fists clench at his sides and he looks around the hallway, all eyes still glued to the scene in front of us.
“Ice them out,” he says to no one in particular, but heads all around us nod.
Silvia sucks in a breath as her four friends all take quick steps back, putting distance between themselves and her. “You can’t do that.”
He chuckles, but it’s a dark, dangerous sound. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. You made a mistake. I suggest you learn from it.”
She opens her mouth to respond just as another voice calls out over the sea of students.
