Page 27 of Bound By Fury

I look over my shoulder and find Kate the DA standing behind me, her face pinched with concern.

“I’m fine. Really.”

Holding on to my elbow, she helps me as I brush off my pants and adjust my shirt.

“I don’t know, Harper. That was kind of terrifying.”

I politely refuse, on edge as I wait for her to bring up what happened with that girl, Missy. This isn’t the first time I’ve found myself in the aftermath of an argument with an entitled, popular brat, and I’m sure I’ll be sent in for some kind of disciplinary action. Somehow it is always my fault, no matter what the other girl has said or done. I might not know Headmaster Matsoukas that well, but I can’t stomach the thought of showing up in his office like this mere hours after he’s welcomed me to campus.

Thankfully, Kate doesn’t bring it up. She just makes me put her school number in my phone in case I start to feel unwell and then heads off to continue monitoring the cafeteria.

When she’s out of earshot, I turn to Daisy and Sam. “I’m starving.”

As we start making our way toward the pizza, the lights come back on, and a smattering of whoops and applause rings out around the room.

Once we’ve filled our plates, I spot a free table by one of the ginormous windows that overlooks the forest, the peak of Black Mountain rising in the distance. Though the storm has lessened, the sky is still a sweeping gray, casting us all in an awful blue hue like we’re extras in a badly shot paranormal romance adaptation.

I stare out the window while Daisy fills Sam in. She tells them about how I grew up in Earnest with “those Matsoukas douche canoes.” I laugh in jest but have to bite back some residual instinct to defend them. Malachi’s a douche for sure, but Lucas? Maybe there are things about him I still don’t know. Maybe the version of him outside of summer is different.

When she’s done, I try to change the subject, but it’s useless.

“Sam, where are you from?” I ask.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get to that,” they say. “First: What’s your deal? You know, beyond the summers here?”

A flood of things come to mind—dead grandma, part-time shitty mom, deadbeat dad, a string of toxic ex-situationships. “I don’t know,” I say instead, taking a bite of pizza and chewing quickly, my hand hovering over my mouth. “I’m new.”

I eye Sam, glancing down at their wrist. A rubber bracelet with blue, white, and pink stripes wraps around it. They stare back at me, squinting their eyes slightly.

A knowing silence fills the space between us. Sometimes there’s a radar for this sort of thing.

“Oh!” I say, pointing at myself. “Bi.”

Sam grins, pointing to themself. “Nonbinary. They/them.”

A wide smile cracks on my face.

Three drops of blood in the snow.

Relieved, I laugh before lifting an eyebrow. “So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way—”

“Wait! What about me? I’m a lesbian!” Daisy cuts in.

“We know!” Sam and I say at the same time before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

“So. Missy,” I say, planting my hands on the table. “That’s her name, right? The girl I was talking to before… well, whatever that was.”

Daisy sighs. “She’s so hot.”

Sam and I nod in agreement.

“But she’s evil,” Daisy adds. “Can’t forget that part.”

“I noticed,” I snort. “She was talking about that girl from—”

“Ugh,” Daisy says, slamming down her cup playfully. “I don’t want to talk about that potato with eyes! The most interesting thing about Missy is… well… nothing. But what about you? What made you want to transfer here as a junior?”

“Oh, uh, I just needed a change of pace. Pine Grove was lame and boring, and then I got a scholarship here for the art program, and I needed to boost my portfolio for college apps anyway, so I was like, ‘why not?’ ”