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What would have happened if he hadn’t shown up? They’d said they were just trying to scare me, but who knows if it’s true? I bury my head in my hands and start to cry, silently.

I want to go back to a place where I could walk through the halls without being attacked and ridiculed. I want to trust that I can make it through the day without being hurt, without having my property destroyed. I want to go back to a point where the world made sense, but even if I return to New Hope, I’m not sure it will.

Coming here has changed me. I don’t fit in here, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t fit in there either.

“You’re okay,” Ford says, wrapping an arm around me and pulling my head to his shoulder. I’m not sure why I go, why I allow him to be the one who comforts me except...I’m not sure it could be anyone but him. “You’re safe.”

“Am I?” I rasp.

“I thought I’d made it clear to everyone before, but I swear to you I will make it crystal clear going forward. And you need to report the guys who did it. Jacob Marks, Linc Smith, and Richard Perkins.”

I swipe at the tears on my cheeks. “And have everyone hate me even more than they already do?” I ask. “Your sister was gone when I got here, and they blame me for that. If I get three of your buddies expelled, I’ll never hear the end of it. Besides, they didn’t actually do anything.”

“They aren’t my buddies, and no one blames you. They blame your father, but he’s the head of school. You’re the only thing in his life they can hurt.”

I release a miserable laugh. My father doesn’t know a thing, and I’m not sure he’d care if he did. “Is that why you targeted me? To hurt him?”

“I never did anything to you,” he argues. “I told you I wasn’t responsible for all that shit.”

“You didn’t stop it, though, did you?” I ask. “You watched them all doing it, just to impress you, and you never discouraged any of it.”

His mouth opens and then closes. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I tried. I couldn’t afford for it to get back to my sister that I was standing up for you, but I should have tried harder.”

My arms wrap around my knees. “Why did you—” I start, and then I stop. I want to know why he intervened. I still want to know why he touched me the way he did weeks ago. But I refuse to ask, to be this pathetic girl who seeks reassurance from her bully. I bury my face in my hands. “I hate it here. I hate it here so much.”

His hand runs over my back, as if I’m a skittish horse. It’s oddly soothing. “It’ll get better,” he finally says.

I laugh, looking up at him with tears running down my face. “How is that possibly true?” I ask. “I got knocked into a locker so hard that I nearly blacked out. I left the school covered in blood. And today—” My voice cuts off. I don’t know what occurred today. I only know what I thought might occur.

“Nothing like this is ever going to happen again,” he says in a low voice. “I swear it on my fucking life.”

I swallow, staring at my palms. I would like to believe him, but I’ve had so many bad things happen to me since I got here, and he can’t deny the fact that some of them were because of him. I’ve forgiven him for his role...but it doesn’t mean I’m going to take whatever he says at face value either.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice rasping. I climb to my feet slowly. “I need to go. I’m going to be late.”

“Are you okay to drive?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I’m walking. I’ll be fine.”

“Walking?” he asks. “You live like three fucking miles away.”

“There’s no late bus,” I reply, unable to help adding a little jab, “and someone messed up my bike on the second day of school.”

He looks at me blankly. “Is that your bike in front?”

I want to accuse him of knowing, of being behind it, but...it’s time to finally admit that maybe he really hasn’t been responsible for what’s happened at school. I blamed him for so much, but he’s now saved me at least once. Maybe twice, if that’s why he pushed me to leave the party last weekend.

“Yes. I know you weren’t behind it,” I reply.

He’s still frowning, as if he doesn’t believe me. “Why haven’t you gotten it fixed?”

I hate discussing this. Yes, Ford, I’m the girl everyone hates, and even my own parents don’t have my back. “The nearest bike shop is like ten miles away. My mom’s gonna drive it over. She just hasn’t gotten around to it yet.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” he says.

I glance up at him. “That’s okay.”

He rolls his eyes. “What? Is riding in a guy’s car against your crazy religious rules too?”