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“Oh, I love you both so much,” I said.
Luna smiled. “What good are friends if you can’t use them to piss off a douche bag every once in a while?”
No matter how bad things were, I was grateful to both of them.
Now that I was no longer around Damian, I grabbed my phone again and told Harper not to worry about meeting with me because I was away from him. I quickly told her what I told him, and she almost immediately responded.
__________________________________________
Harper:
Even your lies paint you and your family like trash. Jesus Christ, you’re pathetic. Whatever. At least it’s a lie I can sell. You’re fucking lucky I hate you and don’t want anyone knowing we’re related. Otherwise, I’d tell Damian you’re a slutty little liar and let the world swallow you whole.
__________________________________________
How comforting.
As disturbing as it was, at least she planned to go along with it.
The question was, how long could we keep this up? It had been two days, and it felt like two years. How the hell would I be able to keep my secrets buried?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TEMPERANCE
The whole day had been straight fucked, and I couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment. I’d had about enough. I imagined what I’d be doing back in Indiana. I’d probably have at least a class or two with my best friend Emma. After school, I’d head home, make dinner for Dad and me, and then play some video games with Emma.
She and I always played after school. If one of us weren’t at the other’s house, we’d just play online together. It was the best. I hadn’t even played since coming to California, and I felt guilty for that. I checked in when I could, but things were always so crazy. I hoped we were the kind of friends who could go long periods of time without talking much and pick up right where they left off. It would only be that way until I could gain control of everything at Crestview—or until the shit with whoever was after me was resolved, whichever came first.
I felt like I’d been a terrible friend.
I planned to change that.
A sense of comfort overcame me at the thought of going back to my dorm and playing some games with Emma tomorrow. God, I missed her.
I had plans with Luna and Justin tonight—well, hopefully. After last night’s dream, I was grateful for Luna’s idea, and I hoped she was serious. If not, maybe I could play with Emma tonight instead. Anything to distract me from the anxiety and dreams. If I was exhausted enough, maybe I wouldn’t dream at all.
Walking into the locker room, I stopped short. “Oh, hell,” I said out loud without meaning to.
All the girls had been talking, butsomehow, my voice seemed to echo off every wall and alert the group of eight girls getting changed that I’d walked in.
“Gross. Is she watching us get dressed?” Brianna Baker said.
She was one of the most unique of the clones. In fact, she wasn’t a clone at all. She had medium blonde hair with pink highlights throughout. It looked cute. It was also against school policy, but I assumed—as it was with most things around this Godforsaken teenage wasteland—that policy and rules meant nothing to her.
She also had light brown eyes and didn’t wear the colored contacts. Unfortunately, she was just as vicious as the rest of them. Maybe even worse.
“Actually, I was just shocked to see such a large flock of clones,” I said as I walked in.
Harper stepped around the lockers, and I groaned. I thought it was just her minions, but I wasn’t that lucky. This place wasn’t anything like a normal school. You literallycouldn’tavoid people here.
“Oh, don’t mind her. She’s probably just shocked to see boobs that don’t look weird and bodies that aren’t covered in cellulite,” Harper spat. The other girls laughed.
So did I.
“The funniest thing about what you just said is that I guarantee I have a lower body fat percentage than any of you because I actually work out for what I have. I don’t get it sucked out and jabbed into my ass.” I smiled sarcastically and made my way over to an empty corner and began to get changed.
Back in Indiana, there were a few girls in my gym class who got bullied for being overweight. I thought they were pretty and certainlywayfucking nicer than the people who bullied them.
