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Clever.
So fucking clever.
I swiveled in my seat to look up at the sniveling band of hyenas behind me. The lead D-named dickweed grinned at me as he lounged back in his chair, the picture of innocence and a boy who breastfed until middle school.
Professor Seavers slammed something hard on her desk. I spun back around, finding her holding a thick book and scanning the class. Her eyes landed on me, and she shook her head, then shifted her attention to the boys behind me.
“How embarrassing,” Abby whispered.
Kayleigh leaned into my side. “Oh my god, are you dying?”
I kept my face relaxed and unaffected, but on the inside, I was seething. Not because I especially cared about the meme. I didn’t. Tripping me and then taking a picture of me when I was down was child’s play. Literally, I’d done things like that when I was ten years old with my first iPhone.
It was the fact that these idiots felt comfortable enough to do it tome. I’d helped take down their fraternity. My father was one of the biggest benefactors to this university and owned half this town. Plus…well, I did not play. If they insisted on striking at me, I’d strike back, and it wouldn’t be with a fucking meme.
“Am I teaching a bunch of children?” Professor Seavers had steely-gray hair, her fashion style was no nonsense, and her expression said she was D-O-N-E. “What kind of adults come into my classroom and take the opportunity to not only disrespect me during my lesson, but also one of their fellow classmates?”
Her attention laid square on the guys behind me. She wasn’t saying their names, but she was calling them out.
I knew I loved this woman.
“I’m not blind. I saw what led to this picture on Monday. I didn’t intervene because I’m not running a daycare. You’re adults. Handle your issues like adults. If you pulled a stunt like this at a job, you’d be fired immediately.” She hadn’t taken her eyes off the Pi Sig boys for a second. “I will not tolerate this in my class. If you can’t control yourselves, withdraw now. I’m only interested in sharing space with future professionals, not toddlers. I got tired of two-year-olds when I turned three. Anyone who still has an issue may leave now.”
No one moved. This class was coveted and difficult to get into. The boys behind me were stupid, but notthatstupid.
“All right.” She looked at me and lifted her chin. “Let’s carry on.”
As I’d promised, I was heading to my parents’ house after classes were finished for the week. On the drive there, I called my cousin Penelope. Besides the therapist I had started seeing my senior year of high school, Pen was the only person in the world who knew absolutely everything about me. From my worst to my…even worse. Actually, her boyfriend, Gabe, probably knew most of it too. I’d accepted that she didn’t keep anything from him, and while he was chaos incarnate, he loved her dearly and would never betray her confidence, and in turn, mine.
But I didn’t ask, and she didn’t tell. It worked for us.
“Hi.”
“Hey, El. What’s up?”
“Driving to the parentals. You?”
“Gabe has a game tonight, so I’m hanging out until it’s time to go cheer for him.”
Gabe and Pen had been together since high school. They went to college a couple hours away from Savage River. I saw Pen often, but not often enough. My jealousy over Gabe taking my beloved cousin from me had made it difficult for me to tolerate him in the beginning. It took a year of them being together for me to get over it, since it was obvious they were a packaged deal now. I’d even gone to several of Gabe’s soccer games, though painting my face his school’s colors was where I drew a very hard line. Never happening.
“Tell him to break a leg for me.”
Pen snorted a laugh. “I would, except I know you mean that literally.”
I gasped. “I’d never wish a broken bone on Gabriel. Now, broken vocal cords…”
“One day, you’re going to admit you like him.”
“Never.”
“You will. I’ll wait. Now, what’s up with Diedre and Gil?”
“Who knows? My mother guilted me into staying over for the night. You know her,” I answered. “Something happened in class this week, and specifically today, that I want to run by you.”
I told her about the trip, the whispers, and finally the meme. Pen was silent throughout. Even when I finished.
“So, I think I’m being bullied,” I added. “How should I destroy these cretins?”
