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“Way to go, new girl,” a guy said beside me, and I turned, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you did to piss off Kendall, but smooth, real smooth.”
“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?” I hissed back.
He held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, don’t kill the messenger. All I’m saying is you picked the wrong girl to mess with.”
Mess with?I hadn’t done a damn thing except try to sit with them at lunch.And I wore that stupid outfit.
“Whatever,” I replied, angling myself away from him. My eyes found Kendall a couple of rows in front of me with her arm wrapped tightly around the huge arm of the guy seated beside her. She laughed at something he said, ducking her head into his jersey when the teacher threw them a scowl. Too busy watching them, I missed the balled paper projectile headed for me until it landed on my desk. I glanced around in hopes of catching the offender, but no one was looking my way.
What’s the going rate for head from a girl like you?
My stomach bottomed out, and I looked around out of the corner of my eye again. Balling the note back up, I slipped it into my pocket, acting as if nothing had happened. The teacher issued more instructions, and I followed along, answering each section from the textbook while paying no attention to my racing heart. It was just a prank, just something to shake me up.
And then another ball landed on my desk.
Whipping around, the girl seated directly behind me arched her eyebrow, clearly annoyed that I dared to look at her. I moved my gaze to the guy seated beside her, but he was paying me no attention, busy writing his answers. My fingers trembled as I smoothed out the paper.
What? Your stuck-up pussy too good to slum it?
My eyes widened the same time my heart catapulted into my throat, and a gasp escaped my lips.What the hell…
“Miss Torrence, is there a problem?” the teacher boomed across the room, and I slouched down in my seat trying to avoid a scene.
Too late.
Everyone looked at me, but no one’s eyes burned into me more than Kendall’s did. It was impossible that she’d thrown the notes, but the look of smug satisfaction on her face told me she knew exactly what was going on.
“Miss Torrence?”
“Uh, no, sir,” I stuttered, pressing further into the chair while wishing the floor would swallow me up.
“Good, well, if I may continue.” He huffed with irritation.
Dropping my eyes, I inhaled a sharp breath. One week in this place and I was already falling apart. I needed to get a grip. But it was a double blow to start a new schoolandbe an out-of-towner. I didn’t know how my classmates knew. Mom drove me to school in the used Ford Mac arranged for us. It wasn’t anything special, and I’d left most of my old clothes behind. A fresh start hadn’t only meant a new town and new house. The old Becca was gone. Now, I was jeans-wearing Becca. Okay, so most of my jeans were True Religion, but surely, I wasn’t going to be hated on for my choice of designer?
Oh, who was I kidding? I knew what kids could be like, and once they made up their mind about something—someone—it was almost impossible to change it.
The sound of the bell was a welcomed reprieve from the torment of being in class. Grabbing my bag, I filed out of the room along with everyone else, not sparing my classmates a second glance as I made my way out of the building and to the parking lot.
“Hey, baby, how was your day?”
Peering through the window, I muttered, “It was fine.” Opening the door, I slid inside and dumped my bag between my feet.
“Uh-oh.” Amusement laced Mom’s voice. “Who pissed you off?”
“Mom!” I gasped. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
She laughed. “We both know no one cussed better than your grams did, God bless her soul. Now, talk to me, Becca. What happened?”
“It’s nothing.” I turned my head away from her, hoping to hide the thickness in my voice.
“It’s not nothing.”
“It’s just different is all.”
“We knew Credence was going to be different, baby. We just all need to give it a chance. It’ll take time, but I have a good feeling about this place.”
That made one of us.
