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“I don’t even know who the heck you are. My buddies pointed you out to me. Are you so insecure with your position at the paper that you had to drag me through the mud to gain more readers?”
“No. Let me explain—”
“Explain what? Your name is Chloe Barrington, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but—”
He grabs my arm, squeezing it so tightly that it hurts. “You think you’ll get to the top by stepping on people? You want the hard truth? You suck as a writer. The only reason you’re still on the paper is because your dad is somebody here.”
His words prick my heart, but I push them away before they can stab me. Even though I doubt myself many times, I know deep down that Iamgood enough. And Kendall is very serious about the paper and wouldn’t let just anyone work there.
“Her mom works for the Edenbury Press,” his friend Gibson informs him.
He scoffs. “Nepotism.”
“No,” I say. “It would be nepotism if I got a job at the Edenbury Press because of my mom. Nepotism means—”
“I know what it means!” Squeezing my arm tighter, he pulls me toward him and glares into my eyes. “If you ever write an article about me again, you’ll regret it.”
“Ididn’twrite it—”
He shoves me to the floor. I tumble down, my head nearly bumping into the lockers. The air gets knocked out of me and I cough.
“You better publish an apology in the next issue or—”
“Leave her alone!” a familiar voice says. When I look past him, I find Liam standing there with his hands fisted at his sides. He glares at Topher like all he wants to do is bash the jerk’s head into the lockers.
His eyes flit to mine for a second and they fill with concern when he sees me coughing.
“What do you want, Hastings?” Topher says. “You know this jerk?”
A look of panic passes over his face because Liam isn’t the kind of person to confront someone like this—especially a guy as menacing-looking as Topher. But he swallows and raises his chin, narrowing his eyes at him. “The only jerk here is you. If you lay a finger on her again, I’ll—”
Topher chortles. “You’ll what? Throw a stupid book at me? Isn’t that what you do in your free time? Read books?” He chortles again, making Gibson and the other guys follow suit. “You’re such a weirdo, Hastings. Books over girls? Unless you like this piece of trash over here.” He jerks his thumb in my direction.
Liam charges at him and grabs him by the front of his shirt. “Leave her alone or you’ll regret the day you were born.”
Topher glares back at him, the vein in his forehead bulging. He keeps his eyes on him for a good while, the vein in his forehead bulging even more. Like he’s seriously contemplating punching him.
“Liam, let him go,” I tell him. “He’s not worth it.” He could get expelled for fighting.
Topher smirks. “Listen to your stupid girlfriend. Isn’t that how it is? You’ve got no backbone and you let a girl tell you what to do.”
Liam tightens his hands on his shirt.
“Liam,” I urge. “Let him go, please.”
With a grunt, Liam shoves him away. He turns to me and holds out his hand. “Sorry, Chloe. I didn’t…are you okay—?”
Topher grabs Liam by the back of his shirt and slams him into the lockers. Then he pummels his fist into his chest.
“Liam!” I cry.
I watch in horror as Topher continues to ram his fist into Liam. He gets him in the face, the chest, anywhere he can.
“Liam!” Tears burst out of my eyes and rain down my cheeks. The other guys guffaw as my best friend gets the living heck beat out of him. By now, other kids who are still at school have gathered around.
“Leave him alone!” I cry. “He didn’t do anything to you!”
