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People on both sides of the Fairview-Teller High divide glared at me, each thinking they had a say in my personal life.
“You could have any Fairview princess you want, but no. You have to go for our girl instead?” one guy said. I didn’t recognize him, but a few of the friends in his group slid up to me, circling around like piranha.
“Yeah, leave Una alone! She doesn’t need trouble like you!” someone outside the circle added.
Trouble? Me? I had barely ever been in trouble in my entire life. What were they going on about?
“If you think we’re letting you have Una without a fight, you thought wrong.”
I raised my hands in surrender and walked backwards, away from the crowd. It wasn’t long before a new one formed around me, though.
“Seriously, Charlie? Out of all the girls, you go forUna?” Eric said when turned the corner, almost bumping into him. He and a few other Fairview guys stood in front of me, their arms crossed, and an expectant look on their faces.
A bout of anger flew through me, listening to him talk about Una as if she weren’t good enough. She wasn’t just good enough—she was better. It was me who didn’t deserve her, not the other way around.
“You can’t do this right now, Charlie,” Phillip added, though the expression on his face wasn’t quite as severe. “You need to focus on playoffs and State champs. Your team needs their captain, not someone willing to throw the game away for a girl.”
My brows slammed together. “Excuse me? When did I ever say I was throwing the game away for a girl? Were you not at the same game I was at this weekend? The one where I scored theonlygoal? The one we won?”
At least they had the audacity to look a little sheepish at their accusation. But I was already done with them. If they made their minds up about me, then that was that. I didn’t need to spend my time defending myself.
They were my best friends, yet they turned on me the second I didn’t do something to live up to the perfect Henrikson standard. Did I mention I knew Eric was hooking up with Indira, while she was still dating Louis? No, I didn’t. Because it wasn’t my place.
Just like my relationship with Una was none oftheirplace. A true friend would have been happy that I was happy. They would have asked questions to understand the situation, not throw accusations.
Without another word, I pushed past them and barged down the hall, a mixture of confusion and anger coursing through me.
Phillip called after me, but I didn’t turn around. I would deal with them later—I could only hope they were acting upon foolishness and rumors and would come around to talk to me like normal people soon.
There didn’t seem to be a single person on my side here at Fairy Tale High. Not the Fairview kids. Not the Teller kids. Not my teammates or my friends.
I was all up in my head as I made my way to class. So much so, I almost ran over another person in the hallway.
A tiny person.
A scary, tiny person.
As much as I liked Una and had never been afraid of her, her best friend freaked me out. Malia Monet absolutely terrified me. Though she was short, she packed in a lot of intimidation with just one look.
She had those kinds of eyes that stared deep into your soul, extracting it like a dementor, sucking all the happiness out of you until you broke. She barely had to say anything most of the time; she had that way about her that made you bend and break.
“M-m-m-Malia,” I stuttered, glancing to both sides to see if anyone else was around. Whether I wanted someone to rescue me or witness what was happening, I wasn’t sure.
But there was no one to be found.
Malia took a step forward, her eyes still on me. Dressed in all black, she had on chunky heeled boots that added at least two inches to her short frame, but she barely reached my chin. With her dark, smoky makeup, ruby red lips on her wicked smile, and her hair that was so black it looked slightly blue when the light shone on it just right, she was every part the evil villain.
A role that she took seriously, by the look on her face right now.
“What are you up to, Henrikson?” she seethed, barely speaking above a whisper, yet I heard her crystal clear. It was almost like she was talking directly into my brain.
“Um, going to class?” My heart was about to pound out of my chest with how nervous I was.
Malia shook her head, her silver earrings swaying. She dipped her chin, yet still looked at me from under her eyelashes. She had the evil stare down perfected.
“Why are you messing with my best friend?” she asked. One eyebrow lifted, but it wasn’t a friendly question.
“I’m not messing with her,” I answered honestly. “Really, I think I was the one being messed with,” I added quietly at the end.
