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Her eyes narrow on mine as she crosses her arms. “You seem to be hard of hearing. Stay away from Caleb.”
Oh, for Christ’s sake, are we really back to this?
“And you also seem to be just as hard of hearing. I. Don’t. Want. Him.” I articulate every word slowly and place my hands in my hoodie pocket so that I don’t accidentally punch this bitch.
“Why won’t you just go away and stop tainting our school with your presence?”
“Jesus, Genna. Can we stop with this? You and I both know that it’s not about the fucking school. You want power. What you fail to realize is that I have none. Beating me down physically or metaphorically doesn’t get you anything. If I’m as low class as you say, who would care? Are you really that scared to play in your own arena that you have to come to bother us peons?”
She glares at me, and I watch her clench and unclench her freshly manicured nails. God help me. I wish she would try to hit me. The adrenaline from dealing with Caleb and Professor Wessex is still raging in my veins and, I’d enjoy nothing more than to knock her down in front of her self-declared subjects, but I don’t want to be that person. I don’t care about the damn politics. I just want to go to school.
I sigh deeply and try for the high road. “Look, I don’t like you, but I’m not your enemy. I meant what I said. Your presence is insignificant to me, but I’m sure in whatever circles you run in, you matter. Go assert your power there and stop trying to gain it with me.”
“I’m not stupid.” She huffs, placing her hands on her Yves Saint Laurent covered hips. “This isn’t about some power trip. It’s about my fiancé. Anyone with eyes can see that you’re pining for him, despite your words.”
She steps closer, poisoning the air around me with her fruity perfume. “I’m only going to say this one more time. He belongs to me.”
My eyes roll of their own accord at her use of the word fiancé. It’s a fuckingpromisering. It’s not the same thing.
“You disappoint me,” I say. I lean in closer and whisper, “I thought you were smarter. If you really want to continue playing this game, sweetheart, you will lose. Word of advice. Caleb can’t be kept.”
I readjust the shoulder strap of my backpack and pat her arm. “Good talk. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
I turn to walk away to end the conversation, but she just doesn’t know when to shut up.
“You will regret staying here, Evelyn. That video doesn’t even scratch the surface of what I can do to you.”
My feet pause as I absorb what she just said. She’s the one who released the video. I bite my inner cheek to try to release some of the violence that’s itching to come out. I will not let her goad me. I shift my face to the side so my words will travel over my shoulder.
“You’re playing with a feral animal, Genna. You might want to remember that,” I say and walk away for both our benefits.
* * *
By the time I get to the dining hall, I’ve already murdered Genna and Caleb six ways to Sunday in my head. Everything from dismemberment and feeding pigs Stratham Elite slop to bullets in the head and burying them under endangered plants. If only Sloane King were real. I’d have her drop Genna and hand me Caleb’s heart. But alas, I don’t live in fantasy books.
Reality isn’t as poetic.
“Looks like you had a better day than I did,” Celeste says, bumping my shoulder as her way of greeting.
I squish my eyebrows together, questioning why on earth she would think that, and she shrugs her shoulders.
“What? You had a smile on your face,” she answers my unspoken question, and I sigh.
“I was daydreaming about murder,” I reply.
Celeste snickers. “Then I guess you had about as good a day as I did.”
We walk into the dining hall, and the normal chatter dies to a lull. Heads turn in our direction. Some of them look at Celeste and me like we are pieces of meat being sold at auction, while the Zeta Sigma Rho bitches look like they want to murder us as hard as I wanted to kill Genna a moment ago.
I straighten my shoulders and whisper to Celeste, “We did nothing wrong. We are not victims, Cele. Keep walking.”
“I don’t want to be here,” she whispers back.
“Trust me. We’re not staying. Let’s just grab some snacks and then we’ll go.”
Maintaining a steady pace, I keep moving Celeste forward and act like I don’t even notice the stares.Fuck them.
I grab some chips, pay at the register, and head towards the doors. But because the universe so clearly hates me, I get the privilege of opening the doors to Elijah standing on the other side with Justin and a few other Knights that I don’t know.
