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Slowly, I plant my hand on the only dry patch of linoleum around me. Struggling to stand, I finally make it up and step out of the mess I’ve made.
I don’t bother to grab my shirt again and close it. Let them stare. Let them see my peaked nipples outlined in my wet bra. It’s a scarlet A—a bright, daring sign of shame—and I wrap it around me like a cloak. My humiliationismy strength. I will come back stronger and I will burn this school down to ashes.
As soon as she sees that I’m stable on my feet, Monica steps away—she doesn’t want to be infected by my disgustingness.
Chin to chest, I stiffly toddle down the aisle between tables in my walk of shame. Popescu faces float in my vision, gloating faces. Then there’s the Lupu faces, eyes darting away from me in shame. Like a death-row inmate being marched to the electric chair, it feels like the longest and most surreal walk of my life.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I limp around the last table with the exit in sight when I trip over my own feet, my squeaking Vans the only sound in the eerie silence reigning over the cafeteria. I grab the rounded edge of a table and lurch toward freedom. One last glance behind me and I lock eyes with Lucian.
There’s something there. Regret maybe?
Not caring, I turn away.
Fuck him. I hope he burns in hell.
CHAPTER6
STAR
The next morning, Lucian and I stand in front of Cristo like two chastened kids, which I guess is what we are to him. We’re back at his parents’ cramped townhouse. Cristo is sprawled out on the couch, one arm looped across the top like a king at rest.
After getting out of the cafeteria, the first thing I did was call Crina and Gabby, but their phones were on silent. They were likely in the library. I crept to my locker like the pariah I was, grabbed a sweatshirt, and booked it down to the basement where I patched myself up and changed in a bathroom. Hugging the walls while praying no one noticed me, I slunk out of school.
Crina and Gabby rushed over once school was done, but a day later my eyes are still red from crying.
There’s no rest for me on this gray, foggy morning. I’d received my summons from Cristo and had no choice but to drag myself out of bed and trudge the few blocks to his house. Even the blossoming cherry trees on his block couldn’t cheer me up.
And now, shifting from foot to foot, I feel like my insides were scraped out and force-fed back to me.
My tongue slides over my chipped tooth.
Disgusting.
Just like Anton and Lucian had said.
I made an appointment with the dentist, but I won’t be seen until midweek. Apparently, a chipped tooth is not considered an emergency.
I refuse to look at Lucian standing a couple of feet away from me. Still close enough for me to claw his eyes out, only this morning I’m much too raw to kill him. I need more time to lick my wounds—and get my tooth fixed—before I willingly suffer his presence again.
And then, it will only be to tear him apart with my bare hands.
After making us stand there long enough to feel sufficiently chastened, Cristo starts. “I don’t know what the fuck happened yesterday but let me make myself clear. I don’t give a shit.”
He waves his phone around, the screen shaking too much for me to be able to see anything beyond the fact that it’s our school’s online grading platform. Guess he didn’t get the viral video of me getting my butt whupped. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.
“The only thing that matters is the ‘E’ in English. That should be an “F,” by the way.” He gives Lucian the stink eyes. “I had a talk with your teacher and she did me the favor of giving you an extension. You’re welcome.”
His gaze swinging back and forth between Lucian and me, he asks incredulously, “You were supposed to take care of this. Christ, what the fuck happened?”
I’m not sure who he’s addressed this question to, but I want to sarcastically answer,don’t look at me.That’s what happens when you miss an assignment in Ms. Sava’s class, something I was trying to avoid by running after your little protégé.
He waves his hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I have a business and a clan to run.” He locks onto Lucian with a fierce glare. “I don’t have time for this high school drama, understand?”
His eyes shift to me and the glare softens a fraction. Whether it’s because I’m a girl, because I’m not a Popescu, or because he knows of the devastating incident in the cafeteria, I don’t know.
Hoping it’s the latter, and to appeal to his better nature, I say, “You heard how he treated me.”
I instantly cover my mouth with my hand, the gesture bringing forth an upsurge of searing shame over my broken tooth, my humiliation. Shame morphs into fury and I fling my hand toward Lucian and declare, “I cannot work with him. You have to find someone else to do it.”
