I laughed. “Maddox? Right, of course. Go ahead, give me your warning.”
I tried to appear unfazed, but I knew what was coming. They were here for a reason. The fact that I wasn’t cowering or begging for them to spare me angered them.
“Let’s just say, I’m trying to save you some face. Maddox will grow tired of you, soon enough, and he’ll drop you like yesterday’s trash. You’re going to be hurt because that’s what he does. He breaks girls like you for a hobby.”
I returned her fake smile with one of my own. “Oh, like he grew tired of you and threw you out like yesterday’s trash?”
The corners of her eyes twitched, and her smile slipped off her lips.
I wasn’t done yet. If she wanted to be a bitch, I was going to show her how to play the game right.
I shook her hand off me, tsking under my breath. “I remember that day. Gossip tends to travel fast.”
Last year when I was still the new girl, Maddox and Bethany slept together. The next day, she publicly claimed she was his girlfriend, but he turned her down in front of everyone by saying: You were a good lay but not good enough to earn the title of my girlfriend.
It was harsh, and things turned ugly that day.
But Bethany was rich and spoiled as well as the cheerleading captain. She was Miss Popular and gossip like that didn’t affect her. Sure, her pride was wounded, but she bounced back quickly and kept the title of queen bee.
She growled and lashed forward, backhanding me in the face. I didn’t see it coming, and it hurt. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth when I tried to lick my aching, bruised lips. Her friend kneed me in the back of my legs, and I fell to my knees.
“You’re easily disposable, Lila. I claimed Maddox a long time ago, and all the girls of Berkshire know he’s my property. That’s the same as playing with fire.”
Maddox… her property?
My stomach cramped, and I busted out laughing. This was probably the most hilarious shit I’ve heard in this decade.
They looked at me like I was a maniac. Maybe I was.
I was about to get my ass beaten, and here I was laughing at my assailants.
Bethany hissed, her face growing red. Poor little, insecure Bethany.
She pressed her thumb against my bleeding lip, and I forced myself not to flinch. She smirked and pressed harder. It hurt so much that unshed tears burnt the back of my eyes. “You’re as pathetic as I thought. Dirt poor, not beautiful enough, so easily forgotten and so easily replaceable that you had to grab onto the richest and most popular guy.”
Her voice told me everything I needed to know.
I was poor and beneath them. Maybe I wasn’t as pretty or as rich as Bethany and the rest of Berkshire, but… Bethany, she felt threatened by me.
“I don't slut shame, but I can smell a bitch from a mile away,” I said lazily. “You smell of jealousy. Very stanky. Go take a shower, sweetie.”
Bethany gave me a disdainful sneer, her face twisting, and I saw all the ugliness she hid beneath the sweet girl mask that everyone loved and bowed down to.
She was Berkshire's official Queen, a pretty face with a nasty soul and a hideous heart. Her minions still had their hands on me, holding me in place and keeping me from attacking them. They had successfully trapped me; my arms twisted painfully behind my back and their knees were pressed into my shoulder blades, keeping me close to the ground.
Bethany crossed her arms over her huge tits, smirking down at me. “How would your grandparents feel if they lost their grocery store? Their only income and source of survival? They’ve had the store for fifteen years now, right? I guess, it's time to close down.”
So, she did her research on me.
Bethany brought her face closer to me, and I saw the evil glint in her eyes. “Tsk, how sad would it be to watch them beg my daddy? I can ruin you and your little family. All I have to do is snap my fingers, and I'll watch you burn to the ground.”
Rage bubbled over. She thought I was weak. She and her minions thought I was helpless.
Bethany gripped my jaw, her long nails digging into my sensitive flesh. “Where's Maddox now? Your hero is not here to save you.”
I let out a small laugh.
Maddox, my hero?
She was mistaken.
I was my own hero.
I didn't need him to protect me or my family. I was my own protector in this story. Like Maddox once said, I didn't need a prince charming or a knight in shining armor.
Bethany's first mistake was standing too close to me. She had underestimated me. Once again.
My head reared back before I brought it forward, slamming my forehead into her nose. Hard.
She screamed, her wails piercing, as she pushed away from me. I twisted my arms away, kicked back at my attackers before standing up on my feet again.
I wasted no time and grabbed Bethany by the throat before she could escape and slammed her against the bathroom's wall.
“Don't. Fuck. With. Me,” I hissed. Blood gushed from her nose; it wasn't broken, but I knew it was probably painful.
She glared at me, but too bad she was no longer in control. Her friends tried to grab my arms, to pull me away from their queen bee, but I held her tighter. Her throat was small and delicate in my hand.
“Don't fuck with me,” I repeated. "You won't like the consequences. You might not like to get your hands dirty, but I don't mind. After all, I'm a poor, dirty rat, right? You don't threaten my grandparents. You don't threaten me. Because trust me, I will destroy you. I have my ways, Bethany Fallon. That's your first and only warning.”
I pushed away from her, and she gasped for breath, wheezing. “You… bitch.”
Suraiya tried to grab me, but I sidestepped out of her way. “You’ll end up with a broken nose, too,” I warned.
She smartly took a step back, and I smiled. Yeah, maybe I did look like a maniac in the moment, but Riley had been right. I couldn’t let them walk all over me.
Bethany’s minions surrounded her as she moaned and cried about her nose. I gave them a final glance and walked out of the bathroom.
I wasn’t Miss Popular; I wasn’t rich or the cheerleading captain… but the lack of these titles didn’t make me weak because I was no doormat.
The next time they threatened the people I loved, I’d show them my teeth and claws.
18
Lila
I stumbled out of school, my legs feeling a bit shaky. My knees were bruised from where they had slammed me on the bathroom floor. My lips throbbed, and I could feel a headache coming. That was one hell of a slap, kudos to Bethany.
As I walked through the main gates, the bus drove past me, and I stood there, dumbfounded. Damn it, I missed my bus. Fists clenched, I held in the urge to cry because now was not the time for it.
It was cold. I was moody and in pain.
But I. Would. Not. Cry.
“Lila!”
My steps faltered at the sound of Maddox’s voice. Huh.
“Lila, what the fuck?” he called out. I looked over my shoulder to see him running toward me. His mouth was curled in a dark scowl as he approached me.
My dark hair fell as a curtain around my face, and I looked down at my feet. I didn’t want him to see the bruises, didn’t want his pity or his stupid, mocking laugh.