Kinsley
“Hey, honey,” Miley said, hugging me from behind as I sat at the bench. “I’m sorry, again, for what happened.”
I shook my head and swallowed the piece of blueberry muffin in my mouth. “It’s okay, I got home, so it’s fine now.”
I’d texted her in the morning, letting her know I got back safe. She’d called, apologizing that her phone had died last night, and I gave her the cliff-notes’ version of events because my mom was busy yelling at me once more.
“No, it isn’t,” she replied, her tone curt. “Oh, look who it is.”
“Hey, girls,” Phoebe cooed, waving at us, her black purse hanging from her arm. When she reached the bench, she tucked her black skirt under her legs and sat next to Miley. Her eyes flicked to me. “Sorry, Kinsley, I had an emergency and just had to take off. I’m sure you can understand.” She pulled imaginary lint off of her glittery turquoise sweater, almost pulling off the tiny silver beads there.
I glared at her, a snarl forming on my mouth even though I promised myself I wouldn’t get into trouble here. “Oh, I understand,” I spat. “You fucking left without a damn word, knowing I didn’t know where the hell I was.”
Her hand flew to her chest, the fakest gesture I’d seen in my life, and my ex-best friend was in a sorority. “You didn’t? Oh, now I feel bad.” Her over-exaggerated pout would’ve had me laughing if I didn’t want to tear her head off right then.
I shook my head and huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, you knew it all right.” I leaned my elbows on the table. “Why else wouldn’t you let me go with you to the parking lot, huh?”
Her mock surprise fell instantly, replaced with a sneer. “Oh, I don’t know, because you’re annoying? Because I wanted to go home without having to drop your miserable behind off at your house first?” She flicked her hair back over her shoulder, then straightened her white hairband. “I don’t like you, Kinsley, okay?” She waved her hand at me. “Just go back to wherever it is you came from.”
I barked a laugh so loud that we’d gained an audience. “How mature of you,” I said, still laughing. “So, you deserted me in the darkest and quietest part of town, alone, not knowing my way home, and all you have to say is that you did it because you don’t like me?”
Her face paled, and her eyes darted about at the scene I was making. “I knew you’d call a cab,” she fired back. “Obviously, you did.”
I leaned back and folded my arms. “I did, did I?” I asked, a sly smile curling my lips. Quinn’s angry face ran through my mind, and his determination to get me home himself. “Hmm, safety first and all that, right?”
“Well, duh,” she said, her hand out. “It’s not hard to search up a number.”
“Well, it’s lucky I didn’t have to get distracted by searching Google for a local cab company then, isn’t it?” I glanced at Miley, then back to Phoebe. “No thanks to you, I got home after midnight.”
“What!” Miley shrieked. “We left the theater at eleven, your house is ten minutes away.” She shot daggers at Phoebe. “What the hell?”
“Yeah,” I drew out. “After waiting about ten minutes for you to show up, I started walking. I went in the wrong fucking direction for over half an hour.”
Phoebe burst out laughing. “Oh my God, that’s hilarious.”
“I’m glad you think it’s funny,” I growled.
“Phoebe, that’s enough,” Miley snapped, slamming her hand down on the tabletop with more force than she looked like she had in her. She looked about ready to lunge across the table. “You’re a horrible person for doing that to Kinsley. Anything could’ve happened to her.”
Phoebe held her hand out. “But she’s fine, right?” she asked, turning to me. “No trauma, no PTSD?” She snorted a laugh. “Still got your virginity intact?”
“Phoebe!” Miley shrieked.
Oh, she didn’t just fucking joke about assault!
That was it, I couldn’t take it anymore. Before I could think about what I was doing, I dived over the table, my hands grabbing out, but reaching thin air. I struggled against the hands that were holding me, large fingers wrapped around my arms, stopping me from wrapping my fingers in Phoebe’s hair and pulling every last evil strand from her head.
“Get the fuck off of me!” I yelled, sucking in deep breaths, the adrenaline demanding more and more oxygen to fuel my anger. I tried to shrug the tight hold off of me, but their grip was too tight,
“That’s not going to go down well if you hit her,” A deep voice said in my ear. I stilled, my head snapping to Colby, then back to Phoebe. She’d gotten up from the table and had moved way out of my reach. “You’ll get suspended, and from what I think you were about to do, probably kicked off campus for good. The dean doesn’t tolerate violence here, no matter what anybody looks like when they show up.”
Quinn. Mrs. Montgomery had looked at him with disdain, so I couldn’t imagine how Dean Beaufort did if she had a zero-tolerance policy on fighting. He’d done whatever it is he did while off-campus, I assumed, or he was just good at not getting caught.
My arms were still restrained by Colby’s hands, and it’d take just one kick backward to get him to drop like a sack of shit, but instead, I said,” Let me go, Colby.”
“Are you gonna stop going for her?” he asked, unsure, just like I was.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best,” I replied through my teeth, my heavy breathing not slowing for a second.
Colby gently released me, and I straightened my long, black, and gray plaid shirt, then pulled down the black tank underneath that had ridden to my stomach, tugging the band over the waist of my black leggings.
I pushed the loose strands of hair out of my face, never once breaking contact with Phoebe’s terrified eyes.
Her pursed lips looked comical as she tried to compose herself. “Touch me, bitch, and I’ll make sure you don’t step foot in this college again.”
I grinned slyly. “You could try. Because no matter what you do, I’m not going anywhere.” For the first time since arriving at Broken Hollow, the idea of not leaving didn’t seem so bad.
Colby stayed while Phoebe took off, all eyes on her as she disappeared into the building.
Miley took my arm, linking mine with hers. “Again, I’m so sorry,” she said sadly. “If I’d have known she’d pull a stunt like that, I would never have agreed for her to take you when she called me last minute.” When I told her what Phoebe had said outside my house, Miley seemed surprised. “Why on Earth would I need to give Rachel a ride? Honey, I don’t live near Rachel— she and Phoebe live together.”
She set me up.
Fuming, I spun around, taking deep breaths to calm down, to stop myself from following her, and finishing what I hadn’t had the chance to start.
‘That’s not you, Kinsley.’ I could hear my dad’s voice say. ‘Violence doesn’t solve anything except when defending yourself.’
It was times like these when I needed him more than ever. I needed him to pull me into a warm hug, kiss my head, and tell me that Karma would sort out the problem.