Kim glanced at them with disgust written all over her face. “Ignore them.”
“I always do.” Lie. I always tried to. It didn’t work out that way, though.
And the way Kim wrapped her arm around mine while tugging me away meant she didn’t believe me anyhow. That bullshit was nothing new. Shane’s high school experience had been much different than mine. Where he was revered and worshipped, I was the c-word who had dug her claws into him.
It wasn’t just being Shane Lair’s girlfriend that subjected me to ridicule. Having Trey Taylor as a father added a whole other layer of mockery. All sorts of shit could be found about my dad on the internet. And with his history, that crap followed me around like a dark rain cloud.
Dad had quite a past. From his fanatical preacher of a father who hated him so much, to kidnapping and murder, to the motorcycle crash that sent him spiraling out of control… all that supplied enough evidence to make my life difficult. It had forced Mom and me to grow a thicker skin. My mom seemed to have perfected it, while I struggled to ignore it all.
For my nemesis Molly Adler, it supplied fuel to an agenda she’d had since the first grade, when Shane had sat with me at lunch. I’d been new to their school, and he was the only person I knew. Even back then, she simply couldn’t understand our connection and never accepted it.
I’d lost count of how many times that bitch had claimed she’d hooked up with him. She was careful who she told that to. Really, her motive was just to plant seeds of doubt in my head. From untrue tales of spin the bottle when we were all in middle school to secret rendezvous or text messages that he had sent her during junior year, every one of them was a lie. When they began to circulate, one of her friends would be sure I overheard the bullshit story that Molly wanted me to hear.
“Skank” filtered over as the next insult.
“Takes one to know one,” Kim shot back.
“Says the other skank,” Molly countered.
“Eat a bag of dicks… oh wait… you did this weekend.”
The flash of fury in Molly’s glare was enough to prompt me to say, “Okay, that’s enough.” I tugged Kim along until we were at my locker and far enough away. “I can handle them, Kim. I know you love me, but that’s just what she wants.”
“I don’t care what she wants. She’s a miserable piece-of-shit liar that I want to throat punch.”
Molly being a piece-of-shit liar meant nothing to anyone else in that building. Head cheerleader, class president, and best in everything made her a rock star in her own right. Teachers loved her, while I always felt they tolerated me because my parents paid their exorbitant tuition costs and threw them some money here and there as a charitable contribution.
I wasn’t at Windsor-Horne because of our social status or because my great-great-great-grandfather had attended. Shane and I were there because of privacy, nothing more and nothing less. It was the stick-up-their-ass staff that lumped us in the “celebrity” class that they put up with because they had to.
None of that mattered, and I wasn’t looking for pity. Being bullied because of who I was, who my family was, and who my boyfriend was made for a great tabloid exposé but nothing more. So many were pushed around and taunted for far more important reasons than mine. If my parents hadn’t raised me to be the confident, assured person that I was, it would’ve messed with me a lot worse. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt all the same.
Little by little, the crowd thinned around us as students made their way to the next class. Kim leaned on the metal cabinets with her glare focused on the circle of witches. She grumbled, “I don’t get her motive. Shane can’t stand her… she’s had the hots for Jett since her tits popped into an A cup. What’s the point?”
What was the point of any bullying? Because she could. I lifted my chin defiantly and opened my locker, going for indifference. “Actually, I feel sorry for her. She’s so fixated on my life—hers must be a sad existence.”
“That’s right. She’s just jealous. They all are.” That was an understatement. Kim was right. Molly Adler didn’t have a shot with Shane, but how could I blame her for pretending that she did? He was quite a catch and worth the ridicule I received.
The entire thing infuriated him, and he made no excuses for his rudeness toward Molly and her puppets. But it seemed the nastier he was, the more it fed Molly and the posse who followed her around like sheep.
A few months ago, he’d confronted her in the parking lot. With no witnesses around, Molly had twisted the truth to say Shane had heatedly gotten into her face, only for the moment to become passionate. It was her word against his. We were dealing with an unpredictable asshole, and I made him promise me he’d stay away from her.
Kim reached past me to grab a pack of gum off the small metal shelf. “I look forward to the day we’ll never have to see any of them again.”
“Same.” The only thing that made Windsor-Horne Academy bearable was Kim and Shane. Kim wasn’t as lucky as I was, having my boyfriend around every day. After middle school, Chase’s parents had moved him into the public high school. Back then, those two practically hated each other. Things had changed about a year ago when Kim and Chase got cozy at a party, and they’d been dating since. It wasn’t the kind of love Shane and I had, but for them it worked.
“Whoever told her that dress she wore to prom looked good should be shot,” Kim went on to say before popping the stick of gum into her mouth. “It was like putting a flat cutout into a slinky dress.” I didn’t bother arguing that Molly had been stunning in her black designer gown. The insecurities that ran deep because of that girl had been something I kept to myself.
A memory of hearing Taryn and a few other girls talking about me in the bathroom at prom had created the same sick feeling I always got whenever I overheard them. Basically, they’d made fun of the way I wore my hair naturally and not in some fancy style like every other girl in our class. Trying to have a good time despite hearing that, or despite Molly’s presence at all, hadn’t been easy. Knowing what would happen after prom was what had gotten me through. If it hadn’t been for my mother and Leila pushing us to attend, I would’ve been content never having experienced it.
The shrill whistle of the change bell caused a groan. Kim and I had the pleasure of being with Molly and her bestie, Taryn, in our next class. Bitches and beakers… fun times.
I slammed my locker shut. “Let’s get this class over with.”
“Let’s get this year over with,” Kim countered.
“Two weeks. With finals, Senior Cut Day, and graduation, it’s sure to go fast, right?” I asked.
“One could hope.” Kim grimaced with utter disgust. “But since the last two hours felt more like two months, I’m not so convinced.”
From the moment Shane met me in the parking lot after school, my thoughts had been a mile away. It wasn’t like today had been so different from every other school day. Maybe my period coming made me extra sensitive toward the insults about my hair or the nasty words Molly had used synonymous with my name.
But during chemistry, Molly had crossed a new line with her hatred for me. The minute Kim had excused herself to go to the bathroom, Molly had stalked right toward her vacated seat and sat.