A muscle ticks in my jaw as people hurl taunts and accusations at me as I stalk toward my locker.
“Hey, Van. My mom just got divorced, and she’s looking for a good time. Shall I pass on your number?”
“Fuck me, Mommy. Oh, yeah, just like that!”
“At least now we know why none of the girls at school were ever good enough. He prefers saggy tits, spare tires, and stretch marks.”
“Kendall’s a MILF. Now she’s done with you, I’ll give her my nine inches and really show her a good time.”
I stop at that last one, slamming the meathead jock up against his locker and wrapping my hand around his throat. “Does West know you’re spouting that shit about his mother?”
The asshole smirks. “He’s too busy ripping all the nude photos off your locker to care.”
Fuck. Dropping the jerk, I sprint toward my locker, and the crowd parts. I curse under my breath as I spot the mess awaiting me. Row upon row of posters is plastered to the lockers and adjacent walls down this end of the hallway, and West, Hazel, Stella, Shep, Bowie, and a couple of other buddies from the football team are frantically tearing them down.
“Get lost, Vander,” West hisses, whipping his head up and snapping his teeth when he spots me. “You’ve done enough damage.”
Ignoring him, I dump my bag on the floor and rip a poster from the wall. Someone has clearly superimposed my face and Kendall’s face onto a couple of porn stars’ naked bodies. My stomach twists at the way the woman is posed in the picture with her legs spread open, her pussy right there for everyone to see. The man stands behind her, fondling her large tits. As if that isn’t bad enough, Kendall’s cell phone number is written on the bottom along with ‘“Call Kendall Hawthorne for a good time. Teens are my jam.”
“I’m going to fucking kill whoever did this.” I’m seething as I tear down more pictures, wishing I was ripping into whoever did this instead.
“Get in line, asshole,” West barks. “This is all your fault.”
“Get to class!” the vice principal calls out in a shrill voice. She heads this way, blowing a whistle and shooing students out of the hallway. The security guard for the school is with her as they stride toward us.
Shock splays across her face when she comes to a standstill beside us. “Do you know who did this?” she asks, her gaze bouncing between all of us.
“No,” Stella says, stepping forward. “But that’s our mom.” She points to Kendall’s face, working hard to contain her emotion. “And that’s her actual cell number. She’s being bombarded with texts, messages, and rude pics.” Tears well in her eyes, and her words have me feeling instant sympathy for Kendall. The urge to ditch school to go comfort her is riding me hard until I remember what she did.
“We will handle this,” the vice principal says. “At school and with your mother. Go to class. All of you.”
As I pick my bag up and sling it over my shoulder, I spot a familiar face up ahead, peeking around the corner that leads to the girls’ bathroom. A look of childish glee is stretched across her wide mouth, and I see red. Gripping West’s elbow, I subtly nudge my head in Gayle’s direction. His eyes narrow to pinpricks when he sees her before she jerks back, realizing she’s been caught.
West nods, and in this moment, we silently agree to put aside our differences and handle this our way. We walk away in the middle of the group, ducking around the corner unseen a minute later and storming into the female bathroom. The door slams against the wall before we lock it, dumping our bags on the ground. The bathroom is empty, but I know she’s in here. She couldn’t have escaped without us noticing.
“Get the fuck out here now, Gayle,” West roars, shoving open stall doors in a rage.
“We know you did this,” I add, working hard to keep my tone calm when I want to rip her to shreds.
“You have no proof,” she says, emerging from the last stall with her arms folded across her chest and her chin pulled up.
“You’re a spiteful little bitch.” West stalks toward her. I don’t know what expression she sees on his face, but it’s enough for her to lose her bravado and back up into the wall.
“I have no beef with you, West,” she blurts, pointing over his shoulder at me. “This is all Van’s fault. I just wanted to even the score. This doesn’t involve you.”
She’s insane. “You plastered fake pictures of his mother with her phone number over half the fucking hallway,” I shout, losing the tenuous hold on my emotions. “Of course, it involves him!”
West is standing in front of her, visibly shaking and seething but not touching her. I have no such qualms. I’m out of here after today, and I’ve got zero fucks to give anymore.
“She deserves to suffer too! She stole you from me. She made me look like a fool!”
Grabbing her by the throat, I lift her off her feet and shove her aggressively into the wall. “Kendall had nothing to do with my lack of interest in you. I cannot stand you, Gayle. You’re vacuous, irritating, and so damn ugly on the inside. My biggest regret is letting you anywhere near my dick because you’re the last woman I would ever be attracted to. It only happened because I was trashed and vulnerable when you pounced.” I have little recollection of it, thank fuck, except it was over fast. “You are a fool because I’m going to see you get expelled for this.”
Her eyes pop wide, and her face turns blue as she struggles to get free of my hold. Her hand is gripping my arm, tugging on it while her legs wriggle in a fruitless attempt to escape.
“Van.” West’s warning goes over my head.
I squeeze her throat tighter. “Maybe I’ll just strangle the bitch and do the world a favor.”
Panic flares in her eyes, and she opens her mouth to speak, but only garbled sounds come out.
West shifts on his feet. “Van.” He sends me another warning look as a dripping sound claims our attention. West bursts out laughing. “Oh my God. She’s pissing herself.”
Tears leak out of her eyes, and I let go before I accidentally kill her. She’s not worth doing time for. She slumps to the ground, crying and gasping for air, landing in a puddle of her own urine. I take out my cell and calmly take a picture. I turn to West. “Strip her. Let’s make a poster of our own. See how she likes her naked image being spread all over town.”
West grins and bends down as Gayle scuttles away, wailing and screeching, with snot leaking from her nose. “Stop,” she croaks, her voice cracked and hoarse. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I demand, pressing record on my phone. “Confess or I’m exacting punishment my way.”
She owns up to it all, explaining how she came by my place last night to ask me to go to prom with her. She happened to see West storming into the gym and followed him. She heard everything that went down. Enraged, she spent the night concocting a plan to get back at me and Kendall for making her look foolish.
As if either of us owed her anything.
As if what happened between us was any of her business.
She didn’t stop to consider how damaging her actions would be. It wasn’t even about getting revenge on me. Which it should have been. I didn’t treat her right, and I wouldn’t have blamed her if she took it out on me. But she didn’t. This was done to humiliate Kendall because Gayle can’t stand the thought I wanted her instead. She’s a hot mess by the time she’s finished, sniveling and whining, but I don’t care. We have the proof we need. “You’re pathetic.” I pocket my cell. “You just couldn’t let it go, and now you’ll pay the price.”