Chapter 4
Next morning when I got in the car. Camden was already there with Willow.
I gave a tiny nod as a greeting and slid into the back sent.
Camden scoffed: “Some people eat our food, live in our house, then act all high and mighty. Real classy.”
“Camden, don’t be mean to Sky–she’s already having a hard time.”
Willow put on her sweet little angel voice: “How come you’re driving us today?”
“Gotta make sure my baby sister doesn’t get picked on.”
Camden shot me a loaded look: “Can’t let anything happen to my precious girl.”
I had my earbuds in, studying.
When I looked up and caught his challenging stare, all I could see was his face contorting without sound. Looked ridiculous as hell
I cracked up.
“I’m doing vocab drills. What’s your problem?”
Camden’s face went black: “You learned English in some podunk mountain town? Give me a break. You probably sound like a complete redneck. You can’t even follow what people are saying–stop faking it!”
I shrugged: “That’s why I’m practicing.”
Camden choked, then snorted: “You better not bomb the practice SATs and embarrass the Hartwell name!”
Hearing that, I turned to Willow, who was smirking, and helpfully pointed out: “You hear that? Your brother’s telling you not to embarrass the family.”
Willow never saw that coming.
She was in art classes–her academic grades were trash.
Her face went red and she looked desperately at the front seat: “Camden!”
Camden froze.
He wanted to defend Willow, but since he’d said it himself, there was no good way to backtrack.
Pissed off, he turned to face forward and ignored everyone, even Willow.
Finally, the annoying asshole shut up.
I happily closed my eyes and went back to memorizing words.
At school, Willow was terrified I’d stick to her, so she bolted out of the car and rushed inside with her mean girl squad.
I took my time getting my backpack and following behind, listening to them trash–talk me without giving a single fuck:
“Willow, is that the broke bitch crashing at your house? She’s kinda hot though.”
“Ugh, she acts all sweet but she fucking attacked you and landed her ass in the hospital. Dumb slut got what she deserved!”
“This is so fucking gross. Who wants to go to school with some nasty poor girl? She probably has STDs or some shit. I’m so asking my dad to
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Chapter 4
transfer me.”
“You’re lucky you don’t live with her. Willow has to see that trashy face 24/7. I’d literally puke.”
“Nobody better talk to her. That bitch is bad luck and probably smells like garbage.”
Thanks to their public announcement, soon as I walked into my new classroom, I felt everyone avoiding me like the plague.
All the kids scooted away, scared I actually was carrying diseases.
Fine by me. More time to focus on learning.
I’d barely pulled out my textbook when my phone buzzed with a text from some random number:
[yo skylar heard u lost ur memory lol!! venmo me $20 and ill spill ALL the tea about ur childhood crushes, who u got in fights with… no scam i swear!!]
What the actual fuck?
I deleted it and blocked the number.
Even though Mom had tutored me back in the village–and Mom was brilliant, way smarter than these overpriced private school teachers–I still needed to adapt to their system.
These focused study days were actually pretty nice. Only downside was dealing with some annoying bitches.
Willow and her crew made it their daily mission to discuss designer brands super loudly in front of me, then stare me down waiting for me to look stupid.
“Skylar, you know what this is?”
I’d usually look up and shake my head: “Nope.”
When I didn’t take the bait, they’d keep pushing.
After they’d have their fake–ass laughing fit and call me “trailer trash,” I could get back to my books in peace.
This became our daily routine.
One day after school, I went to the bathroom and found some girls I’d never seen before kicking everyone else out.
I looked at them, then at the fleeing students, and decided to bounce too.
But they blocked my path.
“Hey you, where do you think you’re going?”
I stopped. “Can I help you?”
“Actually, yeah.” She walked over with this nasty smirk and slapped my face. “Don’t like your vibe, bitch.”
“Fighting’s against school rules,” I stated matter–of–factly.
She burst out laughing, and her backup dancers joined in: “Sweet little dummy, there’s no cameras in here. We’ll just tell the teachers you tripped and fell. Easy.”
I nodded slowly. “Oh. Good point.”
I carefully set my backpack on a dry counter, making sure it wouldn’t get wet.
Then I rolled my shoulders, cracking my knuckles as I smiled at these obviously stunned girls: “Haven’t had a good fight in forever. Let me
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Chapter 4
warm up real quick.”
“You gonna come at me one by one, or should I just kick all your asses at once?”
Good news: these girls were clearly first time bullies. Went down easy.
Bad news: one of them ran.
So I got called to the principal’s office.
Camden showed up looking pissed as hell to bail me out.
