"Raya," he says, making me cringe. Why does my name sound so foreign yet so warm when it slides through his lips?
"What?" I ask, grimacing when the word comes out in a choked form.
"Shit. What happened?" His mock concern forces me to roll my eyes. The tears slink back enough for me to face him.
"Nothing. You'll be pleased to know I'm calling your father today to apologize for going back on the deal I made with him. You win. I give up. Call off the hellhounds. I'm waving the fucking white flag."
My voice starts cracking too much, and I take a steadying breath before deciding I can't face any more school today. I almost break into a run in an effort to escape him, but he grabs my arm and pulls me back.
"I didn't do this, and you can't call my father. He'll come to the school and raise hell if he finds out this is happening, and you'll have an even bigger target it on your back. What did you expect to happen? You'd move in and no one would say anything? That's not the way it works."
"So it's my fault they want to call me a slut and a charity case? Nice. Real fucking nice," I say in a deadly calm tone before walking away again, ripping free from his grip.
"Damn it, Raya! Stop. If you have me chasing you across campus they'll talk even more."
"Then stop chasing me. I'll just move out without calling your father."
I don't turn around to see if he stops, but I never hear him arguing anymore, so I assume he has. I cross the road without even looking, and a horn blows loudly as tires screech. I never even bother lifting my head. I hate this. It's high school all over again. This was supposed to be a new beginning, a new life - a life where I wasn't the trailer-park girl.
I sling my backpack across the room the second I reach the upstairs suite. I don't care about the small crack I just made in the sheetrock. It's as though I'm not allowed to catch a break. I'm not supposed to just have one frigging thing go my way.
It's not like I can call my mom and gripe. She feels so guilty about so many things already, even though she shouldn't. I can't call my Dad's family, they'd do something incredibly illegal, like hack the files of everyone hassling me and give them failing grades. I can't call my best friend, considering she and my ex-boyfriend got together the second I moved out here. I have no one, and now I barely have myself. This is not how everything was supposed to go.
I start shoving different things into my bag, bypassing the new fancy clothes I should have never agreed to accept, when the door slams.
"Raya!" Kade blares, making me jump.
How dare he yell at me.
I hear quick strides bringing him up the staircase, and I rush over to shut the door before he can see the tears that have started to fall. Before it can seal, I'm being thrown back as he barges into the room.
"You can't let them win. If you do, you'll be their doormat for the rest of the year. Possibly the rest of your college existence. You're a freshman, so that's not going to work out so well for you."
The hard edge to his tone isn't fair. He doesn't have the right to be mad at me or to speak to me like this is my fault.
"Go to hell, Kade. Maybe you shouldn't have told them to ridicule me if you didn't want your daddy to be pissed."
I sniffle and wipe my nose as more of my traitorous tears fall. He grinds his teeth before walking over to my bed and dumping out the bag I just finished packing with all my insulation-laced clothing. I'll itch to death before I wear that fancy shit again.
"Get your ass up and grow the hell up. Get over it, Raya. You're a poor girl who landed herself a spot in a rich house. People are going to talk. The only thing you can do is show them they're wrong. I've already spread the word that there will be a party Saturday. They'll start easing off you. Show up, drink, have fun... be a normal teenage girl."
I let out an incredulous laugh while dropping my head. "You're such an idiot. I won't be here in five minutes, let alone on Saturday. I'll live in the laundromat before I stay here for one more second."
He cracks his neck to the side before jerking me by the arm and dragging me out of the room. I stumble as I fight against him, calling him a string of names - none of which really make any sense.
"What the hell are you doing?" I bark.
"Keeping you from being a dumbass."
When I plant my feet and force my body to the ground, he leans over and scoops me over his shoulder. I squeal and scream as I beat his back ineffectively, probably hurting my fists more than his hard body.
I feel the air, the breeze, and the pool in one gust. I gasp for air, only to find a choking amount of water as I scramble to the surface, swatting my arms through the thick chlorine-filled beast that is burning my open eyes. That son of a bitch!
I choke and spit in a heaving fit when I finally find air again.
"Cool off," he says with a smirk. "When you get out, go grab a shower, eat something, and get some rest. Things will be different tomorrow."
If I wasn't still coughing up all the intrusive water in my lungs, I'd scream at him. He walks away before I can manage to recover, and I lose my opportunity.