Chapter Two
Brett shoved her again and Twyla hated how she had to put her hands out to brace herself on Cody’s chest. It was better than having her whole body land against him or falling and flashing these jerks, but not by much.
She’d been minding her own business heading out of the school to make the long walk home when Kevin had offered her a cigarette. Since she was out, she’d said yes.
She knew she’d probably have to put up with some gross comments, but Kevin wasn’t the worst of them. She’d thought maybe he’d just flirt with her. Badly. But no, Brett and Cody and Dylan and Rob and Toby had joined them, and Cody was the worst. She’d tried to leave, but Brett had grabbed her and now here they were, passing her around like she was the cigarette.
Some of them were grabbing her ass or her tits when they could, sticking a hand up her skirt or pulling her hair and she was close to tears. Not that she’d admit it to these fuckers, and with six of them against one of her? There really wasn’t much she could do. They were going to do what they wanted to her and while she might get in a good sucker punch or a kick to someone’s junk, there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d get away.
When it was all over, there would be nothing she could do about it either. Her mom and her step-dad didn’t give a shit—they’d probably say she’d been asking for whatever she got—and the guys who were harassing her had money. No one would ever believe troublemaker trailer trash like her over Brett Tolland, the mayor’s son, and his buddies, even if they’d all been in detention together. Boys will be boys and all that.
God she wished that Mr. Fox was still here but he was no doubt on his way to the cute little cape he bought when he moved to town.
Not that she’d followed him home to see where he lived. Or walked by when her step-dad had kicked her out or hit her. She definitely hadn’t hidden in Mr. Fox’s bushes and watched him do push-ups and sit-ups in his living room while he watched TV at night. And there was no way in hell that she’d snuck into his shed after spying on him, slipped her hand into her panties and got herself off thinking about him amidst his shovels and rakes and garden hoses. No, no way.
Mr. Fox would be totally mortified if he knew how often she thought about him. He was nice. And smart. And clean. Even when he scolded her, she liked him. Okay, maybeparticularlyliked him when he scolded her.
He didn’t seem to think she was stupid or slutty or trash like a lot of the teachers. And in addition to thinking he was the sexiest guy she’d ever seen with his blond hair and blue eyes, his skin that was a few shades more tan than her pasty white, and the perfect amount of stubble dusting his cheeks, he seemed calm. And sometimes she just really wanted quiet. And someone to cuddle her. No one ever touched her in a nice way. She bet Mr. Fox gave really good hugs with those ripped arms, and it would feel nice to be pressed up against his rippling abs.
But she could keep on dreaming because aside from the fact that men like him didn’t go for girls like her, she was a student and he was a teacher and Mr. Fox would never break the rules. Not ever. Even though it was annoying, truthfully she liked that about him.
So she’d just have to tune out to what was happening to her and picture how nice it would be to curl up with Mr. Fox on his couch, or maybe rest her head in his lap while he graded a stack of papers as she watched one of the cartoons she liked.
Except that giving up wasn’t really in Twyla’s nature. Fighting back might get her hurt worse than if she just gave in and let the guys do what they wanted to her, but at least she’d be able to look herself in the mirror tomorrow. Same as she always did with her step-dad even though her mom told her to knock it off and that she was a stubborn, stupid bitch for making things harder on herself.
So the next time Kevin pushed her toward Brett, Twyla faked tripping and then came up with her fist to punch Brett right in his nads. The way he doubled over with a noise that sounded like a dying goose was super satisfying for the three seconds it took before people were grabbing her arms and then Cody punched her in the stomach.
“You stupid little whore.”
As soon as she could straighten up, he punched her in the face and there was an exploding pain in her right cheek she was all too familiar with.
“What a fucking cunt. You should be grateful we’re even touching you at all, you dirty slut.”
Twyla dropped to her knees and the boys holding her let go, only for one of them to kick her in the side and then she was on the ground, curling up into a ball to try to protect herself and praying they’d get bored and it’d be over soon. If she got beat up too bad, she wouldn’t be able to go to school anymore and she’d flunk out of senior year. Again.
Then she thought she must be hallucinating because she could’ve sworn she heard the best sound in the whole world: Mr. Fox’s deep voice.
But maybe it wasn’t a hallucination because while she’d dreamt a million times of him scolding her, spanking her, making her stand in the corner and think about what she’d done, he neveryelled, and he was yelling now.