She’s not a bitch about it, either, like those girls who stomp around threatening to cut people and confuse being rude with being a badass. She doesn’t have to be loud and cuss and wear slutty clothes for attention. When those girls trashed her locker, she didn’t have to get revenge to prove she was bigger and badder. I know that pissed off Lacey and her crew as much as losing their status. They wanted to start a feud with Crystal, to stay relevant, to have everyone back them up.
But Crystal just moved on like they weren’t worth the effort. She’s above all of it. And that drives the other girls nuts because it just shows them that they’re not above the pettiness and bullshit drama. And she is. She’s what they want to be, and she doesn’t even try. She doesn’t rise to the bait when we taunt her. She’s unapologetically cool.
I’m in awe of her. And if I’m being honest, that pisses me the fuck off.
She’s not in awe of us. She doesn’t care who we are. She walks right by the kings of the school like she’d rather sit with our dog. And it’s not an act. She is genuinely unimpressed, and it’s fucking up everything we’ve got going. And more than that, it’s fucking up the way this town runs, the way things have always been. We’re supposed to keep people in line, to make them remember who they look up to, who their families work for, who they worship.
And then the Dolces blow into town with their daughter who looks as delicate as a fucking flower ready to be crushed under the first bootheel that even brushes against her. But after all the bootheels have stomped on her, she’s still standing.
Why won’t she fucking kneel?
sixteen
Crystal
There’s a special place in hell for people who torment a girl who just lost her brother. And that place is going to be filled with assholes from Willow Heights.
Barking follows me down the hall as I make my way to my locker before lunch. I hold my head high and march through them all like I don’t hear them. But I do. I fucking hear them loud and clear. I’m a dog, and they don’t want me here.
But it’s not because of me. It’s not because I’m ugly or stupid or mean or don’t look like them. It’s because Devlin said I was a dog, and they have to play along. Which means it’s a kind ofEmperor’s New Clothestest. I am not defective. I am good enough to score a Darling. I just have to get them to think so, too.
I arrive at my locker, fully expecting to have it filled with dog food again now that it’s apparently open season on me. But there’s not so much as a can of Alpo inside.
I shove my books inside, ignoring the snickers coming from behind me. Are they really so immature as to stick a sign on my back? After closing my locker, I turn to see Lacey and all her bitchy, former Darling Dolls standing there with arms crossed, making disgusted faces at me.
“What’s your problem?” I ask. “Got bored of sticking your finger down your throat and came out here to see if I had any more dog food for you?”
“Slut,” Lacey hisses, looking me up and down like I’m every bit as trashy as the Darlings think I am. I wonder what the bastards are spreading around school now.
“I may be a lot of things, but I can guarantee you’ve had more dick in you than I have,” I say.
Her friend rolls her eyes. “I doubt it.”
“It’s not about how many people you’re with,” Lacey says, jutting her lower lip out and making an ugly face, as if she can’t bear to look at me without twisting her face into a troll expression. “It’s about how you act.”
“You’d know,” I say, turning and starting down the hall.
The bitches follow me like annoying little mosquitos. “You can’t just go around blowing guys in the bathroom,” Lacey snarls at me. “I don’t know what you did in New York, but this isn’t that kind of school.”
My stomach drops, and I hold back the urge to vomit. So that’s what he told them. Not about dropping me off in the rough part of town, but about letting him fuck me in the bathroom. Just what I want everyone in school to know. Well, I guess there goes any chance at ever being anything but a whore to this town.
“It’s so unsanitary,” her friend says, nearly gagging aloud. “Right next to the toilets. Gives a whole new meaning to worddirty whore.”
“That’s actually two words,” I say with my sweetest smile. “And I wasn’t blowing anyone in the bathroom. I was fucking him.”
I flip my ponytail back over my shoulder and stroll into the cafeteria like I own the damn place. Fuck those girls and their petty gossip. If Veronica taught me anything, it’s how to spin any story to fit the narrative you want. And if Devlin’s going to spread rumors about me, I might as well own it. So, now I’m a slut who gives blowjobs in the bathroom. I wonder what I can get out of that before everyone figures out it’s not true. For a rumor that juicy, I’m guessing it’ll take a while to be disproven. Which means I need to get as much as I can for it.
I march over to the Darlings’ table before I can talk myself out of it, while I’m still fueled by adrenaline and anger. Preston’s the only one there, holding court with his fangirls and ass kissers. He sees me coming and leans back in his chair, that look-at-my-dick pose he likes so much.
I walk right up to him and slam my palm down on the table in front of him, leaning in close to his face so he knows I’m not afraid. “What did you do to my brother?” I ask, my words slow and deliberate.
“Aww, there’s my little lap dog,” Preston drawls, amusement dripping from his words. “Com’ere and sit on my lap, little doggie.”
“Don’t fuck with me,” I say. “If you have a shred of decency anywhere in you, you’ll tell me where he is.”
“Oh, darlin’, I ain’t got a single shred of decency left,” he says. “But you sit right here on my dick, and I’ll tell you just what I told the police.”
I stare at him, the hatred inside my heart burning it to a brittle crisp as I stand there. This boy isn’t going to be the one to help me. He’s the worst of them all.