If only they knew the way to get it was to become a prisoner and fight your way out. I might have more muscles already, but I didn’t know if I’d ever get that fresh round face of innocence ever again.
I wasn’t really paying attention to the door, but I looked up when it opened. Sofia strolled in, two of her cheerleader goblins by her side,
“Hey, spazz,” Sofia sneered, her lip curling with disgust. “I thought I saw you dragging your boney ass in here.”
“I guess we can’t call her piggy anymore,” her buddy said with a mean giggle.
“Piggy is a state of mind, we can always call her that,” the other one said.
“Listen, it was so nice when you were gone, I kinda wanted it to stay that way,” Sofia said, single minded in her focused hatred of me. “I want you gone again. Scurry back to Oakville High or I guarantee going to make your life at Covington an absolute living hell.”
Old me would have shrunk before her. Old Everly would have cowered and tried to slink past them in an attempt to fade away and disappear before them.
But I wasn’t that girl anymore. I was a ghost, a spirit girl, and I contained rage enough for days and days of dealing with Sofia. And now I wasn’t putting up with shit anymore. I wasn’t going to let this kind of thing happen to me ever again.
I didn’t even react before I stomped towards her, stood toe to toe with her and glared into her eyes.
“I’d love to see you try anything, you fucking bitch,” I snarled, glaring into her face. “I’d seriously fucking love to see it. Nothing would feel as good as tearing your fucking head off and kicking it around like a fucking soccer ball, you fucking whore.”
I guess anger made me swear a lot, and I did love the wordfuck.
Sofia’s eyes went huge and I saw fear sparking in them like lighting along the landscape in the middle of a storm.
But she had a reputation to uphold, so before she thought it through, she raised her hand and pulled it back to slap me.
I caught her by the wrist, narrowed my eyes and said, “You just decided to fuck with the wrong one today.”
And when I made my next move, she realized I was right.
CHAPTER16
I’d only trainedwith Amara for just over a week by then, but my reflexes were so much better than they had been before. While I had her wrist in my grip and she was struggling to get free, I took my other hand and held it up. Her sidekick goblin had taken a step towards me and I wanted to warn her before I took the three of them on.
I knew I could kick all their asses, that was the real magic of learning how to fight and defend myself. The confidence to stop a fight before it even got started.
“You’d better think twice before you jump into this,” I said. “How fast would Sofia come to your aid if you were in this situation?”
I looked at the other sidekick and shot her a meaningful look.
“My girls know they’re loyal to me,” Sofia blurted and pulled her hand back, twisting it to break free. I had an iron grip on her, though, and she was fucked.
“Notice how she didn’t say she was loyal to you?” I said, raising my brow. “That should tell you something.”
“Fuck you, piggy!” Sofia snapped and tried to kick me. She really threw herself into it, twisting and flailing against me while trying to make contact with my shin. “Let me go, bitch!”
“Sure, but only when you ask nicely,” I said in a calm voice. I was enjoying my control of the situation, knowing that I could fight back had done a lot of good for my self-esteem.
“Fuck you!” she spat and fought harder. I noticed her sidekicks back away as Sofia struggled harder and harder. They weren’t interested in getting involved in this, and that pleased me greatly.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and saw Sofia’s free hand ball into a fist. She looked straight at my jaw, giving away her intended target. As she swung at me, I released her wrist at last, and the momentum turned her entire body around with the force of her punch.
She found nothing but air where she’d been expecting my face, and as she passed by me, I pushed her hard.
She spun around and flailed wildly as her feet tangled together and she fell backwards into the garbage can.
She almost missed it, but in her anger, she miscalculated and tried to swing with her now free hand. This movement put her completely off kilter and she crashed directly into it.
It was just tall enough to get in her way, but just short enough for her to land inside of it, her legs folding up like an origami crane.