I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t my idea to tie-dye my shirt with a smoothie.”
“No talking,” the lady behind the desk said sternly. She peered over at us from behind wire-framed glasses.
A dry chuckle left Micah. He made it very difficult to keep a straight face, because now that the escapade was over, all I wanted to do was laugh.
Principal Wallis called Ava and me into her office one at a time. As Ava stood up to go inside first, she met my gaze with a dark look that promised I’d pay for this later. She was up to something.
Oh, goodie, something to look forward to. More bully drama with the cheerleading squad.
Between her and Carter, I needed to be babysat twenty-four seven.
“Whore,” Micah said, covering it with a cough as Ava passed by. She shot him a dirty glare, but in those hazel eyes beamed hurt. Ava wasn’t used to the Elite treating her like shit. She’d been replaced. She knew it. I knew it. But most importantly, the entire school knew it.
“Mr. Bradshaw,” Principal Wallis snapped, inclining her head toward Micah. She was an average height woman, but in heels and a power suit of navy blue, there was something powerful about Principal Wallis. She didn’t seem afraid to take on all these rich kids and their even richer parents. I pegged her to be in her midforties, based on the strands of white hair peeking through her sleek brown waves. “What are you doing here? Don’t the four of you have class?” she said to the guys hovering in the lobby with me.
“We’re witnesses,” Micah retorted with a twisted yet somehow charming grin.
“This isn’t a trial, Mr. Bradshaw. Get to class.” She didn’t wait to see if they complied as she ushered Ava into her office. And that was Principal Wallis’s first mistake. The Elite weren’t going anywhere.
Micah dropped down in Ava’s empty seat, stretching out his long legs in a reclined position.
“You guys are making this worse. You should really go to class,” I muttered.
“Not happening,” Brock replied like an immovable force. “We’ve already concluded you can’t be left alone.”
A cocky smirk came over Micah’s lips. “And we’re supposed to be the troublemakers.”
I rotated my shoulder, the aches and pains of being hit and scratched making themselves known. Like I needed more bruises. “She started it,” I mumbled, not giving a fuck if I sounded like a sulking two-year-old.
“And you finished it,” Grayson chimed in, his lips twitching as if he was proud of me.
I grinned at him.
Ten minutes later, Principal Wallis’s door opened and Ava strolled out. She didn’t hide the pure disdain she felt toward me. Pulling her eyes from mine, she turned her attention to Brock. He did and said nothing, but I wanted to jump out of the chair and tackle her again.
My fingers tightened on the wooden chair arms.
Principal Wallis surveyed the lobby, shaking her head. “The four of you just don’t give up. I don’t how you manage to have so much influence over the students at this school. I’ve stopped trying to make sense of it.”
Micah shoved his hands into his pockets. “Some people just have that certain je ne sais quoi.”
Principal Wallis pressed her lips together and sighed. “Josephine, let’s chat.” She held the door open and waited.
I nodded and stood up, stepping into her office, half surprised the Elite didn’t try to follow me inside.
She walked around the solid oak desk. “Please sit. I want to hear in your own words what happened.”
The leather groaned under my weight. “What did Ava say?”
Folding her hands studiously on her desk, she said, “That’s not important. We don’t take bullying lightly at Elmwood Academy, and I’d like to think my staff is keenly aware of what goes on in this school.”
I snuffed a snort. They had no idea what shit went down in and out of school.
“It was nothing. Just a misunderstanding.” Tattling on Ava would only bring more misery. Besides, I wasn’t a narc. I’d handle Ava my own way… off school grounds.
“I can’t help you if you don’t open up to me. I’m not the enemy here.”
Crossing my legs, I slumped lower in the chair. “As I said, it was an accident.”