I glance over at the jock table and catch Raleigh looking over at me, so I smile at him. “Maybe we should get ourselves invited to that party.”
“Good luck with that,” she snorts, and I grin wider.
“Oh, Indi, I know you’ve been here a while, but you’ve only just met me. They might be treating me like the new kid, but I can guarantee that I can get us invites to that party.” I sound conceited as fuck, but I don’t care because the grin on her face makes it worth it.
“Then hell yes, let’s get us an invite to that party.”
I turn back around and wave Raleigh over. A puppyish smile crosses his face as he jumps up from his booth and saunters toward us before slipping into the booth next to me. “Hey, how was your first day?”
“It was like being chum in a fucking shark tank outside of meeting my girl Indi here and my run-in with you. Indi tells me there’s a party this weekend?” I smile at him as his arm goes over the back of the booth. He doesn’t quite have it wrapped around me, but it’s pretty damn close. This QB is smooth, I’ll give him that. He also seems like a genuinely nice guy, so I’m not opposed to the closeness.
“There is, and my boy Jackson is throwing it. He’s only like three houses down from you, so you could just walk down the beach if you guys want to come.” He gives me that megawatt smile of his, and I smile back at him before glancing over at Indi.
“We could probably do that,” I say, and Indi nods in agreement. “Are you going to be there?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it. Especially if you guys are coming. You probably know a lot of people here already, but I’m sure I can introduce you to some of the half-decent humans at Echoes Cove Prep.” I can’t help but laugh. It seems I was right. He actually is a nice guy.
“You weren’t here before I left the Cove, right?”
He shakes his head, the smile of his still in place as he gets comfortable beside me. “Nope, I came here freshman year. I’ve been dominating the field since. It’s been my only focus because man, some of the people here fucking suck.”
“Yes, yes they fucking do,” Indi snorts. I offer my plate to Raleigh, who takes a handful of fries as I take a bite of my burger. I sit and listen while he and Indi talk up a storm about people I don’t know, but I’m glad that she seems so chill with him too. Maybe it won’t be so bad making some friends before I ditch this place at the end of the year.
“I better get back to the guys, but I’ll catch you both tomorrow.”
“See ya.” I grin as he drags himself out of our booth and makes his way back to his friends. I wait until he’s gone to say, “See, easy as pie.”
My skin prickles and I look up, feeling someone’s eyes on me. I find Lincoln glaring at me from his booth. His jaw clenches as he looks from me and over to the table where Raleigh is sitting before saying something to Maverick. He turns his dark-eyed glare in my direction too.
Fuck both of them.
If they don’t want to be my friend these days, that’s fine. But they don’t get to pick who Iamfriends with either. I turn back to Indi who looks happier than I’ve seen her all day, even with her evil genius smile on.
“You, Octavia Royal, are my new favorite person in the entire world.” I cackle at her words and take a sip of my milkshake.
“Right back at you.”
We sit, chatting about the other politics of Echoes Cove. It’s the standard bullshit that’s probably worth knowing before attempting day two at prep, considering just how bad day one went. Our phones buzz in sync on the table, pulling our attention away from our conversation.
Indi grabs hers, swiping on the notification, and all of the blood drains from her face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, picking up my phone. The notification is from the ReachMe app. I swipe across on it, and the app opens to a picture of me wrapped around East from gym class today with the caption ‘School slut screws the Coach.’
It's been up for less than a minute and already has over fifty comments. I scroll through them, and the hatred and degradation is beyond disgusting. These people don’t even know me.
Blair laughs across the diner, and I clench my hands around the edge of the table.
“I’m sorry. This is so shit. I’ve reported the picture already, which means it will be taken down—” Indi starts, but I shake my head, cutting her off.
“The damage is already done.” I sigh, shaking my head again. I almost feel bad for East because this isn’t going to be good for him either. He could lose his job. My skin crawls as people’s eyes rake over me all around the diner. “Can we go?”
Indi shoves the last of the burger in her mouth as she stands up. “Sure.”
I grab my bag, and hightail it across the space. Leers and catcalls follow me as I go, along with laughter and calls of ‘whore.’
Just as we reach the door, Lincoln's voice reaches me, almost cutting me deeper than everything else. “Don’t be stupid, no one will believe this. East would never stoop so low as to fuck a disease-ridden whore. You all saw how she grew up; she’s probably ridden more dicks than we have at the school. East thinks way too much of himself to slum it with her.”
“You’re right,” Blair’s shrill voice follows his demeaning vitriol. “We’re going to have to burn her sheets rather than just wash them. Nothing else will get out the smell of cheap perfume and desperation.”