“I think so. It makes sense. If the Princes aren’t there to scare them into bullying you, and then they see Talia and her friends being nice to you, they’ll probably do the same.”
“Yeah. Even if just a few people are nice at first, the others will eventually follow suit. It’s like a herd mentality,” Adam said.
I looked in the mirror, taking in my puffy, red-rimmed eyes and tearstained cheeks. They were right. I needed something to take my mind off the horrible time I was having at school. I also loved animals, so the fact that this charity event was for elephants was another selling point.
“I’ll go,” I finally said.
“Are you sure?” Trina asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Fuck Hunter. He might be able to mess with me here, but he can’t stop me from having fun outside,” I said. “So I’m going.”
Trina grinned and slung an arm around me. “Awesome! I can’t wait!”
She started chattering about all the boutiques she was going to take me to after school to help me find an outfit for the gala. As she spoke, I managed my first real smile since this morning.
Hunter might’ve turned most of the school against me in just one day, but that didn’t change the fact that I’d already made some real friends here. For the first time in years, I felt like I truly belonged somewhere, even if it was just a cozy little safe space with two others.
No matter what Hunter did, he couldn’t take that away from me.