I could tell I’d struck a nerve with my comment by the naked shock in Cerina’s bright blue eyes. She recovered quickly, though. “I see you haven’t learned the rules around here yet,Oakland,” she spat out.
“Wow.” I rolled my eyes. “You Googled me and found out where I used to live. Big fucking whoop.”
Her upper lip curled with disdain. “It’s okay,” she said in a faux-breezy tone. “You’ll learn soon enough.”
Erin spoke up again. “I… I wasn’t bitching about you, Cerina,” she said. “I was just explaining the Dirt app to Kinsey. Like, the kind of stuff it says about people. That’s all.”
Cerina rolled her eyes. “Of courseyou’reobsessed with the Dirt app, Erin. Probably hoping to see yourself get a mention on there one day, huh? But you never will because you’re a total fucking nobody.” She lifted a hand and flicked it in Erin’s direction. “Anyway, you can shoo now. Go back to hammering away at your keyboard like the pathetic little nerd you are while I explain how things work around here to Kinsey.”
I snorted. “What is this? Some eighties movie where it’s actually a bad thing to be a nerd?” I said. “No one cares about that bullshit anymore. I mean, let’s face it, in ten years Erin will probably be some sort of awesome billionaire tech genius.” I paused for a beat and raised a scornful brow. “What’llyoube doing after you’ve peaked here? Still begging for scraps of attention from a guy who doesn’t even want you?”
Cerina scowled. “You’re going to regret talking to me like that,” she said in a low voice.
“I don’t think so,” I replied, even though my heart was hammering like mad.
She regarded me in silence for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line. “Jax was right about you,” she finally said. She clicked her fingers at her friends. “Let’s go.”
She sashayed away with her minions and disappeared around a corner.
“Wow,” I said, turning back to Erin. “You weren’t exaggerating about her.”
Erin’s face was still pale, and her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. “Thanks for sticking up for me, but you shouldn’t have. You really don’t want to be on Cerina’s bad side.”
I shrugged. “I’m already on her fuck-buddy’s bad side, remember? Might as well complete the duo.”
“Well… thanks.” Erin took a deep breath, lips curving up in a grateful smile. “Do you want to meet me and my friends here at lunch?” she added, gesturing to the cafeteria entrance. “So you have people to sit with.”
“Sure, I’d love to.”
“Cool. Anyway, we should probably get back to our lockers now. We’ve only got a few minutes until homeroom.”
As we headed down the hall, loud gasps and shrieks of laughter began to echo through the halls from somewhere to our right.
“What’s going on?” I asked Erin, brows furrowing.
“I don’t know. Maybe Dirt posted another blast and everyone’s freaking out over it.” She glanced at her phone and shook her head. “Nope. Nothing new. I guess some guys are fighting or something. Who knows?”
The cacophony grew louder as we turned a corner and headed toward the locker banks. The area was filled with clamoring students, and they all turned to look at me with wide eyes when I stepped into the hall.
As I drew closer to them, some of the gathered students turned to their friends and whispered behind their hands. Others simply smirked.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, pulse speeding up.
“No idea,” Erin said, craning her neck to see over someone’s shoulder. “Oh my god, that’s your locker!”
“What’s wrong with it?” I asked. A tall guy was standing directly in front of me, blocking my view. “I can’t see.”
The tall guy stepped to the side a second later, and my eyes immediately widened. My locker—which was shiny and clean just half an hour ago—had been defaced. Someone had written ‘LEAVE’ on it in big, angry letters with blood-red paint. Below that was a printed photo of me, taken from my Instagram. My eyes had been scratched out.
“What the fuck?” I said, stepping closer. I looked around at all the rubbernecking students. “Who did this?”
Everyone began to walk away, ignoring my question. Some were still laughing, while others gossiped amongst themselves in huddled groups.
As the crowd cleared, I saw Jax casually leaning against the lockers on the other side of the hall, lips twisted into a cruel smirk. I stomped over to him, face flaming with fury.
“This was you, wasn’t it?” I said, shoving his rock-hard chest with one hand. He didn’t even budge an inch. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? What have I ever done to you?”
“Nothing,” he said calmly, grabbing my wrist so I couldn’t try to shove him again. “Yet.”