Page 11 of Caged in Flames

Chapter Six

Sophomore Year:

Closing my locker, I turn to head back to my room. I haven’t taken the time to explore Blisshaven outside of my classes. The entire place feels unwelcome.

Instead of walking, I run straight into a solid wall. The force knocks me backwards until I'm falling to the ground.

Fuck, my ass is going to have a bruise.

"Stay in your lane, daddy's girl." The words aren't spoken loudly, but the impact isn't any less effective.

"Umm, pretty sure that wasn't my fault, asshole." The entire hallway goes quiet. I look up and see who it is that’s decided to ruin my day. I wish I hadn’t.

Charlie's lips work their way into a snarl. "Excuse me?"

Even though I’ve seen him snarling at me in the halls, he hasn’t made any attempt to talk to me. Until now.

With fake confidence, I roll my eyes, trying not to show just how nervous I am. He's putting on a show for a reason and I think I might be the only person here who doesn't get what's going on. Too late though. I've already tickled the monster. Or poked him. Whatever the saying is.

"I said that it wasn't my fault. I'm sorry if I bumped you, though." There we go. Kill them with kindness. Except Charlie looks like he wants to kill me for real.

"You're fucking trash." He's louder now. Fueling the crowd that's starting to get closer to us. His friends are at his back now. I try not to look at them. One is blonde and blue eyed, the other with dark curls and chocolate eyes. Neither looks friendly.

I look down at the ground and try to raise up to my knees while gathering up the homework that's fallen out of my textbooks. A foot lands on my English assignment stopping me.

My eyes trail up the leg and right to his glare. It’s hard to tell the color of his irises, his pupils are blown in anger.

I swallow and decide that in times of confrontation with the devil, fight or flight doesn't matter. It's haul your ass out of hell. "Look, I apologized. Please move your foot so I can grab my homework." My voice is a whisper, trying not to draw any more attention to the situation.

"I'll pass, daddy's girl." I flinch at the nickname. It's not funny. Especially not from him.

His mouth quirks enough that I can see his teeth before he twists his foot. Ripping my homework in half.

"Hey!" This time I shout and I realize my mistake before I can finish. He laughs.

"You don't belong here. Leave. Go back to the dumpster you crawled out of." He and his friends turn and walk away.

I take a few deep breaths before salvaging the work the best I can. Once I've gathered everything back up, I walk as fast I can back to my room and I don't leave again until morning.

The next time I visit my locker, it's filled with garbage that had to have come from the cafeteria. Once it's cleaned out, my books all smell disgusting, but at least they aren't destroyed.

I might be able to air them out enough to get by with using them the rest of the year without asking my mom to buy me new ones. I don't want to tell her what happened. The only thing I can't fix are the words written in permanent marker on the front.

Daddy's Trash.

Now:

It’s a relief that even though Blisshaven is incredibly stuck up, we don’t have a specific uniform. We have a dress code, but it’s not so bad. The guys tend to wear slacks, a button down, and a blazer. Girls wear dresses, skirts, and even shorts or pants with some sort of collared top. Despite the little sleep I managed to get in, I don’t look like death.

I apply my makeup like a shield, painting my lips a deep red. A white blouse with sleeves long enough to hide my wrists and black pleated skirt are my armor. The pretty Mary Jane ballet flats are the boots for my Knight’s uniform. With a final look in the mirror, I prepare for the battle that is my senior year of high school.

Gunner and Jane are meeting me at the dining hall. I had a feeling that I needed to make a statement to the dickheads I thought I could avoid. Clearly, I need an opportunity to prove that I can exist among scum. That I can survive. As I make my way over to the main building, I keep reminding myself that I am a fucking survivor.

Though I didn’t mean for it to happen, I slam open the main entrance. I can see the question in the eyes of my fellow students. Well, the ones who don’t have their faces permanently attached to their phones.

Who is that?

I enter the dining hall with my shoulders back and chin up. I take a minute to scan the room, and I spot a bundle of red hair face down on the table. Jane's arms are over her head blocking out everything around her. Gunner seems to have found his way to her, but he's on his phone.

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