Page 443 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

“No, that’s fine, honey,” Diana says. She’s already had half a bottle of wine, so I’m not surprised she’s ready to hand her daughter off to the first boy who asks.Come to think of it, Diana is the perfect evil stepmother. I only wish I’d caught on sooner—she could have been useful in my war on Harper.

Harper opens her mouth to argue but then thinks better of it. Rosie and I both have to climb out of our red vinyl booth to let her through, and I make sure that I’m so close that she has to brush past me to get out. She flinches when we make contact, and throws a startled look up at me.

For just a moment, we’re in our own little bubble. The first time since she burned down my world, come to think about it. She wilts under my glare and quickly steps away. Suddenly Alexis a better choice than I am, despite how desperately she’s trying to avoid him.

“When did Harper start seeing Alex?” Diana asks as soon as they’ve left.

I freeze halfway into sliding back into the booth and fall down the last foot. “Sorry?”

“Alex.” Diana points after the pair as they walk away from the table, Harper hanging her head like she’s on her way to the gallows. “That’s him, right?”

“Yeah.” I frown at her as I take a sip of my milkshake. “They’re not dating.”

Diana looks at my dad. “But didn’t she say?—”

“Diana, don’t meddle.”

“But she’s?—”

“Diana!” Dad’s hand curls around his soda. Diana was the only one who decided it was close enough to midday to start drinking. “Is it too much to ask for one goddamn minute of peace?”

Diana shrinks back into her seat, nursing her wine glass for the rest of our lunch. Harper doesn’t stay away for long—she slinks back a minute later and grabs a slice of pepperoni pizza and bites into it like she purposefully doesn’t want to be grilled.

“He seems nice,” Diana grumbles into her wine glass. “If you weren’t grounded, I’d tell you to invite him over for dinner.”

“Unbelievable,” Dad mutters, pushing away his plate. He turns and lifts his hand, snapping his fingers at our waitress where she stands near the bar. “One hour. That’s all I asked for.”

“I’m sorry, Wayne, but?—”

“Enough, Diana.”

At least my stepmother recognizes the warning in my father’s voice. In the sudden silence that follows, I take out my phone and check my messages. I felt it vibrate a little earlier but Idon’t want to draw too much attention to the fact that I’m still communicating with the outside world.

$10,000

I stare at the message and bark out a laugh before I can stop myself.

“What’s that?” Dad asks, his eyes darkening as he glances at the phone in my hand.

“Oh, nothing.” I give him a smile. “Just a funny meme from Alex.”

I see Harper turn to stare at me from the corner of my eye, but I don’t give her the satisfaction of acknowledging her existence.

The message wasn’t from Alex. He has nothing I want anymore. Far as I’m concerned, he can take our friendship and shove it up his ass.

I don’t need anyone. And if I want something…? Well, there are enough people just waiting to beused.

Chapter 50

Jude

I get the message I’ve been waiting the whole fucking weekend for minutes after I step out of the cinema with Rosie. I have to admit, the movie wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be—except for the musical numbers. God, I hate musicals. The parts where the characters weren’t singing in unison though, those were pretty cool.

Rosie’s still sipping on her Slurpee, although it’s probably just flavored water by now. “Hang on, squirt.” I pull gently on her hand, leading her into a quiet alcove beside an action movie poster so I can read the message.

SENT

My stomach coils in on itself as a smile crawls onto my mouth. God, finally! Rosie squeals when I snatch her off the ground and throw her onto my shoulders. “Home time!” Her delighted giggles follow us through the foyer of Cinderhart’s only movie theater as I race with her to my truck.

---