Page 57 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

His smirk turns into a grin. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“I knew it,” I say, stabbing a finger at him as I pass. “You made it up.”

“You gonna tell on me?” he calls.

My hand is on the door, but I don’t push it open. I stand there for a second, listening to the sound of the trolley wheels squeaking. Then a pair of sneakers coming closer.

Apollo comes into view from the corner of my eye. He leans against the wall near the hinge of the door and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Because you can go rat me out if you want, but it won’t change anything.”

“I’ll get to eat proper food again,” I snap.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” He sighs and leans his head against the wall too, scratching at his forehead with his thumbnail. There’s a mark there, under the hair hanging in his eyes. A star-shaped scar. An old sports injury maybe?

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to leave? I mean, this place sucks ass. Why the fuck would you want to come to school here anyway?”

I gape at him. “What the hell does it matter to you where I go to school?” I take a step closer and poke a finger in his chest. “I don’t need your permission to be here.”

His smile becomes a grin. “You’re cute when you’re mad.”

“Fuck you!” I blurt out. “You’d better stop?—”

My only warning is the sudden stutter of his eyes as he catches sight of something behind me. I spin around, already clamping my mouth closed.

Too late.

I’d been so caught up with yelling at Apollo I hadn’t spotted Sister Miriam coming into the kitchen.

“Sister, he—” I point behind me, and even turn a little to make it clear who I’m accusing.

Don’t ever turn your back on an angry nun.

She grabs my ear and yanks so hard I swear it almost comes off. I yell and shoot to my tiptoes so my ear doesn’t tear free.

“Enough,” Miriam snaps. “Enough, enough,enough!” The last word booms through the kitchen like a bomb going off.

Where there’d been the idle clatter of pans and cutlery, everything cuts off. The handful of people inside the kitchen are all staring at me.

Then Sister Miriam does the unthinkable.

She drags me out of the kitchen and through the dining hall…by my fucking ear.

Tears streak down my cheeks from the pain and humiliation, but I already know that whatever’s coming next is going to be a thousand-fold worse.

This is what happens when you fight back, Trinity.

Should’ve eaten the goddamn gruel. But no. Suddenly, you think you deserve a slice of normal.

Wrong.

So very fucking wrong.

No one in this place is your friend. They’ll never be your friend. Even Gabriel’s already trying to get rid of you. Maybe you should pack your things and start walking.

The forest will be more hospitable than this place.

Chapter 20

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