Page 209 of The Surprise Play
There has to be a decent reason. Wily’s too kind to just throw me off a cliff. Something was holding him back, and I need to find out what it is.
Curling my fingers into fists, I start walking back to my dorm. It’s too far to go the whole way on foot, but the cold, crisp air stings my cheeks, and I welcome it.
I walk for a good fifteen minutes before stopping at a diner for a bite to eat.
Craving comfort, I order fries, a slice of chocolate pie, and a Coke.
All the fat and sugar tastes delicious, and I down the meal in record time, momentarily relieved. Although, as I pay, the sad emotion I tried to bury under all that food quickly resurfaces, and by the time my Uber arrives and is dropping me off outside Buckley Hall, I’m back in the war zone again.
Shit.
Why didn’t Wily tell his parents the truth?
Is he ashamed of me?
I don’t want that to be right, but he must be embarrassed because?—
“There she is.”
I hear that familiar female voice and immediately tense.
No, no, no!
Not tonight.
My entire body convulses, my skin instantly breaking out in an itchy burn as Team Evil 2.0 clip toward me. They’ve obviously been waiting to pounce, and I so can’t face this right now.
Hunching my shoulders, I grip my bag strap and mumble, “Not tonight, you guys. Please.”
“Oh, this is happening, Fatty Satchwell.” Jade grabs my coat sleeve and pulls me to a stop. “We were humiliated at the party!”
I can’t help a scathing scoff as I spin to face them. “Oh no. Did someone embarrass you?”
My words are drenched in such a thick layer of sarcasm that all they can do is scowl at me, like how dare I have the audacity to mock them.
Are they seriously not getting the irony here?
They have been humiliating me for most of my life!
Anger fires through me so hot and fast it takes everything in me not to lash out with my fists. I want to grab their perfect shiny hair and rip chunks of it out of their scalps. I want to kick and maim and unleash a little hellfire in retaliation for all they’ve done to me.
I have no idea where this rage is suddenly comingfrom. Maybe it’s because of the harrowing afternoon I’ve just had trying to process my boyfriend’s devastation. But it’s like the lid just flew off my boiling pot of water, and I’m so beyond pissed off that fear has taken a back seat for once.
Damn, it actually feels quite good.
I’m not stupid enough to act on any of this anger coursing through me, but it does give me the strength to turn and try to walk away.
“Rumor has it your boyfriend’s in the hospital.” Viper Girl spits out the words. “What happened? Did you try to ride him, and you broke his poor body?”
Oh. That. Is. It!
They can insult me, but they are not saying a word about Wily. He’s going through hell right now, and they’re mocking it?
“Shut the fuck up,” I seethe.
“What did you just say?” Jade’s indignant surprise makes me spin, just so I can get a glimpse of her horrified expression.
It’s with a sick sense of smug satisfaction that I walk back toward her and yell right in their faces. “I said ‘Shut the FUCK up!’”
