Page 34 of The Lie
The class passes in a blur, and as soon as the bell rings, Roman is up and out of his chair faster than I am. I race to catch up with him, but instead, I bump into Britney Montlake. Fuck, just my luck on my first day back.
“Watch where you’re going, bitch.” She shoves me into someone passing by, and I right myself before falling over. Everyone moves away from us, watching and waiting.
“No, you better watch yourself, Britney.” I shake my head andtsk. “You can do whatever you want to me; I don’t give a shit. But you hurt my friend, and I won’t stand by and let that happen. What you did on Friday…I’m gonna get you for that, so you better watch your back. I’m gunning for you, bitch.”
I’m done with her shit. Hell, her childish bullying tactics were borderline PG. But no one hurts Grady. He’s the sweetest and kindest guy. She will pay for that, but not today. I have other things on my mind.
I storm off to chemistry. I know that Britney is in my class, but Roman and Hunter will also be there. Lucky for me, Roman’s my partner, which means he has to spend time with me for the whole class. I’m a little sad Hunter’s not near us. I would’ve liked to sit with them both.
Walking into the room, I take my usual spot, Roman swaggers in after me, his books under his arm, and he flips his hair over his head as he pauses to glance at me. How does he just walk into a room and turn me on? I shift in my seat. Gosh, I think I need to set aside some time with my boyfriend to work off some of this built-up sexual tension so I don’t jump Roman in the middle of the classroom.
He sits beside me, the chair scraping as he moves closer to the table and places his books down. Does Roman need help in this class to pass? He said he was failing; I don’t understand how he can be failing when he needs to pass to play on the football team. I’m just about to ask when Hunter dances into the room and I roll my eyes. That boy is a show pony. He loves the limelight.
“Babe,” he says, dancing over to me and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Roman.” Hunter moves in to kiss his cheek, and my eyes widen.
But Roman is faster. He grabs Hunter’s throat and growls. “No,” is all he says, but his meaning is loud and clear. Don’t touch him.
“All good, just saying hello to my two favorite people.”
“Oh look, just what we need more of—faggots,”Britney sneers from where she sits, and I see red, my chair flipping as soon as I stand.
I turn to her, and a sound emits from my throat that’s half scream, half growl, causing everyone to stare at me. I’m going to rip her eyes out. I reach out to swipe my hand at her, but Hunter grabs me around the waist.
Emerson comes into the classroom right at that moment. He stands there and looks between Hunter holding me back and Britney pretending to study her nails as though nothing is going on. “Fuck,” is all he says.
“Babe, calm down. She isn’t worth it.”
I beg to differ; she needs to tumble down a few pegs and crawl back into the hole she came out of.
“Mila, she’s blacklisted,” Emerson says. “We don’t talk to or associate with her. And you being Hunter’s girl…well, you’re one of us now. Always have been.” He smiles and nods.
Blacklisted? Well, I guess that’s a lot of pegs. She thrives on her queen bee status that she’s achieved by being Jace’s girlfriend and her bullying. That’s how she’s maintained her reign over all the students. But that status has been stripped from her, and that’s much worse than anything I could do to her.
I nod to Emerson, letting all the fight escape me as I lean against Hunter.
He kisses my neck. “That’s it, babe. Don’t even look at her.”
I point at Britney. “Don’t ever,ever, use that word again. I don’t care if you’re blacklisted or not, I will fuck you up.” I sneer in her direction as Hunter tries to get me back to my seat.
“Mila Hart,” a voice booms loudly in the room, and I slowly turn in Hunter’s arms.
Mr. Rayne is staring at me as he crooks his finger to come over.Fuck.
The principal’s office is stuffy and smells like stale coffee. Various plaques hang on the wall from prizes she’s won, mostly collecting dust. I sneeze just at the sight.
“Mila, your threat today toward Britney is unacceptable. We don’t tolerate bullies here at Ridgecrest. We’re an upstanding school, and I have no other choice but to suspend you for two days.”
“What?” I screech. “That’s not fair. Britney used a homophobic slur against two boys in class. I was only threatening her because she bullied them; any other student would have done the same.”
She sits back in her chair and looks out the glass of her door where Britney waits. Hunter and the girl he sits next to in class are there as well.
Mrs. Hadley stands and opens her door. “Ashley,” she calls, and the girl gets up.
Hunter looks at me, those big puppy dog eyes switched on. I think he’s trying to suck up to the principal. “Is there any way I can help, Mrs. Hadley?” He flashes a toothy grin, and she stumbles a little.
“We’re fine, Hunter, but thank you for your concern.” She closes the door and straightens out her blue shirt with a hint of a smile on her flushed cheeks.
Hunter…you dirty dog. How many times has he played Mrs. Hadley like that? I need to ask him.
