Page 146 of Restless
Hearing how her co-stars gossiped about her humiliated Harley.
“Harley’s been a diva ass bitch. She needs to fucking chill out.”
“Real talk,” Ariana agreed. She was mixed like Mommie. “She thinks she’s all that. Bitter Black bitch.”
Alliteration aside, the words sparked Harley’s temper. After suffering CJ’s rejection, Daddy’s unnecessary behavior, and Mattie and Rebel’s desertion, she’d had enough. She threw open the stall door and reveled in the look of shock on Ariana and Erin’s faces.
She stormed to them and tried to mimic the scary scowl Rebel had perfected. “I’m a what now?” she snarled.
Dressed in jeans and a turtleneck sweater, Ariana started backing away.
She was a petite girl, roughly the size of Aunt Meggie, so Harley’s 5’6 frame towered over her. She liked that. It gave her a confidence boost. If the confrontation turned physical, she’d undoubtedly win.
She was raised by bikers, after all, so she was well-versed in violence. And watching Rebel and Mattie fight every two seconds allowed her to learn some techniques.
Erin—a tall girl with blue eyes and long strawberry blonde waves—grabbed Harley’s arm and spun her around, glaring daggers at her.
“Thank God!” Ariana cried in relief.
“Were you stalking us?” Erin demanded.
Harley laughed in her face. “This is a public space, dumb ass. If you didn’t want others to overhear, you should’ve talked in private. Besides, I have better things to do with my time than to stalk you two bitches.”
Shock flittered across Erin’s face. At school—everywhere—Harley was known as the peacekeeper among her, Mattie, and Rebel. She wasn’t the confrontational one, but Harley couldn’t allow them to get away with such insults.
Ariana ran to Erin’s side and grabbed her hand. “Let’s just go, before she calls her little gangster friends.”
Harley wanted to laugh. If anything, she was the most ‘gangster’ of the Dweller daughters. She was the only one who’d been arrested and spent a couple hours in an actual jail cell. She didn’t need help to put two catty bitches in their places.
“I don’t need anyone to beat your asses,” Harley declared, standing straighter. Least of all, Rebel and Mattie, who treated her like a plague victim.
Erin snorted a laugh. “I can pick your ass up, bitch.”
At roughly 5’11, she probably could. And being a cheerleader, she had some muscle. Still, Harley had fought boys before and she was quite athletic herself, so she wasn’t scared.
“And I can dropkick you, you overgrown giraffe.”
Rage settled into Erin’s face.
In a moment of boldness, Ariana inserted herself between Harley and Erin. She glared at Harley. Apparently, unaware of how tiny she was, she shoved her. “Take that back, you nappy-headed hoe.”
The force of Ariana’s push caught Harley off-guard. Stumbling backward, she nearly fell, but managed to regain her bearings and charge Ariana. Grabbing her light brown curls, she tossed Ariana to the grimy floor. Ignoring the smaller girl’s screech, Harley straddled her and continued her attack, ending with a blow to her nose.
A crack echoed around them.
Erin gasped.
Ariana’s cry of pain emboldened Harley, and she punched the girl again, hurt and angry and betrayed. Blood spewed from Ariana’s nostrils. The girl’s once straight little button nose would now be crooked.
Harley grinned, wishing it was Molly, Rebel, or Mattie she was punching.
“You crazy bitch!” Ariana cried, holding her broken nose. Tears streamed down her honey-colored cheeks.
Before Harley could reply, or resume her attacks, she was given a taste of her own medicine.
“Get off her!” Erin shrieked, snatching a fistful of Harley’s braids and yanking her off her friend.
Bad enough. Adding insult to injury, Erin threw Harley onto the floor, allowing her friend to scramble away, and proceeded to kick Harley’s stomach. The breath whooshed from her lungs as pain blossomed in her abdomen. Hot tears sprang to her eyes. Instinctively, she curled into a ball and wrapped an arm around her head.
