Page 100 of Vicious Saint
“Well, that sucks. But I’m at least glad nobody caused it.”
“Yup.” Theory chuckles uncomfortably. “Nobody. Just clumsy little me.”
“So, what did these kids do to you?”
“Well, for starters, my speech. It was severely delayed after my jaw shattered.”
I leave out the fact I already suspected this, and allow her to continue.
“Then from sixth to eighth it was my speech and appearance.”
Her appearance? The girl is a bombshell—like a younger version of Nina Dobrev.
“They called you ugly?”
She shakes her head. “No. The opposite. Apparently being pretty meant I’d never have brains. Or be good for anything else besides my looks since I couldn’t speak properly.”
“You know that isn’t true, right? In fact, I barely notice your lisp and stutter anymore.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen me triggered yet.”
“Whatever, dude. You still seem to have come a long way.”
She shrugs. “Yeah, I guess. I mean…I finally stopped needing speech therapy in high school. But the bullying continued.”
Oh boy.
“What else did they do?”
“Freshman year someone started a rumor that I wasn’t a virgin…”
Yikes. Enough said.
“Was it true?”
“No.” She huffs. “But that didn’t stop me from being called a whore all the time. Even though most of the girls in the boarding school weren’t even virgins themselves.”
Fucking shit.
Where can I catch the express train to Hell?
I ignore the twinge in my chest, semi hating and loving the fact I chose to keep my mouth shut about what I called Theory.
“I hope you stuck up for yourself.”
“I mean, yeah. Told them to fuck off and eventually became numb to it. Pretended I didn’t care in hopes they’d stop.”
“That must’ve been really tough. I’m sorry.”
She blinks over at me, eyes shining with held back tears. “I’d cry myself to sleep every night—sometimes still do when I see what those girls say about me on social media.” Theory pauses, her pointer circling the brim of her cup. “And now, since everyone knows I got caught hooking up with two guys on the football field, the name calling has already begun.”
“Have you told Saint?”
“Do you think they’d still be breathing if I did?”
Fair point.
“Well, now you have me.”
