Her dark hair was tangled at the bottom, and her uniform didn’t fit like it should have. Her once rosy cheeks, tinted with color from laughing too much, were pure white. She reminded me of a porcelain china doll. Breakable. And by the looks of the bruises and cut on her face, someone already tried to test that out.
It didn’t take long for her gaze to wander over to me. We always were drawn to one another, like moths to a flame. The hope in her eyes crawled over my skin like razor blades, cutting my very flesh, only for the hope to diminish and soothe those cuts when I shot her a glare. Know your place. You don’t belong here.
If Hayley thought she had an ally here at English Prep, she was sorely mistaken. I’d break her just like she broke me. She was the start of a destructive avalanche that ruined my family.
Game on, China Doll.
Chapter Three
Hayley
I’d been at English Prep for approximately one and a half hours, and those one and a half hours felt like seven thousand years. I’d already learned so much, none of which was valuable or of any importance to furthering my education. I’d learned right off the bat that I was more alone in this school than I had been at Oakland High. At least at Oakland High I had Stacey and Matt. We were outcasts, but at least we were outcasts together.
At English Prep, I was the only outcast. It seemed everyone already had their “group”, which made sense. I mean, these kids had been going to school together since the silver spoon was plopped in their mouths at age three, but not one of these wealthy kids had a friendly bone in their body. Noses had been upturned in my direction; wary glances were sent my way in the hallway; and let’s not forget the moment I caught Christian’s eye.
Chills broke out along my arms just thinking about it. I felt queasy, and I hated that. I didn’t expect us to pick up right where we left off, but I also didn’t expect him to hate me. And that was exactly what it was. Christian looked at me like I’d ripped his heart out and fed it to the wolves. His glare was steely, cold, and hit me right in the chest.
I blew out a breath and tried to think of anything else but him and his cold demeanor toward me. I lazily glanced around the lunchroom as I stood with my back against the wall. It was a quaint lunchroom; no more than fifty students were eating their fresh salads and grilled chicken that smelled heavenly. My mouth watered at the decadent scent. I was trying to come up with a plan to steal an apple or banana from the lunch line without being seen when something caught my eye from across the lunchroom.
Christian.
My head began to turn away, but I held my ground instead. You’re not that girl anymore, Hayley. Chin up. I leveled my shoulders but kept my face neutral. I wasn’t going to glare at him. I had no reason to. My heart moved in my chest as his gaze stayed in line with mine. There was plenty of chatter in the lunchroom, but it was muted as I locked onto those stormy eyes. His group of friends were in conversation, not noticing our little stare-off. It’d been years since I’d seen or heard from him, and yet, he still had some strange hold over me. I’d always felt tethered to him, even when he’d be halfway across the auditorium each morning before we’d depart to our classes in seventh grade. I felt my lips rising at the corners with the thought, but they stopped climbing when I felt a presence beside me. It took everything I had to tear my eyes away from my old friend, but whoever was beside me was standing entirely too close for comfort.
I slowly craned my neck and was met with a girl posse. You know the type: fake tans, too-white teeth, about a pound of makeup on, reeked of perfume.
“That’s Christian,” the Britney Spears look-alike said. I knew she was the leader of the group, because she stepped forward as the rest of the girls stepped back. She was their ruler, and by the looks of her, she thought she ruled the entire school.
I smiled, the slice on my lip cracking open again. The taste of blood darted onto my tongue. “I know who he is.”
Her face blanched for a millisecond before she recovered, popping her hip out at the same time her hand hit it. “He’s mine.”
I snorted, and a laugh followed it. I slowly turned my head back over to Christian, and he was still staring at me. I cocked an eyebrow. Really?
“I said he’s mine, so you can stop staring at him, Hayley.”
When my eyes met hers again, I eyed her suspiciously.
She flipped her blonde hair behind her shoulder. “Yeah, I know who you are. I know everything there is to know about you.”
“I highly doubt that.”
She turned back and looked at her friends, and, as if on cue, they all smiled creepily like a group of Cheshire cats. Just then, the girl raised her long arm in the air and snapped her fingers three times before the chatter of the cafeteria quieted.
Oh, great. A show. And I’m in the spotlight.
“Hello, fellow classmates. We have a newcomer, and I've decided to take it upon myself to introduce her.” She walked over to a table full of boys who looked like they belonged in a chess club together and gave them one withering stare before they scattered like marbles being dropped on a freshly waxed floor. Another one of the girl’s friends ran over quickly and pulled out a chair for her to climb on to stand in the middle of one of the lunch tables.
This is ridiculous.
I should have just walked out right then. I didn’t have to be the butt of their joke. I didn’t have to let her bully me. In fact, I could have ripped her hair out right then and called it a day, but then I would have been kicked out of this stuffy, prestigious school and sent back to Oakland High, and that would have been the end of me getting a scholarship to an Ivy League school. If I left now, it’d look like I was retreating, like I was backing down, and that wasn’t me. I learned pretty quickly after my dad died that you couldn’t run from trouble. It’d find you one way or another.
Running is what got him killed in the first place.
I had a hard exterior now. Whatever this bitch was going to say or do would be nothing compared to what I’d been through.
I crossed my arms over my chest, my back unmoving from the wall, ready to enjoy the show.
“English Prep, this is Hayley Smith. Our new classmate. Can we all give her a warm welcome?”
I willed my face to stay a neutral color. I had no idea if it got red, but I was praying to God it didn’t.
Everyone in the lunchroom booed me. But I continued to keep my feet planted on the ground, watching from below.
The girl, who I now knew was Madeline from someone yelling her name in awe, spun around and mocked a smile in my direction. I cranked my neck up higher to stare into her eyes. She batted her thick eyelashes and puffed out her lips. “So, Hayley, would you like to tell everyone a little about yourself? Or should I do the honors?”
I didn’t even bat an eyelash. I did, however, look around the room to see if any of the faculty members were witnessing this, because if they were, and they were letting it slide, they couldn’t be trusted. But much to my surprise, there wasn’t a single adult in the room except for a lunch lady who was too busy replacing tomatoes in the salad bar.
“No?” Madeline giggled. “Let me do the honors, then.” She jumped down from the table, her skirt flying up so high everyone could see her classically pink thong, and came over to stand beside me. It took every ounce of willpower I had to keep my expression bored and my hands from knocking her on her ass.