Their faces blanched and they shook their heads. “Nah. We’re good. We just saw the video and just wanted to say you were epic.”
“Good.” Jaxson spread his hands out and motioned to the crowd before shouting. “Anyone else have questions or comments? Come on over now and we’ll deal with them.”
There were whispers and murmurs along the people gathering around, who were all shaking their heads in unison.
“And another thing. If any of you harass my girl for any reason, she’ll kick your ass and then I’ll come along and kick it again for good measure. Spread those fucking rumors.”
I’ll kick their asses. Jesus. When we turned our backs to the crowd, I looked up at him with questions in my gaze. “Are you serious?” I whispered.
He gave me a wink and shut his locker, slinging his bag onto his shoulder, then closed and locked my locker for me before steering me down the hallway toward the theater. “It’s not a problem. It doesn’t matter why you’re here. You’re with me and protected. They won’t harass you. Trina and her crew will shit on you, but don’t worry about her. When it comes right down to it, she won’t do shit. The only power they have over you is what you give to them, remember that.”
Easy for him to say. He could kick the ass of anyone in this school and he still had their respect. Hell, he was even more respected than ever!
Me…. That still remained to be seen.
~*~ TT ~*~
Jaxson was standing outside my second-period chemistry class waiting for me and Damien to exit. Grinning, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, indulging in his lips and not giving a shit who saw. “Look at you, my private bodyguard.”
“Since it’s my fault you’re in this mess…”
I gave him another kiss. “She hated me from the moment she saw me, I think she smelled the trailer park on me.”
“Wanna break it up before I start getting horny?” Damien’s comment was like a glass of ice water being thrown at me. I stepped from my man and stuck my tongue out at Damien. “That’s not changing the status of my hard-on.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re gay!” The three of us began making our way to the cafeteria.
“Girl, your point? Look who you were kissing. Duh!”
Laughing, I looked up at Jaxson who grinned and shrugged. The day was good so far. We’d seen Trina and her minions in the theater. We’d arrived before her and had taken our spots at the back row. When she came in, she and her girls made a point to give us dirty stares before taking their normal seats at the front. They made it clear to me they weren’t done with me—not by a long shot.
If I was a betting girl the drama would happen in one of two places, the cafeteria or the changing rooms before phys ed class. Custer’s last stand was going to go down; I could feel it in every fiber of my being. But for now as we walked through the halls on our way to the cafeteria everyone was being respectful, as if I wasn’t the outlier of the school.
Entering the cafeteria, my eyes went straight to the table that Trina and her group usually sat at, but they weren’t to be found and the table was empty. “Wonder where they are?” I said, more to myself than to anyone else.
“Who cares? A lunch without drama. Yes please,” Jaxson replied.
The three of us headed for the lunch line and once we’d grabbed what we wanted we made our way back to our table, where everyone else was already seated and waiting. I immediately spotted Olivia and smiled, while giving her a wave. It was nice to see her out of the drama room and mingling, though I knew it had more to do with Gabriel than with me or Damien, but that was fine by me.
Maybe that nagging in the pit of my stomach had been wrong. It had been such an up-and-down roller coaster ride from the moment I arrived here that maybe I just expected the worst.
“See babes,” Jaxson said sliding an arm over my shoulder and kissing my temple. “Everything is fine. Maybe they’ve accepted defeat.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when Trina, along with six other girls, entered the cafeteria and began making their way toward our table. They looked like a group of models on a mission, with their mission being me.
“I’ll deal with it.” Jaxson started to stand, but I placed a hand on his arm and urged him back down.
“No, I’ll deal with it.” I stood and was about to approach her, meeting the group halfway, when a better plan came to mind. Stepping onto the bench, I climbed onto the table, only slightly concerned that I would be showing everyone at my table my underwear due to the skirt. But who fucking cared, I was from the trailer park and it was about time to own where I came from instead of trying to hide it.
“Everyone!” I yelled out. The chatter that was going on in the cafeteria immediately came to a grinding halt and all eyes became glued on me. My heart was beating so rapidly in my chest that I thought I may pass out, but I had to remain strong. This was important. I was going to make my stand and either everyone would respect me or shun me, either way this would be over.
“I have a little something to say. I’m the newbie here at Greisbach Academy. Some of you know me. Some of you don’t. Those who know me most likely know me as Jaxson’s girlfriend since we’ve only been in school a few weeks and I was suspended for punching Trina for one of those weeks.”
My audience began chattering and there were a number of snickers and a few whoops from the crowd. I ignored it all. This wasn’t about me taking pride in what I did. This was about me accepting who I was and wearing it with pride.
“A lot of things have gone on in such a short period of time.” I looked down and smiled at Jaxson. “I was lucky enough to find an amazing guy that I love and adore.”
More chattering, louder than before. Some faces looked surprised. Most of the girls and even a few of the guys looked envious. But I ignored all that.
“I’m on the volleyball team and expect us to win the championship this year!”
Cheers erupted.
My eyes locked onto Trina’s and I motioned for everyone to hush. “But volleyball also isn’t why I’m standing here today. I’m here today because I’m not like most of you. I never grew up with money, or privilege, or even food sometimes. I grew up dirt poor in a trailer park in Florida with my mother, who worked her ass off every day as a waitress to keep the lights on. How did I manage to be able to move here and attend this school you may ask? It’s because me and my mother won the Powerball…the lottery. I’m here out of dumb, sheer luck.”
The entire cafeteria went silent. I would bet you could hear a pin drop. I looked from Trina and down to Jaxson who smiled up at me, admiration and pride in his eyes. It gave me the courage to go on.
“I thought I wasn’t as good as all of you because of my past and I allowed my fear to dictate my actions. I spent a shit ton of money just to look like all of you, trying to fit in. And my attempt to keep my past and the lottery win a secret caused a lot of damage that I take blame for. But I’m not afraid anymore. I stand here in front of you all because I’m proud to be me, who I was and who I will become. I’m proud of the people in my life who accepted me for me.” I smiled at Damien and Olivia who nodded at me, Damien giving me a thumbs-up.
“You got this honey,” Damien said, encouraging me to go on.
“Someone tried to out me over the weekend and hurt the people I love in process. I’m going to say right here and now that I will not retaliate. I call a ceasefire between myself and Trina. This is a big enough school that we can both coexist here. But that being said I am not and will never be a victim, so if anyone has a problem with who I am or with my friends speak now.”
I held my breath and waited. No one said a word, maybe they were in shock? Even Trina stood there twenty-five feet away from me with hate in her eyes, but she didn’t say a word. I looked each one of her lackeys in the eye. None of them spoke.
Clearing my throat, I nodded. “Okay then.” I turned to Jaxson and he offered me his hand to help me back down.
“Run for council,�
� I heard someone shout out, but couldn’t see who because there was a cheer that erupted with that statement.
As gracefully as possible I go back down onto the floor and smiled.
“Let’s get outta here, babes.” Slinging an arm over my shoulders Jaxson led me through the cafeteria. As we passed Trina I could tell that despite my speech this wasn’t over. There was still a storm coming, but her leverage was gone. I did what I should have done from day one and took control of my destiny instead of letting the bullies of Greisbach Academy dictate it for me.
As we approached the exit, I was surprised to see Headmistress Witherspoon standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes laser focused on me. Her expression was unreadable.
Shit, this wasn’t going to be good…. I really hoped this wasn’t my second strike.
I forced a smile to my lips. “Headmistress Witherspoon.”
As we were about to brush past her, she grabbed my arm stopping me.
Fuck my life.
She leaned in so close to me that I could feel her breath on my cheek, it smelt of spearmint. With a lowered voice she said, “You should run for council, Miss Rigby. The student body could use someone like you.”
I smiled and gave her a nod. “I’ll think about it.”
She released my arm and smiled. “You do that.”
Jaxson urged me forward. Once we were out of sight of the cafeteria I deflated and let my head drop against Jaxson’s broad shoulder. “Ohmygod, was that bad?”
He stopped and spun me around so that I was facing him directly. “That was amazing.” He chuckled as he stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “I knew you had it in you. I’m so damned proud of you, babes.”
I grinned, pride welling up in me as I looked up into those dark eyes that I loved, the ones that made me weak in the knees just looking into them. “Me too.”
The End
Don’t forget to look for book 2 in the Upper East Side series “Power Play” coming in early to mid-Nov!
To hear about Trinity Towers new Releases and news please sign up for her newsletter!
Trinity Towers Contact Information
Email: [email protected]
Facebook Friend Page
Outsider: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #1) Page 16