by Mae Doyle
“I’m not going anywhere.” I waited a moment to let that sink in, but nobody at the table responded, so I marched back to my friends. “Put it on,” I told Harper, slamming the bracelet on the table. “I’m not having you guys get in trouble because you don’t want to hurt my feelings by wearing a bracelet.”
She hesitated but then slipped it on. Maggie put hers on too, an apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry, Rose.” Maggie’s voice was small, but I smiled at her. There was no reason for my friends to feel so bad about what was going on. They shouldn’t be punished just for being friends with me. I opened my mouth to say something to them, but before I could, I heard footsteps behind me.
Twisting around in my seat, I saw Kelly walking towards us, her nose wrinkled, carrying something in her hands. She lifted it over my head before I could stop her and then dropped it onto my trout. A plate, loaded with shit, splattered onto my food, everything sliding off of the side of the plate towards me.
I shrieked, standing up as quickly as possible, and twisted something in my hip. Crying out, I fell, grabbing onto my chair for support as the full scent of my new dinner hit me. My stomach twisted and contracted, and I tried to breathe through my nose, not wanting to be sick.
Don’t throw up, don’t throw up.
Maggie and Harper were by my side in an instant, lifting me to my feet while laughter broke out around us. Kelly stood behind me, her arms crossed, a satisfied grin on her face.
“What was that for?!” I stood, gasping through the pain, as my hips twisted and my body straightened out. Maggie and Harper wanted to support me, but I pulled away from them, closing the gap to Kelly. “What kind of twisted joke is that?”
She laughed, then turned, flipping her hair in my face. “You don’t tell someone like Amelia to eat shit and then get away with it, you fucking loser.” She strolled over to Amelia, who hugged her, staring at me over Kelly’s shoulder.
So, it was like that, was it?
I was still hungry, but there wasn’t any way that I could sit down and eat. “I still have some contraband candy in my room, you guys.” Without looking to see if they were going to follow me, I walked out of the cafeteria. Every step sent shooting pain up into my back, but I held my face as stoic as possible. I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me squirm.
◆◆◆
“Are you sure that you had more candy? I swear that I left some under here the last time we all got together.” Harper peeked under my mattress for a third time, even though I told her I’d left it in my closet. Maggie dug through my desk, and I pulled my trunk out from under my hanging clothes, reaching for the lock to see if I’d left it all locked up, but the lock was gone.
“It’s gone.” I had a huge lock on my trunk to make sure that nobody got into my chocolate stash and that they stayed away from my diary. Panic gripped my heart and I felt my palms get sweaty as I flipped the lid of the trunk open. At first glance, it didn’t look like anything was missing, but I lifted the blanket I had on top and everything was gone.
All of my chocolate. My diary. The song writing book that I’d been filling out as I got new ideas for pieces that I could write. “No.” I whispered the word but both Maggie and Harper heard me.
“What is it?” Maggie reached me first, leaning over me to see into the trunk. “What was in there?”
“Everything.” Even though I could tell that it was empty, I swept my hands through the trunk, feeling into the corners. Nothing. Panicked, I pulled the trunk out and looked behind it, crawling all of the way into my closet and throwing out my shoes. Even as I did it, I knew that it was fruitless.
Someone had broken into my room and gotten into my trunk. They took everything. Everything. But how in the world did they know that that’s where I kept my secret stuff? I eyed my two friends and immediately pushed the thought out of my mind. They loved me and I honestly believed that they wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.
But all of the other students? It could be any of them.
“Did you guys ever tell anyone about the trunk?” Maggie and Harper shook their heads, their eyes wide. “Okay, but then how did they know?”
“You ever let anyone else in here?” Harper wrinkled her nose, obviously thinking about the fact that I didn’t have any other friends to invite into my space.
“Not a chance.”
“You think it was just luck? I have a trunk, too, so many they were just breaking into any trunks that they could find, and they happened to be in your room.” I looked at Maggie while she talked and her voice trailed off. She knew as well as I did that that wasn’t what happened.
“They’re watching me.” Even though I had no idea how, I knew with certainty that someone had broken into my room and was probably watching my every move. What was it that Kaleb had said? Oh, that I didn’t need to watch out for something, but for someone. The thought gave me chills.
“You guys want to go somewhere else for a bit?” I slammed the trunk lid shut and pushed it into the closet, ignoring the deep grooves that it scratched into the floor. Not my problem. I didn’t care one bit about Taylor Prep or its stupid floors right now.
“Let’s go to my room.” Harper’s was the farthest away from here, and since she looked a little spooked, she probably wanted to hide in her own space. “Maggie lives next to Amelia, anyway, and I doubt that any of us want to run into her.”
Oh, I’d like to run into her. I’d like to run into her with a Mack truck. Somehow the rogues and the harpies had managed to turn everyone in the school on me, but I still had a pretty good feeling that it was one of them who was behind all of this.
Chapter 14
“I’m surprised that you’re still here. You really can’t take a hint, can you?” Kaleb was in line behind me at breakfast. While everyone else in our class was doing their best to avoid talking to me or even being seen near me, he didn’t really seem to care. I guessed that being a rogue and royalty in the school meant that you could get away with anything.
“What hint? You mean the steaming pile of shit that was dropped on my dinner last night?” I grabbed a pear and whirred around to face him, squeezing the fruit so hard that my fingernails popped through its thin skin.
He just shrugged and leaned into me to push me farther down the line. My hip and side tingled with his touch. “You just need to know that Amelia takes things very literally. You told her to eat shit, right?”
I nodded, sliding my tray out of his way while he grabbed a pear and put it on his tray. “Well, she took you seriously.”
“Why are you even talking to me?” I grabbed a glass of juice and turned to face him. “Aren’t you afraid of being completely ostracized?”
He just chuckled, which infuriated me. Looking up at him, I noticed how his eyes sparkled when he smiled. Since I got to Taylor Prep I hadn’t really seen his face light up with joy, and my stomach twisted at how attractive he was.
That was messed up. His friends were out to get me and make my life miserable, and there I was, mooning over him in the breakfast line. I’m sure that there’s a name for my psychotic problem. Stockholm Syndrome comes close, but it’s not quite there. Rose Syndrome.
“They can’t do that to a rogue.” He lifted his hand and twisted it in front of me, the bracelet peeking out from under the cuff of his shirt. Unlike Jackie, who rolled his sleeves up, Kaleb usually wore his shirt buttoned up and often had on his jacket. While it looked boxy on some guys, all it did to Kaleb was show off his strong shoulders and trim body. My mouth watered and I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the way he made me feel.
“Where do I sign up?” He cocked an eyebrow at my question, so I continued. “To be a rogue. You guys are untouchable, and I’d prefer to not have a plate of shit at my meals.”
This time, he laughed out loud, the sound making everyone in the cafeteria turn to look at us. I felt myself turn bright red as I waited for him to respond to me. When he finally did, bending down low enough so that he could whisper in m
y ear, I wasn’t prepared for what he said.
“You can never be a rogue, Rose. You’re just not cut out for it. You’re the kind of person that gets destroyed at Taylor Prep, not the kind that’s strong enough to make it out. My advice? Get out now. You think that shit was bad? You have no idea.”
I shivered. “Why are you helping me?” I kept my voice as quiet as his, but he just shook his head and stood up like he didn’t hear me. I knew that he did, though. His eyes searched my face for just a moment, but he must not have found what he was looking for, because he swept past me to sit at the front table.
◆◆◆
“I saw you and Kaleb getting cozy at breakfast this morning.” Mrs. McKearin wasn’t in for our evening voice practice yet, and Amelia leaned closer to me. “I’m surprised to know that he’s a fan of shit eaters. Definitely thought that he had better taste than that.”
The harpies all started to twitter, but I did my best to ignore them. “That was a cute trick yesterday, Amelia. Did you manage to save yourself some?”
She grinned, and that was honestly scarier than if she had freaked out at me. “No, but I did find some great reading material for when I get bored.” The way she said it and the look on her face told me everything that I needed to know.
“You. You’re the one who broke into my room.” She grinned at me and shrugged. “How did you get a key? How did you break the lock on my trunk?”
“Please, Rose. I don’t know what cheap-ass budget store you bought that lock, but it only took one hit from a guy with actual muscles to take it off. I don’t know why you locked it up anyway, most of the stuff in there was shit. Trash, really.” She made a huge show of looking at her nails, and I had to bite back my retort as Mrs. McKearin walked in.
“You girls ready to wow me?” Amelia turned to her with a huge smile plastered on her face, and I tried to look as convincing. I knew that I had to make it through practice, but what Amelia said had me worried. What did she do with my diary?
I found out soon enough. Cutting through the dark quad on the way back to my dorm, I noticed a piece of paper flutter across the sidewalk. I stepped over it because I was in a hurry, but when another one blew in front of me, I stopped and picked it up.
My heart sank.
Scrawled across the page was my handwriting. I’d started this journal in the hospital after the accident. After my dad died. I remembered my mom buying it in the hospital gift shop and bringing it to me after I wouldn’t talk for three days straight.
The doctors all thought that there was brain damage, but my mom knew better. I just hadn’t been able to talk about it, but I could write it down. And now, ripped out of the diary, for everyone to find, bits of the pages were scattered around the quad.
I bit my lip, looking around for more. Laughter on a breeze caught my attention and I cut off of the sidewalk, walking toward the huge fountain in front of the school. As I got closer, the sound got louder and louder, until I realized what it was.
It sounded like a poetry reading. But people don’t laugh at a poetry reading. Or cheer.
My feet felt like lead and my hip ached, but I pushed on, rounding the corner of the school. The fountain was lit up with spotlights, the largest one trained on Brett. He was standing on the edge of the fountain, the bright lights directed on the spray behind him, creating a glimmering halo that surrounded him.
But he was not angelic.
My diary was gripped in his right hand and he held it up high, barely able to contain his laughter as he read from it.
“I just don’t know how I’m ever going to be able to forgive myself. My dad is…was everything to me, and now that he’s gone, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He paused for a dramatic effect and people clapped, led by Jackie, who was standing in the front. “You guys want me to keep going?” Brett sounded thrilled with himself, and when the crowd yelled for him to keep reading, he ripped out the page and threw it to the ground. A breeze caught it and it fluttered towards me, but he had already started reading the next page and nobody noticed.
Except Jackie. He had tracked the path of the paper as it was swept along by the wind, and he stared at me as I reached down and picked it up with trembling fingers. I remembered writing it. I remembered the tears that splashed down on the paper and how angry I’d been with myself, with the doctors, with my dad.
“Hold up.” Jackie’s voice was quiet, but he was commanding enough that even Brett paused to hear what he was going to say. “I think that we have a visit from the author.”
He pointed, and everyone turned to look at me, including Brett, whose face broke into a wide grin. “Rose! You came! We thought that we’d just have a little reading in your honor, but this is even better. Why don’t you hop on up here and you can be the one to do the reading for us? Does everyone want to hear Rose read her original work?” He addressed the question to the crowd, who all started to cheer.
No. This couldn’t be happening. My body was screaming for me to turn and run and to get as far away from here as possible, but I knew that I had to see this through. Slowly, I put one foot in front of the other, walking closer and closer to the fountain.
“Oh, she’s coming up to read!” Brett started clapping and everyone joined in. I could hear the sound, feel it all around me. Squinting, I kept my eyes on him, but I covered my ears.
Ripping metal, and someone screaming. The sound of the horn continually honking, and someone banging on the window. I reached over to my dad, my hands immediately slick with blood. The sound of someone kept banging as the engine in our car whined and growled.
Their claps sounded like someone banging on the window, and I felt my knees go weak. Even though I almost went down to the ground, I managed to save myself, stumbling into someone and grabbing their shoulder.
“Hey! Let go!” Kyle was in my math class and was always happy when I helped him with a problem, but now he looked angry that I would touch him.
My hand slipped from his shoulder as I stumbled towards Brett. I knew that there were tons of people watching me, but my focus was on him even as my vision narrowed and my breathing became shallow.
“Let me give you a hand there, Rose.” Brett leaned down to help pull me up next to him. His other hand, the one holding the remains of my journal, was held out to his side to give him balance. Ignoring his outstretched hand, I lunged, trying to grab the fluttering pages.
“Woah, there, killer!” Brett easily dodged my lunge, stepping to the side so that I fell forward. My hands ached where I caught myself on the rock of the fountain, but I turned immediately, glaring up at him.
“Give it to me.” My teeth were bared and my hair had fallen out of its ponytail as I stared at him. “Now, Brett!”
“Oh, no, darling, you don’t get to tell me what to do.” He flapped the papers in my face, grinning as I reached for them. “You don’t think that I’m just going to give this to you, do you? It’s prime reading material, Rose. Who knew that you were so twisted?”
“Please.” The word must have been soundless, because he turned from me back to the crowd.
“More?” The crowd clapped, and he held his arms up over his head. “I asked if you wanted more!” This time, the crowd cheered and whistled, and he looked down at me to wink. “Thanks for the great entertainment, Rose. Who knew that a stupid journal from a little gutter rat would be so fun to read?”
Turning, I stumbled away from the crowd. I couldn’t listen to this any longer. If I could just make it to my dorm then maybe I could pretend this didn’t happen.
Make myself believe it was a nightmare.
Before I broke free from the crowd, someone grabbed my arm, turning me around. I tripped and fell into them, wrapping my arms around their waist while I tried to regain my balance. Taking a huge whiff, I smelled coconut, and I knew that when I looked up I’d see straight into Kaleb’s green eyes.
Instead, I buried my head in his chest, tears leaking from my eyes. His heart was pounding as hard as mine, but
before I could think about what that meant, someone grabbed me and pulled me back. This time, when I looked up, it was into Jackie’s cocky face.
“You didn’t think that you were going to leave the show, did you, Rosita?” He pulled and Kaleb let go of me. “We’re just getting started, you know.” He ran his free hand through his brown hair and pointed at Brett. “Your old friend here is quite the performer, isn’t he? But the material really helps. It’s just packed with feeling, don’t you think?”
I didn’t answer, choosing to look instead at my feet than at his face or at Brett. When he reached out and took my chin in his hand, I flinched, but he forced my face up to look at him. “You want to get up there and tell everyone what it was like to be next to daddy when he died? That had to be pretty emotional, huh, Rosita?”
“Please, no.” I felt my knees go weak again, but before I could fall, Kaleb wrapped his arm around my waist, snugging me to his side and holding me up.
“You had the chance to leave, Rosita.” Jackie brushed my hair behind my ear and I shivered. It was such a loving gesture, if only I didn’t know how much he hated me. If only I thought that maybe he liked me, not just to torture me. “Brett gave you ample time. You don’t belong here, and this just shows everyone how different you really are.”
“Let me go.” Even as I said the words, I didn’t try to pull away. Brett was still reading from my journal, tearing out each page as he finished and letting them flutter down. Some of them ended up in the fountain, others fluttered along the ground, swept by the wind, but nobody paid them any mind. Everyone was staring at Brett, completely rapt.
“You should go.” Jackie let go of my arm as Kaleb moved away from my side, turning me back to the dorm. “Run and hide, Rosita. Get out of Taylor Prep while you still can.
I couldn’t run, and he knew that, but I could hobble, and I did. The walk back to the quad seemed to take forever. I had laughter ringing in my ears and my side and arm were hot and aching from where Jackie and Kaleb had touched me.