She stared right into my eyes as she waited for my response, her own eyes searching and curious. Heat prickled all over my body, and I found myself wondering if I had done something. Wondering if I had something to hide…
“No,” I finally said. “I honestly can’t think of anything.”
Trina’s eyes darted to Adam. “Call Hunter,” she said. “Ask him what the hell is going on.”
“Right. Sure.” Adam pulled out his cell phone and pressed a couple of buttons.
I heard a faint ringing on the other end, and then a gruff voice. I couldn’t make out any of Hunter’s words, but I could tell by his tone that he wasn’t happy.
“You know exactly why I’m calling,” Adam said to him, eyes narrowing. “I’d like to know why you’ve taken out a social hit on Laney.” He paused. “No, that’s a bullshit answer. Tell me.” Another pause, much longer this time. Trina and I waited with bated breath. “Are you kidding?” he finally went on. He let out a derisive snort. “Grow the fuck up, Hunter. No. I can do whatever I want. Yeah, whatever.”
He hung up and angrily shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Nothing useful.”
Trina put her hands on her hips. “He said something. There was an awfully long pause in there on your end.”
Adam let out a short sigh of annoyance. “All he said was: ‘She knows what she did’. I said that was a bullshit answer, and then he said: ‘If you want to know, just ask her. All she has to do is come clean to you and everyone else, and then this will be over. Until that happens, I’m not telling you jack-shit’.”
“Then what?”
“He said I need to stay away from you,” he replied, looking right at me. “I said no, I can do whatever I want. Then he said if I know what’s good for me, I’ll stay away from you, and I definitely won’t hang out with you alone.”
“Jesus,” Trina muttered.
“Do you really have no idea what he’s talking about?” Adam asked, still looking at me. “When he says you know what you did?”
Hot tears were clouding my vision now. This was a horrible mistake. It had to be.
“I don’t know anything,” I said, sinking down against the tiled wall. I put my head in my hands. “I don’t know what’s going on. I really, really don’t.”
“I believe you,” Trina said after a long moment. She crouched next to me and rubbed my back.
“Me too,” Adam added. “I can tell when someone is lying. You’re not.”
“Thanks.” I drew in a deep breath. “You guys should get to class. You could be late if you don’t leave now.”
“It’s just homeroom first period,” Trina said. “Ms. Schiffer is nice. She doesn’t care if we’re a bit late.”
“What about you, Adam?” I asked.
“I hate to play this card,” he began. “But my family basically built half of this school. I could be late every single day of the year and I still wouldn’t face any consequences. So I’m staying with you.”
I forced a smile. “I really appreciate it, but I heard what you said earlier. If you guys stay friends with me, you’re screwed. We’ve only known each other for a day, so it’s not worth getting you in trouble. I’d feel horrible if anything happened to you.”
Trina arched an eyebrow. “Hell no. I’m not leaving you. I know we’ve only known each other for five seconds, but I really like you.”
“Me too,” Adam chimed in.
My eyes widened. “Why?”
“You know when you meet someone and you just click with them? You feel like you’ve known them all your life?” Trina said. “That’s how it is with you. So I’m not ditching you over some dumbass blacklist.”
I shook my head. “Please... I really don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
“We won’t.” Trina folded her arms. “Honestly, they can add me to the fucking list for my insubordination if they want. I don’t care, because I know you haven’t done anything to deserve it. I can tell. So I’m sticking by you.”
“Same,” Adam said. “Besides, Hunter is the head of the Princes. He wouldn’t let them or anyone else do anything to his own brother. Especially since….” He trailed off and rubbed his jaw. “Look, you’re stuck with us whether you like it or not. Got it?”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yup,” they said in unison.
Both of their phones suddenly chimed at the same time. They pulled them out and frowned at their screens.
“What is it?” I asked, stomach churning.
“Someone’s made a blacklist group chat to discuss you. Where you are, what you’re doing, and so on,” Trina said softly. “They’ve added every single student in the school.”
“Except me,” I whispered.
Adam nodded, fingers flying over his screen. “I’m saying ‘fuck this’ and leaving the chat,” he said. “There. Done.”
“I think I should stay in it,” Trina said. “Just to see what they’re saying. I know most of them aren’t dumb enough to say anything too bad on a permanent chat, but some of them might be. So if they’re planning anything against you, I can find out and help you avoid it.”
“Shit, I should’ve thought of that,” Adam said. “Good idea.”
My phone vibrated multiple times in my pocket. My heart raced as I pulled it out and switched on the screen.
I had at least twenty messages on my Messenger app from students whose names I didn’t recognize. All of them were calling me a bitch, a slut, a stupid cunt… or worse. They were set up in the ‘secret message’ section of the app, so they disappeared as soon as I read them. No evidence to show the teachers or headmaster.
Not that it would make a difference.
“It’s already started,” I said, slipping my phone back in my pocket. “I just got a shit-ton of abusive messages.”
“Ignore them,” Trina said soothingly. “It’s only words.”
I knew that was just a line to make me feel better. Words could hurt just as much as physical attacks. Sometimes even worse.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said. The tears were stinging my eyes now, threatening to spill out at any second.
Like a house of cards in a gust of wind, my newfound acceptance into the halls of the elite was gone. Destroyed with a simple black paint job.
I should’ve known yesterday was too good to be true. I should’ve known I could never truly fit in here.
“Me neither. I’m so sorry, Laney,” Trina said.
“Maybe I should just leave.”
“No!” She pulled me to my feet and gently shook my shoulders. “You worked your ass off to be here! The rest of us were just lucky enough to fall out of the right vagina in Royal Falls.”
“But how can I deal with a whole year of this shit?”
“You won’t have to,” Adam said. “We’ll figure out what Hunter’s problem is with you, and we’ll end it. One way or another.”
“And until then? Am I just supposed to let it happen?”
“Like I said before: ignore it,” Trina replied. “Keep your chin up. Be strong. Don’t let them know they’re getting to you.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. I knew she was right. I deserved my spot here at the academy, and I shouldn’t give any of the bullies the satisfaction of knowing they were bothering me already.
“We’ll be around you most of the time anyway,” Adam said. “Trina is in most of your classes, right?”
“Yes. But what about the others?” I asked, already dreading the classes we didn’t share.
“I don’t know,” he replied, shoulders sagging. “I guess you’ll just have to hope they leave you alone in class.”
“Wait,” Trina cut in. “Laney, do you remember those girls I told you about yesterday? The ones I call the Supermodel Club?”
I nodded miserably. “Yeah.”
“They’ll be nice to you, so if any of them are in your other classes, try to sit near them.”
“Why would they be nice to me if I’m blacklisted? Wouldn’t they be worried about the same thing happening to them?”
Adam shook his head. “No. It’s weird. That group seems to have some sort of understanding with the Princes. They don’t get involved with any of their shit, and vice versa. No repercussions.”
“Let’s be real,” Trina said, rolling her eyes. “It’s because they’re all uber-gorgeous. I bet half the Princes are probably desperate to bone them, and they know they’d ruin their chances forever if they attacked any of them, so they leave them alone. That’s my theory, anyway.”
I nodded slowly. “So they’ll really be nice to me?”
“Yes.” She glanced down at her phone. “Look at this,” she added, scrolling up the screen. She showed it to me—the blacklist group chat. I couldn’t see any of the messages; only that ten girls had left the chat.
“Is that them?” I asked.
“Yup. See what I mean? They’re refusing to participate in the blacklist bullshit.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess,” I mumbled.
“I’ll send you this screenshot so you can learn their names. If Adam and I aren’t around, and you think something truly awful is going to happen, try to find them. They’ll protect you.”
“If they’re so nice and cool, why don’t we just hang around them all the time?” I asked, knitting my brows.
“They’re part of an exclusive school club. Kinda like a secret society for girls,” Trina explained. “I’ve never been invited to join. So even though they’re nice to me and everyone else, I can’t actually hang out with them. No one can, unless they get invited.”
“Oh.”
“It’s a bit weird, I know. But trust me. They’ll help you out if you really need it.”
“Okay. So there’s ten of them, plus you two. Twelve people on my side and about six hundred against me.”
“I know it’s shitty,” Adam replied. “But like I said, we’re going to figure this out. Just try to hang in there until then.”
I swallowed thickly. “Okay. I’ll try.”
“Let’s go to class and get it over with,” Trina said, extending a hand to me.
I nodded and let her pull me toward the door.
The bell hadn’t rung yet, so the hall outside was still teeming with students. I tried to keep my head down as we went back to our lockers to grab our books, but I could see all the upturned noses and hostile glares out of the corner of my eye. I could hear the hushed voices and snickers as I passed, too.
On our way down a different hall, toward our homeroom, a group of girls stepped out in front of us. They had to be freshmen, because only one of them was over five feet tall and they were all skinny as rakes.
“Oh, look, it’s the queen of the trailer park!” one of them said in a snide tone. Her gaggle of friends squealed with laughter.
“Wow, that’s fucking hilarious. So original, too,” I said in a sarcastic tone, acting as if the degrading insult had just rolled right off me. “Did you just learn about trailer parks in your kindergarten class yesterday?”
“What’s actually hilarious is your hair,” the girl spat out, nose wrinkling as she looked me up and down. “Do you cut it yourself because you’re so poor?”
“Really? Hair? Is that seriously the best you can do?” I said, rolling my eyes upward.
“You shouldn’t be talking back to me like that, trash whore.”
Trina stepped forward, towering over her. “If you don’t get the fuck away from my friend right now, I’ll flush that hideous little head of yours in the nearest toilet,” she said, eyes narrowing. “Got it, bitch?”
The girl turned bright red and darted away. Her friends scattered.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Trina said, nudging my shoulder.
“They were just kids,” I said. “It’s the others I’m worried about.”
She gave me a valiant smile. “It’ll be okay.”
It wasn’t okay.
The bullying ramped up fast. More abusive messages poured in during homeroom, to the point where I couldn’t even look at my phone anymore. I couldn’t block any of the people, either, because the texts disappeared so fast.
Whispers followed me everywhere after first period, along with outright insults from the louder students, and I could feel everyone side-eyeing me as Trina and I headed back to our lockers for our English notes.
“Wow, the group chat was right. You really are a dirty, feral-looking slut,” some random guy said to me as he passed by, face twisted into a smirk.
“And yet I’d still never touch you. What does that tell you?” I shot back. He looked shocked and disappeared around a corner, cheeks reddening.
“Nice one,” Trina whispered.
When I reached my locker, a foul smell hit my nostrils. “What the hell is that?” I muttered, covering my nose.
I opened it up to find a raw steak inside, along with multiple photos from slaughterhouses. There was also a pile of trash on the second shelf with a few pieces of shrimp scattered on top. I almost retched at the sight.
Someone had obviously figured out that I was a vegetarian, and they knew this would piss me off. They must’ve been standing behind me in line at the cafeteria yesterday when I specifically asked one of the staff members if they had veggie burgers instead of regular meat ones.
Trina snatched the photos out, along with the steak. Then she shoved them in the nearest trash can. “This is so messed up,” she said in a low voice. “Are you all right?”
I nodded miserably, even though the smell was making me feel nauseated.
“I’ll get some tissues from the bathroom to mop that up,” she said, nodding toward the red juices still coating the inside of my locker. “Will you be okay on your own for a minute, or do you want to come with me?”
“I think I’ll be okay here,” I replied. I honestly felt too sick to move.
“I’ll be as fast as I can.”
I kept my head down while she was gone, hoping no one would notice me.
I had no such luck. A girl around my age appeared beside me a few seconds later. Her hip was popped, jutting out to one side as she leaned against a nearby locker, and her pouty, over-glossed lips were twisted into a mocking sneer. “Hey, trash,” she said.
I didn’t respond.
She snapped her fingers. “Hey, bitch. I’m talking to you.”
I glanced over at her. “My name isn’t Bitch or Trash.”
“It should be. I’ve been looking into your pathetic little life, you know. I found your Insta.”
“Good for you,” I said, raising my chin. “Maybe you can be a detective after you graduate.”
A small crowd was gathering around us now, watching our exchange with gleeful faces. They looked like a pack of hyenas.
I desperately wished Trina would hurry up and come back, or that Adam would show up to defend me. I had no idea where he was though, because as a junior, he had totally different classes in a separate wing of Royal Hall. I probably wouldn’t see him again until lunch.
“You’re from Silvercreek,” the girl said, flipping her red hair over one shoulder.
“So?”
“So you’re literally a walking, breathing stereotype. Shit-hole town, single mom for a parent, sad little job flipping burgers on the weekend,” she said with a taunting grin. “Your dad probably left because you’re such a pathetic loser.”
My stomach lurched. “He’s dead,” I said, gritting my teeth.
I thought that would make her relent, but instead, she latched onto the new piece of information like a shark with a hunk of chum.
“Well, he was probably glad to die, because at least that way he got away from you and your trash-whore mom,” she said.
“I can be your daddy, if you want,” a tall dark-haired guy cut in, smirking in my direction as he made a lewd gesture.
“Fuck off, Jessica!” Trina had just returned, and her face was twisted with fury. “You too, Brandon!
”
The dark-haired guy walked away, still smirking. Jessica simply giggled. “Careful, Trina. You wouldn’t want to find yourself on the blacklist too, would you?”
“I’ll happily add myself to the list if it means I can smash your face into that locker,” Trina replied, taking one step closer. “But I’m sure you don’t want your brand new nose ruined. Cost you thirty grand and three months recovery time, didn’t it?”
Jessica scoffed and stalked away.
“That’s one benefit of being six feet tall. The other girls are terrified of me when I get mad,” Trina said with a wry smile, turning back to me. Her expression changed almost instantly when she saw my face. “Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath. “I think so.”
She sighed. “I’m so sorry she said that shit to you,” she said softly. “I had no idea about your dad.”
I shrugged listlessly, indicating that I wanted to change the subject. She handed me some tissues, and we worked at the meat juices in my locker together, each of us scrubbing one side.
Things were quieter for the next couple of hours. No one spoke to me in my classes apart from Trina and the teachers. They barely even looked at me.
I found myself dreading the lunch bell. The mere thought of leaving the safety of the quiet classroom and walking into the crowded cafeteria made my skin crawl.
The bell finally went, and my stomach plummeted.
“It’s okay,” Trina said. “Remember, you’ll have me and Adam with you.”
I nodded, but I didn’t feel any better.
Adam was waiting for us outside the cafeteria. “Hey, how are you doing?” he asked, eyes filled with concern.
“How do you think?” I said. I bit my bottom lip and shook my head a second later. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“It’s okay, I get it. Today fucking sucks.”
He walked in front of us as we entered the cafeteria in an attempt to shield me from the stares and insults. It didn’t help much. People still hurled abuse at me, and some even threw stuff at me.
I wasn’t sure why they were even bothering at this point. They’d already made it clear how deluded my earlier thought process was. I would never, ever be one of them.
I did my best to ignore the abuse and grabbed some food. Then I followed Trina and Adam over to the same table we sat at the day before.
Savage Prince: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Royal Falls Elite Book 1) Page 7