After Burn (High School Bully Romance) (Diamond Lake High School Book 1)

by K. L. Middleton

  “He’s not bad,” I replied casually.

  Sara smiled. “Really? Just not bad, huh?”

  “Okay, he’s hot. And probably a cocky asshole,” I said, quickly regretting the words. They made me sound judgy. Still, it was usually the truth.

  “He’s definitely cocky. An asshole? Probably. I’ve never had any issues with him though. Now, his friends are a different story. They pretty much walk around the school acting like they’re hot shit. Their girlfriends are even worse.”

  “I heard this school is really cliquey.” I sighed. “Just like my old one. I seriously can’t wait to graduate and just move on.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “So, any other advice you have for me?”

  “Not too much. Just stay away from the A-squad.”

  I raised my eyebrow. “The what?”

  She smirked. “Chase’s crowd. I guess you could say they’re the self-appointed popular group.”

  Ah, the asshole squad.

  She took her glasses off and cleaned them with the edge of her shirt. “Anyway, you’ll know who they are soon enough.”

  “Oh, goody.”

  Sara chuckled. “Exactly. Were you popular at your old school?”

  “Me?” I snorted. “Nope.”

  I’d made a point to stay away from the “elite” crowd in Santa Clara. They’d been all about drama, expensive clothing, and drunken bashes. Almost every one of the popular girls had been two-faced and the guys - conceited assholes. Just like everywhere else.

  “I’m not popular either. I wouldn’t want to be. That would mean being friends with Mattie Robbins. Chase’s girlfriend.” She rolled her eyes. “She’s such a fucking bitch.”

  So, he had a girlfriend. Although I’d expected it, I still felt the bubble of disappointment.

  Sara went on. “And, if she doesn’t like you, she’ll make your life a living hell. I remember back in elementary school... I accidentally stepped on her new pink Nikes, scuffing them a little with my boots. She went ape-shit. I can still remember her yelling at me and getting in my face. I tried apologizing but she wouldn’t even listen. Instead, she started spreading rumors and picking on me whenever she got the chance.”

  I could tell from the look on her face that it still bothered her to this day. “That’s too bad. What a bitch.”

  “Yeah. I went home and cried that night because nobody would sit with me at lunch or talk to me anymore. It was like that for a long time. I was an outcast because of a simple accident…” Her voice trailed off. “Anyway, things got better. Eventually.” Sara laughed bitterly. “Only because someone else got under her radar.”

  “Nobody stood up for you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Wow. That’s pretty pathetic.”

  “Mattie was so popular even back then. Nobody wanted to get on her bad side.”

  “And she’s still like that?”

  Sara nodded. “She’s basically the queen of the A-squad. The guys will do anything for her and her friends, they’re too afraid to piss her off.”

  “She sounds lovely,” I replied sarcastically.

  “The funny thing is that we were close friends throughout the second grade. We used to make headbands for each other from these kits our parents would buy.” She smiled grimly. “Of course when she went after me in fifth grade, she told everyone that she didn’t want to be my friend anymore. I was weird and made her uncomfortable. She even went as far to say that I was gay and had tried to kiss her.”

  “The more you talk about her, the more I want to throat punch her.”

  Sara laughed and then was silent for a few seconds. “I’m not even angry about her calling me a lesbian. Just that she lied and said I’d tried to kiss her,” she murmured and looked at me. “But, I am Bi. I’m not ashamed of it. I just didn’t know it back then.”

  “You were only what? Ten or eleven?”

  “Exactly. Anyway, it didn’t matter to her. She just wanted to humiliate me. I’ll never forgive her for that.”

  I couldn’t blame her.

  “So, do you still collect headbands?”

  She laughed. “Hell, no. I don’t really collect anything right now. What about you?”

  “Fishing lures.”

  She looked shocked. “Really?”

  I nodded. “My grandmother got me into it. She owns a tackle and bait shop. Anyway, she used to send me lures when I was little.” I thought back to those early years and how my father used to take me fishing. We’d rent a pontoon boat and use the lures Grandma Rae had sent. It would be an all-day thing with ham sandwiches, Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, and my dad’s seventies music blasting out of his boom-box. I could still taste the mustard and pickles Mom would put on the sandwiches. I’d gotten sick of them over time. But now… I’d do anything to taste one again.

  “That’s cool. Do you fish a lot?”

  “I used to. Anyway, we should probably find my locker and get to class,” I said, wanting to change the subject. That last thing I needed was to start getting all emotional in front of her.

  “Good idea.”

  After finding my locker, we headed to Calculus.

  “Just to warn you, Mrs. Peterson is the teacher and can be a real bitch,” she whispered as we stopped outside of the classroom.

  “Wonderful,” I muttered.

  I’d had problems with Pre-calculus, although I’d ended up with a B-minus as a final grade, second semester. I’d stayed after a few times for extra tutoring, which had helped enormously. My previous teacher had been so patient and helpful, which had made the difference. If this Mrs. Peterson was as bad as Sara was making her out to be, I might be in trouble.

  “My sister’s in college and knows this stuff. She’d probably help both of us, if I asked.”

  I smiled. “That would be cool.”

  She opened the door and it was so quiet, you could hear the teacher in the next room talking.

  Everyone looked up.

  The teacher, Mrs. Peterson, had short, curly brown hair, silver-framed eyeglasses, and bright red lipstick. She looked up from her desk. “Sara, take a seat and start reviewing chapter four. Mackenzie.” She smiled warmly. “Welcome. Why don’t you come and see me over here.”

  So far so good.

  I relaxed. “Okay.”

  I hiked my backpack over my shoulder and headed toward her. Before I reached her desk, however, someone stuck their foot out, tripping me. I stumbled forward and ended up falling flat on my face.

  Mrs. Peterson gasped and stood up. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I replied, grateful that at least nobody was laughing.

  “Ms. Robbins!” snapped the teacher, slamming her hand on her desk. “I saw what you did. What on earth were you thinking?”

  I pulled myself up from the floor, trying to ignore the pain in my knee from hitting the unpadded carpeting and looked to see who she was talking to. The girl had long, white-blonde hair, blue eyes, and glossy lips. Her eyebrows were perfect. Her eyelashes fake. Her makeup far too heavy for such an aggravatingly, pretty face.

  She kind of reminded me of some You Tube makeup celebrity.

  “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to trip her,” she replied with wide eyes.

  Someone snorted.

  “Seriously. I was just stretching my foot out because of a cramp. These new boots of mine are killing me. Anyway, I wasn’t paying attention.”

  Sara’s story came back to me.

  Robbins.

  Mattie Robbins. She really was a mean bitch.

  “You seem to have a bad history with footwear,” I said, stepping back to look at her boots. They were short, made of brown suede, with about a two inch heel. Probably as expensive as the Louis Vuitton purse she had.

  She looked puzzled. “Excuse me?”

  I wanted to say something else, but noticed Sara in the corner of my eye. I knew she wouldn’t want me dredging the past back up. “Nothing.”

  “I believe you o
we an apology to Ms. Dumas,” said the teacher.

  Mattie, who was playing with her pencil, smiled. “Sorry for tripping you.”

  The twinkle in her eyes gave her away. She was only sorry the teacher had caught her.

  “It’s fine. Accidents happen,” I answered. Somehow I knew that if it were up to her, there’d be more.

  She didn’t reply.

  “Okay, everyone. Get back to work. All of you,” the teacher said and then looked at my jeans. Her eyebrows drew together. “Was that rip there before or after you fell?”

  “I’m not sure,” I lied. “Should I go home and change?”

  Mrs. Peterson gave me a funny look. “You don’t know?”

  I shrugged. “I may have hit my head falling down. Maybe I should go to the nurse’s office?”

  The teacher sighed. “I don’t recall you hitting your head. You’re in pain?”

  I glanced over at Mattie and suddenly didn’t want her thinking she’d hurt me in any way.

  “No, I’m fine actually.”

  “Good. Maybe we can just move past your jeans and talk about what you’ve missed.” She nodded toward the chair across from her. “Please, have a seat.”

  “Watch your step,” murmured someone in the class, causing some laughter.

  I clenched my jaw and sat down. I glanced over at Mattie who had a smug look on her face.

  Bitch.

  I knew she couldn’t wait to brag to everyone on how she’d tripped the new girl. I didn’t want any drama but it was obvious that she’d decided to bring it on. Apparently Sara was right – Mattie Robbins was bad news. New school or not… there was no way in Hell I’d let her make a fool of me again. This wasn’t fifth grade and I gave zero fucks about who sat with me at the lunch table.

  4

  Chase

  After grabbing my homework, I went back to class and sat down next to Sonny. “Hey, you see the new chick?”

  His eyes lit up. “No. Is she cute?”

  “Yeah.” I replied, thinking back. Nice rack. Long, reddish brown hair. Dimples. Eyes the color of… caramel? There seemed to be something familiar about her too.

  “I need details. What does she look like?”

  I told him. “She’s hot. Like Kylie Jenner hot.”

  “Dayum.” He lowered his voice. “What about her tits? Apples or cantaloupes?” He grinned wickedly. “Or better yet, watermelons?”

  “God, you’re such a dog,” murmured Kara Burns, the girl sitting in front of him. She turned around and gave him a dirty look. “I mean, is that all you really care about?”

  “Hell, no. I’m also an ass-man. Yours is pretty nice, by the way.”

  Her cheeks turned bright red. Huffing, she turned back around.

  Sonny and I laughed quietly.

  “Mr. Adams. Mr. Delfoy. Is there something you’d like to share with the class?” Ms. Haven called out.

  Sonny and I both shook our heads.

  “Then, get back to work,” she said. “Or you’ll be seeing me after school.”

  “She’d like that,” Sonny murmured, when the teacher looked away. “A little two-on-one.”

  I grinned.

  Kara shook her head. “Pig.”

  Sonny wiggled his eyebrows. “She wants me,” he mouthed, wagging his thumb at Kara.

  I snorted.

  5

  Mackenzie

  My next class was Chemistry. I arrived a little after the bell rang, but the teacher, Mr. Brophy, seemed relatively cool about it. He even teased me about being “fashionably” late.

  “Class, meet Mackenzie. Mackenzie, meet the class,” was his introduction.

  There was a murmur of unenthusiastic replies.

  “Forgive them. They’re used to replying with Emoji faces.” the teacher said. “Or, eggplants. Especially, Mr. Monroe over there. Apparently, he’s a vegan. He uses them a lot in his texts.”

  The class burst out laughing and the guy he was referring to turned beet-red but also smiled.

  “So, as a reminder to everyone, I don’t want to catch you using your phones or I will confiscate them. I could use some extra reading material during my lunch hour.”

  There were a couple of snorts and murmurs.

  “Now, Mackenzie, why don’t you go over and sit with Mr. Adams back there. Feel free to elbow him in the ribcage when he falls asleep. He does that quite a bit.” He frowned and shook his head. “Take off your sunglasses. We’re not at the beach, Romeo.”

  It was then that I noticed he was talking to Chase, the guy from the hallway. Mattie’s boyfriend. The one I was going to sit with.

  Chase put his sunglasses on his head.

  I walked back to the lab table and sat next to him. He smelled faintly of alcohol.

  Was he drunk?

  I stole a quick glance at him. His eyelids looked heavy. He probably had been taking a nap.

  “Okay, everyone. Open up your books to page nineteen,” Mr. Brophy instructed.

  Chase didn’t say a word the next hour, although he did a lot of yawning. When the bell finally rang, he cleared his throat and I thought might say something, when the teacher called out from his desk.

  “May I see you before you head out, Mr. Adams?”

  Chase swore under his breath and then picked up his backpack. He walked around me and headed toward the teacher’s desk.

  Wondering what that was about, I walked out of the classroom and headed toward my locker. That’s when I found, in dismay, that Mattie’s was only a few doors away from mine.

  Groaning inwardly, I ignored her and opened it. As I was shoving my Chemistry book onto the top shelf, I heard her call Chase’s name.

  He approached her locker. “What’s up?”

  “Where were you last night?” she asked him.

  It took him a couple of seconds to answer. “Changing the oil in my car.”

  She snorted. “For four hours?”

  “The guys stopped by and we hung out.”

  “You could have at least called me back or texted me.”

  “By the time they left, I was exhausted.”

  She sighed. “Are you going to Jason’s party Friday?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “I’m going.”

  “I figured.”

  “I want to see you tonight.”

  I glanced over and saw her clinging to him. He didn’t seem to be comfortable with it. In fact, looked a little perturbed. Or, maybe it was wishful thinking on my part.

  “I’m racing.”

  “Who?”

  “Gus.”

  “That guy from Lancaster?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How about afterward?”

  “We’ll see. I gotta go and grab shit from my locker.”

  “See you at lunch.”

  He walked away and apparently, I made the mistake of watching him.

  “What the fuck are you looking at?”

  I jerked my head around to see Mattie in my face. Or, at least above it considering she was about three inches taller than me. “Excuse me?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Dream on though, bitch.” She wrinkled her nose as her eyes trailed down my body. “Even if we weren’t together, he wouldn’t touch trash like you.”

  Trash?

  I closed my locker and glared at her. “I’m not interested in your boyfriend, so fucking relax.”

  She looked a little surprised at my reaction. Maybe it was because she towered over me and I hadn’t cowered in fear.

  “Then keep your eyes to yourself,” she warned.

  I laughed coldly. How juvenile. “What exactly is your dysfunction? I haven’t done anything to you and you’ve just been a royal bitch to me.”

  “My dysfunction? Fuck you.” She shoved me so hard, my back hit the locker with a loud clunk.

  Furious, I pushed her back as hard as I could.

  This time it was Mattie who stumbled and fell, landing in the middle of the hallway. Everyone stopped
and stared.

  “I’d trade those boots in for something without heels,” I said, shutting my locker.

  She got back up and was about to come at me again when Mr. Brophy appeared and moved in between us.

  “Stop it right now or you’ll both go to the office,” he said angrily.

  “She started it,” Mattie snapped.

  I glared at her. “That’s a lie.”

  “I don’t care who started it, both of you are finishing it. Right now.”

  Mattie started babbling again.

  Mr. Brophy held his hand up. “Save it. I don’t care what you do off of school grounds, but touch each other again here and you’ll both see the principal and your parents about it,” he said angrily. “You’re just lucky it was me who caught you. Anyone else would have sent you to the office, no questions asked.”

  I noticed Chase standing in the background with some other guys. One of them said something and he smirked.

  “The show is over, people. Everyone, get to your classes,” Brophy ordered, clapping his hands together. “Go on.”

  With a final dirty look in my direction, Mattie grabbed her stuff from her locker and stormed away.

  “Don’t let her get to you,” murmured the teacher. “It’s not worth it.”

  Easy for him to say.

  He left and I kept my head down as I headed toward my next class. As much as I wanted to walk out of the school that very moment, and never return, I refused to give the bitch the satisfaction of being the reason.

  The next hour was English Lit. Fortunately, Sara was also in the class. She waved me over to an empty seat next to hers.

  “What happened between you and Mattie?” she asked as I sat down. “Were you just getting back at her from earlier?”

  I let out an exasperated breath. “No. I was just minding my own business when she decided to fuck with me again.”

  “Wow. I knew she was a bitch but, damn. You two just met, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  She frowned. “It’s so crazy that she’s targeted you so early. Are you sure you didn’t do something to piss her off?”

  I snorted. “Apparently being the new girl is all it took.”