by Raathi Chota
“Blake, you’re supposed to be doing your unique assignment,” Kelly whispered.
“You’re unique,” Blake said as he lowered the camera and looked at her. I choked on the tablet as soon as those words fell from his mouth. Everyone turned to look at me as I tried to breathe, and instead of helping, they watched!
I raised my hand, and Mr. Dockwell ushered me out. I sprinted down the hall and into the restrooms. I leaned on the sink and looked into the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot as they surrounded my dark blue iris. I had bags under my eyes, but I was thankful for my glasses. While I licked my chapped lips, I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked down at my bag and regretted what I’d do next. As quickly as I could, I took out the bottle and stared at it. I only had one pill left, so I placed it in my mouth and drank water. Afterward, I took my glasses off, washed my face, then tied my hair in a high ponytail. When I put on my glasses, I tried to smile, but anyone could tell it was fake. I shook my head, then walked out of the restrooms. As I walked down the hall, I saw Parker stuff something in a locker. I slowly approached him and raised a brow.
“What can I do for you, Willson?” he asked once he was done. Parker turned to me with a grin on his face.
“I need more,” I mumbled, then looked to see if anyone watched us.
“Whoa, I just gave you a bottle on Friday.” He raised a brow. I rolled my eyes as I took the money out of my pocket.
“Yeah, that was just one bottle. I need more for this weekend,” I said, then shoved the money in his chest.
“All right, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I tapped my foot impatiently since he took his time. I groaned as I retrieved my lunch money and added it to the other money. I knew that if I didn’t have money, Parker would threaten to tell the whole school about the pills, or he’d find another way for me to make it up. I learned my lesson from last year; Parker Collins was a selfish asshole who didn’t care about anybody. He didn’t care who got hurt as long as he got his money.
“Make that two,” I said once he gave me the one bottle. He gave me a weird look as he glanced down at the money.
“Lana, are you sure? These thin—”
“Yes, I’m sure! So much shit is going on in my life, Parker, and the only way I’ll get through it is if you give me those pills!” I demanded. “Besides, when has Parker Collins ever cared about someone? Especially girls.”
Parker was silent after that as he handed me the second bottle. He spun around to walk away, but I called after him. He turned to me.
“I fucking hate you, you know that?” He let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his dirty blond curls.
“Yeah. I fucking hate me too, Willson,” he admitted, then walked away. The bell rang as I let out a sigh and put the bottles in my bag. I decided to skip my locker and hold onto my bag as I walked to the cafeteria. Since I was early, there were barely any people, so I joined the line.
“Lana.” I looked to see Ethan beside me.
“Oh hey, Ethan.” I smiled.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded as we took food, then approached the cashier. Even though the exchange between Parker and I happened five minutes ago, I completely forgot that I gave him all my money. “I’ll pay,” Ethan said as he eyed me suspiciously. I looked down at my tray and sighed in relief, since I didn’t have much food on it.
“Thank you.” I smiled at Ethan as he paid. Once he was done, we walked to our table.
“What happened to you in Photography class?” Melissa asked as she approached our table, a tray in her hand. She sat next to Nick.
“I just felt a bit nauseous.”
“Yeah, from the couple in front of us sucking each other’s faces off.”
After she said that, the table fell silent. The only sound to be heard was the rest of the cafeteria, as well as the clatter of our utensils. Blake never sat with us anymore. He was a jerk, but he wasn’t an idiot. He still talked to everyone whether it was during school or after school, everyone except me.
“Melissa, come on.” I glanced up to see Kelly’s forced smile. She walked away in her knee-high boots and topped the look off with a white coat. Melissa looked at us, and I gave her a small smile. Even though Kelly wasn’t on the list of my most liked people, she was still Melissa’s friend.
“Baby, please come with me?” Melissa begged Nick as she stood up with her tray. Nick looked over his shoulder to the other table and saw Blake, Jennifer, and Austin. He groaned.
“One day I’m gonna kill that bitch,” Nick muttered as he stood up and walked with Melissa.
“Call us if you wanna get rid of the body.” Liam grinned as he gave Nick the thumbs up. Benny spat out his soda, then glared at Liam. “Too soon?”
“And then there were eight,” Aidan said as he observed our table. There was a total of eleven, but the other three were at another table.
“We don’t need him. He only came to this school a few months ago. All of us have known each other for longer than three years,” Miranda said as she turned to Blake.
“Yeah, and if he wants to hang out with them, we shouldn’t stop him. It’s his life. He should just know who’s been there for him and who his real frie—” I babbled while I looked at Blake. We locked eyes, but I turned away when Benny rested his hand on my back.
“Lana, it’s okay, relax.”
“Sorry, it’s just he’s so unreasonable and chil—”
“Jefferson High students!” Kelly cut me off as she stood on top of the table. Everyone quieted as I looked down at Nick, who glared at her. “As you know, there’s been some confusion going on these past few weeks,” she said, and I noticed how her eyes flickered from me to everyone else. “Plenty of rumors have been going around ever since that table has been occupied,” she said, then pointed to us. Everyone turned their gazes to our table as Benny dropped his hand. “Geeky Lana thinks she’s cool now. Having everyone adore her behind those glasses—a bit too innocent, don’t you think?” Kelly pouted as she walked up and down the table. Austin stood up with papers in his hands and handed them out to everyone. “Little did we know she preferred older guys.” I looked at the people who received the papers, how they’d gasp. “Students of Jefferson High, our sweet little Lana here has been seeing Mr. Bronx.”
My eyes widened as the paper landed in the middle of our table. It was that time Mr. Bronx kissed me on the forehead in his classroom, but only because he was worried about me. I glanced at Melissa and thought how she’d always be there when I came out of the classroom; maybe it was her idea all along. A look of betrayal spread across my face as I glanced at Blake. He knew Mr. Bronx was a family friend; maybe he was in on it, too. I stared at the paper on the table; the whole cafeteria was quiet as everyone tried to process what they’ve heard. I looked up to see everyone at the table staring at me. Miranda’s nostrils flared as she glared at Kelly’s table. She turned to me with a look of pity that I hated. Most people in these situations ran out and cried, but nothing came out. Wow, maybe the tablets did have an effect on me. Whispers and murmurs spread through the room. It was tiring to listen, so I stood up and grabbed the photograph. I felt all their eyes on me as I approached Kelly. She was on the ground with her hands placed on her hips. Off to the side, I saw Blake stare as Melissa frowned.
“Not so perfect now, are we?” Kelly tilted her head. I gripped the paper, then shoved it in her chest.
“Fuck you!” I yelled, then raised my hand and slapped her. Everyone watched as Kelly’s jaw dropped. She leaped forward to hit me as I did the same. We fought like cats and dogs as people howled and cheered. I felt two arms around my waist pulling me away from her. Blake did the same with Kelly, but he held her wrists. I glanced back to see Benny. I turned back to Kelly as she slapped me. Benny’s grip tightened as he picked me up. “No!” I yelled, then raised my legs. Apparently, they went too high, and I kicked Kelly in the face. Everyone’s jaws dropped as they took out their phones and recorded. My eyes widened as she ripped herself of
f Blake and launched at me. Marcus came out of nowhere and tried to stop us, but I somehow kicked him in the crotch. Liam came next but was immediately punched by Kelly; both groaned from their injuries as they backed out.
“Hey!” We froze and whipped our heads around to see Griffon Bronx. He looked at Kelly, and his eyes diverted to the paper on the table, then me. Mr. Bronx quickly snatched it and read it; he scrunched his nose up and groaned. “Oh fuck.”
I did what any sane person would do in that type of situation. I released myself from Benny, then got my bag. As I swung my bag over my shoulder, I felt everyone’s stares. While I thought of another pill, I pushed the double doors open. I froze as the doors banged against the wall, and I gasped at the sight in front of me. Pictures everywhere of Mr. Bronx and me from our past encounters. I sprinted and pulled them off before any teacher saw. Principal West didn’t allow relationships with teachers. What would he think when he found this?
I looked at the paper, but I couldn’t read it because it wasn’t clear. I was going to adjust my glasses when I felt nothing on my face. Well, except the sting from Kelly’s claws on my cheek. My glasses must’ve fallen off when we fought. I sighed, then continued to rip off the papers. Once I was done, I shoved them in a tiny trash can. The sound of heels clicking against tiles made me stop, and I looked over my shoulder to see Melissa.
“Lana, I’m so sorry!”
“No, I trusted you! That explains all the times when I walked out of Mr. Bronx’s classroom you would be there.”
“Kelly made me do it! Plus, that was all before we became friends. I didn’t know she was going to do it today.”
“You knew she was going to even do it?”
“I completely forgot, Lana, please. If I knew that Mr. Bronx was a family friend, I would’ve told her.” Melissa rushed out as she placed a hand on my shoulder. Before I could answer, the bell rang, and I had German. Without another word, I sighed, picked up my bag, and walked to class.
I spent the rest of the day in silence. I didn’t have the energy to talk to anyone. People looked at me in disgust, but I didn’t care. I didn’t see Mr. Bronx or Kelly for the rest of the day. The weirdest thing was that I wasn’t called to the principal’s office yet. It was the end of the day, and I stood by my locker and took out books. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I checked to see that Miranda said she was waiting by her car. I put my phone back and glanced up at my locker. I noticed that it was fuller than usual. When I pulled a book out, all the papers fell—more pictures of Mr. Bronx and me. I sighed as I picked them up and spun around to put them in the trashcan. Someone must’ve shoved the rest in my locker. I walked back to my locker and looked at the small bottle that contained Adderall. Considering everything that I’ve been through today, I had to reward myself somehow. I quickly swallowed one, then returned to my locker. Once I was done, I shut it, but someone decided to visit me.
“Argh!” I yelled at Blake. His jaw clenched as he closed his eyes for a moment, clearly annoyed by my shout. “What do you want?”
“Again with the questions,” he mocked with a sly grin on his face. “What did you just swallow? I swear that was a big ass gulp you took.”
“None of your business!”
“Are you on drugs, Willson?” he asked. My eyes widened as he smirked. “Didn’t know you could fight like that.”
“You don’t know a lot of things about me,” I said as I tried to remember our last conversation. “What’s your problem, huh? You knew Mr. Bronx was a family friend, but you still let that bitch do that to me!”
“Like I said last week, I don’t care. So what if he’s a friend? You can still ba—”
“That’s wrong! He’s with Miss Rosa!”
“You’re eighteen. It wouldn’t matter.”
“It’s like you want me to do something horrible.” I tilted my head at Blake. “Do you expect me to go back to being a ‘bad girl’ for you? Will that please Blake Gunner for him to become less of an asshole?”
“No! You don’t fucking get it!” Blake suddenly snapped as he slammed the locker next to me. My eyes widened as I stepped back. He saw my frightened eyes and lowered his fist. After he’d calmed down, he took a cautious step closer. “You dropped this,” he whispered. I looked down to see that he held my glasses. I stared at it. Frustrated, Blake tilted my chin up. He slowly put on my glasses for me as I closed my eyes; I felt his hand put a lock of hair behind my ear, and I shivered from his touch. Once I felt the glasses on the bridge of my nose, I opened my eyes to see that he was gone.
When I got a ride home with Miranda, she told how the guys roughed up anyone who spoke about Mr. Bronx and me. It made me think that Blake was one of them. I got home and studied, as well as helping Mom clean the house for Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I was excited about a break.
The entire team was in Physics class. All students who played a sport had to keep their grades up, so it was either AP Physics or two other subjects. After I spoke to Ethan for a while, I turned to the front, yet our teacher was nowhere to be found. That reminded me of Uncle Griff, because I hadn’t seen him all day.
“Is Mr. Bronx at school today?” I asked. Everyone shook their heads. I looked at the curly brunette in front of me and grinned. I tapped Liam’s shoulder; he slowly spun around and glared at me. “Whoa!” I cupped my mouth. Ethan snapped his head to look at Liam, and he laughed. Benny looked up from his paper, and he shook his head. “I’m so sorry,” I bit my lip to prevent a laugh. Liam had a swollen eye from yesterday’s doing.
He rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, but damn, you girls can fight.”
“Yeah, you girls are worse than guys,” Nick said as he sat next to Liam.
“Marcus is still recovering from that kick,” Ethan joked as we laughed. My thoughts went back to the empty desk in front, and I frowned, because I knew something was wrong. I didn’t care about the Physics teacher. I cared about Mr. Bronx and what yesterday meant for his career.
“Did you get called to the principal’s office yesterday?” Nick asked.
“Nope.”
“Weird. I just saw Mr. Bronx walking in that direction before I came to class.”
“What?” I demanded and rose to my feet.
“Yeah, when I picked up Melissa this morning, she said Kelly’s still taking things too far, whatever that meant.” He shrugged. I rushed out of the classroom and ignored the guys’ frantic calls. Principal West probably saw the pictures, so maybe he might fire Mr. Bronx. It was my fault. I had to fix it. I opened the door to his office and was met by Mr. Bronx, who glared across at Kelly. She had a bandage on her forehead. I raised a brow because I didn’t kick her that hard.
“Lana Willson, I was just going to call you in,” Principal West said as he sat behind his desk.
“Look, I can explain,” I rushed out as I shut the door and sat next to Kelly.
“There’s nothing to explain. This video shows it all,” West said as he turned his laptop to us. It showed Kelly and I fighting, but the middle when I pulled her hair.
“She started it with the—” I cut myself off as I quickly glanced at Mr. Bronx.
“This is illegal, and it’s overstepping the relationships in this school. Griffon Bro—”
“No! He’s a family friend! My freaking godfather! The only reason he was comforting me was because your stuck-up daughter bullied me all the time!”
“Well, this video shows a completely different story.”
“Then call my dad.”
“Why on earth would I do that?”
“Because if it’s illegal, call him. He’s the sheriff. Show him the video while you’re at it.”
“No! Dad, I want a lawyer then!” Kelly shouted as her fingernails dug into the chair.
“Kelly, sweetheart, get back to class,” Principal West said. We watched as she stood up and ripped off the bandage from her forehead. She sent me one last glare, then stormed out. I could see Griffon sit next to me. We looked at Principal West, who squinted h
is eyes at us.
“How long have you known Mr. Bronx?”
“Ever since I came out of my mother’s womb,” I replied. “He knows me better than I know myself.”
“Lana, you have become very disruptive these past few weeks, and Mr. Bronx can agree with me on that, right?” he asked, and we turned to Mr. Bronx, who nodded. I looked down in guilt because I knew my behavior at school had changed. “Very well then. Since this was all a misunderstanding, I won’t fire you, Griffon, but you two are not allowed to be near each other during school hours. I reconsidered changing your schedule so that Griffon wouldn’t be your teacher but thought against it since we’re in the middle of a semester and you’re doing so well.
“I am sorry for my daughter’s inappropriate behavior, and I don’t think there’s a need to call Sheriff Willson in,” he added, then adjusted his tie. “But Lana, you will not get away with your behavior—”
“But Kel—”
“If you answer this simple question, you’ll only get a detention, but if you don’t, I’ll suspend you!”
“Mr. West, come on, don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?” Griffon asked as he rose to his feet. Principal West stood and glared at him.
“A little harsh is kicking my daughter in the face! Now answer the question, or he’s gone!”
“But I thought you sa—”
“Answer the goddam question!”
“You never even asked the question yet.”
“Oh,” he mumbled, then leaned on the desk, so we made eye contact. I saw Griffon sit down. “When you answer this question, you’ll tell the truth and only the truth. If you don’t, then he’s gone forever, got that?” he asked. I saluted him as he rolled his eyes. “What imbeciles decided to cover our cars in tomatoes?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lana
Detention wasn’t how I planned to start Thanksgiving. Today was the worst because all the delinquents and rebels of the school went to that detention. When I stepped into the room, my eyes widened. Girls dragged their nails along the board and desks, guys did spit takes, couples made out, and others jumped on desks. I swallowed the lump in my throat, then walked to the back of the class. I avoided the weird looks I got as I sat down. A guy who I saw in the hallways spun around. He wore a gray hoodie with black stud earrings. He took in my appearance and raised a brow.