by Cala Riley
“Oh, I know. I just can’t believe my sister went there to shop for clothes willingly.”
I roll my eyes at him. “You assume we were shopping for clothes. You know what they say about making assumptions.”
His eyes narrow. “What were you shopping for, then?”
I shrug nonchalantly while pretending to pick at my nails. “Tampons.”
“You took my sister shopping for what?” Reed exclaims.
“Tampons, Reed. Tam-pons,” I deadpan.
“Why? There’s nothing wrong with what she already had!” he asks all exasperated.
“Tampons are easier and more comfortable. With what you were buying, she couldn’t go swimming during her cycle and now she can.”
“She doesn’t need to go swimming then.”
“Well, now she doesn’t have to worry about someone slapping her ass and feeling it.” I shrug.
“No one should be going near her ass,” he grinds out between clenched teeth. “And excuse me for not wanting to buy something that my sister has to stick inside her body!”
“It’s okay, Reed. You did good. But now I’m around and I got this. And just so you know, birth control is next on our list,” I tell him over my shoulder while heading to the door.
I meant what I said about him doing good, but I couldn’t help poking the bear and throwing in the little jab at the end.
“Excuse me?” he shrieks. “Get back here, Sage!”
“No thanks. Places to go, people to see. Later!”
Victoria laughs as I slide into the car, ignoring the large male barreling after me, yelling expletives.
“Let’s go. I think Reed is in a mood.”
She snorts. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
Chapter Eighteen
This morning, V convinced me to let her do my hair. It’s basically a fancy ponytail with a braid up the back of my head and a slight poof in the front. It’s simple but makes me feel awesome, especially with all the compliments I've gotten on it today.
I meet up with T and V in the hall after English and start heading towards the cafeteria.
“You guys are coming over after school, right?” Tinsley asks.
“You know it,” V replies. “And don’t worry. I grabbed both Sage’s and my suits this time, so she definitely can’t say no to getting in the hot tub.”
“Ugh. I honestly don’t see the appeal to sitting in warm water with other people.” I groan.
“I can definitely get behind seeing you in an itty-bitty yellow polka-dot bikini,” Keat teases while throwing his arms around both Victoria and me.
“Of course you would. Pig,” V spits.
“Yellow is the color of the devil. So nice try, but you’ll never catch me in it,” I respond while knocking his arm off my shoulders.
“Come on. Don’t crush my dreams,” he tells us dramatically while clutching his chest, making all three of us roll our eyes.
“If it’s the color of the devil, then it’s the color for you,” Ingram snaps from behind us. Pushing Tinsley out of the way, she steps into my space.
“Hey, watch it!” Tinsley snaps.
Ingram just rolls her eyes.
“What do you want now, Ingram?” I ask her while keeping my face blank.
“I want you out of my town, but since that won’t happen because the Davenports have decided to take in riffraff, I’ll settle for you staying away from Reed. He’s mine!” she seethes.
I can’t help but sigh.
“I don’t want him, Ingram. But in order for him to be yours, he has to want to be with you, and he clearly doesn’t. Seriously, cut your losses and find someone else,” I say sympathetically and move to walk past her, only for her to grab my ponytail and yank.
“Let go, Ingram,” I tell her calmly while looking her in the eye.
“Ingram, what the fuck!” Keaton shouts, trying to separate us.
“Stop, Keaton! You’re causing Ingram to pull Sage’s hair more!” V panics, making him take a step back. I watch Tinsley run off.
“You saw her touch me first, right?” I ask everyone surrounding us, making eye contact with several who nod.
“Obviously!” Keaton barks. “And the cameras caught it too.” He points to several cameras in the hall.
I loosen my fists at my sides. “I’m not going to tell you again, Ingram. Let. Go.”
She grabs a hold of my chin and digs her pointy fake nails into my face. I can feel her breaking skin.
“Or what, you whore?” She spits—literally spits—in my face, and my cool snaps.
I make the perfect fist like old man Williams, my old neighbor, taught me and punch Ingram in her not-so-perfect fake nose. The crunch is audible, causing some around us to cringe.
She lets go of my hair and tries to launch herself at me, but I’m faster. I grab both arms and manage to slam her body face-first into a set of lockers, pinning her hands between us while holding my forearm against the back of her neck so she can’t headbutt me.
“Should have thought about how I might react to you touching me. You know, since I’m scum and all,” I mock.
She lets lose a feral scream right when Reed busts through the crowd with the principal and Tinsley on his heels.
He stops dead in his tracks.
“What happened to your face?” he asks coldly while looking at me.
“Reed! She broke my nose,” Ingram wails while stomping her little heeled foot.
“I wasn’t asking you, Ingram.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” I tell him.
“You two, in my office now!” Principal Harris demands.
I push Ingram farther into the locker before letting go. I take a step back and sweep my arm out in front of me. “After you,” I mock her with a bow.
Ingram shrieks and tries to latch on to Reed when walking towards the office.
“No,” he tells her while stepping out of her reach.
Ingram huffs in response.
I rub my face in exhaustion and start following her only to have Reed step out in front of me. He tips my chin up to inspect my face. “You okay, Sage?”
“I’ve been better,” I mutter.
“Come on. I bet Principal Harris has already managed to call at least your aunt by now,” he tells me while tucking me into his side.
Keaton, Victoria, and Tinsley all fall into step beside us.
“Well, one thing’s for sure. I won’t be pissing Sage off anytime soon,” Keaton announces, trying to break the tension and making us all laugh.
“No kidding, right? Who knew my girl had so much power behind a punch?” V teases.
“I took note of those around when she came up to us and at what time. That way they can roll the security tapes back and can examine for themselves that Sage wasn’t the aggressor,” Tinsley tells Reed.
“Good job, Tin Tin.”
“You all know it’s going to be me who gets blamed. It won’t matter that she assaulted me first. I’m not one of you.” I shrug.
“That's bullshit. You're a Covington. Your name is just as good as any of ours,” V vehemently proclaims as we reach the office.
“One thing’s for sure, you're not going in there without us. One for all and all for one and all that jazz. Agreed?” Tinsley asks Reed and Keaton.
“Agreed,” they murmur in unison.
∞∞∞
Since V, Tins, Keaton, and Reed all refused to leave, Principal Harris set us up in a conference room. Aunt Alice and Richard arrive first.
Alice gasps when she sees my face and reaches back to grab Richard’s arm.
“What the hell happened to your face?” Richard demands.
“It’s okay, Daddy. You should see the other girl.” V snickers from her seat, earning an elbow to the ribs.
“Ow,” she whines while rubbing her side, causing all of us to snicker.
“Seriously though. What the hell, Sage?” Richard asks right when Principal Harris walks in with Ingram and a gentl
eman behind him.
He looks genuinely confused when he sees Alice and Richard.
“Alice, Richard.” He nods in their direction. When he scans the room, his eyes slide over me but come right back. He goes ghostly white.
“Sage?” he murmurs.
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” I question as his eyes swing to Alice and Richard, seeming to have a silent conversation.
He looks at me. “I’m this one’s grandfather.” He points to Ingram, who’s openly glaring at me.
“I would say it's nice to see you, but I don’t like to lie.” I give him a small smile.
How could a man as sweet as Elijah be the grandfather to such a vile girl?
His lips smirk but quickly flatten out. He takes a seat next to Ingram, and everyone turns towards Principal Harris.
“It has come to my attention that since Ms. Miller’s arrival here at Brighton Academy, she has had an issue with Ms. Humphries.”
“Excuse me?” V, Tinsley, and I shout.
“That’s fucking rich,” Keaton exclaims.
“You’re wrong,” Reed tells him with a steely calm voice.
“Now, now. Calm down so we can settle this.” Principal Harris tries to placate us.
Someone knocks on the door.
“I told everyone in the office to please leave us be until our meeting was over,” Harris says out loud while looking perplexed as to why someone didn’t listen to him.
“But I didn’t,” Reed tells him while standing. He strides over to the door to reveal Sterling on the other side. “You get it?”
“Yep, all here. And I also went back and grabbed a few more clips from earlier altercations.”
“Thanks, bro.” Reed slaps his shoulder before shutting the door and coming back around to take his seat. “Please continue,” he tells Harris.
“Yes, please tell us why we’re here,” Richard deadpans.
“Ms. Miller has been acting out, and quite frankly, I’m going to have to suspend her until further notice. We do not tolerate the kind of behavior she exhibits. According to the nurse, she broke poor Ms. Humphries’s nose today.
“Why?” Elijah asks me softly with his head cocked to the side.
“Does it matter?” I reply with a raised brow.
“There is one thing I know for sure. A Covington doesn’t snap. I knew your mother and Alice. I know it takes a lot to make one lose their cool, but that’s one thing Ingram is good at,” he tells me without breaking eye contact.
“I’m not a Covington. My last name is Miller, and according to Principal Harris, I’m beneath all of you.”
Reed reaches over and squeezes my thigh in support under the table.
“How about we get a few facts straight, Harris, shall we?” he asks Keaton while sliding a USB stick across the table to him. Keaton snatches it off the table and heads to the mounted flat-screen TV.
“My pleasure,” Keaton tells him with a devious grin.
He plugs the USB stick into the TV, and security footage from the hall starts to play, sound and all.
You can clearly make out every horrid word Ingram tossed my way. How she pulled my hair like a little bitch and yet I didn’t do anything. Not until she broke the skin around my chin with her nails and visibly spit in my face. Alice gasps, and Richard has his fists flexing on top of the table. Principal Harris looks a little chagrined while Elijah takes it all in. When I spring into action, Richard tries to cover his chuckle with a cough, Alice looks like a proud momma bear, and Elijah’s trying not to smile.
“Clearly this is one time. I have reports from Ms. Humphries of other altercations,” Principal Harris tries to backtrack and save face.
“Is it though?” V asks ominously.
“Harris, you really shouldn’t be trying to save Ingram just because you’re sleeping with my daughter-in-law. Take it from me, they’re both vultures and only using you because it's convenient,” Elijah tells him while staring at his granddaughter.
Harris sputters and tries to protest, but Alice raises her hand to stop him, then turns and looks at Elijah.
“This has to stop,” she tells him softly.
“It does.” He nods towards her and Richard. “Ingram’s the one who needs to be suspended. And don’t worry. I’ll be the one dishing out the discipline. Sage, if you would like to go ahead and press charges, we won't fight you on it.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re taking that peasant’s side?” Ingram roars.
“Bite your tongue, Ingram,” Elijah snaps. “I’m over your behavior. One more wrong move gets back to me and I take it all away.”
“You can’t take anything from me.” She raises her busted nose in the air haughtily.
“I can and I will. It’s my money, now, isn’t it? Now apologize.”
“I’m sorry,” she mutters while looking out the window.
“Because that was believable.” Keaton snickers, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from V.
“We’ll be taking both Victoria and Sage home for the day,” Alice tells Principal Harris.
“Yes, of course.”
“If anything like this happens again to either our daughter or our niece, we’ll be pulling our donations from the school,” Richard tells him coolly.
“That's not necessary,” Harris sputters.
Everyone stands and starts making their way to the door to leave.
“If you don’t mind, Alice, Richard, I would like a moment alone with Sage,” Elijah says.
They look at one another, and Richard replies, “Of course. Make it quick though.”
Everyone clears out, and Tinsley raises her brow silently asking me if I’m okay with being left alone with Mr. Humphries. I give her a slight nod, and she shuts the door silently.
Elijah walks around the table and stares out the window overlooking the school grounds and sighs before turning back to me.
“I’m sorry,” he tells me after turning back to me. He looks as if he’s aged ten years in the last few minutes.
“No apology necessary. It sounds as if you’re not the reason Ingram is the way she is.” I shrug.
“That may be. But once upon a time, our families were close. I don’t want your views on Ingram to be pushed on the rest of my family.”
“I learned a long time ago not to judge a book by its cover. It was one of those life lessons my mother pushed on me.”
“God, I’m sorry about Abi. She was a great person. I can only imagine how she was as a mother.”
“She was the best,” I tell him softly.
“You had a good life?” he asks while looking down at his hands.
“We did. We might not have been rich with money, but we were rich with love.”
“That's good.” He takes a deep breath and stands back to his full height, then reaches inside his suit jacket and pulls out a card. He spins it in his hand for a minute before passing it to me. “My office and cell number are on there. If you need anything, and I mean anything, please don’t hesitate to call me.”
“I won’t, but thanks,” I tell him honestly.
He smirks at my response.
“Just like Abi,” he murmurs while walking towards the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. All I want is some caramel chocolate and a hot shower.
Chapter Nineteen
Winter vacation has officially started. Tinsley convinced V and me to stay the night before we go out of town with Richard and Alice.
“Let’s play a game,” Tinsley says while wiping her hands off on her napkin.
“Okay, what kind of game?” V asks.
“Hmm.” Tinsley thinks for a minute. “How about we tell each other what our favorite memory is?”
“Easy enough,” V says with a smirk. “You in, Sage?” she asks with a raised brow.
“Why not?” I shrug.
Tinsley claps with excitement. “Yay! Who wants to go first?”
“I will,” Victoria says with a dreamy look in her eyes. “So, there’s this town calle
d Stowe in Vermont. It’s a classic mountain resort town known for their slopes. Apparently back when my parents were dating, that’s where they first said ‘I love you.’ Anyways, we go every year, right? Well, usually we go skiing and chill around the fire at the house they rent. Last year, I got sick of all the love in the air, so I decided to try something different. I found out that you could zip-line in the winter. I spent hours zip-lining through the trees while snow covered everything. Since it was winter, it wasn’t packed. I remember the wind on my face, hair whipping around, freezing cold, but I had no desire to leave. Then on the last line about halfway down, it started lightly snowing. I’ve never felt like that before, so connected to nature. I hate the outdoors for the most part, but in that moment, I completely understood how someone could love it. I cannot wait to go back this year,” she says with a sigh.
“That sounds amazing. I’ve never tried zip-lining before,” Tinsley replies.
“Neither have I,” I second.
“Don’t worry. I’ll drag you with me this year. I made a list of the best places in the world to go zip-lining, and I want to hit all of them at some point. See if I can recreate that feeling,” she tells us, still looking far off. “Anyways, your turn, Sage.”
“My mom loved the Fourth of July. Honestly, she loved summer in general. We would go camping whenever we could. Take a tent and pop it up somewhere and swim, then have a fire and do the whole s’mores thing. But every year for the Fourth, we would try somewhere new. Going to towns that had little Fourth of July parades and whatever else they had planned. Then she would rank the towns from most patriotic to the least. ‘Never settle in a town that doesn’t love our country, Sage. We may go through dark times, but in the end, we all want the same thing.’ Plus, she just loved fireworks. Anyways, I guess my favorite memory is from this last summer, the last time we went camping. We always had a blast, and I hate that I’ll never have that again with her,” I tell them honestly while trying to discreetly wipe a tear from my eye.
“Well, fuck,” V says.
Tinsley sniffles and picks up her phone.
“I know we aren’t your mom, but dang it, we’ll make sure you have a good Fourth of July and carry on your mother’s tradition. I’m going to make a list of the best places within an hour of us so that way we can choose,” she says while still looking at her phone.