Breaking Karma

by Charity Ferrell

  “Good morning, princess,” he said, setting her back down on her feet.

  “This is my cousin, Daisy,” she told him, pointing at me. “I want to look just like her when I grow up. Isn’t she pretty? She looks like one of my Barbies that mommy got me,” she continued to ramble. I gave myself a quick mental note to inform her to quit referring to me as looking like a damn Barbie.

  “You’re absolutely right,” he answered her. His eyes twinkled with interested as he dragged his fingers across his mouth. “She is very pretty. I especially like those dark eyes of hers.” The look he gave me confirmed he knew I was watching them last night. His hand moved away from his mouth, giving me a full view of the smug smile he was still sporting. Another flush crept across my cheeks, and I thanked the genetic gods that my olive complexion helped conceal my humiliation.

  “Daisy.” My name sounded sensual coming through his lips. “If you’re on your way to school, I can give you a ride.”

  Every pair of eyes shot my way, awaiting my answer. The last thing I wanted to do was be in a car alone with him. I’d just watched another girl give him a ride last night, so it’d be entirely too weird to catch one with him now.

  “Sure, that’s fine,” I answered, hating the fact that I was too chicken-shit to say no.

  “I’ll see you later,” he told Sophia and Tommy. He turned around and headed towards his driveway. I sent them a wave, hoisted my bag over my shoulders, and followed him until we both reached a black Range Rover. He stepped in front of me to open up the passenger side door.

  “Nice wheels,” I said, sliding in between him and settling into the seat before he shut the door behind me.

  He nodded in response and circled around the car to get into the driver’s side. The ignition turned on, and he drove down the street while an uncomfortable silence took over the air. When he finally broke that silence, I wanted to punch the asshole in his perfect, pretty face.

  “So … have you always been into voyeurism, or is it a new hobby you’ve recently picked up?” he asked.

  Embarrassment and anger shot through my body. I was surprised I didn’t catch whiplash from how fast I twisted my head around to look at him.

  “I’m not a voyeur,” I hissed out, shifting around in the leather seat and glaring at him. “Have you always been into exhibitionism, or did you just happen to pick it up recently?”

  He laughed. “I wasn’t fucking in public. I was fucking at my own house. I can’t help it you were spying on me.” He shrugged his shoulders and stopped at a red light.

  His sarcastic tone irked me. “Whatever,” I grumbled, turning back around to face the window.

  Our little discussion needed to end pronto.

  My muscles tensed up as worry began to set in. Was he going to spread word at my new school that I was a creeper? I kept my view out the window, watching as we blurred passed trees and buildings, and wishing I was anywhere but in the car with him.

  We drove only a short distance before he stopped in front of another large, white house with huge columns in the front.

  “Quick pit stop,” he said, slamming his hand down on the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare out. I ignored him, and my window slowly began to roll down.

  A tall, skinny blonde came strutting out the front door. Her blonde hair was curled into large, perfect waves and clipped behind her ears. I rolled my eyes as I took in her outfit. She was wearing a white, extremely low-cut blouse that was pretty much see-through and giving me the perfect view of her bright red bra. A plaid mini-skirt that barely covered her vagina was fitted around her waist.

  Clueless called, Cher wanted her outfit back.

  I squinted my eyes as she came closer, and it hit me.

  Holy fucking shit!

  She was the girl from last night. The moaner. Just when I thought this ride couldn’t get any more mortifying, we had to pick up his sex partner. Her feet skidded to a stop when she spotted me sitting in the passenger seat. An angry snarl twisted onto her face.

  “Who the fuck is this?” she asked, looking through the open window at Keegan. Her manicured fingers set directly on her tiny hipbones. I could’ve only guessed that I was in her seat. Leaning over, I started to unbuckle my seatbelt, but a large hand landed on mine, stopping me. Keegan tapped on my hand twice like he was giving me some kind of code and then looked over at her.

  “My new neighbor,” he answered. “Now get in.” He jerked his head towards the back seat.

  “Hell no,” she screeched, raising her hands in the air. “I’m not sitting in the backseat.”

  I didn’t understand why she was so pissed. I was fairly certain the girl gaping at me was no stranger to being in a backseat.

  Keegan let out a long, tortured sigh. “Piper, get your ass in the backseat or drive your own fucking ass to school. I don’t have time to play your childish games right now.”

  The blonde opened her mouth, but quickly slammed it shut, changing her mind. Stomping her high heeled foot down on the concrete, she swung the back door open like a mad woman and climbed into the backseat, huffing. Her bony arm slammed the door shut harshly behind her.

  “Piper, Daisy,” Keegan pointed back and forth between her and me. “Daisy, Piper.”

  “Daisy,” she repeated, and I didn’t miss the distaste in her tone. She popped her head in between Keegan and me. “Is that your real name or your stripper name?” She didn’t give me the chance to answer before she continued on with her insult. “I mean, seriously? Who in their right mind names their kid Daisy unless they wanted to set you up for disaster? Were your parents hippies or something?”

  I frowned. I’d only been in the car with this chick for a few minutes, but I found myself fighting the urge to throw her in front of a moving car.

  "Piper," I mocked, using the same tone she'd used with me and raising an eyebrow. "Who in the hell names their kid after some fairy tale creep who led children to their death?"

  I normally wasn't a spiteful person, but she hit a sore spot. I adored my name. When my mom and dad were young, he'd pick daisies from my grandmother's garden and bring them over to my mom to propose. She told me it was one of her most cherished memories of them together. As soon as she found out she was having a girl, she knew that’s what she was naming me.

  Keegan chuckled beside me.

  "What are you even talking about?" Piper asked, her face laced with confusion.

  I shook my head at her, choosing to ignore her comment, and moved my attention back to the colorful leaves that were beginning their downfall from thick branches.

  "Piper, play nice," Keegan warned his co-star.

  He pushed a button, and Nickelback flowed out of the speakers. His thick fingers drummed along the steering wheel to the beat of the music. Temptation was telling me to turn around and let the tramp know that I could care less if she "played nice" with me or not, but the better person in me decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

  I heard the pitchy voice of Piper's start to whine, but I let the sound of music drown her out. I needed to conserve what little energy I had for getting through the day. Not only was I starting a new school, I was now walking in there with a huge target on my back. And the person holding the gun? That would be the bitch in the backseat.

  Chapter Five

  My nose shriveled up at the potent scent of bleach when I walked into the girl's locker room. Every single girl in the room ignored my presence as I made my way down the aisles looking for a locker. It didn't bother me. I wasn't there to make friends. I mentally gave each scowling girl the middle finger as I passed by. Tossing my bag on the bench in front of an isolated locker, I let out a deep sigh.

  "Hey girl." I jumped, whipping around to see a short girl with deep auburn hair pulled into a messy bun throw her gym bag in front of the locker next to mine. "I was hoping we would have a class together." Her hands went down to the hem of her shirt, and she pulled it over her head, messing her hair up more. "I know being the new girl around this joint s
ucks major ass, so I just want you to know I'm here for you.”

  I definitely couldn't have agreed more with her last statement. I'd practically dived out of the car when we pulled into the school parking lot. If I had to hear one more second of Piper's incessant whining, I was going to stick a pen in my eardrums and gouge them out.

  My first two classes were absolutely dreadful. In both of them, the teachers had insisted that I introduce myself. My Chemistry teacher was the worst, though. She stood in front of the class with her oversized glasses and ill-fitted sweater and insisted I share three fun facts about myself to everyone. There was just one problem. There was nothing fun about me anymore. I had briefly considered telling her my first fun fact was that I wanted to shove my foot up her ass, but I bit my tongue. My parents most likely wouldn't have been too happy if I got kicked out of school on my first day for verbally assaulting a teacher.

  I eyed the girl next to me skeptically. "Uh," I muttered. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

  "I'm Gabby," she told me, smiling. I grabbed the hideous black shorts the gym teacher had given me before class. “My mom works for your Aunt Jamie."

  My body went stiff, my fingers locking around the drawstring of my shorts. A worry lap shot through my nerves, afraid she knew about me. I quickly tied my shorts, reached down to grab my top, but stopped when I felt my body suddenly jerk into the metal locker beside me. Pain stung up my side as I gasped for air.

  "Whoopsie, my bad," the newly familiar voice laughed out. I turned around to find Piper standing in front of me with a lookalike minion to each side of her.

  One was blonde with curls similar to Piper's, and the other had a full head of black hair pulled into a low ponytail. They were both sporting different colored plaid mini-skirts similar to Piper's. The fact that someone was striving to be like her was scary, and I was worried for their mental health. They busted out in laughter as I looked down at my side and noticed the ripped skin and redness of where it had come into contact with the locker.

  Gabby jumped in between us, wearing only her bra and panties. “Leave her alone, Piper,” she warned.

  “I'm sorry, but this doesn't concern you," Piper replied.

  "Actually it does," Gabby fired back, putting her hands on her hips. "She's my friend, so you need to back off."

  Huh? We'd just met, but if she got Piper off my back, we were definitely going to be friends.

  "Why doesn't that surprise me?" Piper muttered under her breath, snapping her fingers. Yes, she actually snapped her fingers like some bad eighties flick. Her little sidekicks scurried away and followed her out of the locker room without another word.

  "Damn girl," Gabby said, whistling loudly as she eyed the red mark running down my side. "She got you good. Isn't this your first day here?" I nodded while we finished getting dressed. "How did you already manage to piss her off? She usually saves that for girls who hook up with Keegan."

  I paused at the mention of his name. Of course, my pain in the ass neighbor was already causing me problems. Regret set in, I wished I’d declined his offer for a ride. I wouldn’t have even been on Piper’s radar if Tommy had taken me to school.

  “Keegan," I muttered. "He's my neighbor. He gave me a ride to school this morning." I slipped on my tennis shoes. "And he made her sit in the backseat."

  Gabby's eyes went wide as she burst out in laughter. "Oh my god, I would've loved to see her face when he told her that." She shut her locker and grabbed my arm. "Come on, we better go. If we're late, Ms. Appleberry makes us run extra laps."

  Goosebumps pebbled up my arms when we made it into the chilly gym. A large group of girls were congregated in the middle of the room talking and laughing amongst one another. I squatted, getting ready to sit down, when a loud voice boomed through the room. "Give me five laps, ladies! Get it moving!"

  The group dispersed, and everyone around me started to run up the stairs to the left. The overweight gym teacher that had handed me my uniform earlier was standing in front of the room with a huge megaphone clasped in her fingers.

  "Welcome to gym class," Gabby huffed, rolling her eyes. We turned around, following the group of girls up the stairs to a huge, circular track that overlooked the gym. “So what do you think of Atlanta so far?” She pulled her ponytail tighter as we broke out into a slow jog.

  "It's not too bad. I just got here yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to do anything yet,” I answered.

  My side was already starting to cramp up. I used to work out with Tanner sometimes, in more ways than one, but all physical activity had been cut out of my life since I lost him.

  She looked over at me as a smile grew on her face. "Well, you're all everyone has been talking about since you got here this morning," she said, her tone eager. "You're new and hot. Today's juicy gossip."

  "Great," I grumbled.

  I had no interest in being the day's juicy gossip. My plan in Atlanta was to go by unnoticed, graduate to make my parents happy, and then figure out what the hell I wanted to do with the rest of my life after that.

  She went quiet, and I glanced over at her from the corner of my eye. Her face was unreadable as she began to slow down. “So uh …,” she muttered, stopping completely and looking around they gym as she struggled for the right words. Her voice lowered. “I know what happened at your last school.” My heartbeat sped up. “The only reason I know is because my mom had to work extra hours to cover for your aunt when she went to the funeral. I think I’m the only person who knows, and my lips are sealed.” She made a zipping motion with her hand across her lips. "I promise."

  "Thank you," I said, quietly, looking down at my feet.

  "Nobody has to know anyways," she said, chirping up. "We can tell them you're from somewhere else. What about Brazil? You've got that whole dark hair, exotic look going on."

  "You do know they have accents and speak a completely different language there, right? It might be a sure sign I'm lying."

  "Oh," she answered, scrunching up her lips. "Well shit, where do you want to be from? I will totally back up your story." The girl was growing on me already. She reminded me of Tessa, and how we always had each other's backs.

  "Might as well tell them where I'm really from. There are so many schools in Indy, I doubt they'll put two and two together."

  She nodded in agreement. "True, and I'm pretty sure half of these people don't watch the news around here, anyways. The only news they read are TMZ and Facebook feeds.”

  "Ladies," Mrs. Appleberry's voice shouted. We walked over to the railing and looked down to see her pointing at our stationary bodies. "This is physical education, which means you need to be physically moving."

  "Yeah skank, you need to move much faster than that if you want to burn off all of that extra ass you have," Piper sneered, running past us and bumping into my shoulder.

  "Don't ever take advice from a girl who bedazzles her gym uniform," Gabby shouted, loud enough for Piper to hear. In return, Piper spun around and flipped her off.

  "Well, let's get moving," I grumbled, and we both started jogging again.

  ***

  “Hey Gabs.”

  I looked up from my salad to find a tall, strawberry blonde girl sitting her tray down at our table. A fishtail braid ran down one side of her head, and she was wearing a white, floral summer dress. She had Georgia Peach written all over her. The chair screeched as she pulled it out, sat down, and popped opened up her drink.

  "I'm Cora, it's Daisy, right?" she asked, sending a warm smile in my direction. I gave her a quick nod and took a look around the busy lunchroom. Gabby had dragged me here after gym class, giving me some relief that I wouldn’t have to be the awkward new kid with nowhere to sit during lunch.

  “I heard Piper has got it out for you, girl,” Cora went on. “My words of advice: ignore her. She’ll eventually get bored and go away. She’s like one of those demon creatures in the horror movies that feed on fear. Starve her, and the bitch dies.” She shrugged her shoulders and opened up h
er fruit cup. “Piper is under the impression that she has some claim to Keegan, even though everyone knows Keegan Montgomery does whatever the hell Keegan Montgomery wants to do. He’s practically screwed every girl in this room and then some.” Her face twisted into a look that resembled disgust.

  “She's not his girlfriend?" I asked, confused. They both looked at me like I had just grown another head.

  Cora laughed. "Uh no. Keegan will never have a girlfriend, or any type of serious relationship," she said, matter-of-factly. "He has major commitment problems. Piper is just his number one booty-call, so she thinks she’s special.”

  “She is acting way bitchier towards you than normal, though,” Gabby chimed in next to me. “She feels threatened by you.”

  Threatened by me? I could hardly stand to hold a conversation with the guy, let alone screw him.

  "Doesn’t matter," I said. "I'm not interested in him, so Piper has nothing to worry about."

  Gabby choked on her drink, spewing it all over the table, causing Cora to slap her on the back a few times. “Who in the hell wouldn’t be interested in that?” she asked, after regaining control of herself. Her head jerked to the left, gesturing to a few tables down where Keegan was sitting at a rowdy, overcrowded table with Piper plastered on his lap.

  I could’ve cared less how attractive he was. I wasn’t interested in having a relationship, especially with someone like him. My heart was sealed in a casket that was buried in the dirt.

  “I would willingly hand over my virginity to that boy with a huge, red bow tied around it,” Gabby said.

  “Whatever, Gabby,” Cora protested. “You’re not that stupid.”

  “Hi baby.” A guy with shaggy hair tucked underneath both of his ears stopped at our table. He was wearing a football jersey with the school’s mascot across the front of it. He pulled out the chair next to Cora, sat down, grabbed her by the sides of her face, and planted a kiss on her lips. “What’s going on?”

  “Just listening to Gabby tell us about how she wants to gift wrap her v-card and hand it over to your slut bag cousin,” she replied, rolling her eyes.