What was happening right in front of me that I couldn’t see.
Their view was far clearer than my own. They could see the score plastered in front of them, and all I could see was him.
I was just a pawn in his game. The lethal piece he needed for his fucked up sense of revenge.
And what he had said in his room? That Lucas had done the same to Frankie, that he had done far worse. I couldn’t hear him over my anger at the time, but it was practically the only thing I had thought about since.
If Lucas had done what he said, if he had assaulted Frankie, I couldn’t imagine that he would still be living the life that he was. He was totally unaffected, and I couldn’t comprehend how something like that could happen with no repercussions.
When I had brought it up to my father, he had shut it down far quicker than he ever could the video. He had already been angry about what had happened, but he was furious that I even dared believe what Beck had said.
And I knew why.
This boy had just ruined my life. He had literally just fucked me, took my trust and my virginity, and I was still listening to what he said.
I was still trusting him over someone that was supposed to be my blood.
Beck was a liar. He was cruel and vile, and I shouldn’t care if he looked sincere when he said that he hadn’t sent the video out. I knew it was a lie
even though my heart wanted to believe otherwise.
Every part of me wanted what happened to be some sort of nightmare. I didn’t want to believe that Beck was capable of such cruelty, especially not after I had been falling for him. I didn’t want to believe that any part of what happened could be true.
But those thoughts were foolish and being a foolish girl was what got me in this spot to begin with. I knew the moment I met Beck that he wasn’t someone I could trust. Hell, he had even told me so himself.
But I didn’t want to listen.
"Slut." I tried to ignore the slur that was thrown my way and pushed forward to my locker. These people didn’t mean shit to me and neither did their opinion.
That was what I was going to tell myself.
These people were temporary, and I would forget them all when my dad finally handed over the keys to my mother’s house.
And I refused to allow them to fuck with my head in the meantime.
I entered my combination into my lock and pulled my locker open. I wouldn’t have to deal with facing Beck until second period, but I would have to deal with Cami in first. I didn’t know what to expect when it came to her, but I knew that I wasn’t ready.
She had been nice to me, and I had fucked her boyfriend/non-boyfriend.
I didn’t feel bad, because Beck had fucking broke me. Every part of me that should have cared was now filled with blinding rage.
I couldn’t bring myself to care what Cami was going to think. I couldn’t care about how she had felt when she saw the video in front of her.
I didn’t have room for her or her feelings.
And if she was as close to Beck as she tried to make everyone believe, I couldn’t imagine that she didn’t know what he had been doing to me. She had to know that he was using me. That I was all a part of his game.
She had to know what he was going to do.
And the thought only made my rage intensify.
I could feel everyone watching me as they walked by. I was nothing more than a spectacle to them, their hottest topic of gossip, and I wanted to scream at them all. I wanted to erupt and roar and ruin every one of their perfect little lives, but none of that would do me any good.
The only person I should be worried about destroying was Beck Clermont. He had shattered me, and I wanted to do the same to him. I wanted
to do worse. I wanted him to feel everything he had made me feel and rip it away without warning.
I grabbed my book from my locker and straightened my spine as I made my way to class. Students steered clear of my path, and I was thankful.
The class was eerily quiet as I walked in, but I pretended not to notice. I kept my head up as I walked past desks filled with gossiping assholes, and I tried to look as bored as I felt.
I didn’t think twice as I took the seat I had been sitting in since I started in this place. I didn’t give a crap if it was beside Cami. I wouldn’t cower.
She was already at her desk when I slid into mine, and I didn’t look up at her even though I could feel her eyes on me. If she had something to say, then she could say it. They all could.
But I wasn’t going to acknowledge them first.
"Are you seriously going to sit there?" Cami’s snide remark came before I could even grab my notebook out of my bag.
I looked over at her, and she looked as put together as she always had.
She didn’t look like she was heartbroken over a boyfriend she cared about.
She didn’t look like a girl who had her fucking heart ripped from her chest.
"I am." I pulled out my notebook and a pencil, and I could hear whispers around me.
"Move, skank." Cami was firm in her order, and I turned my notebook to the last page of my notes. I still had to do well in school if I wanted all the things my father held in his firm grip.
I wasn’t going to let them steal my future away from me.
Not when it was the only thing I had.
I got my supplies ready before I looked back over at Cami. She was so beautiful, and I knew that she knew it. She was a queen, and I was nothing to her, just like I was nothing to him.
And she had played her part well.
I was certain of it.
None of these people had ever been genuine.
"Go fuck yourself, Cami." There was a shocked gasp from behind me, but I didn’t care. I could feel my blood heating and my face turning red, and all I could see was that damn video flashing over and over in my head.
She looked as shocked as the rest of them, like she had expected me to leave my backbone at home, but they had picked the wrong girl. I wasn’t the girl they thought I was. I wasn’t the girl to roll over simply because they
thought they had won.
I wouldn’t dare let any of these people treat me as if I was anything below them.
"What did you just say to me?" She looked around the room as she spoke, and I knew that she was checking to see who was watching. Cami didn’t do anything if it wasn’t for show.
"I’m not going to repeat myself." I faced forward and got comfortable in my chair.
"I should have known simply by your last name that you were trash."
I wasn’t sure why her words bothered me so much. She was more than impressed by my last name a few weeks ago. It had meant more to her than I ever did.
I stood from my chair and watched the flicker of fear in her eyes as I moved toward her desk. Cami thought she was better than everyone else, but she wasn’t. She was just like the rest of us.
Maybe even more fucked up.
I placed one hand on her desk and one on the back of her seat as I brought my face close to hers. "You have a lot of nerve calling me trash." Her eyes narrowed, but I wasn’t finished with her. I lowered my voice for only her to hear. "We may have both fucked Beck, but I’m not the one fucking a married man."
Her eyes widened in shock, and I knew that she hadn’t expected me to know that information. But that one move from her was enough to let me know it was true. She was uneasy that I had that information on her. Her eyes darted around the room, but there was no one here to save her.
I wouldn’t tell a soul about what she was doing, but I would use it if she didn’t leave me the hell alone. I wouldn’t be her punching bag while she was the one who deserved everyone’s hate.
"Who told you that?" Her voice was shaky, and I almost felt sorry for her.
"It looks like we both trusted the wrong boy." I pushed off her desk and returned to mine without another word.