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“They almost killed the guy.”
“She’s got a lot of nerve showing up here.”
Ash and I took our seats. I did my best to ignore the continuous word slashes.
A girl in the row in front of me looked at my injured hand over her shoulder and then back to her friend. “Did that jerk hit her too? Or was she beating that poor guy with him?”
“Ignore them,” Ash said, patting my thigh.
Was what had happened not hideous enough? They were spreading more terrible rumors? I chewed on my lips, angry, nervous…guilty.
Professor Lahey entered. Finally. His presence paused the gossip but not the pointed looks or the hate notes. Yes. Pieces of paper kept flying to my bench as if we were in high school or something. Against my better judgment, I opened one of them.
Go back to your gang, bitch.
My cheeks burned as I exhaled a troubled breath. I reached for another note.
Lucky I never asked you out, or I’d be dead by now. You’re too ugly anyway.I didn’t need to read the rest of the god-awful things my classmates thought of me.
Ash pushed them all out of my way with her arm like trash. “Don’t read that. I’ll throw them all away,” she whispered.
I shook my head, my chest heaving with anger. “Don’t you dare.”
Perhaps I got involved with the wrong guy, and a not-so-innocent man had to suffer because of it. That didn’t give anyone the right to bully me. Even if I felt as guilty as Dusty for Samuel’s beating, I wouldn’t tolerate that kind of treatment.
As soon as the class was dismissed, I shoved all the notes in my pocket and barged outside, heading for the Dean’s office.
Ashley ran after me. “Cameron, wait. I’m coming with you.”
“No. Go to your class. I’ll deal with this on my own.”
“C’mon. Don’t be like this. I’m—”
“Go to class!” My fists balled, and I immediately regretted my behavior. I paused and held her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you like this.”
“No worries, babe. You’re angry. I get it. I’d be angry, too. We’re good.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to escalate things, though. These assholes will find something else to keep their knuckleheads busy soon. All this will fade with time. But if you make a big deal out of it, you might get burned for something you didn’t even do.”
“Maybe. But I refuse to spend the next few months in this shit. I must do something or I’ll wind up—”
“Delaney!” A male voice shouted behind me, interrupting me. My head whipped toward it, and I saw it was one of my classmates. “It’s your bike,” he continued. “They’re trashing it.”
“Son of a…” I ran off to the parking lot, but by the time I arrived, whoever vandalized my bike was gone.
My hands clasped behind the back of my head as I stared at the damage, panting. The bike was covered with trash and spit. Drops of yellow liquid trickled from the seat on the ground. I couldn’t tell if it was soda or piss. And the words ‘gangster whore’ were sprayed along the side in red paint.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream.
To destroy.
“What the fuck?” Ash exclaimed.
Rage thundered inside me, pounding my head. “Still think I should just stand by and let it fade with time?”
CHAPTER 9