Page 152

good teachers and good friends and a great school, those things wouldn’t

happen.

Also? She knew she owed June one. A big one. And this one wasn’t for

June. It was for Beth. But maybe, in some way, Arabella figured that she

might deserve this. Not deserve it, but that karma or whatever had come

back around to her, and this was her chance to try to level the score.

She’d been a terrible person for years. Before June there had been other

girls that she’d bullied. She was just incredibly lucky that no one had ever

done something terrible over what she’d said or done, but the fact that she’d

hurt people over and over, said unthinkable things—god, she’d even drawn

blood when she’d thrown that textbook back at June that day—maybe she

should do some good when she had the opportunity.

Beth still looked scared. So very scared. She looked truly terrified and

horrified. She was afraid for her job. Afraid of where that would leave her.

She was probably afraid June would take legal action too. Arabella didn’t

think June would ever do that, but she was about to find out. Maybe she’d

be so wounded about what she thought Arabella had done that she’d want to

make her suffer legally too just to prove she was finally able to stand up for

herself.

Arabella couldn’t imagine what Summer was going to do when she found

out. If a rock went through her car window or through the front window of

the house, she wouldn’t be surprised. That was old school revenge, and

Summer was much more creative, which made it a truly terrifying thing to

consider.

“Arabella? I said you’re going to get fired,” Beth whispered in a strained

voice. The kind of voice that came from intense emotion. It sounded like

she’d been yelling the entire day and now she had no voice left.

“I know that.” Arabella leaned back against the chair, letting the headrest

bracket her aching skull. She felt horrible. Sad. Defeated. Bereft. Barren.

She wasn’t just going to lose her job. She was going to have her girlfriend,