Page 23

Suddenly, I’m pulled from the pool. I spit up water and cough out whatever left in my lungs. Taking deep breaths, I can feel the burn in my lungs as oxygen starts to fill them again.
“Ms. Hayes, Phoenix. Just breathe. You’re okay,” she says as I sit up and scoot away from the pool. “Come on, come over here.” Ms. Thornton helps me up and walks me over to a set of bleachers off to the side. She wraps a towel around my shoulders to try to keep me from getting cold.
My body’s shaking, but it’s definitely not from being cold. I thought I was going to die. I thought the water was going to swallow me. Just like my parents, in water. Fuck.
My mind ceased all logical functions at that point. Images of my mother and father flashed in front of my eyes. I couldn’t even process that I should be trying to breathe in the water. I just wanted to get out. The panic took over me.
“Are you okay? Can someone get the nurse?” Mrs. Thornton calls out.
“No!” I yell. “No. I’m fine. I … I’m not a fan of pools or l-large areas of water.”
“What happened? Did you slip in?” She rubs my shoulders. I look up, and my eyes meet Bitch Barbie number one, Bianca. The corner of her mouth is turned slightly up as if this was better than anything she had planned. She had discovered a weakness of mine.
“Yeah, I slipped in,” I lie. I could’ve told on Bianca, but that would never have fixed anything. In fact, it would have made everything worse. “Sorry.”
“No, honey, it’s okay. Stay here on the bleachers for the rest of class, and just relax. I’ll find something for you to do other than swimming for the next couple weeks, okay?”
I nod and she walks away to line the other girls up. I hang my head down for a moment and try to calm my still wildly beating heart.
Fuck.
By the time class is headed back to the locker room and Mrs. Thornton is still begging me to let her call the nurse, which I refuse, I sigh with a little relief. I can get changed, get through study hall, and get back to the safe confinement of my dorm room.
Then a bit of panic runs through me. I don’t have a fucking lock for my locker. Shit. I’m praying that none of my stuff was stolen.
As I run back to the locker, slowly I open it and find that my stuff is right where I left it. I let out a small breath of relief as I begin to dress again. I don’t have a brush, so I comb through my hair the best I can with my finger and throw it back up.
I open up my backpack and reach in to grab my locket, only it’s not there. Are you fucking kidding me?
No, no, no. Please don’t tell me they took that. I can feel the heat rising in my neck as I grind my teeth together. I pull out my bag and dump everything on the bench behind me.
It’s gone. Fucking gone. Those fucking bitches. Fuck! I need to come up with a way to prove they took it and get it back. I really did not need this shit.
Grabbing my bag, I walk out of the locker room and ignore the stares and whispers around me. Yes, I know they are talking about the pool incident and no, I don’t give a shit.
I make it into Forthright in time for my last class of the day. A study hall. And of course, royalty themselves are in this class. Daxon, Colton, and Mason all sit there surrounding the one unoccupied desk.
Seriously?
As I walk up to the desk, I reach around to the back of my neck. Nervously, I scratch it. Plopping down into the seat with utter annoyance over having to sit between these three. Colton sits in front of me, Mason next to the desk, and the self-proclaimed god himself, Daxon behind me.
“Hey, Red. How’s your day been?” Mason leans over towards me. I start to feel the heat on my skin as he gets closer to me. I shift in my seat, trying to move away from him.
“Just fine,” I say, not even looking at him.
“How was your swim?” Daxon asks from behind me.
My mouth thins, and I grind my molars together. So, they set that up. Awesome.
As I sit there, under the watchful eye of the kings, my skin starts to burn. My arms, my chest, even between my legs.
What the fuck?
Am I having an allergic reaction? I don’t have any allergies that I know of but, I have never felt this itchy before. My skin is literally burning. It feels like small pieces of glass are cutting into my skin.
I start to slowly scratch, trying to relieve the pain, but it becomes worse with each pass. My heart starts to race, and I’m trying to control my breathing, but Mason of course catches on that there is something wrong.
“Hey, you okay Red?” His corners of his mouth turn up slightly, and then it hits me.