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Your aunt isn’t the greatest person, but she will make sure you are in a good school so that you can thrive once you graduate. I don’t want you suffering the same fate as me.
Protect what’s in here. You and I both had our doubts about your father. Pieces are missing, things don’t make sense, the story has holes. You can’t trust those you should be able to trust.
I love you, my little bird.
Fly.
Love always,
Mom
I place the letter back in the envelope and before I have a chance to sort through the box, I hear the main door to our dorm open and shut. Shit. Liz.
“Phoenix? Are you here?” she calls out.
I jump off my bed and run to hide the box back into my closet. As I come out, I see the handle jiggle and hear a knock on the door.
“Phoenix, are you in there? Hey, I heard some shit went down. Just want to make sure you’re okay.” She tries the handle again, but the lock keeps her out. “Okay, well, if you need to talk, I’m here. Whatever happened, it’ll blow over. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” With that, I hear her footsteps walk away from the door.
I internally groan and hate myself for not just letting her in. Yeah, she is beyond annoying, but in this moment, she was trying to be nice.
Except right now, I just want peace and quiet.
I crawl into bed and throw the covers over my head to keep out the light that is still filtering into the room. For tonight, I’ll let myself cry and mourn what I have lost and what I was thrown into. But just for tonight.
Tomorrow, my walls get reconstructed.
Tomorrow, I won’t let anyone make a fool of me.
Tomorrow, I will burn with fury.
ten
PHOENIX
It’sthe last day of the first week of what has been an interesting start to my senior year. I have been pushed, tripped, called names, and injured all in the first week. Oh, and let’s not forget about the itching powder debacle. My necklace is still missing, and I’m being stalked by the Three Stooges. If this is how week one is going to go, I have high hopes that every other week from here on out will absolutely get that much worse.
Bring it.
Friday has given me a renewed sprit. There’s a buzz going through me, a need to fight harder against these trust fund babies. So, I throw on a piece of me, my Docs.
Let them suspend me, let them give me detention. I don’t give a shit. I need my armor. And if I have to prance around this fucking campus, I’ll do it in my own way. I’m not one of them, and I refuse to pretend that I am.
I grab my bag and my phone and slam my door behind me. Hearing the door slam, Liz peeks her head out of her room.
“Hey! You okay?” She pulls her brows together. “If you give me a few, I’ll be ready, and we can grab—”
“Not today.” I interrupt. “I got shit to handle. See ya at lunch.” I storm out our front door and take the stairs. Once I make it out front, I push past some of the students already hanging out and gossiping about who is doing who and something about the kings.
Fuck the kings.
As I walk towards Forthright, my fists are clenched at my side. I notice Dax and Colt walking out of the building out of the corner of my eye. Immediately, Dax meets my eyes and squints. He leans over and says something to Colt, and he looks up from his phone. I swear for a second, I see his lip turn up, but he quickly lowers his head back to his phone.
As I walk up to the doors, Dax steps in front of them and stops me. “Those boots are definitely not school issued, Spitfire.”
“Sucks to be anyone that has an issue with it.” I try to step around him, but he blocks me. I look up at him and narrow my eyes.
“How’s your wrist?” He tilts his head and looks down at my left wrist that’s still wrapped.