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The shit Damian pulled in gym was definitely among the worst he’d done so far. While a little destruction of reputation wasn’t that big of a deal, inciting violence was another story. He may not know the danger I faced with Rick’s enemies, but he damn well knew I’d been attacked here at Crestview. I had no shortage of enemies, and the way Harper, Becky, and Melinda glared at me and watched me all throughout gym class and in the locker room after, I had a bad feeling. I needed to be on guard.
Normally, their bullshit didn’t bother me or scare me, but I’d never seen Harper so pissed, and that was saying something. And with Becky running her fucking mouth and no doubt throwing gasoline on Harper’s rage, I felt I had reason to worry. Every time they looked at me, it was like they were stalking me, hunting me. They were preparing to pounce, but I had no idea where or how.
There was a scheme there, and until I figured it out, I knew I wouldn’t be safe.
“Fuck!” Emma shouted across the headset.
I laughed. “Easy there. You’ll get him next time.”
“That lazy fuck has been camped in the same goddamn spot the whole match. Help me get him. He needs to fucking die.”
“Motherfucker!” I shouted after getting sniped by the same little bastard in the same window Emma had just been sniped by. “KilldURMom, you’re gonna fucking burn.”
“See! Let’s run around this building. I’ll go around the front and drop a Bouncing Betty in the hallway. It’ll draw him out. You jump in the window and take his ass out.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I responded.
I’d missed playing Call of Duty with Emma. We both sounded like a couple of sailors, but it was all in good fun. Well, except moments like that when twelve-year-old kids got on there and camped in the same spot or did a bunch of dumb crap.
“Okay. You got it?” I asked.
“Just put the Bouncing Betty down.”
I jumped up on a commercial trash bin and jumped high enough to peek in the window. He was headed for the door, creeping along just as she’d hoped. I quickly hopped in the window and shot him from behind.
“Got him!”
“Fuck yes! That’s what I’m talking about!” she cheered.
I laughed and jumped back out of the window. As soon as I hit the ground, I was killed by KilldURMom again before the match ended.
“Damn it!” I shouted. “He got me again. He must have spawned really close. Pretty sure I’m the final kill. Well, that’s embarrassing.”
“Ugh. Let’s back out and get into a different group. That guy is annoying as hell,” she said.
Since I was the group leader, I backed us out to the main menu. “Okay. I’m going to go grab a protein water. Be right back.”
I ran to the fridge and grabbed a strawberry banana protein water. I ordered like five different flavors and had each of them lined up in the bottom of my side-by-side fridge. Since my anxiety issue grew, my OCD issues did as well. Everything in my fridge had its own little clear container. I had fruits, veggies, Greek yogurts, and other good stuff, all perfectly organized in its perfect little place.
With me being eighteen, I could leave campus whenever I wanted, as long as I was back before curfew during weekdays and didn’t miss class. Fucking up could get those privileges revoked, though. Not something I had to worry about—well, unless I decided to go total bitch on the minions and started harassing all of them like they’d done to me.
When I stood, holding my strawberry banana protein water in hand, I looked at the spot I’d pulled it from. There was a strawberry watermelon behind it. I must have overlooked it since they both had similar labels and started with strawberry, so I quickly fixed them and ran back to my game.
“Okay, I’m back,” I said before cracking open the bottle and chugging about half.
“Ready to get back in the game?” she asked.
“Yep! I’ll que us up. So, how’s everything going back in Indiana? We don’t get to talk as often as I’d like.”
“Well, you’ve got a lot going on, so I understand. You’ve been through hell. And it’s good. People are still being nosy as hell, asking me what happened to you. I just tell them the same thing I’ve always told them. You lost everything. You needed to get the hell out of Indiana and away from anything and everything that reminded you of what you lost.”
Emma was the best. We’d always taken care of each other. Even now, she still had my back, and I loved her for it.
“Thank you for that. I know it can’t be easy dealing with nosy asses all the time.”
She snorted. “At least I don’t have to deal with all the bullshit you’ve got going on there. You’ve got an infestation of parasites in that place.”
I yawned. “Right? This place is seriously fucked. I don’t understand how so many parents raised so many assholes. It’s like the national shithead convention around here.”