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Instincts kicked in, and it was thewrongtime for it. I reached out for the counter to keep myself from falling all the way, but my towel came undone. I’d fucked up. My instincts were wrong.
I quickly righted myself, but it was too late. The towel fell to the floor just as I heard the girl laugh. A familiar laugh rang out behind me, and I turned halfway to see Harper standing there, lifting her phone. She no doubt took several pictures right then and maybe a video, but I hoped the speed at which everything happened would make them blurry enough not to use.
“Wow. You should really watch where you’re going!” she said before making a hasty exit.
I reached down and snatched up my towel and wrapped it around myself just as Headmistress McArthur walked out.
“What’s going on out here?” she said before looking over at me. Her eyes widened. “In my office.Now.”
I headed inside, having no idea what was about to happen. She quickly closed the door behind me and motioned for me to sit before poking her head out her office door.
“Get me a uniform. Now.” She looked back at me. “What size are you?”
“Medium skirt, small shirt,” I replied flatly.
She quickly relayed the message before coming in to sit next to me. “Are you alright?” she asked.
Well, I wasn’t expecting that. The rage in her voice made me assume I was about to get my bare-naked ass ripped.
I nodded. “I’m fine. Annoyed… but fine.”
“What happened?”
I stared at her for a moment, debating what to say. I could tell her. I could tell her everything that happened, and every last person involved. But if I did, and she wasn’t in the students’ pockets, that meant she’d call Rick, and I had no idea how that would go. No, I needed to deal with this on my own.
“Someone unscrewed the lock on my locker room shower stall and stole my bag of clothes. I got lucky. I managed to get shampoo in my eyes and grabbed my towel right when the door opened, otherwise, I’d probably have lost that, too. Unfortunately, shampoo in the eyes means I didn’t see much. Just shapes.”
I felt bad for lying, so I tried to sprinkle in a bit of truth as well.
“Did they say anything? Did you recognize any voices?”
I shook my head. “They played really loud music to disguise the sound of whatever they used to take the lock off. Plus, I don’t really know anyone here. It’s only my second day at Crestview. I’m sorry. I have no clue.”
Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “If you remember anything, please let me know. I willnottolerate bullies in my school. I have an open-door policy here for a reason, and I expect it to be used.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
She sighed. “I’ll be honest. I think you’re lying, but I have no way to prove it. On top of that, you’ve just been through a great deal, so I’m not about to put you through more. You obviously think you can handle this on your own. If it gets to be too much, tell me. Understand?”
This woman seemed tough. I liked her, and I believed she might actually do something. Still, I couldn’t take the risk.
“I understand. Thank you. I do appreciate it. For now, I’ll handle it on my own, but thank you.”
There was a knock at her door, and she stood to answer it. She laid the new uniform in my lap. “I’m going to step outside to let you change safely. We don’t carry undergarments or shoes, so I’ll write you a late pass for your last class so you can go to your dorm and get whatever you need.” She paused as she turned to exit. “Whatever you do to ‘deal with it’ yourself—no one gets hurt. Harmless pranks are one thing—those happen all the time—but physical harm or repeat pranks, which makes a student a target, is considered bullying and will not be tolerated. Understand?”
I nodded. “Understood. Thank you, Headmistress.”
She gave a curt nod and stepped outside so I could get dressed. As long as I only returned fire, it seemed I wouldn’t get in much trouble. I just couldn’t return fire and then keep at it. Interesting… That gave me a lot to play with when I decided to go down that road.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TEMPERANCE
Damian and Asher made me want to commit murder regularly—which I found sad to think given I’d only been there fortwo fucking days—but Harper was family. My sister. That shit needed to stop. Despite how difficult things had been, part of me really wanted things to work between us. My heart was way too big for my own good, and I’d convinced myself there was a way to get to her.
I just had no idea what that was—yet.
Pissed off, barefoot, and pantiless, I stomped my way across campus toward the dorms. My hands remained balled into fists the whole time. I was certain I looked like a raging toddler, but I didn’t give a damn. With how the day had already gone, I expected a gale force wind to blow through and present my bare-naked ass to the entire campus—but again, I didn’t care right then.