Page 57 of Find Me

“What the fuck is up with your wrists and ankles?” Amber asked. “One of your clients get a little too rough?”

I didn’t engage and tried to appear unfazed as I attempted to step around them. They closed ranks and blocked me from getting away.

“Don’t you have something better to do?” I bit out, my irritation quickly building. “You all need to get a life and stop obsessing about mine.”

Amber stepped closer. “Don’t think you’re better than us, you stupid whore,” she snarled and shoved me. I stumbled back a few steps. I caught an evil smirk on Cassy’s face before my eyes leveled with Amber’s.

“You just put hands on me,” I said directly to Amber and loud enough for others to hear. “If you do it again, I’ll make you eat the floor.” I was strangely calm standing against five girls who were undoubtedly getting ready to attack me. Maybe it was because I'd survived something so much worse or maybe it was because I knew I would not be a victim in this fight. I knew how to defend myself. That gave me a little bit of confidence and a sense of control I wasn’t used to having.

Amber didn’t heed my warning. When she went to shove me again, I stepped out of the way, latched onto her wrist with one hand, yanked her forward while I hooked my foot around her ankle, propelling her face first to the floor. It happened so fast that she didn’t have time to brace herself. She hit the floor with a hard thunk. Blood gushed from her nose onto the tan gym floor.

After the shock wore off, the other girls tried to come after me, but Colt and Creed appeared, jumping in between us, blocking them from me.

A whistle blared, echoing throughout the gym. Coach Dale and Coach Ross came running toward us.

“Break it up!” Coach Dale yelled.

We all stepped away from each other. When they approached us, Coach Ross knelt next to Amber while Coach Dale looked between us all before pointing at Cassy and her friends. “You four! Go to the principal’s office right now!”

“What?!” Cassy screeched in disbelief.

“I said right now!” Coach Dale yelled. Cassy and her posse reluctantly turned and left. Then Coach Dale looked at me. “Miss Pierce, come with me.”

I followed Coach Dale out of the gym toward his office next to the boys’ locker room. He pointed to a chair outside his office. “Take a seat.” I did as he said and he walked into his office, shutting the door behind him.

I didn’t know how long exactly I sat there, but it had to have been more than thirty minutes. It wasn’t until the principal, Mr. Morgan, showed up that Coach Dale finally popped out of his office and gestured for me to come in. I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Coach Dale’s desk. Coach Dale offered his desk to Mr. Morgan to sit at while he stood off to the side.

Mr. Morgan sighed as he sat behind Coach Dale’s desk. “I just want to start off by saying, we have zero tolerance for violence at this school—”

“Your zero tolerance didn’t stop five girls from cornering me in the gym,” I snapped. Stewing for thirty minutes hadn’t calmed me down. If anything, it had pissed me off more and I was on the defensive.

“And why did they approach you?” Mr. Morgan asked.

“They were making fun of my scars,” I answered honestly.

Their eyes dropped down to my wrists. “I see,” Mr. Morgan said. “And what did they say about your scars?”

I fidgeted in my seat. “Amber implied that I provide sexual services and asked if one of my clients got a little too rough. They’ve been calling me a whore every chance they get for the past couple of days.”

“How’d you get your scars?” he asked bluntly.

Logan and I had gone over a fake history I was to tell if anyone were to ask me questions. That was the whole point of WITSEC. I wasn’t supposed to be me, and no one could find out the truth. I was Shiloh Pierce now and I would tell them her story. “My family and I were in a car accident a little over a year ago. My parents and sister were killed. I was the only one who survived, but I didn’t walk away from the accident unscathed.”

Mr. Morgan cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

I nodded.

“I interviewed some of the other students who had witnessed the altercation. All stated that Amber shoved you and that you told her not to do it again or you would kick her ass,” Mr. Morgan said.

“To clarify, I said I would make her eat the floor. Not kick her…butt,” I corrected.

“Well, you certainly did as promised.” His eyes squinted slightly as if he wanted to laugh, but he remained professional. “Because Amber shoved you, she is being suspended. The rest of the girls received detention. As for you…”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re going to punish me for defending myself?”

“With our zero tolerance for violence, my hands are tied,” Mr. Morgan said.

I was floored. “May I ask what you would have done in my situation, Mr. Morgan?”