Page 13 of I Despise You

Chapter 5

AS I HURRY TO GET TOclass, a truck mows me down.

No, it’s not a truck.

It’s Chase.

He runs into me so hard and fast that I end up pressed against the wall, a gasp escaping my throat. I expect him to crush me, but his infuriatingly irresistible smile appears as he lets go of me.

“I told you to watch where you’re going,” he says.

“You’re the one who ran into me!” I shoot him a glare.

His smile only deepens, and then he winks at me before disappearing down the hallway. I shake my head, wondering what’s wrong with him. Something has to be.

But at least he’s not angry about last night. Not that he has the right to be mad at me at all.

I beeline for my class, and I don’t think about Chase at all. Just as I’m about to go to the cafeteria, a squealing sound comes from a speaker in the hallway.

“Ms. Liliana Sears, please report to the principal’s office,” a bored voice says.

The principal’s office? Why does the principal want to talk to me? Unease fills my stomach.

Maybe I don’t have to worry. It’s probably something about me being new. Maybe the principal’s going to ask me if I like the school. It’s not like I’ve done anything wrong, and there’s no reason for me to be in any kind of trouble.

I’m perfectly calm by the time I reach the principal’s office, which is on the other end of the building. But when I see the serious look in the principal’s dark eyes, I’m not so sure anymore what this is all about.

“Take a seat,” she says, tossing her long, curly dark brown hair over her shoulder as she settles in her leather chair.

I sit down, placing my bag on the floor next to me, and clasp my hands on my lap. The office is spacious and has a huge window looking at the garden.

The walls are filled with diplomas, awards, and accolades. The shelves are stacked with all kinds of books, and the air has a faint smell of old paper and perfume.

“Is this yours?” She pushes something across her desk.

I furrow my brow. A button badge. It’s exactly like the one I have on my bag. My sister gave it to me. It has a purple heart and a pink ribbon on it.

I take a quick look at my bag, and surely enough, my badge is missing.

“Yes,” I say.

It must’ve fallen off while I was rushing from class to class, and someone must’ve found it.

When I reach out for the badge, the principal picks up her phone.

“Security,” she says. “Search her room.”

I pull my hand away, blinking at the principal in shock. Did she just tell someone to search my room? Or someone else’s room? This was clearly all planned, and all they needed was the confirmation that the badge was mine.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Do you know where your badge was found?”

“I didn’t even know I lost it. In a classroom, maybe?” I shrug.

“No.” She watches me carefully. “It was found in a locked storage room.”

“What? Like, in the trash or something?” I don’t know what storage room she’s talking about, and I don’t understand what’s going on either.