Page 20 of I Despise You

“You’re—” My voice gets cut off because a teacher approaches the board, and everyone wants to see what’s going on.

I turn away from Chase so I can take a look too. My pulse speeds up, and I wonder if there’s been a mistake with the list and the scores.

I crane my neck. The teacher is writing something, and when she finally finishes, my brow furrows. One of the names is crossed out, and I’ve moved to the 11thplace. I glance over my shoulder at Chase, who has a wicked smile on his face.

“Be careful, princess,” Chase says. “If you stop being entertaining and get in my way, you’ll find yourself in some serious trouble.”

I glare at him, but before I can say anything, he turns on his heel and leaves. He doesn’t have to push his way through the crowd. They just parts for him.

Ugh.

He’s done something, hasn’t he? He’s done something to the student who dropped out. If I move up the list, he’s going to want to do something about me too.

Maybe Chase doesn’t want to cheat on his tests, but he doesn’t mind threatening and doing who knows what to get what he wants. And the worst part is, the whole school just lets it happen.

I still don’t understand why someone hasn’t reported him, despite everything. Not everyone’s family is in business with his father. Are they afraid of Chase for some other reason?

I bite down on my lip. This way, I’m never going to get the scholarship. Something has to be done about Chase, but I’m still out of ideas.

If I want to take him down, I have to do something that he won’t be able to sweep under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen, no matter how much money his daddy has and who he can bribe or blackmail.

A video of Chase doing something bad just might be it. I can upload it to the internet, and it will be hard to scrub it off. Then the other students he’s bullied may actually dare to do something, especially if they can report him anonymously or spread the video everywhere, until no one can ignore it any longer.

But I doubt Chase is careless about anything he does, so my task may be impossible. Approaching the victims and convincing them to anonymously report Chase probably won’t work because he can say there’s no evidence, and he’ll demand they reveal their identities.

I let out a sigh of frustration.

Chase is a problem.

A problem that’s very difficult to solve.

But I’m not going to give up or stop trying.