Page 47 of The Intruder

BEFORE

ELLA

I don’t want to tell Anton what happened in the middle of the cafeteria, so we agree to meet behind the school after the bell.

He was really careful not to get in trouble today, just to make sure he doesn’t get detention again.

He’s working very hard on his pulse control.

I hope he can do it. I don’t want anything to go wrong with Anton’s heart.

If something happened to him, I don’t know what I’d do. He’s my only friend.

When I get out back, Anton is sitting on a bench waiting for me, his backpack between his legs. When he sees me, his face lights up, although his smile falters slightly when he catches the look on my own face.

“Ella,” he says. “What happened?”

I sit beside him on the bench, and then I tell him everything.

Everything. I tell him about sneaking around the Carters’ house, about showing up at Dr. Carter’s office, and even about the revelation that my real father was in prison.

When I tell him that last part, I almost regret it.

That’s not the sort of thing you’re supposed to go around telling people.

Anton isn’t going to want to hang out with me once he knows where I come from.

Except weirdly, it doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

“You’re lucky you’re not part of that stuck-up family,” he says.

“I’m not sure about that.”

“It’s true,” he insists. “People like that act like they’re so much better than everyone else, but they’re not. Trust me.”

“Well, they’re better than a guy who was in prison.” I drop my eyes. “I can’t believe my dad is a criminal. Please don’t tell anyone.”

He lays a hand on his chest. “I would never tell anyone. I swear. You can trust me, Ella.”

“I know.” I scrape at the wood of the bench with my fingernail hard enough to leave a mark. “It’s just so unfair! People like Brittany get born into this amazing family with parents who love her no matter what. It’s not like she earned it or anything.”

“It is unfair,” he agrees.

I grit my teeth. “We should do something to even the score. You know?”

Anton scratches at his green hair. “I know! We could sneak some hair removal cream into her shampoo so all her hair will fall out. My mom has a ton of it in the bathroom.”

I think about it for a moment, then shake my head. “Nah, if we do something like that, it will freak her out, but her hair will just grow back.” I raise my eyes. “We want to do something to her that’s permanent. That ruins her life forever.”

“Whoa.” His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“I’m just saying…if we’re going to do something to Brittany, we should make it count. Really make her pay.”

“Or…” He offers me a lopsided smile. “We could forget all about Brittany, because she sucks and is completely unimportant. And I like you way better now that I know you’re definitely not related to her.”

A tiny bit of my anger fades away, and somehow, I find myself smiling back at him. Anton’s smiles are seriously contagious. “You like me better now?”

“I do,” he confirms. “And I already liked you a lot before.”

“You…you do?”

“Of course I do.” He sounds surprised I’d even question it. “You’re completely badass. You’re smart. You don’t take crap from anyone. And…” His cheeks turn slightly pink. “I think you’re the prettiest girl in the whole school.”

And when he says that, he reaches across the bench and takes my hand.

It’s not the first time Anton has taken my hand. He’s done it a few times when leading me somewhere or helping me off the swings. But this is the first time he just randomly reached out and grabbed my hand. And I don’t dislike it.

It’s kind of nice, actually.

Anton is right. It doesn’t matter who my father is. Screw that jackass who got himself tossed in prison. I’ll do just fine without him. And who cares about stupid Brittany Carter and her fake smile and perfect life?

Anton scoots a little closer to me on the bench while we continue holding hands.

I’ve never held hands with a boy before—not like this.

I keep worrying about my hand getting too sweaty, but he doesn’t seem to mind or notice.

And then he leans in toward me. My heart speeds up in anticipation of what might happen next.

And then the back doors to the school swing open.

It’s bad enough being interrupted but even worse when I discover that the people who have intruded on us are none other than Brittany Carter and her BFF Meredith. Great.

“Oh!” Brittany’s pretty blue eyes widen when she notices Anton’s and my hands intertwined. “So are you two, like, dating now?” She looks over at Meredith, and the two of them burst into giggles. “That is so cute.”

Anton’s face goes bright red. I yank my hand away from his and shove it into my jacket pocket. I can’t believe after everything that’s happened, Brittany is continuing to ruin my day.

Just leave, I beg her silently. Leave us alone.

“By the way,” Brittany adds, “I’m sorry about that whole misunderstanding about my dad. I overheard him telling my mom about it. That kind of sucks for you.”

My face feels like it’s on fire. I want to say something just as terrible back to Brittany, but I can’t think of anything. What retort can you give to someone who’s perfect? Anyway, it’s Anton who speaks up. “Believe me, Ella didn’t want to be part of your shitty family.”

“Hmm, that’s not how I heard it,” Brittany says in a singsong voice.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Anton’s right hand ball into a fist. Pulse control, Anton. Don’t get in trouble.

But he’s not going to do anything. He wouldn’t hit a girl.

“Anyway,” Brittany says, “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. You two really are meant for each other.”

I rise to my feet. “What is that supposed to mean?”

She lifts a shoulder. “Well, his dad is a drunk, and your mom is a hoarder. That’s what my dad said anyway. And you’re both poor. Seems like a good match.”

Hoarder. In my heart, I always knew that’s what my mom is. But somehow, I never heard anyone say that word before. Anton sure never said it. And hearing it come out of Brittany’s mouth hurts more than I thought it would. I take a step toward her.

“Take that back,” I spit at her.

“Why should I?” She blinks at me. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

I grit my teeth. “No, it’s not.”

“Of course it is,” she says, like it’s not even worth discussing. “That’s why you come to school in dirty clothes that smell. And that’s why you have to steal other kids’ crappy lunches.”

A blood vessel throbs in my left temple. That last part isn’t even true anymore, because Anton’s been bringing sandwiches for me every day. I open my mouth to tell her so, but nothing comes out. And the worst part is that she isn’t even finished.

“Do you even shower?” she continues. “Or wash your hair?”

I shower every day. One thing we have in our house is plenty of soap and shampoo.

“Ella smells great!” Anton blurts out. Even though he’s the one who used to call me Smella. “At least she’s not a stuck-up bitch.”

“Oooh. Is that the best you’ve got, Peterson? No wonder you’re failing every class.” Brittany laughs to herself, revealing teeth that are perfectly straight and white. It’s clear her parents could afford braces. “You two deserve each other. You’re both totally pathetic.”

It’s so unfair. So unfair that somebody so pretty could have a perfect family too.

And even so, still be so mean. I feel this pulse throbbing in my temple, and maybe my lack of pulse control is what does it, because I find myself shoving Brittany in the chest—hard.

She’s just lucky I left that X-Acto knife back at home today.

The shove barely throws her off-balance. I expected Brittany to walk away. It’s not like she would want to get into a fistfight with me. Girls like Brittany don’t do that. But to my surprise, she pushes me back—hard.

Brittany is only about average size for our age, but I am one of the skinniest and shortest kids in the class. So when she pushes me, I stumble backward, trip over my own feet, and then I go down.

I hear the sharp inhalation of breath coming from Anton as he glares at Brittany. He was upset that Brittany was trash-talking me, but now that she pushed me, his face is turning red with fury. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m all right,” I say quickly, brushing off my hands.

But he’s not even listening—his attention is completely focused on Brittany. “How could you push her like that?”

“She pushed me first!” Brittany cries, her voice shrill. “Your girlfriend is a total psycho!”

His face is almost purple now, and whatever pulse control he had, it’s gone. He moves toward Brittany, and I remember all those weights he’s got in his closet and how he’s been lifting them every day. And a split second later, he slams his fist into Brittany’s pretty face.

“You stuck-up bitch,” he hisses at her. “You’re going to pay. For everything.”

Brittany goes down harder than I did. And if that is all that happens, maybe it all will be okay. She’ll have a black eye, and Anton might get suspended for the zillionth time. It won't be great, but everything will go back to the way it was before in a few days.

But Anton isn’t thinking straight anymore—he’s too angry. His pulse control is gone. He picks up a large rock from the ground—about the same size as the one I used to knock out Devin way back when—and he raises it over his head.

“You’re not better than anyone, Brittany,” he says. “Especially not Ella.”

And then he brings it down on Brittany Carter’s beautiful face. Again and again.

And again.

Meredith won’t stop screaming and crying as we hear the sickening sound of the fragile bones in Brittany’s face cracking and then falling apart.

He’s knocked out all her straight white teeth.

I shout Anton’s name over and over, and I try to grab him, but he just shakes me off.

It’s like he’s in a trance. He keeps hitting Brittany with that rock, and by the time a teacher comes over and they manage to pull him away, there’s so much blood. So much blood.

When the paramedics load Brittany inside the ambulance, she is still unconscious, and her face is unrecognizable. Anton has his head down the whole time, and two teachers each have their hands on him, keeping him from moving. The police arrive next, and when they show up, one thing is very clear:

I will never see Anton ever again.