Chapter 5

After Michael left, I was alone again with Nathan.

I could feel his stare from behind me, heavy and suffocating, but I knew the best thing for me to do was just to ignore him. Even though he had been annoying ever since my freshman year, he became even more unbearable as the days passed. If I could stay out of trouble back then by staying quiet and keeping my head down, I knew I could do it again this year.

Just two semesters left. Two short semesters, and I would finally graduate and leave this school behind forever. I was sure I would forget this whole dark era of my life. No Nathan, no hockey team, and no Michael would ever be part of my future. I was going to make sure of that, no matter what it took.

"Captain seems to be on your side since yesterday," I heard Nathan’s voice right behind me. His tone was laced with that familiar, mocking edge. "It seems a little too good to be true."

I rolled my eyes at whatever garbage was coming out of his mouth. I didn't turn around. Instead, I just kept stuffing my heavy textbooks inside my locker, taking out the notebooks I needed for today's first subject. I tried to focus on the metal latch, on the sound of pages flipping, on anything other than the prickle of sweat at the back of my neck.

"Well, he is not an asshole like you," I whispered under my breath.

I didn't mean to say it out loud, but in the quiet hallway, the words slipped right through my teeth. The atmosphere instantly shifted, growing tight and heated.

"What did you just say, nerd?" Nathan asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, razor sharp whisper.

I slammed my locker door shut with a loud crash and turned to face him head on. For the first time in my life, I was completely done with his tactics. I was sick of his mind games, sick of being his little pet, and sick of being treated like absolute garbage every single day.

"I said, maybe the captain isn't a jerk like you!" I shouted right at his face.

The moment those words left my mouth, I saw the expression on his face change instantly. The smugness vanished for a fraction of a second, replaced by pure shock.

"Did you hear that, Nathan? He just answered you back!" one of his friends barked from behind him, stoking the fire and making the argument even more heated.

Nathan let out a short, dry smirk and an evil little laugh, looking like he had already won the whole argument without even saying another word.

And then he said the exact words that made him win. Literally.

"You don't fuck with me, Nerd, because I can fuck your life up with what I have," he said, taking a slow, heavy step toward me.

He closed the distance between us until I could smell the sharp scent of his body spray and the faint smell of mint gum.

"The captain might be soft on you, but I won't," Nathan murmured, leaning down so his face was inches from mine. "You are just a nerd who is being acknowledged by me by making me happy. So the next time you say something bad about me, I'll just pull out my phone and say something like, 'Oops, posted.' Let's see how soft the captain is going to be after that."

My heart stopped for a moment.

The small drop of confidence I had just seconds earlier vanished instantly. It left my body completely and ran far away from me.

Only fear and embarrassment remained inside me.

My throat went dry. My hands began to shake inside my hoodie pockets as I stared back at him, unable to form a single sentence. I couldn't breathe. The hallway felt like it was shrinking, closing in on me until the air was too thick to pull into my lungs.

"That's what I thought," Nathan sneered, patting my cheek twice with his hand, not hard enough to leave a mark, but hard enough to humiliate me to my core. "Keep your little mouth shut."

He turned around with a loud chuckle, gesturing for his friends to follow him. Their heavy sneakers squeaked against the floor as they walked away down the hall, their loud laughter echoing off the lockers until they finally turned the corner toward the gym.

I stood there alone, my back pressed flat against the cold metal of my locker door.

My knees felt weak, like they were about to buckle under my weight. I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath, but my heart was pounding so hard against my ribs it actually hurt. He had me trapped. He knew it, and I knew it too. Every single step I took in this school was controlled by that stupid video on his phone. If that video got out, my life at Fiat Locke would be completely over, and whatever tiny shred of dignity I had left would be wiped away in a second.

I pulled my hoodie string tight around my chin, lowered my head, and started walking toward my first period classroom.

Sunlight came through the tall hallway windows, making bright spots on the clean floor. The morning bell was ringing across the building, telling everyone that first period was starting in five minutes. Other students were running to their desks, talking loudly about their homework and plans for the weekend.

I walked into my classroom with my head down, holding my history binder close to my chest.

It was the first class of the day, so the room smelled like warm coffee, old paper, and cold air from the open window. I kept my eyes on the floor, walking around the crowded desks to get to my seat in the very back row near the window.

I pulled out my chair and looked toward the front of the class.

No Michael, no Nathan either.

Okay… At least Tuesday’s first subject, I can breathe free. No hockey player to mess me around.