LOGINHe wore dark clothes that made him stand out above all the other brightly dressed guys, band aids still decorated his face.
“Hey Dwayne, I thought you said you wouldn't make it,” I said and he shrugged.
“I came for you. You look good. Want a drink princess?” He yelled above the noise.
“I’m not a princess, sure.”
“I know a place where we can get drinks, come on” he took me by the hand and led me further into the mansion till we left the crowd until we were at the back of the house by a large pool.
One look at the people here and you could tell they were stoned.
“Isn't that the princess?” A guy whose pupils have turned completely red raised his head to stare.
“Actually it's Rebel. I'm not a princess.”
“When then HI Rebel,” he offered me his weed.
“I'll pass.”
“Come on princess, don't be a party pooper” he pushed it towards my face.
“She said no” Dwayne came between me and the guy.
“You got hours a nice fuck tonight Dwayne. Fine I won't mess it up,” he backed off too fast and fell into the pool.
“Jerry!” Dwayne called.
“Quick, he can't swim,” a girl yelled.
“Fuck!” Dwayne yelled as he jumped in fully clothed to save him.
Everyone gathered to help Dwayne grab Jerry from the pool and I found myself being pushed back.
“Wanna get out of this mess?” someone tapped my shoulder.
“Maya,” I exclaimed.
“Come with me. Vanessa thought you couldn't make it,” she was clad in a short pink dress and was smoking a cigarette.
“Well I made it,” I said. .
She took me back into the crowded party, my eyes vibrated with the loud music and sweaty bodies all around us, “Glad you came. You look hot.”
“So do you,” I yelled but I'm not sure she heard.
Vanessa was right at the middle of the party, jumping in the air with Leslie and a couple of other girls. She wore a mid thigh body hug strapless purple dress with a sequin that made it sparkle. Her purple hair all over her face from the jumping in the air.
She shrieked when she saw me, “Rebel. So glad you could make it. Girls, meet the trending princess on Maryville gossip news,”
I couldn't say my line because I wasn't sure anyone would hear me and the girls began to hug me, introducing themselves.
“Let's dance princess.”
I let myself go and jumped around with Vanessa, Maya, Leslie and the other girls.
“Vanessa, Chris left,” one of the girls came to tell Vanessa. She suddenly stopped dancing as she heard it, Maya and Leslie too, I had to stop too.
“Why would he do that?. We were supposed to have sex?” Vanessa squealed angrily.
She wasn't the one who's angry?. I was too, why would he leave me stranded here.
The music suddenly stopped and boos filled the air.
“What's going on?. Who turned off my music?” Vanessa yelled.
Everyone's phone beeped simultaneously except mine and there was a brief silence as everyone checked their phone.
“What's going on?” I asked when I saw Vanessa's stone shocked face.
I saw Dwayne pushing people out of the way to get to me, “Rebel, we have to leave,” he had changed clothes and was now in a jogger and tank top.
“Why?. What's going on?,” I asked as he grabbed my hand.
“Slut princess?,” Maya gasped, glancing at me. The disgust in her eyes made me know the message everyone received was about me.
“Let’s just go,” Dwayne didn't give me time to find out what was happening, he dragged me away from the girls.
“Get your hands off her!,”
It all happened so fast, a flash of grey hair and Chris was between Dwayne and I, snatching my hand out of his hold. I thought Chris had abandoned me.
A gasp went through the crowd as Chris slammed his fist at Dwayne's jaw, sending him on the ground.
“What the heck, Chris?.”
The three dots appeared, disappeared and appeared again.Then it disappeared. I stared at the screen so intensely my eyes started hurting. Come on Ivy Finally, a message arrived.IVY:How much do you remember?I immediately typed back.REBEL:The club, Kai, a drink, then absolutely nothing.The response came instantly.IVY:Oh.REBEL:IVY. WHAT HAPPENED?Several seconds passed. Then my phone started ringing.It was Ivy. I answered immediately."What did I do?" I asked There was a brief pause before she let out a sigh. "A lot.""Oh my God.""Okay," she said quickly. "Before you panic, nobody died.""That was your first reassurance?""I felt it was important."I buried my face into my pillow. "Start talking."She began, "I shouldn't have left you alone.""You already said that.""I mean it."My stomach twisted tighter. "What actually happened?"For a moment, Ivy didn't answer, I heard the sound of teeth gritting together before she finally spoke. "Kai's friends kept giving you drinks.
The first thing I became aware of was pain, not normal pain, not a headache but a full-scale assault on my skull.I groaned and buried my face deeper into the pillow, immediately regretting it when the movement made the room spin violently."What the hell..." My voice sounded dry and scratchy like I'd swallowed sandpaper.I squeezed my eyes shut again but the darkness somehow made the spinning worse.For several long seconds, I simply lay there trying to remember how I'd gotten into my bed.My last clear memory was sitting at a table in Eclipse with loud music and flashing lights. I remember Kai's friends and the drink I took. After that, everything else was blank. A horrible feeling settled into my stomach."Oh no." I pushed myself upright carefully and the room tilted. My stomach immediately threatened mutiny. I collapsed back onto the mattress.Several minutes later, I managed to stagger out of bed using pure stubbornness and the nightstand for support. Every step felt heavy, like
By the time Ivy dragged me out of the restaurant, my phone had buzzed countless times. Dad and two unknown numbers kept calling.I stared at the screen while Ivy put on her motorcycle helmet outside the restaurant.Another call lit up the screen. It was Dad again. My chest twisted briefly. For half a second, guilt tried creeping in.Then I remembered Susan listing rules at breakfast like I was some prisoner on arrest and the guilt vanished immediately.I held down the power button on my phone and shut my phone off completely.Ivy yelled. “Come on girl.”“Okay,” I grabbed the other helmet and put it over my long blonde hair. Twenty minutes later, we pulled up outside Ivy’s house.Warm lights glowed through large windows, and there were motorcycles parked near the garage alongside random flower pots that looked slightly neglected.“Welcome to my humble abode,” Ivy announced proudly while dragging me inside.The house buzzed with energy. Somebody was laughing loudly in the next room whi
The entire table went silent as Dwayne joined us. I could tell that everyone remembered the bathroom video and no one knew where to look.Dwayne stopped mid-step when he saw me sitting beside Ivy.His eyebrows lifted immediately in surprise. “Rebel?”I suddenly became very interested in my drink. It seems the universe enjoyed humiliating me in new creative ways.Ivy looked between both of us slowly, “Is this going to be awkward?.”One of the guys at the table pointed dramatically between us. “Wait. You two are the bathroom scandal scandal couple.” Ivy threw French fries at him. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.Dwayne looked equally thrown off.“What are you doing here?” he asked carefully.“I could ask you the same thing,” I said. Ivy blinked rapidly then suddenly pointed at Dwayne. “Hold on.” She pointed at herself. Then at Dwayne again.“Rebel,” she deadpanned, “please tell me you didn’t know that’s my brother.”My mouth fell open. “What?”The entire table burst
The apology disappeared from my throat the second I looked up.The girl standing in front of me was gorgeous. Not in the intimidating way Vanessa comes across as. This girl looked effortlessly cool.Dark curly hair framed her face perfectly, falling around the shoulders of her oversized blazer. Her skirt was slightly shorter than regulation, one side of her tie hung loose, and multiple silver rings decorated her fingers. She looked like the type of girl who could walk into a room and accidentally become the center of attention without even trying.And judging from the crowd suddenly staring at us?. She was definitely popular. “My bad,” she said, “I swear people keep throwing themselves at me today.”I blinked nervously and before I knew what was happening, I smiled at her. Gosh she was just so pretty I couldn't help myself. My first smile all day. The girl looked up quickly, clearly pleased with herself. “There it is.”“What?”“I was starting to think you only communicated through
The drive to school was painfully quiet. I was literally boiling with rage. I swear if Dad tells Susan and her children about what happened to me, I am going to run away and leave that dumb mansion. “Traffic seems lighter today,” the writer said politely from the front seat.I stared out the tinted window, saying nothing. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “You are Kane's new step daughter. You're very beautiful”I kept quiet. I wasn't in the mood for small talks. The poor man tried one last time. “Beautiful weather we’re having.”I looked up at the grey clouds covering the sky.“Sure,” I muttered dryly.After that, he said nothing. I rested my head against the cool glass while my stomach twisted tighter the closer we got to school. The massive black gates of Maryville Academy slowly came into view, students pouring through the entrance in expensive uniforms while luxury cars lined the curb.My phone buzzed again.DWAYNE:You okay?DWAYNE:I haven’t seen you yet.DWAYNE:Can we meet
I was running again.That was the worst part about the nightmares.No matter how many years passed, no matter how much I tried pretending I’d outgrown that terrified version of myself, the dreams always dragged me back there.Back to the hallways, to the laughter, to getting hit.“Look at her arms.
I couldn’t breathe.One second, Dwayne was dragging me through the packed crowd with his hand wrapped tightly around my wrist, and the next, Chris punched him so hard his head could have snapped sideways. Girls screamed.A table crashed over.I stood there frozen, staring at Chris Kane. I thought
Dad wasn’t alone. A woman sat opposite him, smiling warmly. She had long gray hair and bold green eyes, she sat confidently with her legs crossed. I felt immediately intimidated by her calm but bold presence. “Rebel,” my dad said, getting up to give me a hug. “Meet Susan, she's going to be your st
The door suddenly barged open. All fours of us watched as a guy with band aids decorating his gorgeous face stepped in. He paused when he saw me,“What's going on here?” He asked in a deep voice, turning his gaze to the three guys. “Dwayne?. You're alive?” Brown curl began to laugh, “I thought Ch







