CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2: The Painted Throne

My hands were shaking a lot as I turned the key in our apartment door which made my palms hurt from the blisters on them.

The old refrigerator in our living room hummed away in the dark as I stepped in, feeling the air that smelled like carpet and cheap soup. I leaned back against the door, took a long shaky breath as I tried to forget the look in Julian Vance's black eyes before I walked in to see my sister.

"Maya, is that you?" my sister Chloe called out from her bedroom with her tiny voice. Then I heard the sound of her inhaler clicking on her nightstand.

I tried to look calm and swallowed the panic in my throat as I walked into her room where she was sitting under an old blanket. Her face looked so small in her oversized t-shirt, Her dark eyes were widely Filled with guilt which broke my heart before she even spoke.

"Hey sweetie, " I said softly with a crack in my voice. I sat down on the edge of her mattress. I hid my raw cut hands under my thighs so she would not see the blood. "Why are you still awake? It is past one in the morning."

"I could not sleep, " Chloe whispered. Her thin fingers were twisting the edge of the blanket into knots as her eyes searched my face. "Maya did you see my text? Are you really mad at me?"

"Oh Chloe, come " I said as I pulled her body into my arms. I held her tight against my chest. I could feel her heart beating fast and unevenly against my ribs. "I am not mad at you. I could never be mad at you okay? Do not ever think that."

"The landlady was just so loud " Chloe sobbed against my shoulder. Her hot tears were soaking through my shirt as her shoulders were shaking wildly. "She brought two angry men with her, Maya. They stood in the doorway. They said if I did not give them the cash then they would throw our bed and clothes onto the dirty sidewalk. I was so scared they would lock you out in the cold when you came home from work."

"Shh it is okay. You did the thing " I lied softly. I rubbed her back in circles. My own heart felt like it was being crushed by a piece of iron.

I did not tell her that the landlady had promised me three days just that morning. I did not tell her that the mean woman waited until I was away cleaning the floors at Crestview Academy before she came to scare a fifteen-year- child. Most of all I did not tell her that the five hundred dollars she gave away was the money that was keeping her alive.

"We still have the medicine money right?" Chloe asked. She pulled back and then Looked up at me. Her eyes were completely trusting. "The pharmacy still has the boxes on hold for us?"

"Do not worry about the pharmacy, Chloe, " I said. I forced a smile onto my face even though my stomach was twisting into painful knots. "Your big sister has everything under control. I just need you to breathe, sleep and let me handle it. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay " she whispered. The tension left her body and she closed her eyes. "I love you Maya."

"I love you more, " I said. I waited until she fell asleep before I walked out.

I sat on the cold kitchen floor for hours. I stared at the walls and wondered how on earth I was going to survive the coming day.

---

The bright morning sun shining on the big stone gates of Crestview Academy felt like a mean joke. My anxiety was screaming through my veins. Every step up the marble stairs felt like walking toward a firing squad. The memory of Julian's parting words echoed in my mind: You belong to me until I decide we are even.

I kept my head low. I pulled the sleeves of my big sweater over my raw knuckles. I tried to make myself small and invisible like a ghost. But the moment I pushed open the heavy glass doors of the school building I realized my safety was completely gone.

The main hallway was packed with a crowd of students. Their loud cruel laughter echoed off the ceilings like thunder. Dozens of smartphones were raised high in the air. The camera lenses flashed as everyone pushed and shoved to get a view of the lockers.

"Look at her, the street rat actually showed up today, " a girl in a designer skirt giggled. She pointed a fingernail right at me as I tried to walk past.

"I cannot believe a charity case would have the nerve to steal from people " a tall boy scoffed. He stepped in front of me so I had to stop and look at my locker.

My feet froze against the floor. The air left my lungs as my eyes locked onto the horror waiting for me.

My entire metal locker was covered in dripping blood-red spray paint. It was still wet enough to run down the metal in lines. Scrawled across the center in jagged letters was a single word that felt like a hard slap across my face: THIEF.

"Is it true Maya?" a loud mocking voice called out. A girl thrust her phone right into my face to record my trembling lips. "Did you really think you could steal from the chemistry lab and get away with it?"

"No " I choked out. My voice was a pathetic whisper. I backed away from the flashing cameras. "No I did not... It was not like that."

"Then why is your name over the school security report for the broken equipment?" another student shouted. Everyone. Joined in. Their sneers and pointing fingers closed in on me like a trap. "Get out of our school you dirty thief."

"I did not steal anything " I cried out. My voice was swallowed by their loud taunts.

"Prove it, " someone else yelled. "Look how guilty she looks, her hands are literally shaking."

Tears of shame burned behind my eyelids. The cruel faces of my classmates blurred as they filmed my breakdown. They treated my ruin like a video for their social media accounts. I felt completely naked, stripped of the bit of dignity I had left. I was destroyed by a lie that I could not fight without exposing Julian's dangerous secret.

Through the gaps in the crowd my eyes suddenly caught a figure standing completely still at the end of the hallway.

Julian Vance was leaning against a stone pillar. His arms were crossed tight over his chest. His black leather jacket made him look like a stain against the clean white walls. He did not have his phone out. He was not shouting. He just stood there with a smirk on his handsome lips watching the school crowd tear my life apart.

Our eyes locked across the space as his smirk widened a fraction. The dark victorious gleam in his pitch- eyes told me everything I needed to know. He had done this. He had thrown me to the wolves without dirtying his hands. He used his power to turn the entire school against me in less than twelve hours.

I wanted to run to him. I wanted to scream at his face and beg him to tell them the truth.. My legs felt like heavy stones pinning me to the floor as the students pushed closer, their voices rising into a deafening roar.

"Look she is going to cry " a girl laughed, snapping a close-up photo of my face. "Go back to the slums Maya."

My phone suddenly vibrated in my hand making me flinch hard. The sharp movement made the crowd laugh louder. With a thumb that would not stop shaking I raised the cracked screen to my eyes desperate for any escape from this nightmare.

As my eyes scanned the words on the screen, my stomach completely dropped. The final fragile thread of my sanity snapped entirely.

The message on my phone said: CRESTVIEW CLINIC PHARMACY: FINAL NOTICE. Account Balance: $600.00. The emergency hold for prescription order #4092 for Chloe will be permanently. Returned to factory inventory if payment is not received in full by 4:00 PM today. No exceptions.

I looked up from the screen. My vision spun wildly as I stared through the crowd at Julian's mocking figure. I realized with a hollow dread that I had exactly five hours left before my little sister completely ran out of air to breathe.