“Nope,” I say. “Thank god for small miracles, huh.”Lily gives a sad smile, like she agrees but doesn’t want to. “Yeah. You want something to drink?”“Sure,” I say, and now that I think of it, my throat is a little parched.Lily stands up, and her eyes land on someone behind me. Her face breaks into a genuine smile, and she beckons whoever it is with a dainty hand.The waiter comes over, dressed in all black with a neon glow stick necklace around his neck. His face is sour, and he glares at Lily. “What can I get you?”“Hey, Luke,” Lily says, smiling up at him. “I’d like some more fries.” She then looks at me critically, a sneaky smile on her lips. “You want a beer?”“Uh, sure?” I say. I try to look at Lily. Surely they wouldn’t serve alcohol to minors? She doesn’t look at me, but her smile is still blindingly happy.“Two Pilsners and fries please,” Lily says to Luke, waving him off with a dismissive hand.Instead of answering, Luke huffs and stalks away. My eyes widen – what was up hi

I feel no better once I settle into class, the teacher and students around me carrying on as usual. I raise my hands a few times, even though I don’t know the answers, just hoping to be called on so someone will have said my name or looked in my direction enough for me to know I’m still alive.Did I die in the car crash? Was everything after that just my brain’s weird way of fantasizing my life into continuance? And now reality’s set in, my existence is fading into nothingness?My mouth fills with the taste of wood from the pencil I have been gnawing at relentlessly, sparking an idea. I let the pencil fall to the floor, thinking someone will look up or pick it up to hand it back. But nothing. It quietly clicks against the floor as it rolls right out into the middle of the room, completely untouched and seemingly unnoticed.My foot bounces wildly underneath my desk, my eyes darting to the clock on the wall every few seconds. I can’t stop reaching down to dig through my purse, forgettin

“I’ll do it,” Vivian protests. “I don’t want you putting your hands on this filthy little cunt anymore.”Her jealousy gives me a momentary thrill, but I’m quickly brought back to the danger I’m in.I hear a scuffle from the two of them fighting over something, but barely. One of my ears is sharply pressed down beneath the weight of my head, and my other ear is being crushed underneath Vincent’s hand. All I can hear is the fierce and rapid pounding of my own heart in fear of whatever it is they’re getting ready to do.With a quick and sudden pull to my top, I hear the fabric rip around my right arm. I assume their motives are perverted and sexual, but then…“What the fuck!” I cry out in a shrill sob as a sharp, searing pain cuts into my shoulder.I can tell by the size of the hands that Emmett won out over Vivian, which I want to take some small comfort in. He seems to be leaning toward taking it easier on me. After all, if I’m dead, he can’t fuck me. So, in a weird, twisted way, he’s

“He hurts you?” Malcolm asks, his face slightly twisted.“They all do.”He shakes his head, turning briefly to the driver’s side window with his lips pursed before refocusing on the road. “That’s not like him. I know it’s going to be hard to convince you…but anything he’s doing is just out of fear. He didn’t ask to be born into that fucked up family of his. He’s just as much of a pawn as the rest of us.”I stare at him as he drives, searching for some sign of an ulterior motive. Doubt. Anything that tells me he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But he’s filled with resolve. Completely confident that Emmett is somehow different than his flock of abusers.My head flings back against my seat. I can’t handle this right now. The last thing I need is another gnawing voice in my ear trying to convince me that Emmett’s behavior is excusable.I’ve watched him dump trash on Lily’s head. He manhandled me in front of his asshole Elite friends. He’s verbally abused me. Humiliated me. Threatene

“I’m going as fast as I can,” I whine back, trying to hurry.He huffs over, slinging back the curtain and reaching in to turn the faucets off.“What are you doing!?” I cry, looking at him in shock. “I’m almost done. Just give me a minute.”“You’re out of time, princess,” he sneers, throwing a towel at me, but not until after he takes a good long slow look at my wet and naked body. I’m quick to cover up from his gaze, figuring if he can’t even have the decency to give me a full five minutes in the shower, he doesn’t get to see me naked.Anger sparks in his eyes as I cover up, robbing him of his eye candy. His hand grips my elbow tightly as he yanks me out, banging my arm harshly against the sink countertop.“Shit!” I shout, looking down to see fresh red blood pooling out into the beads of water still dripping across my skin. Just another reminder of who he really is, making me kick myself for every moment of weakness I had last night.“We don’t have time for all of this,” he moans impa