“Oh my goodness, Emma Bishop, is that you?” her saccharine voice reaches me, causing an unnoticeable cringe of my shoulders.
Duh, who else would it be?
`”Yes, it’s me.”A quick, forced smile forms on my face. “We also just moved to town over the summer. What a coincidence,” I reply, bemused as lines form small creases on my forehead.
Her right eye makes the slightest jump, and her lips thin at my lackluster response to her being here.
Was I expected to jump for joy? I’m still trying to figure out how we ended up in the same small town and why her last name has changed, but people get divorced all the time. So, I guess her name change is easy enough to dismiss.
At my old high school she was a teacher, and some people complained about her attitude but she wasn’t mean to me. It’s just odd that we would end up in the same place, states away, years later.
This time she decided to drop her farce of a jovial tone with her response, “Yes, a coincidence indeed.” With the unpleasantries finished, she focuses back on the class. She begins droning on about her expectations and team assignments that will be done in groups of three.
While she babbles on, firm calloused fingers squeeze my right shoulder. Looking up, I see inquisitive hazel eyes. August’s voice tickles my senses, “What the hell was that about? She doesn’t seem very fond of you, Riri.”
“Yeah, let’s just say we know each other from a previous time and place,” I whisper back. August looks intrigued but doesn’t ask any more questions. He gives me one more assessing look and goes back to listening to Mrs. Doug-
Miss Taylor.
“Alright, your group assignments can be found on your tablets. Your first assignment is to do research on how the U.S. Constitution was established and what it has meant for America. This assignment will be due in three weeks. That’s it for the day. Work amongst your groups to begin planning.” Miss Taylor takes her seat in the front of the room, officially dismissing us, but not before she eyes our group.
“Yes!” August’s elation brings my attention back to him. His excitement is evident in his wide welcoming smile. “Workgroup session number one will be at my house, Love. It looks like it will be the three of us this year,” he finishes.
Joking, I say, “Seriously? We’re in a group together? What did you do to make that happen? Because the probability that we just so happened to all be paired together isn’t very high.”
“Shh, Riri.” His rough finger ghosts my soft, glossed lips. “Don’t question things that are meant to be. Just enjoy the blessings when they come,” the wiseass decrees.
I roll my eyes, but I’m glad that at least I’m with them. Liam could be someone I get to know better. The verdict is still out on him, but August is growing on me like a functional fungus.
EMMA
My first day wasn’t completely horrible. After Civics, I used my study hall to do more research on the school’s Krav Maga program. So when it was time for the class, I already understood some of what would be happening. We don’t officially start training until next week, but during class we reviewed the rules, safety, and expectations for the year.
Our instructor, Mikhael, is a former member of Sayeret Matkal, an elite squad in the Israeli Defense Unit. Of course, they would have some badass instructor in a school like this. Nothing but the best for their bratty kids. This class will help me with my training, so I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe this required sports thing won’t be so bad after all.
Plus, if I ignore the giant turd stains that were Sam and Rowan, then my day really wasn’t that awful. Outside of those two, my day was relatively drama-free, and I might have even made a friend to boot. At least I think she could be a friend. Shay seems nice, maybe too nice? But I won’t know unless I give her a chance, especially if I want to put down roots here. This area is home to one of the top colleges in the country, about thirty minutes outside of town. So if I can earn a spot at Lincoln-Wood College, I’ll still be close enough in case I have to live at home to care for Jamie and the twins.
My lips touch, vibrating as I expel my frustrations with my life into the atmosphere, wishing each breath released the toxicity of my parenting situation. It’s not that I’m unhappy that my dream school is local, it’s the fact that my mother’s unreliability is forcing me to be the adult in our house.
Heading toward the school parking lot, I lift my face to the sky, letting the remaining warmth of the day soak into my bones. The magnitude of life hits me on a soul-deep level. I’m hoping Mom gets her shit together and that there is some news about our dad’s whereabouts. I know it’s selfish of me to feel this way, but I genuinely want to be a normal teenager for once and enjoy my college experience. You know, make bad decisions and be undecided about what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Seriously, whose idea was it to make teenagers decide lifelong careers fresh out of high school and take on a severe amount of debt in the damn process? I swear adults are the wisest dumb people I know.
I’m almost to my car when my head pitches in the opposite direction of where I’m walking. Hands yank it back, and my body hits the concrete with a thud.
Looking up from the ground, I take in Sam’s sneer, her face twisted like she sucked on something sour, as she and her lemmings create a semi-circle around me. People have stopped, but no one steps in. Everyone’s waiting for the show, expecting their queen to put me in my place.
She must have some sort of pain or shaming kink. Why else would she constantly be trying me at every single fucking turn?
Red-faced and seething with disdain, she screams, “You stupid bitch! You think you can just come into my school and try and make me look stupid with no consequences? You have no idea who I am and what I am capable of! But I’m going to enjoy putting you back in your place!”
Placing my palm on the hot surface of the paved sidewalk, I try to stand, but her overpriced stiletto comes crashing down on my stomach. She grips my hair in her manicured claws.
I don’t care how much I love these boots, they have no business on my body. She’s out of her rabid-ass mind if she thinks this will end well for her. She presses her heel harder into my stomach, causing me to almost cry out in pain.
Like I would ever give her the satisfaction.
“You need to understand one thing, you cum dumpster! You’re nothing! You’re less than nothing! You’re lower on the food chain than a bottom of the ocean parasite that feeds on scraps! But most importantly, you’re to stay the fuck out of my way, or you will sincerely regret the day you and your backwoods family arrived in my town. Do I make myself cle-“
Yup. I told you she has a pain kink. The stupid bitch. Before she can finish her villain origin diatribe, I reach up, snatching a fistful of her hair. Her sneer morphs into surprise as I rear back my open-faced palm and swing. Air whooshes as I smack the taste out of her mouth. Her head whips around, causing her to release my hair and fall unceremoniously to the ground, taking a few strands of her hair out.
Oh well. Don’t grab hair unless you’re willing to lose some of your own, or at least be smart enough not to get yours yanked back. She quickly tries to recover, but I’m already up and gripping her hair, again, holding it tight at the root.
Bending over until her face and our lips nearly touch, my emblazoned gray eyes are pinned on her now cowering form.
“Listen, you waste of atoms,” I bark, “I’ll say this again since your simple brain can’t put it together. I don’t give a flying fuck who you or anyone else is in this town. You stay the fuck in your lane, and I’ll stay the fuck in mine! You don’t bother me, and I won’t bother you.” I tug her hair tighter into my fist and state through gritted teeth, “But if you think for one minute I’ll be your doormat or cower in a corner, you have the wrong bitch. I’m not the one, two, or three to motherfucking mess with. I’ll end you, and Daddy’s money won’t be able to save you!” I boop her on the nose with the tip of my purple chipped nailed finger, releasing her from my grasp before standing and walking away.
Her ‘friends’ back away before rushing around me toward her, probably to help the wailing bitch to her feet, but I don’t spare them a glance. I don’t know why she thinks I am bitch made, but I guess she fucked around and found out today. Hopefully, she remembers every day from now on.
As I go to lift my head, I see the guys from class this morning standing together. Of course, Rowan has a sneer on his face, and Liam looks unsure about how he feels. The other two look like I just made them cream their jeans, like pubescent boys discovering
Playboy magazine. Smirking, I turn my gaze fully in their direction and wink.
Once I reach my car and climb inside, I slam my door shut, praying it symbolizes the end of a now wildly fucked up first day. I know this shit is only the beginning and that Sam is going to be more than a problem. One that I have no fucking time for.
These rich kids wouldn’t know the full extent of the bullshit happening in my world. If they were smart, they’d know that just because I don’t come from their kind of money doesn’t mean I’m going to take their shit.
I take one more deep breath. As I start my car, Crime Mob Crew’s
Knuk if You Buck beats through the speakers.
How fitting.
I throw it in reverse and try to come to terms with my new reality.
* * *
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.