“You’re going to do just fine here, Raelynn Sanders.”
“Yeah, I think I will. I mean, just four more years of this.”
I play pool the proper way and miss. She laughs, and I ask, “And then what?”
“College. Far, far away.”
I don’t like the thought of Rae being far away, but I push past it and make a ball into the corner pocket. “Is that so?”
“It is. What about you?”
I shrug, knowing there aren’t a ton of opportunities for kids like me, but I do pretty well in school and my art teacher seems to think I could get a scholarship where she went to college. “Maybe college.”
“Just maybe?”
I shrink back, not on purpose. I know in her world not going to college isn’t an option. “Yeah. I don’t know. I might just go into a trade or something. Probably make more money around here that way than with a college degree in art.”
“You like art?”
I laugh and make the eight ball, winning the game. She doesn’t care as she leans against the edge of the table and waits for my answer. “I like it, yeah. I like to paint.”
She studies me for a moment and then pushes off the pool table. “Well, I’d like to see your paintings sometime.”
“Okay.” Because I’m learning I can’t seem to deny Rae anything.
She pulls her cellphone out of her back pocket and sighs. “I better get home. Colin already hates that we’re friends, and I really don’t want to hear his lecture.”
“He better get used to it.”
She’s beaming up at me now as I walk her out to the town car that’s waiting for her. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely. You’re stuck with me now, Rae.”
She pulls me into a quick hug, her smaller body pressed against mine, and I suck in a ragged breath. “I think I can handle that.” She presses a kiss to my cheek and then bounces off to the car, climbing inside.
Yeah, she’s definitely stuck with me.
Sophomore Year
* * *
“You don’t actually think you’re going to wear that in my school, do you?” I freeze by the door, Colin’s voice making me cringe. I thought he’d already be on his way to school by now, but nope. Lucky me, I get to talk to him.
I huff and turn to face him. “What?”
His eyes slide over my body, making my skin crawl. I’m not wearing anything inappropriate. It’s a simple sundress with spaghetti straps, and it’s not low-cut. There isn’t a hint of cleavage, but when he looks at me like this, I feel naked. “You are not wearing that.”
“It’s a dress.” I try to stand tall even though, on the inside, I’m shaking. I’ve tried my best to avoid him as much as I can, but he’s always there. Lurking around the house or my room. Even in the halls at school. I can’t get away from him.
Luckily, he usually stays at school well past the release of classes, and I go with Tammy and Law to Richard’s after school, sometimes even managing to beat him home. But when I don’t, he’s always there to give me a hard time.
I can’t stand him. I fold my arms over my chest, hoping to shield myself from his gaze. “It’s a slutty dress.” He steps closer, and I step back but run into the wall behind me. “Is that what you want people to think about you? That you’re a dirty slut?”
Bile threatens to creep up my throat, and I hate that I’m trembling with his body this close to mine. I hate everything about him. His stupid, perfect hair I know he takes forever to style in the morning. His button-down shirt. His slacks that don’t have a wrinkle in them. He dresses like he’s a big deal, when in reality, he’s a high school principal in a small middle-of-nowhere town. “It’s just a dress.”
“Maybe you are a slut.” His hand skirts over my hip, and I jump from his touch.
“Don’t touch me.”
His eyes are predatory as he looks down at me. “You live in my house. You eat my food. You go to my school. I own you, Raelynn.”
I swallow the sick feeling, praying tears don’t fall. I don’t want to cry in front of him. “My mother pays for everything.”
He sneers, his hand now running over my cheek and his large body crowding me against the wall. And I know—and worse, he knows—that if he wanted to do anything to me, he could. I’m a hell of a lot smaller than him. It’s his game of power, and I’m losing. And he’s getting bolder and bolder with episodes like this, but my mother doesn’t believe me about him.
If I mention it to her, she blames me. Says I need to cover up. That I don’t need to be tempting him. It’s disgusting and makes me hate her even more, but I don’t know how to escape from this.
I don’t even have my license yet.
“Your mother belongs to me too.” His fingers grip my chin hard, and I whimper. “She’ll believe anything I tell her. So you better behave. Go change.”
His eyes dip to my chest, and I feel shame burning my cheeks before I jerk my chin out of his grasp. “Fine.”
I head upstairs quickly and change into jeans and a t-shirt before darting out the door, thankful to see his car is gone. The car service my mother set up to take me to school and wherever I need to go is waiting outside, like always.
It’s the only time I’ve ever been grateful for my mother’s wealth. If I had to ride with Colin every day to school, I don’t know what I’d do. But she didn’t want to burden him with that.
When I get inside the school, my hands are still shaking from the incident with Colin, and my breathing is rapid.
I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.
And even worse, no one sees. Everyone except Tammy and Lawson see me as a perfect little rich girl who has everything, including the school principal, on her side. But he isn’t on my side. I can feel the power struggle. I can feel that he wants to hurt me, and it feels like I’m sinking further into trouble every day.
“Hey.” Law. I can’t seem to keep myself under control, but I know he won’t just go away. I turn around to face him, and of course, his handsome face immediately morphs into concern. “What’s wrong?”
He knows I can’t stand Colin, but he doesn’t know very many details. He doesn’t know that sometimes when I get out of the shower that Colin is waiting for me on my bed. That he crowds me into corners and his hands explore my body far more than I can stomach. He doesn’t know the gross things Colin says to me, like calling me a slut or saying I’m asking for male attention. That I’ll be knocked-up before I even make it to college.
I’m too ashamed to tell Lawson any of that. What if he thinks I’m asking for it? What if he thinks like my mother does—that I want Colin’s attention?
I couldn’t handle it if he thought that way about me.
“Nothing,” I lie and turn around, grabbing the books I need and stuffing them into my backpack.
“No. Not nothing.” He moves closer, keeping his voice down so he doesn’t draw attention to us. He’s considerate like that. Even though I’ve been here a year, most people still see me as an outsider.