When the story first broke across every news station in town about Dax raping Brenda Nash—those who believed he did it said she wanted it. That she dressed like a slut and partied like a whore. They assumed that Dax was guilty, but that Brenda was not a victim in the situation. There were still those who didn’t believe the football player was capable of forcing himself on the helpless girl. Then word spread he was arrested, and her body was missing. Everyone lost their shit. Word spread like wildfire that I was the one who turned him in, so everyone switched the blame to me. I was their best target. In a way, I was glad they stopped saying such awful things about Brenda. She was innocent and had been taken advantage of.
I’m sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria when Jamie plops down beside me. “Today has been one hell of a day. Is it over yet?” She blows some hair from her face.
“I wish,” I mumble, taking a bite of my cheeseburger.
She opens a can of Dr. Pepper. “Mrs. Shepherd gave me a D on a paper I did last week. A D. I don’t get fucking D’s.”
“What’s up with her anyway?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “She’s Principal Hollow’s niece.”
Aha. “That explains a lot.”
“Right? She just graduated last year from college with her teaching degree. It’s like she’s going to be a hard-ass because she has to prove she belongs here.”
“And how she dresses …”
“Oh my God, don’t get me started on her outfits.” She shakes her head. “Like is this a school or a strip club?”
I look up to see Scout and Monroe enter the cafeteria. Dax has his right arm thrown over Cindy Shelton’s shoulders, a varsity cheerleader, and Scout is talking to Laney Willow—Queen Bee. She has been trying to get into his pants for over a year now.
“They started fucking over the summer,” Jamie says, watching where I’m looking and reading my mind.
I lower my eyes before either of them spots me gawking. “I’m not surprised,” I say even though it makes my chest tighten. I had to go into hiding, and he’s just been here living his best life and fucking his way through the school.
“Don’t let it get to you. He’s been using girls ever since you left.”
Girls? How many have there been? And has he compared them to me? What we had? I shrug. “I want nothing to do with him anymore.” The lie burns my throat. I want him back in my life more than anything. How it used to be. My best friend.
She places her hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay to still be in love with Scout, Henley. He didn’t do anything.”
My hand fists. He didn’t hurt me, but he also didn’t stick up for me. “I don’t love him,” I argue through gritted teeth. “I fucking hate them all.”
She drops it and starts to eat her sandwich.
I push my tray away, no longer having an appetite.
“What’s up, ladies?” A guy plops down across from us and starts to eat off my plate. His soft brown eyes meet mine. “Datson.” He reaches over the table to shake my hand. “You must be Henley.”
I take it and nod. “Do I even wanna know how you know who I am?” He doesn’t look familiar, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t see me on TV. Or read about me on social media somewhere. I see all the kids who are typing away on their phones when I walk past them in the halls. They’re blasting me on every app they have. I’m sure of it.
His eyes slide over to Jamie, and she smiles.
I arch a brow. “You two dating?”
He pulls his lip back at that assumption. “No. I’m her cousin.”
“Gross, Hen.” She pretends to vomit.
“Oh.” I see. “How was I supposed to know?”
“Transferred here for my senior year. I’m staying with Uncle Bob and Aunt Jenny,” he says.
Jamie’s parents. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.” I offer a soft smile.
He nods. “It sure is.” He shoves another bite of my food into his mouth. “There’s a party tomorrow night after the game. You guys wanna go?”
“No,” Jamie rushes out. “We’ll skip this one.”
I look over at her. Her eyes go from mine to her cousin’s and then back to mine before they drop to her plate. Sure, I’m not a popular girl at the moment, but this is what I need. I need to get myself out there and prove I’m not afraid of these bastards. A place to make my move. “What?” I ask.
She lets out a sigh. “The party is at Lisa’s house.”
Law’s mother.
I perk up. A party at his house? I’m not surprised. He used to have them all the time. Law’s mom is the only single woman out of the guys’ mothers, so he gets to run the show at his house. His mother owns her own company, so she works all the time and is out of town a lot. He treats her mansion like a frat house during rush week. The doors are always open, and the staff always looks the other way but cleans up his messes. Pretty sure he has dirt on all of them.
I look over at them sitting side by side at the head of the room with some other football players. Rellik sits back in his seat with his eyes on his phone. Law sits next to him, stuffing his face. Laney is now perched on Scout’s lap, and his hand rests on her exposed thigh. That’s where I used to sit. He’s whispering something in her ear, and she’s laughing. Anger fills me, and I clench my hands, wanting to rip her off his lap by her hair. I want to say he’s doing this to get to me, but as Jamie already stated, he’s been this way with girls ever since I left. My eyes move to Dax, and he has his signature shades on. But I know he’s staring at me. I can feel it—a coldness seeps into my bones, making me shiver.
I’ve had four months to wonder what-ifs. And I realized that none of the scenarios in my head would come true. I’m going to have to force the truth out of him. And I’m going to have to spread my legs to do it. Men act stupid when they’re thrown some pussy. I only need to turn one of them onto my side, and then the rest will follow. And no matter what I did to Dax, I know for a fact that Scout will throw a fucking tantrum if I touch another guy. But the problem is, no one here will even look at me. Except for one …
I look at Datson and give him a big smile. “We’ll be there.”
He knocks his knuckles on the table. “We’ll pick you up. Ten o’clock.” Then he stands and exits the cafeteria.
Jamie turns to me. “What the hell are you doing, Hen?”
“What, I can’t party?” I ask, pulling my tray back toward me. All of a sudden, my appetite has returned.
“This isn’t the time for some personal vendetta,” she growls, lowering her voice.
I ignore that. “What’s the story with Datson. He single?”
“Son of a bitch,” she whispers to herself. “You need to stay clear of them, Hen. Do you hear me?”
I take a bite of my fries since Datson ate my cheeseburger in four bites.
“Henley?” She grabs my shoulder and forces me to face her. “I’m serious.”
“I have it under control.”
Her eyes soften, and her shoulders sag. “Do you want to end up like her?”
My heart beats faster at her question. “What?”