Page 5 of Spin the Damn Bottle

Right. They’re both protective idiots. No one is going to care who I come to school with. No one’s going to notice.

"Keep your eyes open, kiddos.Bothof you. You see anything amiss, don't hold your punches."

I hesitate before nodding. I'm not one to punch my way out of problems, and I've never really had to watch out for what's going on around me. I mean, last semester, I had to be more vigilant to avoid projectiles and wayward limbs thrown in my way to trip me over, but that's not what my uncle is cautioning me against now.There's someone seriously deranged, someone capable of harming a fellow human—and of beheading cats—after me.

Am I ready to walk back in this place?

I fake a bright smile and kiss his cheeks before exiting the vehicle, dragging my suitcase behind me.

Ready or not, I walk through the gates of Cross.

* * *

I drop my suitcase at the entrance of the common dorm, and immediately make my way to the bus taking us to the main building. Lucas hesitates, spotting a few of his friends waving at him.

"Go," I tell him, rolling my eyes.

He shakes his head. "I'll accompany you."

"You can't stick to me all day, every day. I'll be fine. It's seven thirty and the buses are packed." Nothing's going to happen to me in public. At worst, they'll throw insults at me, like they usually do, but to be frank, those roll off my back.

Lucas doesn't seem certain of himself, but he does end up listening to reason. "Text me if there's anything."

"Like you answer my texts."

He smirks and jogs over to his soccer buddies.

The moment he's gone, I lift my noise-cancelling headphones to my ears. Before I start the device, a girl I pass in front of grins at me. "Love the new hair, Nadia. Badass."

I'm too confused to reply. That's Jacqueline Billington, best friend of Yuki Moore. My last interaction with Yuki made it clear that she considers Jason hers, though that's only based on some bullshit agreement their parents made when they were kids, so we’re not like to see eye to eye.Though to be fair, I’m not with Jason. Maybe she’s cool with me now. And maybe I’ll see a horde of unicorn run past.

That aside, those legacies have never given me the time of the day. They're too posh to lower themselves to the level of bullies, but they act like I'm a thorn in their four-inch stilettos.Their contempt sets the tone and shows the rest of the school who’s fair game.

"Want a lift?" she offers, tilting her head toward the white town car with a uniformed driver waiting.

The trap is so obvious I snort. "Pass." I walk past her, toward the second bus.

The school grounds are too extensive to reach everything on foot, so they run throughout the day between the administrative building and dorms to the U-shaped eyesore where we have most of our classes.

"Hey, Nadia! Wanna sit with us?" I blink at the smiling girl I don't know.

She looks a little younger, maybe a junior or a sophomore. She wears too much bright pink lip gloss and her high pony tails are adorable. I remember those who bullied me to my face, and she isn't one of them, but she also never bothered to speak to me until today.

I'm marginally more polite in my refusal as I head toward an empty seat at the back. "No, thank you."

Half of the bus talks to me on my way. They say hi. They enquire about my recovery. The moment I sit, the two boys in front of me turn to ask about my pain level.

What the fuck?

Being back at school feels strange, for an array of reasons, one of them being that in the month and a half since I left, my status was upgraded from pariah to person of relevance.

I trust it as much as I would trust a big bright box with Pandora's name on it.

"Hey, Nadia." I would swear the girl smiling at me bruised my ankle my second day at Cross and Roses. I shoot her the finger and everyone in the hallway chuckles at her expense.

She blushes and tucks her head down, hunching over as she rushes to her locker. That wasn't exactly kind, but really, what did she expect?

I hate almost everyone here. More importantly, I don't trust them. Someone among them tried tokill me. And did kill Cat, my friend. She was called Bella, but using the silky feline's real name never fails to bring tears to my eyes, so I don't.