“What girls? I want names.”
“I don’t know. But don’t get involved. It will only make things worse.”
He sighed into the receiver. “Can you make it through the day? Or do you want Carmella to come back for you?”
I thought about running away and never looking back, but I had to face this problem head-on. Running away never got me anywhere.
“No, I’ll be okay,” I assured him. “I just have to pay better attention to where I walk.”
“What does that mean?”
I heard the anger in his tone and wondered if he could have done something about those girls. He was rich and powerful. Men like Drake could move mountains.
“A girl tripped me in the hallway. I fell. It was nothing.”
“Fuck,” Drake hissed. “By the end of the day, I want names. Understood?”
“Yes,” I muttered, struggling to get out the word. “But it’s really unnecessary. You don’t need to?—”
“I do,” he shot back.
Head down, I pressed the phone to my ear and stared at the white and gold tiles. “Okay.”
“If you can make it until the end of the day, I can skip a meeting and be there to pick you up.”
A thrill raced through me. “Yeah, I can do this.”
“Liv,” he said, his deep voice like a rumble in my ear. “You’re smart, talented, and beautiful. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.”
I choked back another sob. “Okay.”
“When I was younger, school was hard for me, too. I was the only ten-year-old boy in high school. Kids laughed at me. They called me names. I’ve heard it all. When you’re different, people say stupid things because they don’t understand you. Some of them might even be jealous. Own your power. Use your intelligence against them.”
“I don’t know how.”
Drake paused for a moment before saying, “Astor Prep has a ranking system. Make sure you’re at the top of that list. All the popular kids are on it.”
“How do I get on it?”
“With your grades. You won’t get a ranking until you’ve completed a few assignments, but once you do, I bet you’ll be number one.”
“I’m smart for public school. I don’t know if I can hack it here.”
“You can,” he said with absolute certainty. “I wouldn’t have enrolled you if I didn’t think this was the right fit for you. Do you trust me?”
With my life.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Of course.”
I heard loud noises in the background that sounded like a man’s voice. Drake covered the phone and yelled something back that was muffled.
“Hey, Liv. I have to go. Today, I’m doing a lot of damage control. If you can’t reach me, call Carmella. Otherwise, I’ll see you after school.”
With that, he ended the call, leaving me with more confidence than I had started with that morning.
I could do this.
I would outsmart those bitches.
