CHAPTER 1
BRIE
Buzz.
My eyes dart to my phone.
“Don’t look at it,” I chastise myself as I park my car in the near-empty lot.
Buzz.
My hand twitches.
Buzz.
I sigh and reach for my phone.
It’s exactly what I knew it would be. The parents of Everett Academy are waking up and continuing the conversation where they left off, as if I can’t see what they’re saying about me.
As if I didn’t create the damn group chat myself.
Well I say good riddance to her.
Buzz.
Teachers are adime a dozen.
Buzz.
Never heard of anything so trashy.
Buzz buzz buzz.
“I’ll show youtrashy,” I snarl, chucking my phone in the passenger seat before I can do something stupid. Like tell all those judgy parents to go to hell.
I remind myself Christopher had me fooled, too.
My phone buzzes again, but I squeeze my eyes shut and slump back in my seat.
With a full-body shake, I blow out a raspberry, forcing all the negativity out of my system. This is fine. Good, even.
I left all those busybodies behind, and this is a fresh start. Two states away.
My eyes skate over the mountains as the sun’s rays bathe it in golden morning light. It makes me want to puke.
Buzz.
Unable to help myself, I reach for my phone.
She probably wasn’t even qualified to teach. Got her job the old fashioned way. On her knees!
My face twists. “Gross!”
I mute the chat and slump back again.
All this nasty gossip behind my back—in front of my back?—should reassure me. It should tell me I was right to quit my prestigious private school job one day into the second semester. That driving here overnight was a great choice.
But it doesn’t. I feel crazy. I’m nervous. And agitated.
