“No. No no no.” Greg held up his hands. “I’m with Loretta on this one. The Kings are untouchable. The only thing we should do is stay low and hope the monarchs get bored of tormenting you.”
Yeah, but what if I’m broken by then?
“Going to this audition isn’t lying low,” I pointed out.
“Agreed. Taking the leads in the production from Courtney and Trey will be revenge enough. Let’s focus on perfecting our song, and we’ll wow them with our talent.” He smiled at me, but the smile was filled with fear. The monarchs had everyone in this school too terrified to stand against them, but they hadn’t counted on Hazel Waite.
“Fine,” I agreed, but my mind whirred with plots.Revenge is a dish best served with a side of maggots.
Chapter Eight
Another day, another terrible sleep in the dungeon suite at Derleth Academy. The rats performed their circuit of the room, competing in some kind of rat triathlon between the walls. I imagined little rats with numbered bibs churning their tiny legs while their friends waved flags at the finish line.
“Where are you going?” Loretta asked as I rolled out of bed at 5AM and pulled on my uniform.
“Greg and I booked the practice room before breakfast. We’re going to run over ourHeathersmedley until it’s perfect.”
“It’s a bad idea, Hazel. Even if you do win, you’re going to incur Courtney’s wrath. As horrible as the Kings are, she’s a hundred times worse. It’s not worth it.”
“Why are you so against this?” I demanded. “They’re mean to you, too. I thought you’d appreciate watching Courtney squirm.”
“I’m against it because you seem determined to bring the wrath of the monarchs down on yourself, and Greg’s the one who’s going to get hurt,” she frowned. “He’s been through enough already.”
I wondered what she meant by that. Was it about Ayaz putting his head through the wall, or something else? “I know you’re scared, Loretta, but nothing is going to change at this school if we don’t change it.”
Loretta rolled over and shoved her pillow over her head.
Guess the conversation’s over, then.I stared at Loretta’s sleeping figure, wondering if I should say something, but not sure what it would be. I sighed and went out to meet Greg.
* * *
Our practice went great, and apart from some sniggers at breakfast time, the monarchy didn’t bother us. Unfortunately, I was too on edge to enjoy the reprieve. Every time I looked down at my breakfast burrito, I saw maggots wriggling and crawling all over it. I passed it to Andre, and he demolished it in three bites.
My first class of the day was physics. Despite being three weeks behind and Quinn interrupting the teacher every few minutes by shouting physics-themed pick-up lines at various girls around the room (“Hey Amber, I’m hung like a Foucault pendulum!”), the class was surprisingly interesting. I’d always been good at math, but what Professor Atwood talked about hardly seemed like math at all. I scribbled a ton of notes and was actually looking forward to researching my assignment on gravity and black holes.
“Hey, Meat,” Quinn yelled as I packed up my books. “That skirt would look even better accelerating towards my bedroom floor at 9.8 meters per second.”
“No thanks. Physics nerds can’t please a woman. Friction alone won’t get the job done,” I shot back. Quinn burst out laughing. If looks could kill, Courtney would have had me in a body-bag.
After physics was geology. Quinn was also in this class, although Trey and Ayaz weren’t. Yesterday he sat in the front with Courtney and Tillie and another monarch girl named Madison. I took a seat in the back row beside Greg. When Quinn entered the classroom, he sauntered straight up to Greg, leaned over his desk, and go right up in his face. “Beat it, faggot. I want to sit here.”
Greg’s back stiffened. Wordlessly, he collected his bag and went to stand up for Quinn, but I held out an arm to block him.
“There are plenty of chairs at the front of the class,” I glared at Quinn. “This one’s taken.”
“I want to sit next to you,” he said.
“Tough. I don’t want to sit next to you, especially not when you’re rude to my friend.”
Quinn shrugged. “Fag boy over here knows the rules. I’m a King. I can have whatever seat I want.”
Greg tried to stand up again. “It’s fine. I’ll move—”
I shoved Greg back into his chair. “Here’s the new rule. How about you stop being such a homophobic dick? Or are you so concerned about Greg’s sex life because you want in on the action?”
Quinn laughed. “You’re the only loser charity case who ever talks back. It’s refreshing, and a little hot. Will you come back to my room and suck me off?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.“Nope, but if you talk that way to me again, I will report you for sexual harassment. Even if I did want to be near your dick, which is a hard no, I’m not sure I’d be able to find it. I didn’t get a magnifying glass in my student welcome pack.”
