I’m not religious by any means, but sometimes, I think God sent Juliette down specifically with the intention of making my life hell. Props to her, because it worked.
“Aww, do you want to watch?” I respond sarcastically.
A scowl appears on her pale face at my retort. Then she scoffs. “In your dreams, dyke.”
There it is. She’s been using that word to berate me ever since I was caught kissing a girl behind the school gates when I was twelve. It was then that everyone found out I was bisexual. A boy from the basketball team saw me and told everyone. My own friends found out that way, but they were incredibly supportive. Sadly, everyone else was just… silent.
It’s not even like I’m the only “out and proud” kid at our school; many kids are queer, of which most people don’t have a problem with. Yet for some reason, I’m the social pariah just because Juliette hates me and her word is gospel at this school.
As if it’s not enough being the school’s outcast because of my financial status, now my sexuality seemed to be a problem too. Why couldn’t she just mess with some other gay kid? Why did it have to be me?
Of course, I never let her get to me. I always fought back and took it upon myself to make her life as hard as she made mine. It enraged her beyond belief. It wasn’t just my poverty and attraction to girls that bothered her. No, it’s more than that. It’s the power I refuse to give her—everyone besides me bowed down to Juliette.
She wants me to be like everyone else that worships her, but what she doesn’t realize is that they only worship her because of her means and her family, not her rancid personality—she’s an heiress to the Kingston empire after all. She is one of the richest… scratch that, she is the richest person in England, barring the monarchy.
Okay, maybe that is aslightexaggeration, but the Kingston family comes from money that is centuries old. Most of that wealth was accumulated by owning real estate and industrial ventures.
I don’t think anyone in her privileged family has ever worked hard for anything, including Juliette.
Juliette and I have been caught up in a game for these last few years; she berates me and I berate her back. We go back and forth vying for control and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t interesting. Or thrilling.
“In my dreams? Never,” I say, my tone reeking of boredom as I close my textbook. “The only time I would ever dream about you is if I was having a nightmare.”Not my best retort but to be fair, I’m tired.
She laughs that same cruel laughter I’ve been accustomed to hearing for the last five years. “Are you that terrified of me?”
I have to hold back my laughter. Juliette is a lot of things; she’s cruel, conniving, bitchy, selfish, rude, and a plethora of other things, but she has never scared me.
“You? Scary? Don’t kid yourself.” I chuckle loudly at her words. “What are you gonna do? Steal my lunch money? Shove me into a locker?” I mean come on; the girl is seventeen! Would it kill her to act her age? Then again, money clearly ages you.
Her eyes narrow in response, a fire lighting in them. She clears her throat and leans closer to me and I fight the urge to breathe in her scent;vanilla. “Don’t make me show you how scary I can be.”
I don’t respond to her threat as my breath stuck in my throat and she clearly takes this as a challenge, because she continues to speak. “I’m sure your brother wouldn’t want to be behind bars again, would he?”
I clench my jaw so tight. She never fails to mention my older brother or how he went to jail when I was eleven and spent four years there. At least, she doesn’t bring up my dead parents. Props to her for having even just a shred of human decency.
Just another thing to add to the already massive pile of reasons why people sneer at me in school, not that I care.
None of the kids at this school would ever drop out of school as a child and work tirelessly in a garage to support their young sister; to give up on their dreams, just so I could achieve my own and then have it rewarded with a prison sentence.
I force a sarcastic smile on my face. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. He quite enjoyed the peace and quiet there.”
She closes her eyes for a brief second, clearly trying to gather her thoughts and calm herself down. She did this often when I didn’t give her the attention she wanted.
She opens her eyes and said, “Don’t you get tired of pretending like I don’t affect you?”
I roll my eyes at her analysis of me. Even if it was true, it’s infuriating. “You’re a broken record Juliette, you’ve been spewing the same shit for five years and guess what? It’s fucking boring.”
God no. It’s never boring. Five years and she still has me on my toes at every given opportunity. My heart still races and shivers still run down my spine whenever we play this little game.
She. I mean, when she plays this game because I don’t like playing with her.
Or do I?
I pack my books away, closing my bag without even looking up to see Juliette's reaction to my comment. I needed to get out of this classroom and really take advantage of the free time, instead of sitting here and listening to Juliette’s nonsense.
I take maybe three steps before I feel my back colliding with her chest. Her soft hand has yanked me back with such brute force that I was almost too bewildered to move, so it wasn’t a surprise that she was able to turn me around. Her eyes darken as she stares down at me, considering she is a few inches taller than me.
Juliette stares at my face unwavering, her jaw clenched. “You leave whenIsay you can.”
