She glances at me, and her expression makes it clear she’d rather die than agree. But when she finds Joshua’s glare again, she swallows and nods. “Right. Cross my heart and all that.”
“Look at her when she’s talking to you,” Joshua growls.
Tiffany scowls, grudgingly finding my eyes, and I let out a breath in an effort to find my footing.
I don’t like fighting or arguing. Maybe it’s because, back home with Mom, Benji, and miles of nature, I’m rarely around conflict. But the discomfort it causes, the negative tension dispersing in the air and grating the back of my neck—it knocks me off-balance and feels dirty against my skin. The worst part is that the feeling sticks, lingers. Mom says negativity multiplies like weeds, and it’s important not to water it.
Lifting my chin, I calmly state the obvious. “You don’t like me.”
Tiffany twists the bottom of her ponytail.
“I get it. We’re different. But we don’t have to get in each other’s way either, okay?”
She huffs a laugh, muttering sarcastically, “Yeah, okay,” and starts to push off the locker.
When Joshua blocks her path, she slowly looks up.
“Who helped you?” he asks a second time.
I narrow my eyes as Cory backs up a step, then another. Joshua doesn’t miss it either.
“Are you freakingkiddingme?” Kimmie barks, her tone laced with disdain as she shifts her eyes from Tiff to Cory.
Cory’s brows shoot up, and he lifts his hands. “Babe, come on—”
“Your dad’s a freaking butcher, Cory! Can you be any more obvious?” She shoves his chest so hard it should make him fall over. He hardly budges, but his eyes go round.
“Baby, it’s just a stupid prank.” When he tries to wrap his arms around her, she hits him with a frightening glare, and he wisely drops them. “You know we pull shit like this all the time. Besides, I thought you hated the chick. Cotton candy rainbow, right?”
This time when she shoves him, he stumbles back a step. “Ugh, do not call her that! Of course I don’t hate her, idiot. You know what?” She holds her hands up and moves away. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Babe—”
“Don’t talk to me.” She looks at me as she walks backward, toward her class. “Are you okay, Blue?”
“Oh, I—yeah, thank—”
“God, not this again,” she groans. She whirls around and stalks off, muttering, “Everyone has to be sodramatic...”
She disappears into a classroom, and a heavy blanket of silence falls over the rest of us. The weight of Joshua’s glare keeps Tiffany pinned to the locker, and Cory gulps as he carefully starts to retreat.
After a second, Joshua’s shoulders relax a fraction, and he takes a step back.
“You know what you’re gonna do now, don’t you?” he drawls. His voice is calmer but no less intimidating.
Tiffany shakes her head.
“You’re gonna walk into Principal Lori’s office and tell her everything you and Cory did.”
She scoffs. “Why would I ever—?”
“Because you care about your stupid reputation, and I’ll make your life a living, breathing hell in front of every person in this school every damn day until you do.”
Her jaw drops.
“You think I won’t?”
She clamps her mouth shut. “Fine,” she seethes. “What about Cory? You’re just gonna let him walk?”
