“That’s right, Savy. I’m going here now. Sad that it will only be for your last two years but don’t worry, I promise to make the most of it.”
I see it then. I see in her eyes how much she hates me and the promise to make high school look like a breeze compared to what she’s going to put me through over the next two years. Everything inside me just withers. I throw all my walls up and force my expression to go blank. I know how this works. The more I react, the more they see how they can hurt me, the more they feed off of it. My tone is bland as I tilt my head.
“Fantastic. Do you have a student ID yet? I can get you set up in the system so you can check out books.”
She smirks and rolls her eyes. “Please! I don’t need a library card. I’m going to be way too busy with my new sorority to worry about books. We just wanted to drop by and share my good news with you. Brighten your dreary little life up a bit.”
I nod. “Great, thanks for letting me know. I’ll see you around, Vanessa. Celeste, nice to see you. I have to get back to work now, so if you don’t mind…”
My stepmother looks down her nose at me. Her eyes are keen and calculating like she’s trying to figure out my angle but there’s nothing for her to find on my face so she inclines her head slightly and hooks an arm into her daughter’s.
“Come, darling. Let’s leave Savanna to her…work. I’ll take you to lunch and then we can do some shopping before I leave.”
Vanessa’s smile is wide and bright as she lets Celeste lead her away but just before they get to the doors, she looks back over her shoulder at me.
“See you real soon, Savy.”
My knees almost give out on me as the doors close behind them so I slump down against the counter and place my head in my hands. What am I going to do? I can’t be at the same school as her! And what the holy hell was that with Tate? Uggg, I can only deal with one thing at a time so I grab my bag and duck out to the staff room where I’ll have more privacy and pull my cell phone out. I almost crack the screen, I tap out the number so hard.
By the time his voice comes over the line, I’m holding back a scream.
“Hey, Princess! How are you? I haven’t heard from you since school went back in.”
His warm, caring tone has some of that scream backing off so I’m able to actually speak without shattering his eardrums but my voice comes out choked.
“Uncle Mark, please tell me this is some prank. I can’t be at the same school as her!”
He lets out a deep sigh. “I’m so sorry, kid. I tried to sway them to a different school but got nowhere with them. There was nothing I could do.”
I close my eyes to keep the hot tears swelling in them at bay.
“Why did she even want to transfer? All I heard about all summer long was that she ruled her school. Why would she leave that?”
“Vanessa didn’t want to transfer at all. She was asked to leave. There were accusations that she took hazing during pledge week too far and one of the girls ended up committing suicide. We were forced to pay the family off to keep it quiet but the school was adamant that Vanessa leave.”
My mouth drops open hearing that and my heart squeezes painfully at what that poor girl and her family must have gone through. I’ve been on the receiving end of Vanessa’s bullying for the last twelve years and I know just how bad it can be. My fingers tighten around the phone.
“You shouldn’t have paid for it. She’s never going to change if she doesn’t have to face the consequences of her actions!”
I hear him moving on the other end of the line and then a door closes before he speaks again.
“I completely agree but it wasn’t my call.”
I scowl and speak at the same time as he does.
“The board.”
“The board.”
“I’m sorry, Savy. They didn’t want it to get out and reflect badly on the company. I was outvoted on this one.”
I tilt my head back and let loose a silent scream at the ceiling even as he keeps talking.
“Sweetheart, if you would just step…”
I cut him off. “Mark, we’ve been over this! I’ve got two more years to graduate and then the gap year I want before I’ll be ready for that. I know what my future looks like and I just want these few years to myself before I’m locked into it.”
His sigh comes through loud and clear. “You make it sound like a prison sentence. You know there are other options. We could sell…”
