“Not yet.”
“This place was pretty strange for me. They do things different here and I had to get used to it or get shipped back to my shitty school. Sink or swim. I chose to swim, and now it’s a lot different for me.” I look inside the cafeteria and can see a bunch of students standing. It feels strange how many kids are interested in the cafeteria before school. Jaxson grabs my hand and squeezes. “I hope you can swim in the deep end with me here too.”
We enter the cafeteria and all the students turn and look at us, more specifically me. I have no clue why. Jaxson steps away from me. Out of the corner of my eye I see three guys wearing varsity jackets holding cream pies. One of them yells and the other two follow and whip the pies at me. One of them misses completely. Another hits me square in the chest, and the last passes close by my face, leaving cream on the side of my head.
Everyone is laughing, hystericaly. Some pointing and laughing. A marching band is in the corner and starts blasting music you would hear at a circus. I feel like screaming, yelling at each of the students separately, saving Jaxson for last. I notice Jaxson in the corner, covering his mouth.
I attempt to leave the cafeteria, but Lance is in my way. “Get the fuck away from me.” I tell him. He steps aside and watches me storm down the hall.
Chapter 8
“Hey, Apple Pie,” a guy wearing a varsity jacket says to me while passing by my desk in class. He sits back down and whispers something to his friend and he laughs, looking at me.
It was supposed to be quiet reading time in English class, but I feel like taking my hardcover book and bashing it against his head. It isn’t even lunch time and I already have a nickname at Ryland Academy.
Apple Pie. Apple fucking pie. I want to tell the shithead there weren’t any apples even in the pies thrown at me, but I’m sure that wouldn’t matter.
I run some of my hair through my fingers ensuring I had gotten all the cream out. It was impossible trying to clean myself in a washroom close to the cafeteria. I managed to get rid of most of the mess that Jaxson and his friends made, but my shirt was stained. Not only was it stained but it landed right on my breasts, the one spot that doesn’t need any more attention from people.
I hear girls whispering and turn my head. A girl wearing a gold colored button-up shirt is looking right at me. Her body is slim, and her clothes fit her perfectly, unlike mine. Her hair looks as if she went to a beauty parlor right before school started. Her two friends turn and look at me with shit-eating grins. She nods her head at me, and I nod my head back.
She whispers something at me. It’s hard to make out at first, but her signalling the letters with her hand seems to help clarify what she meant.
Loser.
Perfect. Looks like I’m making more friends. I’ve had enough of rich kid’s shit for one day though. I stand up and sit at an empty desk closer to them.
The ringleader of the group, the one who whispered to me, smiles and says, “Can I help you with something ghetto girl?” Her friends giggle at her comment.
“I’m more interested in helping you, rich bitch.” Nobody laughs at my rhyme. “I’d love nothing more then to stick that Prada purse of yours up your ass, but I’m worried you would like it too much.”
She looks at me in shock. One of her friends gives me a cold look. “Go back to the streets, Pie Head.”
I roll my eyes. “The nickname is Apple Pie, you stupid cunt.”
The teacher clears his throat. “Ladies, this is quiet reading at your desks. Mrs. Maven, please go back to yours.”
I go back to my desk and raise my book in my hands, trying to ignore everyone around me. I peek over at my new friends who are still whispering to each other. I hope they are talking about me. I’m on a roll for making first impressions today. Everybody who pisses me off will be greeted by nasty words for the rest of the day.
I peek over my book again and notice a heavy-set boy looking at me. When he sees that I notice him he looks back at his own book with a thin smile.
Who else wants some of this? I’ll take all comers at this point.
The person that hurt me the most today was Jaxson. How could he lead me to a prank? Was it some school initiation?
He told me he hoped I could swim in the deep end with him before it happened. Had the same thing happened to him? Was this something all new kids had to deal with? Or was it only students who got here through scholarships, who truly didn’t deserve to be here according to the rich kids?
I look at the clock and hope the remainder of the school day hurries the fuck up.
∞∞∞
The lunch bell rings, and I cringe. Now I must make my triumphant return to the cafeteria. I have no lunch and didn’t exactly have a large breakfast. I’m starving and decide to go back to the cafeteria.
Part of me doesn’t give a fuck either. I almost hope some stupid bitch tries to mess with me again. I will put her in her place. I won’t hurt them, even though I’m sure I could mess up that pretty little blond girl from English easily.
That is exactly what these rich bitches would want me to do. Fight one of them and get suspended, losing my scholarship and everything that goes with it. I’ll put up with whatever they have lined up for