I knew from the solidity of the blow that I would have one hell of a shiner and sighed. Ah well. There goes those modeling offers and winning that beauty pageant. Zach stared at me, his jaw dropped with an expression of horror, and I sighed while returning my gaze to my feet. Kyler growled, then stepped around me with his angry footfalls echoing down the hall. Once he left, I adjusted my backpack, smiled at Zach, and weaved through the still shocked students to make my way to choir. By the time I reached the end of the hall, hostility filled the surrounding air, making it hard to breathe.
Mr. Thatch gasped when I walked into his classroom, tilting my head so he could peer at my face. Tutting, he sent me to the bathroom to clean myself up and asked if I wished to visit the nurse when I returned. Shaking my head, I took a seat next to a platinum blonde whose posture, clothes, and neatness screamed cheerleader. I swallowed when her gaze fell upon me and risked a glance only to find friendly eyes watching me with a concerned frown twisting her lips. I dropped my gaze, steeled myself for the expression I expected, and raised my eyes once more.
A tender smile and eyes soft with understanding were what I found instead. My lip trembled, and she softened even more. “Hi, Angel,” she greeted in a lilting voice full of warmth. “My name is Claire, and I heard you singing this morning. If it wouldn’t have been sacrilegious, I would have added my voice to yours. Well, I was also lost in heavenly bliss listening to you.” My cheeks burned, and I stared at the ground with tense shoulders while waiting for the cruel laughter to begin. I never met a cheerleader that didn’t loathe me on sight.
When Claire seemed content to wait for my reaction, I cleared my throat and near soundlessly asked, “Aren’t you a cheerleader?” Perceiving the shifting of the light out of the corner of my eye when she nodded, I swallowed audibly. “Why?”
“Oh, Angel,” Claire sighed, sounding sad, and I raised my eyes to hers in alarm. A soft sigh had her shoulders slumping before she shook her head. “Most of my peers will be cruel, but I refuse. You understand the game, I see that in your eyes. However, our town is unique in a way that I cannot explain. I’m sure Marcus will once you’re ready.” My brow furrowed while I considered her words with a slight frown. “You’re safe here, from most people. It’s not my place to tell you why, but if I could, I would.” I met her gaze again to nod my understanding. I wouldn’t get her in trouble by asking, nor would I make her uncomfortable by getting upset.
The tardy bell rang, and I flinched, only to hiss out a pained breath when my back protested the movement. Claire frowned when I chanced a glance, and I belatedly realized she growled under her breath. “Kyler broke two of our unwritten laws,” she informed me in a voice full of sorrow and fury. “The first is sacred, yet he spits on it as if it were of no importance. There will be consequences to his actions, although that pains you.” Startled, I met her gaze, and her eyes softened with a slight smile curling her lips. “It’s okay, Angel, no one blames you, and we understand. But the second unwritten law he broke is so hallowed I can’t explain it with words. As the day wears on, any aware of these rules who meet you will not harm you, I promise. And, given a choice between you or Kyler, they will choose you, Angel. Kyler will still have his followers, those who wish to share his bed, or hope to bask in his popularity, but there will be many who defect in his eyes. He is the one who reneged, the fool.”
My brow furrowed again while I tried to solve this puzzle with only a handful of pieces. My head ached, and I distantly heard the bell signaling the beginning of class but became distracted when the boy behind me asked what period I had gym. “I don’t,” I admitted with a wry smile. His green eyes shone with confusion, and I laughed without humor. “Until a teacher can promise I won’t experience any tumbles, blows, or movements that risk my back, I’m excluded.” My cheeks heated when I noticed everyone watched me, and I ducked my head with a soft noise of distress.
“Why?” The boy asked, moving to kneel beside my chair. He looked at me but didn’t seek my gaze, which allowed my shoulders to relax with a soft sigh leaving my lips.
Swallowing, I murmured, “you don’t want to hear the whole sordid affair.”
“Actually, we do,” Mr. Thatch corrected, and I gasped. What? Why? No one has ever cared. Hell, I’d never been in a room with this many people who didn’t snarl or throw insults my way. Between Claire, Zach, and the boy beside me, this was more positive attention than I had received in my life.
“I was in an accident,” I admitted in a voice thickened by grief, “when I was ten.” Several soft noises of sympathy reached my ears, and shock filled me once more. The eleven students in the room had expressions full of sorrow when I risked a glance, and tears burned my eyes. They cared, they honestly cared, and I didn’t know how to
