I was in the hall seconds after the bell rang, before Char even, but Kyler caught me. “I have places to be, hotshot, let me go,” I sighed while staring at the ground.
“Why? Have another teacher you need to whine to, street rat?” Kyler sneered, and I scoffed. Shaking my head, I bit my tongue to not snap at him. Why did he bring out the worst in me? When I didn’t answer, instead of the gut-punch I expected, he grabbed me with his thumbs on my ribcage and squeezed. I couldn’t stop my yelp of pain, and he shook his head in surprise. Before I could stop him, his hands were under my clothes, touching the bandages on my ribs, and I whimpered.
His brow furrowed, and he backed away only to look at his fingers to find blood on them. Great, just what I needed, to bleed again. Lovely. “Cut yourself, did you?” Kyler demanded without looking up from his hands.
Instead of the usual anger, sadness filled me, and I sighed while tears filled my eyes. “Why do you always assume the worst of me?” I asked, my bottom lip trembling until I bit it. “But, no, I did not. And, don’t worry, those are proof you won’t have to deal with me for much longer.”
“Oh? Going to do the world a favor and off yourself?” Kyler asked with a soft snarl. “How weak you are, street rat.”
Sighing, I looked at the alarmed trio of Char, Dakota, and Zach with a shake of my head. “He only doesn’t find Matty because he enjoys the game. If I take myself out of it, he’ll do far worse to Matty than he ever has to me. You need not worry about that,” I murmured, and they sighed with relief. Afterward, they glared at Kyler so coldly I was surprised he didn’t shiver. “And no, hotshot, I don’t plan on killing myself. Again, why do you think so little of me? Never mind, it matters not. Staying here would be suicide since he’ll be angry I stayed because it takes the fun out of the game. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a class to attend.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Kyler demanded, trying to look into my eyes, but I kept my gaze down.
“It’s none of your business, hotshot. You’ve made it clear you don’t care, so why ask? How about you get out of my way so I can get to class? I like this school, well, other than you,” I replied, stepping around him when he didn’t move. Char, I noticed, bumped into his shoulder with a soft growl.
I smiled in relief when Riff waited outside our choir classroom with his arms open. I barreled into his embrace, shuddering while he hugged me. Once he kissed my forehead, I relaxed with a soundless sigh. “See you guys in a bit,” Char chuckled, “since our next class is short, so we can watch your debut. Thanks for that. Anything that gets me out of class early is fine by me.” Snorting, I waved to Char while Riff threw his head back to laugh so hard, he shook us both.
Claire whispered words of encouragement when I trembled, as did the rest of our choir, and Mr. Thatch beamed while assuring me I’d be perfect. We warmed up as a choir, singing some fun songs, before Riff and I practiced so he could ensure our small twirls wouldn’t cause me any discomfort. I experienced a bit of pain, but nothing I couldn’t ignore. So, I smiled at Riff, and he frowned as if he sensed I was dishonest but sighed his acceptance. Good, so he realized how stubborn I was. Although this was a situation where he could easily triumph. But he knew I wanted to do this for him so, hah, I won.
I trembled a little from fear and excitement when Mr. Thatch announced it was time to head to the cafeteria, sending the rest of the choir ahead to grab seats. Other than Claire, who left to go to the piano onstage. They waved with words of encouragement, and butterflies filled my stomach. Riff led me to the stage, and we stared at the closed curtain while I calmed my breathing so I wouldn’t mess up. Shaking his head, Riff chuckled and kissed my forehead, and my negative thoughts and feelings vanished. I blinked at him, still unsure why he could do that, and he grinned, kissing my forehead again, which led to my shoulders relaxing. Huh. I hadn’t even noticed I was tense. I smiled gratefully, and Riff gave me a tender smile.
Mr. Thatch announced us, and instead of panicking, I took in a deep, calm breath, smiling at Riff, who grinned with a nod. I ignored the audience, pretending Riff and I were practicing, and let the song take me over. Our voices harmonized perfectly, and the final twirl Riff led me through ended with me pressed against him while our chests heaved as we sang our last note.
At first, there was silence, and I glanced towards the cafeteria to find every student, teacher, and member of the faculty frozen in shock. However, a second later, they burst into wolf whistles, cheering, and deafening applause. My cheeks burned, and I hid my face against Riff’s chest while he laughed and unabashedly ate up the attention. The entire school was cheering, save for one, and I felt his disdainful stare like a bucket of icy water down my spine.
After several moments, when the cheering seemed unlikely to die down, his disapproving voice cut through it like a
