“Soon, dear sister. Very soon you will be mine.”
Chapter Four
Lola placed her textbooks on the top shelf of her locker and slammed the door shut, leaning against it as Marti chattered beside her.
“I can’t believe you finished the exam that fast! I mean, I know you’re Queen Brainac and everything, but damn, girl.”
Lola laughed. “I actually surprised myself. I’m glad it’s over, though, I was nervous for this one.”
Marti rolled her eyes and moved to face her friend, letting her hands land on her shoulders. “Lo, the day you have to be nervous about ever failing an exam is the day I’ll streak naked down the halls of this godforsaken place.”
Smacking her on the arm, Lola changed the subject. “So, are you going to say yes to Ben?” she asked as they moved away from the lockers and headed down the hall to their final classes of the day. Ben Porter was just one of the string of guys Marti kept tied to her little finger, never fully giving any of them her attention.
“It’s possible. I just don’t know if I want to spend my Saturday night wrapped around him at the game, or at your place binge watching The Boys and burning pizza.”
“Such an accurate description,” Lola commented.
“I like to be a girl with options,” Marti replied with a wink. Before Lola could form a reply, she spotted Beckett at the other end of the hall, chatting with Oliver and a few other guys. He must have felt her stare as he suddenly swung his eyes in her direction. Embarrassed at being caught basically ogling him, Lola quickly averted her gaze, but not before Marti noticed the exchange.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“What? That? Oh, nothing. You know Beckett, never wants to acknowledge my existence.” Lola replied, hoping Marti bought it.
“Yeah...okay then. Well, listen, I gotta motor to chem class. If I’m late again I’m dead meat. Meet out front after?” Marti let the matter drop, a fact Lola was intensely grateful for.
“Forsure, see you then.” Heading to her classroom, she chanced one last look over her shoulder, finding Beckett engrossed in conversation with a perky blonde that was hanging off his arm. Disgusted at their display, she stomped to her seat, putting Beckett and his trail of little hoes firmly out her mind.
Silent shame washed over her as she tuned out the class discussions. Was she truly starting to lose her mind? What did she care if Beckett fucked half the school? Miserable, she stared out the classroom window, watching as several fiery orange leaves floated by in a swirl of wind. So now that she’d had a fantasy about him, she had the right to judge how he spent his time? The idea was ludicrous and very out of character for her. She needed to get a grip and fast, the last thing she wanted to do was strain things even further between them.
When the bell finally rang, she grabbed her books and bolted, the first to make it out the door. In the hall, she noticed a small crowd had gathered at one of the lockers. Curious, she moved closer, with the intention of blending into the crowd. It would be nice to focus on someone else’s drama for once, and shove aside the pieces of her own making her question her sanity.
Hundreds of photos were plastered over a row of lockers, others scattering the floor. Inching closer, she peeked around the shoulders of the crowd, trying to get a clear view. The first thing she noticed was Barkey. A cute snapshot of him cuddled in her arms in her backyard, sopping wet from his latest bath. The polaroid was taped to the lockers along with countless others; a photo of her crossing the mall parking lot with her mother, one of her sitting on the picnic benches at school lunch break.
Stunned, Lola felt herself moving, was aware heads around her were starting to turn in her direction. People were talking to her, but their voices seemed to come from a faraway tunnel.
Her. The lockers were wallpapered with photos of her.
Pushing people aside, she reached the apex of the group and stared at the horrific display in utter shock. Bending down, she lifted one of the photos from the pile on the ground. It was her lying in bed on her side, her long hair spread over her pillows, her bare legs poking out from the sheet that covered her. The back of her throat burned, her vision blurred. Hot tears traced tracks down her cheeks as she crumpled the photo up in her hands.
A thousand emotions raged through her body — embarrassment, anger, terror. Who the fuck would do this? When a hand touched her shoulder, she barely stifled her scream as she shot to her feet. Scrambling backwards, her body slammed into her locker, sending dozens of photos floating to the floor.
“Lo! Lola. Hey, hey, calm down. It’s me!” Marti’s voice drifted to her through the fog. Blinking furiously, her friend's face came into focus. On a choked sob, she fell forward into Marti’s arms, squeezing her eyes shut. It helped to drown out the chaos of the growing group of on-lookers and incessant chatter amongst her classmates as they dissected every intimate photo of her that had been cruelly put on display.
When her breathing evened out, Marti withdrew from her embrace, fire blazing in her eyes. “Alright, shows over! Move it along! Go! Its just fucking pictures, get your own life to gawk
