Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Buffy pulled a chair to the center of the room and patted me on the back. “Sit there and look out the window or something, and I’ll get started on you first. If we have time left over, you can work on me.”
Buffy’s face was intense as she proceeded through her beauty rituals. I stayed present enough to hold still, turn my head, purse my lips, and look up or down when ordered. I tried to think of her as the sister I’d never had.
Finally, she stepped back, and I turned to look in the mirror, but she immediately stepped into the path.
“No! I’m doing your hair next, and then we’ll put together an outfit. I’m going to hang a towel over the mirror so you can’t look. Now, I want you to wait right here. I lent my curling iron to one of the other girls and have to run to get it. Swear you won’t peek?”
I nodded and gave her a thumbs-up as I heard her close the bedroom door. I felt stiff from sitting still for so long, so I got up and got a drink from the tap in the bathroom, careful not to let it touch my lips or to let my eyes wander to the mirror she’d forgotten. When I settled back onto my bed, I faced the window and watched a graceful bird with a huge wingspan sailing the winds between the mountain peaks.
I heard the door open behind me. I heard Buffy scooting something, and it sounded like she was whispering to someone.
“Buffy?”
The door closed suddenly, and she didn’t answer. My attention was hooked, anyway, on some movement outside. A late arrival was pulling up in a black car. She was small in stature, with pale skin and curly brown hair. The huge manor her and the darkening mountains surrounding it made her seem even smaller. Her parents were hoisting bags out of the car while she looked around uncertainly. I felt sorry for the girl—she looked up at the building with frightened eyes. She was probably already homesick and her parents hadn’t even yet left. I knew what she was in for.
“Well, will you look at that!” I jerked upright and spun around.
There, just inside our door, stood Zephyr, his cohorts lined up behind him. His hands were on his hips, and the grin on his face was malevolent and filled with triumph. Suddenly, a female body edged its way around him to confront me. It was Erin Holland. In her hands, she held a huge bowl, which she pitched over my head.
At first, I thought it was just warm water. Then the stale, acrid, sour smell hit my nose, and I realized to my horror that I’d just been doused with piss. It cascaded over me, into my nose, eyes, and mouth. It pooled onto my bed. Derisive laughter rang out from the doorway. I desperately reached for a dry section of the blanket to wipe off my face, gagging as I did so.
“Did I do it right, Zephyr?” I heard Erin’s voice seeking his approval.
“You did just fine, honey. Just fine.”
My eyes burned. I was pulling at my clothes, completely unconcerned with the bastards in the room seeing me naked. I just wanted this piss off of me.
“Looks like I got you wet twice in one day, Quinn,” Zephyr remarked, and everyone laughed at his little witticism.
The laughter faded away, and then I heard the door shut. Keeping my eyes closed, I felt my way to the bathroom in my underwear and cranked on the water. Stepping inside, I simply stood there, letting the water stream over me. I pulled off my bra and panties, kicking them to the corner. I grabbed my bottle of shampoo and not only poured it into my hair but over my entire body. Reaching around the curtain, I managed to grab the bottle of mouthwash. I rinsed and spat several times—eventually diluting the taste. I heard a strange noise and realized I was crying. Not whimpers, but gasping sobs.
Then came the rage. I was more furious than I ever remembered being in my life. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Dad had left me alone and a one-way ticket to this hellhole of a school. If that were what it took to get into Harvard, they could keep it. They could all go to hell, and I wouldn’t miss one of them. Not even Buffy. For all I knew, she’d been in on it. How convenient for her to leave at just that moment and be gone long enough for someone to come looking—to just walk in on me.
“Good gawd!” I heard Buffy shriek. “What the blue blazes happened in here?”
I counted to three before pushing aside the shower curtain. “You don’t know? You let them in.”