Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Humiliation washes over her face, and she quickly ducks her head to pick at the spinach. I waste no time walking away, but the rest of the cheer squad gathers around, creating a circle around me. “Trash. Trash. Trash,” they chant as I desperately search for a break in the circle, needing a way out, but there’s no denying the synchronicity of the cheer team is on point. They’re good at what they do.
“Trash. Trash. Trash.” The chanting gets louder, the rest of the school joining in as they gather around. I search for Tarni in desperation, finding her across the room, but she just shakes her head. She’s not willing to take on a crowd this size, and the more the circle closes in around me, the more my claustrophobia turns to panic.
“TRASH. TRASH. TRASH.”
Air becomes harder to pull into my lungs with each heaving breath I take, and as I desperately search for a way out, I find Noah still sitting at his table, watching the fresh hell surrounding me. Despite the crown on his goddamn head, despite being the only one with the power to put this shit to rest, he just sits there and watches as I become the school outcast, ridiculed for simply caring about the boy I used to know.
This is his doing. He might not be the one chanting, but he’s just as guilty, and I’ll never forgive him for allowing this to happen.
“TRASH. TRASH. TRASH.” The chanting is at an all-time high, the people moving in closer, and I spin around, frantically searching for an escape. Tears begin to well in my eyes. The laughter and taunting come from every angle, and unable to bear it a second longer, I barge right through the crowd, shouldering past the students as they laugh at my back.
People grab at me, pulling my hair, spanking my ass, and the tears finally fall, staining my cheeks as I reach the doors and race out into the hallway. I run toward my locker to get my things, stumbling and struggling to catch my breath, but the lock shakes in my unsteady hands as I try to enter the combination.
Finally getting it open, I reach in to grab my bag and check my keys are right where I left them, and as I slam my locker closed, I hear someone running after me. “Zoey,” Tarni calls from up the hallway.
“Leave me alone,” I spit, hastily wiping my eyes.
“Come on,” she groans, catching up with me. “Don’t be mad at me. There was nothing I could do. It was a fucking mob. What did you expect?”
“Anything,” I cry, slinging my bag over my back. “Anything would have helped.”
With that, I turn away and run for the exit, more than ready to get out of here. Barging through the doors, I break out through the front gates and get halfway to my car when I see him standing there, waiting for me as though he has every right.
I shake my head, not ready to face him after that humiliation, but I refuse to walk away now.
Noah leans against my Range Rover, his big arms crossed over his strong chest as his stare bores into mine. I continue storming toward him, my jaw clenched as the overwhelming anger, frustration, and humiliation claim me. “What the hell do you want?” I demand, walking around him to unlock the car and shove my bag in the passenger’s side.
He shakes his head, clearly having no damn clue why he bothered to come down here, but it’s obvious to me—guilt.
“I just—”
“No,” I snap, moving back around to the driver’s side and reaching for my door. “You don’t have the right to come to me. Not anymore. And especially not after the bullshit you’ve thrown at me the last two days.”
I go to open the door, but he reaches past me and slams it again, demanding my attention. “Hold up a fucking second.”
I whip around, the tears so hot in my eyes. “No, Noah. You had your chance,” I yell, shoving my hands into his chest as the anger overwhelms me, but he’s like a brick wall, refusing to step away. “You used to be my hero. My bestest friend. I thought the whole world shone through your eyes, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. What happened in there . . . That’s on you. You had the power to make it stop, but you didn’t because you’re too fucking scared of feeling anything. You’re a coward.”
He steps back, looking at me as though I just slapped him across the face, and without another word, I pull my car door open and slip inside, locking the doors behind me. I watch him for a second, the two of us held captive by one another’s stare, and when he inches back and looks away, deciding not to fight for this, I shake my head, never so disappointed in my life.