“Can you explain Caleb?”
Riley shakes her head, opening her own lunch. “He’s the captain of the lacrosse team. Everyone wants him—the girls around here would cough up a lung to get a chance to talk to him. You might remember his dad had his own company?”
“Yeah.” I never knew the specifics. And at ten years old, I didn’t really care.
“Well that company grew super-fast, and his dad sold it. Apparently, the family still gets royalties. Because of that, they’re extra rich. Caleb can do anything, and the school would bend over backward to kiss his ass.”
“Fun.”
“He and his friends are untouchable. Royalty,” she whispers. “His friends are Liam, Theo, and Eli. They love to terrorize… but everyone falls at their feet. Even the teachers.”
“They love to terrorize who?”
“Me,” she half laughs. “Only Eli, though. The rest tend to leave me alone. The golden boys have a dark side.”
I grunt. “And now Caleb has his eye on me.” I take out my phone, showing Riley the texts. “Do you know who this might be?”
She grabs my phone, her eyes going wide. “No, but that… that’s sketchy. Did you tell anyone?”
“Nope.” I look around and put down my sandwich. My appetite has fled. “If I make waves, my new family might decide I’m too much trouble. You know?”
“They can’t send you away,” she argues. “You just got here!”
“I know, but that’s the system. I have eleven months left until I’m eighteen, then I get to go.” Go where is the question, but Riley doesn’t voice it. I don’t, either.
The bell rings, and both of us flinch.
“Show me your schedule,” she says, putting her things back in the bag. “I’ll get you to class so you aren’t late.”
“Thanks.”
We go out into the hallway, and I run smack into a hard, muscled back.
Caleb Asher turns around, and my heart jumps into my throat.
His eyes go to Riley, then back to me. “Run along, Appleton.”
She swallows, staring at me. She pushes her shoulders back. “I need to show—”
“I’d be happy to help our friend get to class.” He scowls at her. “Go away.”
She stiffens and slowly backs away, casting an apologetic look in my direction. I shrug at her. It isn’t her fault he’s an ass.
An ass that steps into my personal space, herding me away from his friends. “Wolfe.”
“Asher.”
“How’s class?”
Everyone is pretending I don’t exist or coughing mean names behind their fists.
“Missed you at lunch,” he says.
I snort. “Yeah, okay.”
He puts his hand on the back of my neck, his fingers soft for a second before they dig into my skin. I suppress a shiver. He uses pressure to steer me down the hall, into the throng of students headed for their classes.
In the middle of everyone, he gives me a light shove.
It’s enough to send me to my knees. Everyone fall silent at the movement.
Mortification rings through me.
“This isn’t your school,” Caleb says, leaning down.
I’m pretty sure he’s amplifying his words on purpose, because now everyone is turned in our direction. His friends join us, circling around.
“Why don’t you go back to the trash family that raised you? Leave the rest of us alone. Oh, I forgot. Your mom’s probably high out of her mind in a gutter, and dear old dad is getting ass-raped on the regular in prison.”
“Why are you doing this?” I whisper.
He leans down, grabbing my arm and hauling me back up. “Why? You don’t really know anything, do you?” He sneers. “You’re a sheep in a wolf’s clothing. No threat at all.”
Do not fucking cry.
“Run along now, little sheep.”
He releases me, and I move, too startled to walk straight. My shoulder hits one of his friends, and it’s like hitting a truck. It sends me off-kilter. Once I have my bearings, I push through the crowd.
It’s only when I find a bathroom, ducking into it, that the tears break loose. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. Hell, all I’ve done today is walk into a firestorm—one that my apparent departure seven years ago created.
“Margo?”
I sniff, wiping my nose on my arm. “In here.”
Riley pushes open the stall, staring down at me. “That was…”
“A lot?”
“A drop in the bucket.”
I wince. “Really?”
“The golden boys of Emery-Rose are nothing but nasty to their minions.” She leans against the wall. “Sorry to break it to you. I’ve been the target of Eli’s fury for years.”
“Well, they can’t get away with it.”
“They can and they will.” Riley sighs. “Their families are the richest of the rich. My parents are well-off, and I’m…” She shakes her head. “I’m the lowlife around here.”
“You’re not.” I lift myself up, brushing off invisible dust from my skirt.
She hands me a wad of toilet paper, and I take a second to clean up my face. My eyes are bloodshot, eyelids a little puffy, but otherwise, I look normal. The bell rings, echoing in the bathroom. “Maybe we should skip.”
“The rest of the day?” Riley glances around. “It’s your first day—”
Ugh. “Okay, fine. Guess I’ll just take the detention for being late.”
We head back into the hallway; it’s a ghost town.
She cracks a smile. “If you want, we can meet tomorrow before school. Everyone hangs out in the courtyard, and they don’t let us inside till the first bell.”
I return her smile, grateful that she didn’t cut and run. “Safety in numbers?”
“Something like that.” She glances at my schedule and steers me in the right direction. She drops me off, then jogs away.
For a second, I envy the way she can shake off everything. It sticks to my skin like glue: the negativity, Caleb’s fury. I hand the teacher my schedule, and she clears her throat, motioning for me to take my seat without a word. I’m grateful that no one I know is in this class… until Liam walks in.
The teacher doesn’t even stop talking, or spare him a glance.
He stops right next to me, staring down, and says, “Nice little show, Sheep.”
I keep my gaze on the desk.