“Fuck off, you fat bitch. This doesn’t concern you.”
The people in our immediate area quiet, not wanting to miss a minute of this. But there’s no way I’m letting this go further. He has no right to screw with Lila when we’re here like everyone else, hanging out on a Saturday night. Dylan Smith has been making Lila’s life hell since she had the nerve to dump his loser ass, but she’s my friend, and I’m not having it. I grab Dylan’s arm.
“Actually it does. Come on.” Shadow Sage surges to the front of my brain, all darkness and destruction. She knows exactly how to break this little shit, and for the first time in three years, I’m going to let her.
“Looks like the Princess is hot for you,” one of his friends calls.
“It’s to be expected.” Surprise colors his tone, despite the cocky words, and he follows me more out of curiosity than anything else.
Once I get him away from the others, I drop his arm like it’s a snake about to bite me. “So here’s the deal. You leave Lila alone. You don’t talk to her. You don’t talk about her. You don’t look at her. You don’t even think about her. Matter of fact, that goes for all my friends. You and your crew just steer clear from now on, got me?”
“You’re crazy—”
“I’m not.” I cut off his bluster with a hard look. “See, even though you’re a complete dickhead, I suspect you love your mom. Even if she’s banging Principal Warick … the very married Principal Warick. I’m sure you get tired of people telling you what a MILF your mother is. Imagine how much worse it could be, if people found out she’s having an affair—”
“Shut up.” Dylan lunges at me, clamping a hand over my mouth.
There are enough people in view that I’m not worried he’ll do more. If he tries, I’ll show him all the ways I can make him hurt. Because I’m only playing the role of nice girl; I’ve spent a portion of my life as something else entirely.
In a small town like this one, Tamara Smith, the hot school secretary, draws censure for how she dresses, the amount of makeup she wears, and for the way she’d allegedly cheated on her husband—and that’s why he left. Whatever the truth, she’s definitely doing Principal Warick. I’ve seen them kissing, but I never would’ve brought it up if Dylan didn’t made a career of screwing with two people I care about: Lila and Shane.
He applies more pressure, almost enough to bruise my jaw. So I bite him.
Dylan lets go, hate warring with unease in his eyes. He stumbles back a few steps, then he yells to his friends, “These bitches aren’t worth it.”
I take one breath, another, watching him walk away. Time to put the scary back in the box. The athletic crew disappears around the side of the barn, then Lila heads over, looking astonished. “What the hell did you say to him?”
By the time, I turn to face her, I’ve got my mask back in place.
I shrug. “I just made it clear he can’t mess with you anymore.”
“I hope you don’t regret this. Dylan isn’t known for letting shit go.”
“Maybe he’s turning over a new leaf.”
Lila still seems doubtful but I don’t reveal anything. If I tell her, she might repeat it, and then I’ll lose my leverage. My anger at Dylan writhes like a snake twining and tightening around my intestines, but this is where I stop. It takes all my willpower to smile and eat my marshmallow, which has cooled off nicely. The rest of the party is quiet compared to the beginning. I play a game of beer pong, set up on two sawhorses and a plywood board; my team loses, mostly because I suck. After that, Lila and I dance by the bonfire while various guys try to hit on us. That’s … different.
Eventually, I get bored and by that point, Lila’s ready to head out, too. The golf cart is easy to maneuver around the cars, so we set out for my place.