The cafeteria had gone quiet, everyone wondering what Elle would do. Chloe wondered how Elle would respond, as well, but she didn’t respond. Instead, it was like she ignored Cassandra.
Panic started setting in, and Chloe began to realize this was not going to end well.
“Bitch, I know you hear me.”
She tried to move out of the way when Cassandra grabbed her plate and held it above her head, but Cassandra’s two carbon copy best friends came to stand on both sides of her. Chloe sat back down instantly from the fear of them touching her to force her back down.
Cassandra’s high voice rang in her ear, “Clean up the mess like a waitress is supposed to do, or the little freak will have her own mess to clean up.”
Chloe began wringing her hands, making her nails dig deep into her palms, always wishing for the pain to help get rid of the terror.
When Sebastian hit Elle in the face with a washrag, Elle glanced at Chloe before she started cleaning up the mess. It took a lot for her to get on the ground in front of the whole cafeteria to clean it up, but she had been backed into a corner and just wanted to get Chloe out without any harm coming to her.
Elle cleaned it quickly, not wasting any time.
“Come on, Chloe. Let’s go.”
Seeing Elle’s outreached hand was what got her to stop wringing her hands.
“Sorry, you missed a spot.” Cassandra started to tip the plate over Chloe’s head.
Without even thinking, Elle hit the plate as fast as she could, the contents covering Cassandra.
A loud screech came out at the top of her lungs as the students either busted out in laughter or stayed quiet in complete and utter shock.
“You fucking bitch! You are done.”
The blood in Chloe’s veins went cold, and her body began to brace itself for the storm to come.
When she felt the tug on her shirt from Elle, it snapped her out of it enough to run straight for the door.
Getting to the doorway, they found it blocked by their first period English teacher, Mr. Evans.
That was it for them. There was nowhere to hide, and there was no way ou—
“Elle, Chloe, go on back to class,” Mr. Evans said with eerie calmness.
Not wasting a single moment, they scurried out, hearing Mr. Evans’s voice trail off as they left.
“Ms. Ross, clean up the mess you just made. I can’t have other students thinking they can get away with this, now can I? Oh, and when you’re done, meet me in the Vice Principal’s off …”
So many thoughts began to swirl through Chloe’s head as they headed toward their Spanish classroom. Never had Cassandra been challenged like that, let alone embarrassed by the whole school.
There is no way we are surviving after that. She won’t let us.
“I am so sorry, Chloe. It was just a reaction. I didn’t want her to spill it on you,” Elle told her when they’d reached the safety of the classroom.
It was hard for her to catch her breath from just thinking about the plans Cassandra was going to have for them.
“I know, but what are we going to do? She is going to kill us. You know that.”
“I have no clue. Any suggestions?” Elle asked her as she sat down and dropped her head on the desk.
“Yeah, we become high school dropouts.”
Chloe couldn’t believe how it all had gone to shit on the first day back. Everything they had gone through before with Cassandra was going to be child’s play compared to now.
All she had wanted to do was keep their heads down so they could get out. We were so close.
Twenty-Two
One Word: F.U.C.K.E.D
Chloe sat in the back of her class, alone and scared.
Unfortunately, the last class of the day, Elle and Chloe were separated, just like it had been for them freshman year. Except, this time, Chloe was the one taking Health, and Elle was the one taking art. In fact, this last semester of senior year was taking a turn for the worst, and it was giving her déjà vu.
“Wait at your desk when the bell rings. I will be back to get you. I promise I will be the first one out in the hallway,” Elle told her when she dropped her off at Health class.
Impending doom set over her.
“Um, okay, I won’t move from my seat.”
“Good. I will see you in a little bit.”
“Be careful, Elle.”
She hated this. She knew Elle sounded strong and usually was just as strong, but she could see it this time—the glimmer of fear in her eyes as she walked away from her, in a hurry to get to her class. Chloe just hoped she would make it back to her unscathed.
Thinking back, Chloe could honestly say that freshman year had been the worst when it came to not only her life, but the bullying. Her scars had been the freshest then, and Cassandra had been trying anything to fit in to be at the top of the food chain. Yes, Elle had taken the brunt of it, and she didn’t think she could take it again if it got as serious as it had the first time.
Or even as cruel …