Worth the Trouble ✓

32 | new girl

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A LONER.

Aside from Suki, I was a loner in freshman year while Reece was making varsity for all his sports teams. I was a loner while Madison was building her social media empire and while Derek was learning the fastest way to get through chain-link fence (height-dependent). I was a loner before I considered Brittany Stanson my friend, and I didn't mind it at all. I also thought I couldn't possibly get any more isolated.

As junior year passes, and seasons roll into each other, I'm proven wrong. So, so wrong.

The Monarchy might be able to get away with anything on the administrative level because of Madison's clout, the Dormers' money and the Stansons' power, but the student body doesn't forget easily. We've screwed over so many people by this point that the five of us have been collectively made, at the same time, the most loved and hated group in school. Loved by people who want to share in our influence. Hated by everyone else.

People clear out of the way if they see us walking down the hallway. No-one will meet my eye if I'm asked to hand out worksheets in class. The bus seat I claimed is always left empty before and after school, but every other seat is taken or covered with a bag as if to deter me from sitting down next to anyone else.

"—you listening? Terry?" Brittany's lilting voice spears through my thoughts.

I lift my head from the lunch tray in front of me. "I was not. What's up?"

"There's this girl who started a slander group chat about me," Brittany pouts. "Madison found out because she added one of her fake accounts. What a bitch, can you believe her? If she has something to say to me, she can say it to my face. I hate people who talk behind others' backs."

I meet Derek's eyes for only one second, but I know him well enough to detect the flicker of irony in his dark irises. We both find it hilarious that Brittany takes offense to talking about others behind their backs. She can't go a week without exacting revenge on some imagined foe of hers.

But I know there's only one reason she's telling me, so I try to stall it as long as possible. "How is this relevant to me?"

Brittany explains menacingly, "She should know how it feels to have someone go behind her back."

"So, you going to screw her boyfriend?" I snort. I advise jocularly, "Have at it. Shave first."

Derek and Reece chuckle around their forks. Brittany laughs, too, but her eyes remain wide and alert. All too soon, her voice sharpens, "I'm going to plant some underwear in his car. Maybe spritz some women's perfume. She'll find it the next time he takes her for a ride."

The hairs on the back of my neck prick up. "And when you say you're going to—'"

"You're going to."

Yep. I knew it.

As if checking that we're not being eavesdropped on, I cast a cursory glance around the cafeteria. In truth, no-one in their right minds would listen in on whatever Brittany's planning. They're too scared to even get close enough to try. Those that are close enough let everything slide, so long as we leave them alone.

"Right." I attempt to deflect onto Derek or Reece, although they don't know how to break into cars, "Why can't—"

Brittany slips in smoothly, "If you need to recon her, I think her name was Cassie. Or something like that." Her meaning is not lost on me.

My throat tightens up, though I make sure to keep my features calm. Reece, Derek and Madison don't know anything about my life before we got to know each other, and I want to keep it that way. I don't need their pity.