Lesson by Her [Book 1]

Chapter 22

Dusty's day didn't improve much after her exchange with Cora earlier. At lunch, she returned to her locker to find someone had scrawled the word 'Brain' onto it in permanent marker. Dusty immediately recognized the penmanship as belonging to Justin from the various notes he used to pass to her during class, asking her out.

Sighing, Dusty opened her locker and tried to block out the meanness of it all. High school was becoming the harsh place she had always feared it was, but at least the end was in sight. She was close to graduation and, beyond that, Prince- ton and an opportunity to learn with like-minded people.

"Cora tells us you got into Princeton," the venom-laced voice of Farah came stinging into Dusty's ears. Closing her locker, three cheerleaders surrounded Dusty, all in full uniform. She had a vague memory of an end of school pep rally that would be taking place that afternoon.

"Yes, I did," Dusty told the new head cheerleader, holding her head high and proud, refusing to let her belittle such a momentous achievement.

"Well, I just hope it was worth it," Farah sneered. "I hope it was worth betraying your friends and turning your back on your team." Dusty wanted to point out how unimportant a cheerleading squad actually was compared to the rest of the world, but she remained silent. All Farah had was cheerleading, let her berate her now if it was what she needed to do to help her sleep at night.

"I'm sorry if I misled anyone," Dusty gave a dignified response.

"Well, I'm not. I'm a better captain than you ever were," Farah snapped. "But I just hope your conscience can handle the truth that you are a liar and a fake. Have fun at Princeton, where I doubt you'll make any friends. Loser." With that, Farah turned and stomped away with the inelegance of someone with limbs that were too long, the other two cheerleaders obediently following like lambs.

All that remained in her wake was the unpleasant odor of her cheap perfume. Dusty coughed and tried to clear the air in her immediate vicinity. Farah was mean, she was every inch the spiteful cheerleader, and Dusty knew that. If anyone was going to say something nasty about Princeton, it was she.

But Dusty the constant negativity was fatiguing. It was surreal to think that the trailer had now become her sanctuary. At least there, people celebrated her triumph and were proud of her.
Feeling lonely, Dusty leaned against her locker and sighed. Then her mind thought of the one person at school who would be proud of her.

The one person who she had struggled to get out of her mind every day for the last four months. Countless times Dusty would walk past her classroom, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but all she ever saw was the back of her head. Their eyes never connected. She had transferred out of Valentine's class some months ago when her grades improved in hot pursuit of her Princeton dream.

She missed her more than she'd admit to herself. The relentless focus on her studies had been for dual purposes. Not only had it been to land herself a place at the elite college, it had also been to keep her mind distracted lest she find time to sit and think about Quinn Valentine.

How she smelt, how she looked, how she might possibly taste if they kissed. There were days when she was all that consumed her thoughts, and even the most complex of mathematical equations couldn't remove the image of her that burned bright within Dusty mind's eye.

The mere thought of going to see her, to regale her with the news about Princeton, made Dusty stomach flip. But Dusty needed to see a familiar, happy face before the cruel taunts of bitter cheerleaders threatened to ruin this event for her. 

**** 

It was the end of the school day, and the hallways were quickly emptying as students left the premises. Walking past her locker, Dusty sighed when she saw the scrawled insult across it, a painful reminder that she was as an outcast at West High. If ever they found out about her trailer dwelling, surely they'd exile her and face excommunication.