Prom Night

i. welcome back

(tw)
CH 1

SHE FEELS BILE climbing up her throat, nerves thrumming the beat of her heart similar to the speed of a hummingbird as she stares at the familiar wooden sign of Rosewood Academy.

It takes all of her willpower to not run, the only thing making her attend the so-called prestigious school again is the threatening letter she had received over the summer.

She still recalls the phrase the letter had ended with, "See you at school Maya." She feels goosebumps rise on every inch of her skin, forcing her uniform jacket tighter against her.

Maya walks towards her first class of the day, Advanced Literature—because at Rosewood Academy there were hardly any classes that weren't "advanced" or had the word "honors." She tries to ignore the stares she receives along the way, feeling like everybody has somehow found out about what happened that night. They haven't, of course. Peter and his little boy band would never let something like that happen.

Anxiously, she walks into class, her nausea returning when her eyes land on the group of boys sitting at the back of the classroom. Maya almost retreats, considering running to her counselor and begging her to change her schedule, maybe even confessing everything that happened last year--she can use the note as proof.

An arm wraps around her shoulders before she can do anything. "Don't even think about it, Maya," the creature from her nightmares whispers hotly against her ear, leading her to his awaiting group of friends. He nods to two of them, "DJ, Michael, how about you find a different table." It isn't a question, and the two boys obediently stand and move to a nearby table without a word.

Maya fiddles with the buttons of her blazer, tears stinging her eyes as they force her to sit down between them. "Good to see you, Maya," Gus leans across his desk and closer to her, tapping his protruding knuckles against the top of her desk, full lips pulled into a crooked grin.

Fuck you.

She bites down on her bottom lip to keep from spitting out something she'll regret. She leans further into her seat, praying for the teacher to come in so she has some sort of distraction from her current situation. Catching Peter's eye, she notices his eyes darken, not understanding why until he swipes her bottom lip free from her teeth with the pad of his thumb.

"Don't." It's a simple, one-worded warning that sends a shiver of fear and disgust down her spine. As if sensing this, his lips twitch. He doesn't bother saying anything else, as that's the moment Mrs. Hendricks, their teacher, walks in.

Maya lets out a breath of relief, thankful for the way their attention shifts from her momentarily. After a couple of minutes, she becomes aware of someone's eyes on her from across the table. Looking up, she meets the gaze of Tommy Walsh. The intense look in his eyes making her grip the chair underneath her, his lips pulling into a resemblance of a smile if one ignored its vileness.

She jumps when a hand grazes her bare thigh, switching her gaze to the boy sitting next to her, a very seemingly focused Peter who's looking at Mrs. Hendricks as if listening. When his hand goes a bit higher up her skirt, slowly sliding towards her inner thigh, Maya raises her hand.

"...and—yes, Miss...?"

"Uh—Westbrook, Maya Westbrook," she stands, grateful in the way Peter's hand drops from her skin as she does. "May I go to the bathroom?"

The teacher sighs, "Just this once since it's the first day of school. We'll go over the bathroom rules later on."

Maya nods, immensely grateful for an excuse to leave, stopping herself from curtsying. Turning to walk away, she feels Peter take ahold of her hand and slip something into her fingers, all in less than a second. She doesn't bother looking at what's inside her hand until she's safely hidden from view in the privacy of a bathroom stall.