Fresh Meat

Fresh meat. That's all he was supposed to be.

Vivietta Hartley had a system - spot them before anyone else does, make her move, walk away clean. She'd done it a hundred times. Boys were easy. Feelings were not. So she made a simple decision a long time ago to only ever deal with one of those things.

When Bryson Lawson transfers to Blackwood High three weeks into the school year, Vi clocks him before anyone else does. New, unclaimed, carrying that quiet kind of confidence that makes people look twice. She wants to get there first - before every other girl in that school catches on.

Except Bryson doesn't respond the way boys usually do.

He doesn't fall for the smile. He doesn't chase when she pulls back. He just looks at her like he already knows exactly what she's doing.

And says nothing.

Vi has never had to try this hard. She tells herself it's still a game.

She's running out of ways to believe that.

And Vivietta Hartley is running out of exits.