I make the stupid, stupid assumption that the on-duty security officer will save me, but he doesn’t. Instead, I’m pulled down the steps, feet kicking at the ground as I struggle.

The last thing I see before I’m thrown in a van is Aaron, bursting from the front doors of the school and staring down at with me with an expression that’s equal parts horror and helplessness.

I pray for him to help me. To what god, I’m not sure. None of them have ever taken much pity on me before.

But he doesn’t.

He doesn’t move.

He just looks at me as the boys yank me into the car, and then, when our eyes meet, he jerks his gaze away like he can’t bear to watch.

The van door closes, the engine starts up, and I start to live the first day of my new nightmare.

Prescott High is housed in an old building near the train tracks, with a wide brick front porch and two huge columns lined with cracks. One day, the damn thing is going to pitch forward in a pile of rubble and asbestos, poisoning the earth and everything around it. But I won’t care. Even if I’m crushed beneath the debris.

Good riddance.

As usual, I spend a good fifteen minutes passing through security, and take off down the hall before Aaron is cleared to follow after me. As I do, I can sense a strange sort of tension in the students. They’re all still looking at me—a byproduct of my deal with Havoc—but they’re less … fearful, and more curious.

Curious to see what happens, maybe, when I stop in the girls’ bathroom and find Billie and Kali waiting for me.

“Hey, bitch,” Billie says, appearing from behind the door and putting her back to it, effectively pinning me between her and Kali. The latter is standing across from me, green-streaked black hair piled on the top of her head, her pretty face twisted into a scowl.

“What’d you give Havoc to turn them into your dogs?” she sneers, moving toward me in her too-high heels. Idiot. She should know not to bring heels to a boot fight. Shifting, I push an arm against one of the stall doors to make sure there aren’t any other girls in there waiting to jump me.

Well, fuck my mom and call yourself Neil Pence, there are. Two girls step out from the stall, taking up a position on either side of me as the remaining three doors open and seven more bitches appear to take up the mantle of Kali’s cause.

The only people at Prescott High stupid enough to pick a fight with me are the ones who don’t know how to pick a winning side.

I put my back to the first stall, keeping all the girls in my field of vision.

“Guess that’s my business and nobody else’s, huh?” I quip, raising a brow and waiting to see what Kali’s planning on doing here. I’m loath to actually hit her just yet because she has a tendency to be the bully but play the victim. Getting expelled from Prescott High would be bad for me on so many levels. For one, I’d like to get my goddamn diploma, so I can start at the community college. And two, Mom will find out, and then she’ll kick me out of the house and Heather might end up alone with the Thing …

“Do you want to know what they asked from me?” Kali continues, brushing a freshly manicured hand over the pink rose tattoo on her arm. The line work is total shit. If my artist had mangled me as badly as hers did, I would’ve kicked his ass.

“Don’t give a shit,” I say, even though I’m burning with curiosity. Then again, what if I find out her price was something small, something insignificant. I’d have to face up to the fact that the Havoc Boys destroyed my life for trinkets.

“They wanted me,” Kali says, pausing in front of the mirror and leaning in to fix her lipstick. It’s bubblegum pink, just like her shirt, nails, and hooker heels. She’s got on cut-off shorts that show off her ass, and she flashes this smile over her shoulder like she thinks she’s hot shit. “They made me their little toy, and you know what?”

I stand quiet and still as her words sink, but even when I feel the anger rise hot and itchy to my skin, I refuse to give into it. God knows this wouldn’t be the first time Kali Rose has lied.

“What, Kali?” I ask, crossing my arms over my black tank and waiting for her to spew whatever venom is tainting those sugar-sweet lips. One brow goes up again, but I make sure to tap my foot impatiently.

“I loved it,” she says, spinning around to smirk at me as Billie chuckles from her guard position near the door.

I smile.

“Doesn’t surprise me. You are a whore, after all.” I shrug my shoulders, but if what she’s saying is true … Jesus, for Havoc’s sake, I hope she’s lying. Those boys do not want to know what I’ll do to them if I find out she isn’t.

“They’re talented lovers, don’t you think?” Kali continues, choosing to ignore my insult as she sashays toward me, reaching out to tease the pink-tinged ends of my hair.

“Wouldn’t know,” I continue, forcefully pushing her hand away. “So, if that’s what you’re here to talk about, sorry, but I won’t be able to contribute.”

“Please, the whole school knows they asked you to be their little fuck toy,” Kali spits, face darkening. She’s always loved playing games. It’s hard for her when others don’t follow along with the charade. “Why else would they let you join their little gang? Are you knocked-up or something? I don’t see how else you’d get Vic Channing to put a ring on your finger.”

I laugh—can’t help myself—and Kali’s face tightens even further.

“Maybe Havoc let me join their gang because they realized I’m not some desperate, diseased snake looking for her next victim to infect with venom? And maybe Vic asked me to marry him because he’d been around a worthless, lying bitch before and knows how to spot a real woman.” I smirk and plant one hand on my hip. “Now, I came in here to piss. Get out of my goddamn face before I show you one of the reasons why the Havoc Boys took me on.”

“Billie,” Kali snaps, and like some sort of trained show bitch, Billie Charter whips a knife from her belt and comes at me. She thrusts the blade forward, aiming for my stomach. Luckily, I’ve got the stall door open behind me, giving me enough room to duck out of the way, falling into a crouch.

But holy shit, I must’ve underestimated that white trash bitch because she slams her elbow down on my head, making me see stars. I throw myself at her midsection and she stumbles back, but not before bringing the knife down on my right arm and slashing me from shoulder to elbow.

Blood blooms, splattering across the tiled floors as I rise back to my full height and punch her as hard as I can in the face. Kali is there, on my right side, moving in like she thinks she has a snowball's chance in hell of touching me, her army of trashy assholes right behind her.

I slam my boot down on her peep-toe heel, and she lets out a wail that echoes in the graffiti-covered little room. Nothing good is going to come of me staying in here, not when Billie has a knife, Kali is insane, and there are nine other girls just waiting to get their hands on me.

Besides, I'm damn near positive this is a set-up of some sort.

With one last shove to Billie's chest, I manage to skirt her knife and slip out the door, taking off down the hall with blood oozing from my wound. A quick stop at my locker grants me a black hoodie that I can slip on to hide the blood.