“Slut!” A few snickering girls cackled as I shut the car door behind Dane.
Turning back to look at the house, I saw Jackson was standing with a group, laughing and pointing at us.
Leaning in through the driver’s door, I looked back at Leilani’s crying face. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” she muttered.
“You have to tell us.” I did my best to keep my voice low and calm.
“I didn’t want to go into a room with him, so he told everyone I blew him in the bathroom. I swear I didn’t. I thought he actually liked me.” Her crying turned into sobbing as she crumbled into Dane’s arms.
Rage clouded my judgment as I turned toward the house. Before I knew what was happening, I had Jax pinned against the front door and was screaming in his face. “Lying about an innocent girl to get cool kid points—really? You’re just as fucking scummy as I thought you were. You’re going to pay for this.”
“Mav! He’s not worth it!” Leilani was yelling from the car, but I couldn’t let someone do that to her without paying for it.
“Your little princess is a fucking slut—just look at her bruised knees from kneeling in front of me.” The smile on his smug face was the icing on the cake, and my fist was connecting with his cheekbone before he could get another word out.
“You’re fucking dead!” Jackson yelled as he tried his hardest to land a punch.
My dad had taught me well. He always made sure if I was going to have a hot temper, I would be able to start and finish any fight I got myself into. I had been taking boxing lessons for as long as I could remember and knew I could knock Jackson out with one blow, but that was just too easy. I let him dance around, throwing and missing punch after punch. I just laughed and dodged.
“You’re not even worth my fucking time.” I spit at his feet and started to head back to my car. I knew I shouldn’t turn my back on someone who wanted to kick my ass, but there was nothing Jackson could do to actually hurt me, not with so many people snickering at him and calling him a pussy.
* * *
After gettingeveryone back to my house and making sure the girls were all right, I sat at the dining room table with my notebook like always. Sleep never came easily to me, which was why I had started writing in the first place. Something about getting weird emotions out on paper cleansed me enough to be able to rest for a few hours. It wasn’t like I had a hard life; my mom was one of the most loving women to ever grace the planet, and my father was a no-shit, down-to-earth, hard worker who never failed to back his kids up and be an incredible role model. I was one of the lucky ones, but my thoughts and feelings still swirled with angst from time to time.
There is only so much one body can take
Only so much rejection and not break
I want to crawl into your mind and find the pieces of my heart you stole
You don’t even remember them
They were ripped from my body, leaving me bloody on the pavement
And they are nothing but pointless knickknacks, cluttering your busy life
Have you seen me?
I haven’t
I can’t find myself anymore
I am lost in the tangled webs of the words you wove
A beautiful smokescreen I danced in like stardust until you no longer had a use for me
Welcome to the fresh hell I fought to climb out of
Thank you for sending me back
I didn’t realize I was breathing tainted air until you put on a gas mask and cut the oxygen from my life
Thank you
You proved to me that it was all too good to be true