Chapter 10 #2
“If you think you can come to this school and play games with my family, then you’re a stupid, desperate, old cunt that has a lot to learn.
I’ve been lenient on you; observed the social niceties and played by the agreed set of rules, but now you’re going to get the same as every other miserable whore that walks these halls.
You have a single chance to give Lips the mark her paper deserves, right now, or you can continue down the path to your own destruction because I assure you, Ms. Turner, that you are not in the position of power here.
I will wipe all traces of you from the face of the Earth. ”
Ms. Vivienne’s cheeks flush, and she flicks a look at where Harley’s hand is still rubbing circles into my back. Her eyes narrow. The bitch is fucking deranged. If Avery’s icy speech didn’t make her quake in her stupid whore heels then she’s clearly got no survival instincts.
“Go straight to the principal’s office, Miss Beaumont. I will meet you there, after the bell, and we will discuss your actions with Mr. Trevelen. He will find an appropriate punishment for your unacceptable behavior and threats.”
Avery tips her head back and laughs, and even I shiver at the sound.
Harley starts packing his bag and when he sees I’m still struck dumb by the red ink, he packs mine as well. Ms. Vivienne’s eyes flash at him as her focus shifts away from Avery and to the only person she really seems to give a shit about. “Mr. Arbour, I have not dismissed you.”
He snorts at her and stands, tugging me to my feet, and Ash and Blaise both get up as well, bags packed and slung over their shoulders. Harley even grabs Avery’s bag so she’s not weighed down during her rage-filled stomping to wherever-the-hell-it-is we’re going.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! All of you, sit down this instant! I will be calling your parents!” Ms. Vivienne screeches, but her eyes are still fixed on Harley. His hands clench into fists and Avery tucks her arm into his to prevent him from smacking the bitch out.
Ash gently pries my numb hands away from my bag and throws it over to Blaise, who swings it over his shoulder easily and walks out of the room with a cocky smirk at our gaping teacher, calling out to her, “Good luck with that!”
Avery stomps after him, tugging Harley with her while he fumes. Ash tucks me under his arm carefully and steers me out of the room, his grip so secure that even my numb legs can’t trip us up.
“It’s just a mark, Mounty, stop gasping like you’re dying.
Avery will have it fixed in under an hour,” Ash says as he leads me to the dining hall.
None of the teachers we pass spare us a glance, and Ash doesn’t speak again until he has me settled in our usual seats at the long, empty table with a plate of pasta and an iced coffee in front of me.
He’s too damn observant.
I definitely need to eat my feelings, and the pasta here is unbeatable.
I wait for a few minutes so my stomach settles and then I eat like it’s my last meal on death row.
Ash watches me carefully, like I’m about to break.
Great. Now I’m a crazy liability; a shitty mark can set me off into an episode and I have to be coddled out of it. Perfect.
“Stop it!” Ash snaps, and I shoot him a look.
“What?! I’m eating it, aren’t I!” They’ve all become weird about my food.
“Stop thinking about whatever the hell is making you look so fucking miserable. It’s one bullshit mark, given to you by a petty, jealous cunt. What does it matter?”
I put my fork down and glare at him when he scowls at me. I know compared to everything else we have going on it’s nothing but, fuck. I wasn’t ever expecting my grades to factor into this. There’s so little I can actually control in my life, and if I lose this… I don’t know what the fuck I’ll do.
My voice is carefully composed but there’s still a tremble to it that betrays me.
“It matters because my whole life, the only thing that was ever going to get me out of the shit-show I was born into was my grades. I’ve never had a B+.
I’ve never failed, because I can’t afford to fail.
I’m dead if my grades are anything less than perfect.
I think I’m allowed to have a minute to freak out over that! ”
Ash nods and crosses his arms, leaning back in his seat. I have a little moment of deja vu, having seen him do it a hundred times during our tutoring sessions, but the look in his eyes is new and entirely for me. “Is Harley not worth the risk?”
I flinch back. “Don’t be an asshole, of course he is.”
He shrugs. “Then get over it. She did it because you have something she so desperately wants. Avery will fix it, just like we’ll fix anything else that threatens you.
You’re dealing with a whole list of shit for us, why is it so hard for you to accept that we’re going to do the same for you?
This isn’t going to work if you can’t trust us. ”
My stomach turns and now I’m panicking for a whole new reason. “I do. I do trust you. I’m just still learning how to do this… family thing.”