A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

“We’re not dating.” We weren’t, but I held tight to my desk so I wouldn’t squirm all over.

“Whatever,” Amber shot back. “You get on your high horse about us, but we haven't done half the shit that you have.”

I went livid. My eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“Like it was just ‘by chance’,” air quotes, “that the Monday after Mandy and Devon break up, our school gets canceled. That stuff’s never happened here before, and I’m sure you had nothing to do with it.” She rolled her eyes. “And we all know how Pedlam got broken into.”

Mandy paled. “Amber, stop it.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “You’ve got balls, Amber.”

She frowned, and I saw the confusion on her face.

I spelled it out. “If you spill one word, who do you think you’ll be pissing off?”

It wouldn't be me. When she realized her mistake, her eyes got big. I grinned, but then she rolled her eyes. Her snootiness came back and her lip lifted in a half snarl/half pout. “Whatever.” She looked around the room. “No one will tattle. I’ll say it was you. You all hear that, everyone? It was Taryn Matthews who brought up the break-in.”

“Girls.” The teacher stepped between us and held her hands up. “Stop this or you’ll be sent to the principal’s office.”

I ignored her. “Let’s talk about you, Amber.”

She stiffened, but leaned back in her chair. “Fine. Bring it. I doubt you can say anything that’ll upset me.”

“Did you apologize to Mandy?”

She frowned.

>

I smiled and looked at Mandy. “Mandy, did she apologize to you?”

My sister’s face was as white as a ghost. “For what?”

“Since your good friend here brought it up, everyone will now be talking about your break-up with Devon, if they weren’t already.” I smiled at Amber, who flinched from what I said. “Let’s go with that. Mandy, you were the one that was hurt by it, but

Amber remained by Jennica’s side during the whole thing. This is the first time I’ve seen you guys talk to each other since that night even. So,” I drew out, “did you apologize to my sister for abandoning her?”

The anger flared bright in the depths of Amber’s eyes. She pressed her lips together in a flat line and swallowed a knot, before throwing a sideways look at Mandy.

I shook my head. “That had been a hunch, but damn. It’s nice to know that I was right.”

Mandy’s head went down, and her hands folded in her lap. She didn’t fight for herself. Amber was never a blip on my radar, but I knew if she was friends with Jennica and supported Jennica, she wasn’t a good person. Seeing my sister take this from her made my stomach roll over on itself.

An ugly laugh ripped from me. Mandy looked up. Amber seemed to hold still. All eyes were on me again. “This is a joke. You’re a joke.”

“Taryn.”

I ignored the teacher again. I said, “People like you will hurt people. You’ll go through life with this entitled attitude. You’ll walk over people, step on them, do whatever it is that will hurt others, and you won’t care. You might say you’re sorry if you’re called on it, but you won’t be sorry. You’ll keep going and keep hurting people. I’ve seen people like you all my life.” I felt sick. “It’s people like you who get to the top and you don’t look down. You don’t look at the trail of bodies left behind you.” I turned to Mandy now. Her eyes enlarged and she bit her lip, but she didn’t turn away. A small modicum of respect came back for her with that. She was going to face whatever I had to say. I frowned. I wasn’t going to mince my words because of it. “You’re one of those people who take it. You let people like her win because you don’t say a word. She should’ve been your friend during that time. She wasn’t. She chose the girl who hurt you, who,” I snorted, “I’m sure will be your friend by the end of the week. What you accept is what you’ll always be given. Stop accepting their crumbs.”

Amber glanced around. She’d been smirking, but it faded when she saw others had the same anger as me.

“I hurt people.” She looked back at me so I finished, “But I hurt people like you and your friends.”

The room was silent and the air was heavy. One second.

Two.

Three.