“I want you to fully understand the severity of this.” I began to nod as he continued. “Bullying is not okay. I will be having words with Madeline later today about stealing your uniform, and if something like this occurs again, please make it a priority to tell me. Or Christian.”
Or Christian? I would most definitely not be telling either of them, but especially not Christian.
“I understand,” I answered. My chest was beginning to feel less constricted. “So, just to be clear, I’m not getting thrown out of English Prep?”
Headmaster Walton gave me a genuine smile and shook his head. “No, and I’m very pleased with what your teachers have been saying about you, Ms. Smith. You’ve been here for two weeks and they’re already saying you’re one of the brightest students they’ve ever had.”
Pride swelled in my chest, and it felt good. It soothed the panic and distress I'd been feeling just moments ago. I’d had a whirlwind of emotions today, and it was only nine in the morning.
“You may be dismissed back to class now. Stop at Ms. Boyd’s desk, and she’ll write you a note.”
I gave him a small smile and stood up, smoothing out my skirt. “Oh, and Hayley?”
“Yes?” I asked.
“Madeline and her parents will be paying for a new uniform if she can’t seem to locate the one she stole yesterday. And”—he looked down at my folder for a moment—“I do need to report this incident to your social worker. I just wanted to inform you.”
I ground my teeth and gave him a curt nod.
Great.
Piper pulled up to the curb and put her car in park. We’d spent the entire drive to my house dissecting Christian and my slight meltdown.
“I hate to say it, Hay.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt, leery of her expression. “What?”
Her pink lip curved upward. “I think Christian wants to hate you...but he can’t.”
I scoffed. “He definitely hates me, Piper. Trust me.”
The cold, demeaning stare he gave me the first day he saw me proved that much. Yes, he talked me out of a panic attack earlier, and yes, he very well could have had me thrown out of English Prep this morning if he really wanted, but he still hated me. In fact, he basically told me so.
“Who is that?” I followed Piper’s line of sight and sunk back into the passenger seat.
I groaned. “Ugh. That’s Ann. My social worker.”
Her mouth formed an O. “She looks nice.”
Ann was on the nice side—for social workers, that was. She was actually the nicest social worker I’d ever had. After the incident with Gabe, they replaced my old social worker, Daniel, with Ann. They thought I’d respond better to a woman versus a man, and they were right.
I still didn’t let myself get too close to her, though. It wasn’t like she was trying to be my fairy godmother or anything. She was only in charge of me because the state said so. Confiding in a social worker was a lot like crying wolf. You couldn’t complain about much of anything because no one would believe you, and not to mention, it usually made things worse.
You’d just continue to suffer, alone, until you aged out.
“I gotta go in there and do damage control. She’s probably filling in Asshole One and Two about Madeline taking my clothes and the ‘bullying’.”
Madeline didn’t so much as spare me a glance for the rest of the day, but I knew she wanted to. I could sense her anger from across the cafeteria and even more so during our classes together. A mysterious dodgeball hit me in the head during PE, too, and I was certain it was from her.
Piper gave me a comforting smile. “Okay, well, email me later if you get bored after homework and stuff. Or maybe, like, be a normal teenager and create a social media account, and we can chat on there.”
I gave her a fake laugh and climbed out of her car. Social media wasn’t the safest thing for someone like me to utilize, but I wasn’t about to say that to her. Instead, I bent down at the last second. “I’ll wash your uniform and give it back after Madeline replaces mine.”
She shook her auburn hair out. “Don’t worry about it. I have, like, five hundred uniforms. Keep it in case you find yourself walking down the hall half-naked again.” I glanced down at the skirt, and she interjected. “But if it makes you feel better giving it back, that’s fine, too.”
This time I smiled for real. “Now you’re learning.”
She laughed as I slammed the door and crossed the street. I glanced back once at Piper and watched her fading headlights. I to