With blood running down her face, she wiped her fingers under her nose and then down her dress. Her long, brown hair had come out of the band her mother put in her hair that morning.
“You saving your pussy of a boyfriend.”
She glared at him. “You leave him alone.”
“He deserves to be hit. He’s trash, just like you.”
“The only trash I see is you.”
Suddenly, teachers approached the group. All the other kids moved out of the way. She kept her gaze on Drake, not wanting him out of her sight. If she didn’t keep an eye on him, he was going to hurt her. She had no doubt.
“What’s going on here?”
The sound of the principal’s voice had her shaking. She was terrified of him. He was always shouting, and he always took Drake’s side, never hers. She hated him. In the year she’d been coming to school, she had seen how Drake was treated so much better. She’d also noticed that Drake was picked up by a limousine, and rarely was he left behind at school, whereas she and Sean always had to wait for their parents.
“Nothing is happening here,” Drake said. “Nothing.”
“Prudence?” the principal asked.
“Nothing.” She whispered the word.
“Sean?”
She turned back to her friend and begged him with her eyes to stay silent. She couldn’t have her mother coming back to the school again. She’d be so angry. Her mother hated coming down to the school because it meant taking time off of work, and then her parents would argue. They fought all the time about money. Prudence always tried to avoid it. Drake seemed to always know what to do to rile her up.
“Nothing,” Sean said.
He’d be annoyed with her now because she made him lie. Sean didn’t like lying. He said it only served to get them all in trouble.
The principal finally walked away and she turned toward Drake, who’d stepped into her path. “You betta watch yourself, trash.”
“We just lied for you,” Sean said, getting to his feet.
Prudence studied her friend. He grabbed his side as if he was in pain. She went to him, hating to see him in pain, and trying to offer him assistance. She looked up at Drake, and his glare was firmly in place.
“You think I’d get in trouble? My dad owns this town and one day, I will too. You two fucking losers need to see the fucking truth in that.” Drake scowled at her one more time before finally walking away.
“He swore.”
“So. Like he says, no one cares. Not about us. They only care about making it easy for him.” She wiped at her face. Blood came from her nose and she winced. “Why were you fighting?”
“I was waiting in our spot. He didn’t like it and said I needed to have my face pounded in.”
“He dragged you?”
“He’s got some serious issues. What did the teacher have to say?”
“Nothing.” She turned to him. Sean hated confrontations and she didn’t want to upset him any more than she already had. “Let’s go play.” She took his hand, leading him to the swings.
Drake was a bad seed. It was what her mother said to her, but she also told her not to get into any more fights. She didn’t get it. Drake had hated her from the start, but there was nothing she could do to change that.
****
“You will sit with your partners and draw what you want for the future. Think about it. I know it’s hard and you all want to be rock stars, but there is way more to life than that.”
Prudence pushed her long hair off her face and stared down at the picture. At eight years old, what did she know about what she wanted in life? She didn’t want to look to her partner. Ever since third grade had started, the teacher had put her and Drake together.
The bully who liked to hurt her hadn’t stopped his taunts. Only now, he was closer to her to get away with it.
She gritted her teeth as he stomped on her foot.
“What do you want to be when you grow up, Trash?”
“Richer than you.” It was a stupid answer. After her mother had found out Drake’s family owned half of the town, she’d been ordered not to make any waves. She wasn’t allowed to hurt Drake in any way. She knew it was because her parents were worried about losing their jobs. Drake’s parents owned the town. They worked for the Connors and her parents had told her plenty of times to avoid him. They couldn’t afford for Drake’s parents to fire them, or worse, push them out of town.
Seriously, though, how could she keep on doing this? It wasn’t fair.
His foot let up and she pulled her shoe behind the chair.
“Yeah, right. You’re never going to be richer than me. I own your ass, Stewart. You’ll always be beneath me.”