In my head, I counted.
If I were to react and my father found out, damn, I’d be fucked. There was no way I’d get away with insulting the entirety of the Monsters’ Crew and live to see another day.
I’d take a chance, though, especially daring with my new fascination of the moment, death.
Caleb chuckled. “I can see this isn’t getting us anywhere.” He turned and I watched as he moved the dial on my locker, opening it up.
“You know my code?”
“I know a lot about everything, Crane. See you around.”
Just like that, all four of them sauntered off like they owned the place. They did, but for once, couldn’t they at least show a little humility? No, not these guys. They wanted everyone to know who they were and what they did.
I put my bag into my locker, extracted my books, and went about my day.
Math was the first class today, and nothing exciting really happened. This was one of those classes that were filled with the lame kids, myself included. They were the second or third sons, along with the daughters. In reality, I was probably the most important within my class purely because I was Crane’s only daughter.
To most, we girls were useless unless we had good looks and a particularly wealthy man wanted to buy us. It would always be disguised as marriage but that was the harsh truth. We were nothing more than cattle to be sold.
I was pretty. My blonde hair always caught attention, as did my lips and eyes. I knew because I’d been told that by many of my father’s associates. His biggest issue with me was my curves.
Yep. My dad liked his women super-thin, so he believed every single man did. The only problem was no matter what diet he put me on, or how he starved me, my curves were here to stay. Big ass, rounded stomach and hips, and large tits. My mother said I was blessed with a beautiful body.
One day, I’d find out. If my prospective husband didn’t kill me first, that was. I didn’t know if my father had a man lined up for me, but I assumed he already did. Most men did. All the girls here were taken in some way.
Like Nancy. With her fancy ring. She was above all of this, but her future husband was in his late twenties, and the rumor about him wasn’t very nice. They called him the Butcher. Outside of the Monsters, there were men who could rival them in dirty deeds. Nancy’s prospective was that kind of man.
I shook off the doomed feeling. Every now and then, it struck me hard. There were times I’d have a panic attack. When it got so bad at home, my dad would strike me across the face to get me to stop.
Now, I learned to contain myself until I got to the privacy of my bedroom where there was a nice pile of brown paper bags.
After math, it was English.
The one thing to learn at Crude Hill High was to never, ever look down. Always keep your head up, waiting for the next strike. A bowed head was a sign of weakness. School was nothing more than an ocean full of sharks, waiting to dine on their next meal. Bowed head equaled seal, a nice big juicy meal.
Entering English, I took my seat against the window at the back. No one had entered, but Mr. Bucati was there.
We had the old chalkboards, and he wrote some line, probably from Shakespeare. Pushing my legs out in front of me, I lifted my arms and stretched.
The tension within me wasn’t going to be doing me any favors.
I nearly jumped out of my seat as Caleb sat down.
No invitation.
No nothing.
Just sat down as if he owned the place.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“Simple, I’m sitting, getting ready for English.” He had this smirk that pissed me off.
“No, not happening. You never sit here. You always sit in the back.”
Caleb turned his seat toward me, legs spread, and he leaned back. “Nah, this feels like it’s my seat.” His smile appeared to be full of promise as he looked over my body.
No one at school had checked me out, at least I hadn’t known if they did.
“This isn’t funny. You want me to report what happened last night? Is that it?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t. You know, for saving Gael, you’d have been rewarded.”
I snorted. “I don’t want or need any praise. Leave me alone. You’ve got a full posse of people waiting for you.”
There, that was supposed to be the end of it, but I should have known better. Caleb wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
When I grabbed my books, intending to get up, Caleb reached out, putting his large, bear-like paw on my thigh. “Don’t even think about it.”