The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

The teacher was still there, and so were a lot more students, including cheerleaders and jocks.

Ignoring them, she got to work on filling the trash bin she’d also picked up.

“It’s about time someone calls her what she is. She’s dirt.”

“Trash.”

“Useless.”

All the time, Mr. Arnold didn’t say a word. He pretended not to hear the insults. Instead, he kept his arms folded as she worked to clean the mess. Once it was all done, the bell had already rung and most of the students had gone to class.

Mr. Arnold, after another two minutes, finally left, and she finished cleaning up the mess just as the janitor arrived. He also had someone to help him carry the dirt outside.

She watched them go and stared into her locker. The few books she had were now dirty, and the jacket her mother gave her was also covered in dirt.

Picking it up, she stared at it.

Shaking her head, she put it back into the locker, grabbed her books, and spun on her heel. Only she wasn’t alone.

Draven stood waiting.

She ran into him, his body stopping her from going. She stepped back, staring at him.

Neither of them spoke as they looked at each other.

It was on the tip of her tongue to scream at him, to shout, to hit him. She wanted to do something to make him realize that he’d been a dick and she didn’t accept that.

Instead, she walked around him, and as she turned the corner, she heard his laughter. He found this all amusing.

Just one more year.

One more year and I’m gone.

Far away from here.

She had begged for her father to send her to another school, to get her a home away from Stonewall, but he’d not listened. She wished she had the guts to just leave, to walk away and not look back. Only, she knew what poverty felt like and knew it would be worse if she left her father behind. She had no money and no way to make a life on her own. She had to be at his mercy.

Arriving fifteen minutes late to class, she got her first detention. The teacher didn’t care what she suffered. There was no excuse for tardiness in his class.

With the slip of paper in her hands, she sat down at her desk in the back, staring at it. She’d never been late, never been to detention.

She hadn’t even had things put in her locker before, and yet all of that had happened within one morning.

Who knew that going to a simple wooded area would make her so damn popular?

After class finished, she shoved the detention slip into her bag and made her way toward the next class. She passed people in the hall who’d seen what happened and thought it was the funniest thing of their lives.

Pretending they were talking about someone else, she went to each class, ignoring the ones that Draven and his gang were in. They sat in the back, and she sat in the front. There were times during those classes she was sure they were staring at her.

The temptation to turn around was strong, but she didn’t.

She was not focusing on the class, taking in absolutely nothing that the teacher was saying. When the teachers called for answers, she didn’t put her hand up.

First time again.

She expected to feel guilty for not paying attention, for not being the star pupil. Instead, there was a freedom in her silence. Refusing to participate felt good.

By lunchtime, she was ready to call it a day.

Instead, she went to the cafeteria, grabbed her tray for lunch, and as she spun around, Drave, Axel, Buck, and Jett were there. They blocked her path.

Staring at each of them, she turned to Draven last.

He had this smirk on his face as if he could read her mind.

Fuck you, jerk. You don’t have a clue what I’m thinking. What I’m feeling. You don’t know anything.

He stepped right up close to her.

“Hey, dirt face,” he said. With a hand out, he slapped it down on her tray and sent everything tumbling to the floor.

Laughter erupted around them, and she gritted her teeth.

“Dude, good one,” Axel said.

One by one, they walked past her.

“I’ll get that cleaned up.”

She didn’t even know who said that.

Watching them leave, she wondered if she could plot someone’s death just for pissing her off.

She had seen them, yes. She hadn’t done anything to hurt them.

Storming out of the lunchroom, she went straight to the bathroom. Gripping the sink so tightly, she tried to gain control of her anger.

Why?

Fucking why?

She’d done nothing wrong. She’d gone straight home after seeing them hurt that guy. She wasn’t about to make waves.

All of her life she’d been ignored. Why were they noticing her now?

She stepped into the toilet, grabbing some tissue as the door to the bathroom opened, letting her know she was no longer alone.