Go figure, he was.
“Ash! Ash!” She heard her name, over and over, but she ignored it and burst out of the school, into the dark night. “Ash!” A scalding hand closed around her bicep and tugged her around. She struggled to break free.
“Leave me alone! Oh my god, leave me alone!” Tears leaked out of her eyes and washed down her cheeks in painfully hot torrents. She didn’t even make an attempt to brush them away or stem the tide. “You ruined my life. You’ve probably ruined my career. You ruined everything!”
Trace stood in front of her, his face blurred by her tears, but she saw him anyway. She saw the devastation written all over his features.
“You lied to me!” She screamed, aware that her voice was growing dangerously hoarse. “You fucking lied to me and now look at what happened! You made me look like a complete fucking idiot!”
Through the roar of blood pumping through her ears so furious there might as well have been steam coming out of them, she heard the dimmer roar of the crowd surging through the front doors, phones raised to record the whole complete melt down she was having on the sidewalk.
Trace put out a hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I can explain everything.”
“No!” She drew back like that hand was a viper. It might well have been. Trace made her believe in herself. He made her want something more than what she had. He made her wish and hope for a future, against her better judgement. It wasn’t real. None of it was real. “You played me! You used me! Is this funny to you? Do you get off on ruining people’s lives?”
“No! God, Ash, just- please!” Trace tried again to take her hand. She ignored it, stepped forward, and swung. Her fist connected with his mouth and it was probably his shock at the fact that she actually hit him, and no, it sure as hell wasn’t in any way sexual, that made him stumble back. She watched as he fumbled against the uneven sidewalk and fell flat on his ass.
She whipped around to face the crowd of onlookers, dismayed that almost all of them were indeed recording the entire thing. The whole fucking thing would probably be viral in a matter of minutes.
And she was so past caring.
She was so past being defenseless.
She was so past not being able to stand up for herself.
She was just done with it all.
Just. Fucking. Done.
Still a little in shock, and a hell of a lot of angry, Ash raised both hands. She flipped off every single person, sure to let the birds fly high.
“This is for all of you,” she said, rage seeping out of every single pore. “For every single one of you who have tormented another human being. For every single person out there who thinks that making someone cry or feel miserable or hate something about themselves that they have no control over is something to be proud of. This is for every single person out there who has never been able to stand up for themselves. I know what you went through. These people made my life a living hell for five years! Five! You know what? I’m done with caring. I have a good life. I love my life. I love being a geek and a nerd and I love who I am! Can you say the same thing about yourself? No, of course you can’t, because that’s right. You get your rocks off bullying other people because deep inside, you’re just a steaming pile of shit. So you can go fuck yourselves. Right here. Right now. And I have a little tip for you. Use your fist instead of your finger. It’s soooo much more satisfying.” She brought her hand to her lips and blew all those assholes one final kiss before she turned and stalked past a stunned Trace.
She ignored his split lip, though the sorrow in his blue eyes tore her to shreds inside. How could she have believed that this man had a heart? How could she have thought she cared?
Oh right. Because her vagina had done all the thinking for her.
She was fucking done with that too.
Heavy steps sounded on the sidewalk behind her and she whirled, expecting Trace. She was relieved to find it was Maggie. Her friend was breathing heavy, but she was also grinning from ear to ear. “Hey! That was amazing!” Her friend’s eyes sparkled. “I thought you might need a getaway, if you came with Trace and he drove.”
“Oh my god, Maggie, I’m so glad you have my back.” Ash wanted to burst into tears all over again, but she stuffed that away and pasted on her business face. There would be plenty of time to cry after. Off camera. If that little speech went viral, and she sure as hell hoped it did now, she wasn’t going to be seen breaking down after she’d just flipped off the entire world. “Which way is your car?”