The Rebel of Raleigh High (Raleigh Rebels #1) - Callie Hart Page 0,18

a fact. That makes it easier to admit, somehow.

“No. They weren’t wrongly accused.”

Alessandro turns away. He sinks back into his seat, his body relaxing—I hadn’t realized he was holding himself so tensely until the moment he let himself go. The flat, even look on his face is confusing as fuck. During our very first conversation, I’ve essentially just told him—the guy I planned on avoiding the entire school year, on pain of death, no matter what—that I was sexually assaulted by a group of people, and…he doesn’t look like the information has impacted him in any way whatsoever.

“The rain’s stopping,” he says after a while.

I can practically taste my own stupidity. I shake my head, reaching for the key in the ignition. I start the Nova’s engine, gunning the gas. “Great. You don’t believe me,” I say.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Just get out of the car please, Alessandro.”

“Alex. You didn’t answer my question.”

I slam my fist into the steering wheel—it feels like my chest is cracking open, and a river of molten anger is pouring out like lava. “Get out of the fucking car!”

“Pretty Princess Silver. Too good for all of us. Too fucking special. Don’t bite. Don’t kick. Don’t scream. Spread your legs and keep your mouth shut, bitch, and we’ll see if we can make this quick.”

Alex opens the car door, but he doesn’t get out. His expression is tough to read, but none of this has unsettled him. He breathes out, slow, steady, even; it’s as though the world could be ending, and he would take the whole thing in stride, without the faintest flicker of emotion.

He looks at me, and I want to smash my fist into his face. “I mean it. Get out,” I snap. “It’s better for you if we’re not seen together anyway.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You’ve only been here one day, so I’m sure they’ll forgive the faux pas. I’m the pariah of Raleigh High. Sitting anywhere with me is the quickest, most efficient way to commit social suicide. I am broken, Alex.”

To my surprise, he actually gets out. When I try and lean over to close his door, he catches hold of me by the wrist. “It’s okay to be broken. You have every right to be. Just don’t let them keep on breaking you. That’s not how you win this particular game.”

I wrench my hand free. “This isn’t a fucking game.”

Looking around the parking lot, as if he’s seeing his surroundings for the very first time. “Of course it is,” he says. “This is high school, Silver. This is the biggest game there is.”

4

ALEX

Two weeks later

Let me be clear. Silver Parisi is not my type.

The oversized shirts and the frayed jeans aren’t really sexy, per se. The Chucks make her look like a tom boy. She doesn’t do anything with her hair as far as I can tell, and the touch of eyeliner and mascara she wears is hardly worth mentioning.

In the past, I’ve been drawn to women who take care of themselves. Girls who spend time making sure they look their best before they step foot outside the house. Recently, though, the barbie doll look hasn’t been doing it for me. I used to find tight skirts and heels a turn on, but the past year or so I’ve found myself seriously fucking irritated by the vanity and shallow nature of the girls who’ve flocked around me. Sure, they might look good, but nine times out of ten they’re dumber than dumb, void of any personality or opinion, and boring enough to reduce a guy to fucking tears.

Silver Parisi, on the other hand…

I felt her watching me in that hallway with Maeve and the Deputy. I felt her eyes on me and knew I was being judged. The way she refused to tell me her name in Cline’s class, and the fierce defiance that blazed in her eyes when she ordered me out of her car made me really notice her. Now it’s two weeks later, and I haven’t been able to un-notice her ever since.

I’ve done everything in my power to avoid thinking about Silver. Difficult, though, when she’s in at least one of my classes every day, and we usually end up seated side by side at the back of the classroom.

I haven’t said one word to her since I got out of her car. Not one single word uttered. I’ve observed her plenty, though. There have been times when it’s looked like she’s preparing to talk to me,