looking delicately heartbroken. As soon as she sees me though, her face transforms into one of travesty.
“Mia, can we talk?’ she questions, her voice airy. Liam and Julian silently watch, making me roll my eyes.
“Can’t,” I say, grabbing an apple from the bowl. “I’m busy trying to work off the fact that I was thrown away in trash.”
And with that, I leave, the numbness back ten-fold.
“Ahh here she is,” some bitch from my school says the moment I enter the main hall. “The broke, fake ass ice queen.”
Murmurs and giggles greet me, but I keep going like I’m deaf to all of it and that alone, makes them so confused. I guess they were expecting me to react in some way, maybe curse them out dramatically but I’m just…empty.
I grab my books from my locker, then make my way to my classes for the day. Lesson after lesson, I can feel their stares on me. I can hear their whispers and speculations, but I don’t say a word.
Until lunch time.
I can feel the danger ripe in the air the moment I push through the doors of the cafeteria. I can see the shock written on random faces. I bet they didn’t expect me to show my face in here today, but I’m not a fucking coward.
“Broke ass Mia!” a cheerleader starts as soon as she notices me. For the life of me, I don’t even know her name, so I ignore her, until the girl behind her speaks.
“All hail, the ever so damn flawless, Ice Queen of Clintwood Academy!” I freeze the moment I hear the happy glee in her voice. She starts clapping in tune with her fake ass pair of home painted red bottoms, clicking on the cafeteria floor like she’s been practicing that walk for days.
“All hail the lying Queen B,” someone else says and the cafeteria burst out into uncomfortable laughter.
Kristine struts over to the middle of the cafeteria, a cunning smile on her face as she looks at me, eyes glistening with pride. In this moment, she looks like every bit the backstabbing, hateful, jealous bitch Rye and Jaz warned she was.
“All hail, the ruined, ugly queen.” She throws her head back and laughs, all eyes are on the two of us. “How does it feel, Mia? To be you.”
She’s the girl who worked with Shane to set me up. She’s the friend that pushed me to talk to him that night. She’s the one who said I should be excited to get together with that douchebag.
She’s the one who has hated me since forever, pretended to be my best friend.
That raging anger comes back as I look at her, so I summon every bit of me that still has a fight left in the crevices of my soul. I need to take this bitch down.
“What do you mean, sweetie?” I start, then I flip my hair over my shoulder. “I know you’ve always wanted to be me, so I’ll tell you how the climate is in Above Your Fucking Comprehension Land; it’s fan-fucking-tastic!”
When her jaw drops to the floor, I spin on my heel about to make my way to the buffet.
“No, I mean how does it feel to be an outcast? A pariah that everyone hates?”
I stop, then turn to look at her.
“See, Mia,” she starts, her voice clear and loud, perfect for the show she’s just put on. “This isn’t just any day. This is the day you fucking bow down to the real queens and stop walking around here like you own shit. You’re nothing now but a poor attempt at a rich bitch.”
The laughter and hoots ring in the cafeteria, making her smile even more sinister. So, I tilt my head to the left and the room falls silent, all eyes on me.
“Kristine,” I start my voice sympathetic. "I guess this is the moment you've been waiting for all your life, isn't it?”
"What?" She huffs, looking uncomfortable. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I sense the shift in the room the moment I start talking. Looking around, no one can hold my gaze, but the excitement in their eyes only grows wilder like a fire as they wait for the show.
"Oh, you know, this moment that you've been salivating over your whole life, waiting in the shadows of my image, just hoping to get everyone's attention, again, because of me, only to tell me that I'm no one."
I let out a genuine laugh, shaking my head and make sure