The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,124

my secret and decided I was still worth friendship.

We hadn’t actually spoken to each other yet today, he was with Chase and Phoenix in front of the building and I wanted to avoid all things Chase for a while. But just knowing Ryder supported me, made getting through the monotony of the day easier, made everything easier.

Between fifth and sixth period I found myself alone in an upstairs bathroom. I was kind of just wasting time and messing around with my hair when three girls walked in laughing loudly. They were giggling about boys and parties over the weekend. I recognized them instantly, cheerleaders that used to hang around Sam and the other basketball guys. Maybe they still did, I avoided the entire basketball crowd like a death sentence.

There laughter evaporated when they noticed me, their expressions puckering like someone had sucked all the oxygen from the room. And maybe someone had because I was finding it hard to breathe again. The shortest girl, also the ring leader from what I remembered lifted a slender finger and circled it around slowly, pointing at me, marking me.

“Well, look who it is,” I thought her name might have been Cammie snarled.

A taller, thicker girl, who was maybe Jayla huffed out a bitter puff of laughter. “Heard you were back, Ivy. I also heard you were making your rounds on the soccer team now. Slut.”

“Whore,” Cammie quickly reinforced their nasty sentiment. So we obviously would not be sharing our grief over Sam today.

“Why did you even come back?” The third girl asked with so much pain and loathing that I almost forgot my own problems with hers glaring so achingly bright. Her name was Cassandra, and she was drop dead gorgeous. Perfect mocha skin, long silky black hair, the darkest, deepest black eyes. She was prettier than me. Smarter than me. And had been dating Sam for two entire years before I showed up.

Before he broke up with her for me.

I sucked in an ugly, ragged breath and willed myself to meet her eyes. “I didn’t have a choice,” I admitted with not even a hint of strength or poise.

Cassandra bit out a bark of laughter. “Well, isn’t that just nice for you.”

Cammie took a step towards me. She was tiny and petite but packed with muscle. All these girls were. And even though I wasn’t helpless if it came to a fight, I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t fight back. This was a punishment I wanted, I felt like I deserved and I was going to take it.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” Cammie threatened in a menacing voice. “Nobody wants you here, nobody wants to watch you ruin someone else’s life. You’re a cheap skank that destroys people. You make me sick.”

My heart started hammering in my chest so loud I was positive they could hear it, hear my fear and self-loathing. Hot tears stabbed at my eyes and I shut them quickly to stay that weakness. I didn’t mind being the target for all their insults, or even their punching bag, but crying in front of them seemed too pathetic even for me.

The bathroom door opened and surprise of all surprises Kenna Lee walked in. She had her purse in her hand and seemed to be in a hurry, but when she stumbled into the trinity of hatred she paused, her head snapping back and forth between me and them.

“What’s going on, Ivy?” she asked in a hesitant tone.

Damn it, why did this stuff always happen in the bathroom? And why was it always freaking Kenna Lee?

“Nothing,” I whispered, but even I heard how tragic I sounded.

“Cassandra?” she questioned instead.

“We’re just leaving,” Cassandra said in a bored tone. She looked me up and down one more time, taking in all of me, my hunched shoulders, my nails dug painfully into my palms, my hair that seemed to be everywhere at the moment, my forehead that had started to sweat and my wild eyes that couldn’t escape the guilt and shame for what had happened to Sam. “I hate you,” she confessed in a mean, ugly voice. “I have never hated anyone like I hate you.” She paused for several moments, seeming to compose herself. “But he still asks about you. Not…. he can’t…. it’s in his eyes. It’s how he watches the door. The least you could do is pay him a visit. Ease his suffering some.”

Her words floored me. I felt like she just punched me in the heart.