CODY
“You’re awful chipper this morning,” Lindsay said as she turned the knob on her combination lock. She wore all black again, covering every possible inch of skin, and it bugged me. She used to wear bright colors and dresses.
“I met Skylar’s dad last night.”
“Yeah? How’d that go?”
I shuddered, remembering. “Terrifying, but he did say Skylar could go to the Super 32, so the threats were worth it.”
Her lips tipped up a centimeter, which is more than they’d done in a week. I counted it a positive. “Getting serious, I see. Way to go.”
She was my biggest cheerleader when it came to Skylar. It seemed to make her feel better, being able to focus on someone’s life besides her own.
I leaned back against the lockers. “I’m way past serious.”
A flash of green caught my eye as at least a hundred fake one-dollar bills fell out of Lindsay’s locker. I picked one up. Both sides were marred with blood red marker that read, “WHORE.”
My muscles tightened like ropes stretched to their breaking point. “This has to stop. You have to say something.” I glanced toward her locker and saw a metal stick made to look like a stripper’s pole wedged in there as well.
“It’s fine.” She pulled out the offending piece and tossed it into the nearest trash can. “I’d rather this than the phone calls.”
“What phone calls?”
“At least ten a day. I swear I’ve blocked a million numbers.” She didn’t elaborate, but I could only imagine.
Squatting down, she frantically scooped up the bills lining the floor in front of her locker.
I crouched next to her and stopped her manic cleanup. “Lindsay, who has your locker combination?”
Her movement stilled and teary eyes met mine. “I don’t know. Who had yours? Don’t you see? It’s never going to stop.”
“It will if you would just tell someone.” The chill in my voice was a small reflection of the anger coursing through me. I wanted to scream, punch and kick the locker, do anything to stop her being a target of this hatred.
“What? Like you did sophomore year?”
I hated that she knew. That she had been a part of the Torments List’s exclusive group and had seen the pictures. “That was different.”
“How?”
I was suddenly in that dark locker room again, the cold floor hard against my naked back. Helpless. Hopeless. Pain gripped my chest, and I willed the image away. I never told a soul. Never turned in the guy who terrorized me for years. “Because I won’t let it happen again. I won’t cower to another bully.”
Lindsay touched my arm. “Please, Cody. Don’t say anything. It will just get worse.”
Obnoxious laughter came from above, and some kid I didn’t recognize stood over us, his arms crossed. “I heard this is where we come for lap dances. I guess I’ll have to get in line.”
Lindsay disappeared in my furious haze. So did the fluorescent lights that flickered and the squeak of shoes pounding down the halls. Only his laughter remained. Laughter that matched the echoes in the locker room. Laughter that stopped the minute my fist struck his jaw.
The world returned in a flash of sound. Screams from the students, yells from teachers, but I kept pounding, pounding, pounding. The memory of that laughter banging around in my head like a wrecking ball.
Strong arms trapped mine, pulling me off the bloody kid who was now writhing in pain. My eyes began to focus, first landing on Lindsay’s terrified, tear-streaked face. Then on Blake who appeared out of nowhere. His smirk was subtle, victorious. The quiet, the calm. It’d been a trap. He slid to the right, pushing through a crowd until he found his goal.
Skylar.
She watched with horror, glancing from me to the bloody boy, then from me to Lindsay.
I lunged when Blake whispered something in her ear and pulled her out of the crowd. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening.
“That’s enough!” Principal Rayburn hissed before pushing me toward his office. “I told you I’d make an example of you if you pulled another stunt. Well, congratulations, Mr. James, you officially have my attention.”
“They put a stripper pole in her locker.” He pushed me through the hall with more strength than I expected. “They called her a whore.”
We went right past the receptionist and into his office. He shoved me into the blasted wooden chair I hated.
“When are you kids going to realize you aren’t the authority in this school? Violence isn’t the answer.”
“Then what is?” I balled my fist, ready to fight for my life. “Because nothing you have done has stopped it.”
The heat from his stare could have dried the sweat beading on my forehead. There was no trust in his eyes, just accusation like I was responsible for the whole scenario. “You’re suspended. Three days. No Super 32 and you’re off the team for good if I catch you fighting again.”
“Sir…” It was too much. A penalty far greater than the crime.
“My decision is final. I’m done with you boys thinking you run this school.”
I let my head fall into my shaking hands while Principal Rayburn called my parents. I wasn’t trying to run the school. I was fighting for my life, for Lindsay’s life. And failing miserably.