“What is your problem? Can’t you see that she doesn’t want to talk to you?” Leighton said. Vanessa wasn’t even aware that Leighton was standing beside her until she heard her voice. She was shocked that Leighton was standing up for her. She’d never seen her stand up for herself against Peyton before.
A hateful glare covered Peyton Evers face. “I didn’t invite you to this conversation,” she said, her attention now focused on Leighton.
“I invited myself. You’re the one who’s uninvited,” Leighton snapped.
Peyton gasped. She was surprised and slightly confused. She’d never heard Leighton speak to her this way before. Her eyes darted to the left and right and she peered over her shoulder, but Sailor and Gigi were not beside or behind her. She grunted. Where the hell could they be?
She watched Leighton grab Vanessa’s hand and head for her locker.
She was going to make Leighton Kressel pay for this. Everyone had their place and she was going to make sure that Leighton was reminded of hers.
“Way to go, Leighton,” Aidan congratulated her once they made it to Vanessa’s locker.
“Yeah, you did great out there,” Vanessa added, opening her locker. “Thank you.”
Leighton let out a breath that she’d been holding in. “Don’t thank me. Now I have to watch my back for the rest of senior year. She’s going to come after me even worse next time.”
“That’s just it. We can’t let her continue to get away with pushing us around,” Vanessa stated. “When you do that, it makes her think she can walk all over you.”
“Having her mom for the principal doesn’t help either,” Leighton added as she watched Principal Evers do a strut down the hall in five inch stilettos to where Peyton was standing.
“Funny how she always appears after something has happened,” Aidan said, his gaze focusing on Leighton who didn’t seem to notice.
“Like the time she picked on the new kid in the wheelchair and pushed him onto concrete,” Vanessa added. “How low can you be to do that to somebody who can’t even walk?”
Leighton shook her head. “It’s disgusting—the way she treats people.”
“She learned from the best—Mommy Dearest.” Vanessa closed her locker, after gathering her books for class. The trio began to walk down the opposite end of the hall, putting as much distance as they could between themselves, Peyton, and Principal Evers.
Chapter 4
English class was one of Leighton’s favorite classes. And it was slowly but surely becoming her least favorite. She shared this class with the person she tried to avoid the most in this world.
She seated herself at a desk in front of the classroom and Vanessa took a seat beside her. Leighton liked sitting in the front because she could focus better. She only lost focus temporarily whenever Peyton walked by her desk.
She removed her English textbook and notebook from her backpack and set it on the desk.
The familiar sound of stilettos pounding the school floors rocked her ears.
And the sound was getting closer.
Until suddenly she was there.
Leighton cautiously looked up from her English textbook to find Peyton standing in front of her desk. Her heart raced and her breathing increased. Her eyes stayed locked on Peyton’s, watching her knock her English textbook off the desk and onto the floor. Several students who had already entered the classroom watched in silence; many of them had already suffered at the hands of Peyton Evers and were still suffering. Some wanted to help but were too frightened to.
Leighton’s eyes landed on her textbook that was on the floor. Peyton put her left foot on top of the book, her eyes still glued to Leighton. “It looks like there’s some trash on aisle one and I would suggest that you remove it quickly before someone important takes a nasty spill.”
“Oh, if you take a nasty spill, you better pray that Sailor and Gigi are there to help otherwise you’d remain on the ground where we found you,” Vanessa stated boldly. That garnered some laughing from her classmates which Peyton didn’t appreciate.
She slightly tilted her head to the side to look at Vanessa before turning her nose up. She then stepped over Leighton’s textbook and walked to her desk in the back of the classroom.
Leighton sighed deeply. She leaned over in her desk to retrieve her book and placed it on her desk. Tears stung the back of her eyes but she wasn’t going to cry. Not here. Not now.
“Don’t worry,” Vanessa whispered to her. “That bitch will get what’s coming to her soon enough.”
Leighton nodded. But she wasn’t sure if “soon” was soon enough for her.
“Vanessa Vidal,” a woman called out. She looked up to see Principal Evers standing by the open classroom door. “I need to see you in the principal’s office.”
A smug grin covered Peyton’s face. Vanessa was going down. And Leighton was next.
Vanessa didn’t bother to make herself comfortable in Principal Evers’ office. She was sure this was about her earlier encounter with Peyton. Her precious, devilish, daughter did no wrong in her eyes. Her precious, devilish, daughter taunted, teased, and humiliated people in school and most people hated her. And she was no better.
She was determined to make it through senior year. And she was determined to be finished with Peyton and Principal Evers.
Principal Evers closed the door to her office and seated herself in her comfortable desk chair across from Vanessa.
“Vanessa Vidal,” she began with her eyes focused on the young girl, like a lion focused on its prey. “I always thought that you were one of the quiet ones.”
“I’m not nor have I ever been one of the quiet ones.”
“That would explain why you got into an argument with Peyton in front of the entire school this morning. You upset her.”
“I didn’t upset Peyton,” Vanessa said in a stern tone. “She was upsetting me.”
“You are trying to make trouble for my daughter and I will not stand for it.”
Vanessa looked away from the principal and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to stand for it? Peyton bullied and humiliated students every day at school. Hardly anyone liked her and those that did were only in it for the popularity. But Vanessa knew that there was no sense in trying to prove a point to Principal Evers—especially when it came to her precious, Peyton Evers. Peyton could kill someone and her mother would still believe that she was innocent. She was not going to fight a losing battle but she wasn’t going to let Principal Evers or Peyton bully her either.
Vanessa disgustedly rolled her eyes. “Why am I here?”
“Why do you think you’re here?” the older woman shot back.
“Nothing matters as long as it benefits you. The teachers, other faculty members, and students—none of us matter so I do not know why I’m here,” Vanessa responded, being sure to give her a cold, hard stare in the process.
Principal Evers gave Vanessa her best smirk. The kid was right. She didn’t care about anyone but her daughter and herself. “You are free to go.”
Vanessa stood up to leave and turned her back to her.
“And Vanessa I will be watching you.” Vanessa wanted to add “Likewise” but didn’t. Instead, she gave the Principal the thumbs up sign before exiting her office. As she closed the door behind her, a smirk began to tug at her own lips.
Leighton watched Vanessa exit the classroom and into the clutches of Principal Evers. She was wondering if this had anything to do with the argument Vanessa and Peyton had earlier. Even if it was, Peyton was the one who started it all. She always was—not that it would matter. Whatever this was about couldn’t be good; nothing ever was when you’re dealing with the Evers family.
Peyton quietly slid into Vanessa’s seat just as an elderly Ms. Jennings walked into the classroom with Sailor and Gigi trailing behind her. Sailor and Gigi greeted Peyton and walked by her to their usual seats in the back of the room. Leighton caught of a glimpse of Sailor rolling her e
yes at her and Gigi never looked her way.
“Good morning,” the elderly woman greeted her students.
“Good morning, Ms. Jennings,” the class answered in response.
Ms. Jennings slowly took a seat at her own desk and opened her briefcase where she kept all the assignments, lesson plans, and anything else she found useful. Then she looked up from her briefcase and gazed around the classroom. Half of the students were not in attendance.
“I do believe that today is the day that I specifically informed everyone that their English papers were due.” She paused for a moment and rubbed her forehead. She could feel a migraine coming on. “Since half of the class is missing, I suppose I will postpone the due date for your papers. However, I do expect nothing but the best from all of you and I will grade harder because of it. Use this time—your time—wisely to proofread your papers.” She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a bottle of painkillers before slowly rising to her feet. “I will be down the hall in the teachers’ lounge for a few minutes. I’m leaving the classroom door open.”
Peyton watched in silence as Ms. Jennings quietly shuffled out the classroom. She waited two or three minutes before striking up a conversation with her least favorite person in the world.
“You’re probably one of the people who actually completed their English paper on time, right?”
Leighton swallowed a hard lump in her throat. “No,” she answered, her eyes focusing on her textbook.
Peyton smelled fear and she liked it. “Can you say that and look at me at the same time?”
She looked up and slightly tilted her head to the side and saw a smirk on Peyton’s face. “I don’t like looking at you.”
“I’m beautiful so there’s no reason not to stare at me. I know you’re jealous.” She watched Leighton turn away from her and look towards the classroom door, the only way in and out of the room.
“You want to run, don’t you?” Peyton’s voice was in her ear.
“You have no idea what I want to do. I could tell you but if I did, it might scare you.” This time Vanessa’s voice was in Peyton’s ear. Peyton’s smirk faded. Why wasn’t she still in the Principal’s office?
“Only bad girls get sent to the Principal’s office,” Peyton said, her attention now focusing on Vanessa.
“And then they get released for good behavior.” Vanessa had her sights set on Peyton and she wasn’t letting up. She observed Peyton give her a death stare and she was happy to return it.
Peyton took her time getting up from Vanessa’s seat. “Leighton, by the way, those red highlights do not do your hair any justice.”
“Her hair looks a lot better than yours,” Vanessa fired back. “Before you talk about someone else’s hair, fix your tacky extensions and your ugly roots. Maybe Gigi or Sailor could give you some pointers since their hair always looks better than yours.”
The class erupted in laughter—Gigi and Sailor included.
A pang of jealously hit Peyton in the chest as she silently compared herself to her two best friends, Sailor and Gigi. She didn’t care what Vanessa said. She was and would always be the most attractive one out of the three.
Vanessa seated herself at her desk, not bothering to glance back at Peyton.
Leighton was as anxious as ever to find out why she called into the Principal’s office.
“I’ll tell you about it later. I don’t want to do it while those idiots are back there,” she whispered to Leighton.
Peyton sighed loudly as she took her seat between Sailor and Gigi in the back of the classroom.
Ms. Jennings walked back into the classroom, closed the door, and walked slowly to her desk. She was still rubbing her forehead. “It’s very quiet in here. I guess everyone is taking this assignment seriously.” The students held down a laugh and no one responded.
“What’s with her?” Sailor whispered to Peyton.
“With who?”
“Vanessa.”
She did a double eye roll at the sound of her name. “I don’t know but I’ll fix it.” She paused. “I’ll fix her and Leighton.” Sailor grinned. Peyton turned to look at Gigi who was texting. She leaned over and tried to get a peep but Gigi was quick to stick her phone in her purse.
“What was that all about?” Peyton questioned.
“It’s private,” Gigi responded.
“Since when?”
“Looks like someone has a boyfriend,” Sailor teased.
“That’s not true,” Gigi defended herself.
“Then who were you texting?” Peyton asked again. “Don’t make me ask twice. You know I hate to repeat myself.”
“It was the guy who’s writing my paper,” she lied.
Peyton didn’t buy it. She’d never known Gigi to get someone else to do her work. “I need a name.”
“No,” Gigi replied.
Peyton raised an eyebrow. “What? Did you just tell me ‘no?’”
“Why should I tell you?”
“We are supposed to be friends and friends tell each other everything.”
“Not when their mother is the Principal and they can get in trouble for doing something that they shouldn’t.”
Peyton gasped. “What makes you think I would…? I wouldn’t tell my mother that you did something like that.”
She catches a glimpse of Sailor’s face and then looks back at Peyton. “Of course you wouldn’t. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Probably because you weren’t thinking,” Peyton snapped.
“You’re going to love him. He writes them like no other; he even does college papers, too.”
“Is he a hottie?”
Gigi gave a pout. “He’s a nerd—no one either of us needs to be caught with, unless it is to our benefit.” She’d redeemed herself just in time.
Peyton smiled. “So what’s his name?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll give you his name and number but first I have to run to the little girls’ room.” Gigi rose from her seat and walked to the front of the classroom to ask Ms. Jennings to be excused from class.
“Boy, she sure has been secretive lately,” Sailor said. “But I never would’ve guessed that it was about this.”
“Neither would I.”
“Do you think that’s all there is to it? I mean, she’s just texting some nerdy guy about doing her paper?”
“I don’t know.” Peyton shrugged, eyeing Gigi’s empty seat. “But I sure as hell intend to find out.”
Vanessa glanced over her shoulder at two of Sentinel’s High’s mean girls and then turned back to Leighton. “Looks like there’s trouble in paradise.”
Chapter 5
Gigi waited anxiously in the girls’ restroom. She was not returning to Ms. Jennings class—not without evidence to back up her claim that someone was writing her English paper.
She wanted—needed—to remain close to Peyton. She knew that her life would be much harder at school if she ever broke away from Peyton; even Peyton’s mother would become her enemy. She was aware that anyone who was on the outs with Peyton was also on the outs with Principal Evers. For Gigi Delgado being close to Peyton Evers was more about survival than popularity. And if there was anything she knew about it was how to survive.
Before she was Gigi Delgado, she was Gigi Hernandez living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Living in paradise was short-lived. When she was just two years old, her parents passed away from a drug overdose, leaving her an orphan. Without any family members to take her in, she was thrown into the foster care system. Thankfully, she was adopted by a loving couple less than six months later and became Gigi Delgado. Andrea and Mark Delgado both decided to adopt after years of failed attempts to conceive their own child; Andrea didn’t want to go through in vitro fertilization. Andrea and Mark loved her as if she was their own child and Gigi loved them just the same. They were her “Mom” and “Dad.”
She didn’t begin to suspect that something was up until she’d gotten older. She didn’t know what she expect
ed to find out but she knew something was wrong. If she walked into a room, her parents would suddenly get very quiet. As the days, weeks, and months passed by, the silence had become deafening. And then the woman she’d called her mother for eight years gave her some unexpected news. She was not her biological mother and the man she called “Daddy” wasn’t her biological father.
Gigi’s world stopped. She didn’t know whether to scream or cry. Her mother and father’s arms were wrapped around her. Their soft cries echoed in her ears.
Several weeks later she and her parents were packing their bags and leaving Hawaii to make a fresh start in Los Angeles. It wasn’t Hawaii but she enjoyed the beautiful, sunny, skies. After learning the truth about her parents, she questioned Andrea and Mark about her biological parents. She was shocked again when Mark told her that he and Andrea didn’t know who or where her biological parents were.
How can they not know who my real parents are?
They could be lying but she tossed her theory aside when she saw the sincerity in her father’s eyes. She was sitting across from them in the living room. “We’re sorry we hurt you,” he said to her with tears in his eyes. Her mother clung on to his hand as if her very life depended on it, with tears threatening to spill out of her own eyes. It was a sad sight to see. The people who she thought were her parents were not her biological parents. Gigi still had not fully accepted that Andrea and Mark were not her biological parents. And yet she still wanted to know more about the woman who gave birth to her. Nothing could have prepared her for what she found.
Gigi closed her eyes and a tear slipped from her eyes.
She couldn’t wrap her mind around what her eyes were seeing. She didn’t share any of the information with Andrea or Mark. She didn’t know how they would feel about it; she hardly had a chance to consider telling them before tragedy struck again. Her father, Mark, passed away. Andrea didn’t waste any time putting the family home up for sale and moving to Atlanta, GA.