“That’s enough!”
Ignoring the outrage beside us, my eyes narrowed to slits and I took a step closer. His eyes widened, just a fraction, before the same cocky arrogance slid back in place. Oh yes. He was cautious of me now. He saw the anger in my eyes and he’d taken notice of it. It wasn’t the anger he’d dealt with in Hannah or his girlfriend, or any other girl.
They were normal. I was not.
I had banked this rage for so long, since coming to Grant West, but it was there. It was why my friends had left. They’d been afraid. Jamie wasn’t, but he had fallen silent. He knew he’d stepped into something that maybe he wasn’t sure he should’ve.
As I continued to stare at him, only him, Hannah was behind me now, I let the rage grow. I let him see what was inside of me.
It had gone beyond the bristling stage. It was full-on raging in me now.
I was loving it. It made me feel alive.
It made me feel powerful.
Then Jamie backed away. “Whatever. You’re a freak.”
An evil grin came over me. He was right. A part of me was freakish. It was the part that’d been given birth when my parents dumped me. I’d been scared of it, but now I was starting to embrace it. No words had left my lips, but an unspoken knowledge was there. I would do anything to get back at him. He only had to give me a reason. I would enjoy it. No, I would thrive on it. Jesse and everyone else be damned. In that moment, as I was feeling my rage, no one could stop me.
Jamie saw it all. He backed down from it.
Wise choice, my friend.
“Jamie!” Hannah smacked him in the chest. “Stop talking to my friend like that. I mean it.”
He scoffed at her, shaking his head, as he backed away from us. He didn’t turn his back so he treaded in reverse until he hit the door. Reaching behind, he fumbled for the handle and pushed the door open as he slipped through it.
“I’m so sorry. He shouldn’t talk to you like that. He’s such an ass**le.”
I shook my head and pushed it down. The rage was still simmering, but I had it under control, enough to look at my friend. She wouldn’t know.
She gave me a shaky grin. “I’m really sorry.”
She didn’t. I shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ve grown used to his attitude. We are working on a project together.”
“Still,” she sighed. “He shouldn’t be able to talk like that to you. I’ll say something. I’ll make him stop.”
“It’s okay.” When she tried to continue arguing, I stopped her. “I mean it. I’ll handle him.” I already had, though she’d been unaware of it. Jamie wouldn’t be a problem for me anymore. He would be fearful from now on, but I highly doubted that I’d have to deal with the same type of callous treatment again.
“Hey, guys.” Beth joined the conversation. She glanced over her shoulder. “I almost got bowled over by Jamie. Why’s your sister’s boyfriend shaking like a leaf out there? He looked ready to piss his pants.”
“What?” Hannah was taken aback. “What are you talking about? He was just in here, being an ass**le to Alex.”
“Oh.” Beth swept speculative eyes over me. “Maybe I got it wrong.”
She hadn’t and I knew she knew she hadn’t.
Hannah muttered more derogatory names at her sister’s boyfriend as she led the way inside the cafeteria. After placing our bags on a table, we separated for the different buffet lines, but I felt Beth’s knowing gaze on my back the whole time. When my tray was full, I headed back to our table. She was already there, waiting for me.
She placed her glass on the table and leaned over it. “What’d you do to Jamie Striker?”
“Nothing.”
We both knew I was lying.
“What’d you do? I didn’t get it wrong, but I don’t know how Hannah is clueless. You did something. I know you did.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Stop lying to me.”
Okay. Well. How was I supposed to explain it to her? That I opened a compartment inside of me and let him see the darkness my parents had created? That’s what had happened, but it would sound crazy out loud. Lying was the best option. It made the most sense and I’d go back to forgetting about the rage inside of me. I’d been doing a damn good job at it since coming to college.
Beth sat back, defeated. “Fine. Don’t tell me; just don’t do anything to hurt my cousin.”
“Tiffany?”
She gave me a disgusted look. “Hannah. I don’t give a shit what happens to Tiffany.”
“Oh.”
The topic was dropped, but she started another one. A corner of her mouth curved up. “So what are your plans with boytoy tonight?”
“He’s not a boytoy.”
“What is he then? You’re screwing the hottest guy at school and you won’t say a word. I know only because I walked in on you two.”
“What’s your point?”
She gave me an incredulous look. “That you wouldn’t have told me either. So he’s not your boyfriend. You’d tell people if he were, that leaves boytoy.”
I frowned and starting picking at my salad with a fork. “Your logic sucks.”
Laughing, she reached for her glass again. Her knees were lifted and she settled back against her seat with her feet propped up on it. “Say what you want. I think I’m right. And you never answered my question.”