Page 10 of Dirty Liars
I’m in my new home. My new school. So far everyone believes I’m Sadie White; little blonde rich girl.
I should be hurrying to get to class, but I have to stop and look outside. There are tennis courts, a small golf course, and even stables for horseback riding. I saw that there was a polo club, but that’s something I won’t be signing up for.
I’m jittery with a nervous energy despite the fact that the only sleep I’ve gotten in two days was stretched across bus station’s plastic seats.
Once I have my uniform on I find Dana out in the hall reading a book. She looks up at me from the bench where she’s sitting and gives me a nod of approval.
“You look the part now.” She stands up and pushes her book into her backpack, sliding the bag over her shoulder. “Hungry? We have time to swing by the dining hall before class if you want to.”
Normally I’d be all over breakfast, but my nerves are strung too tight for me to have any kind of appetite. I shake my head.
“No, maybe tomorrow. Right now I’d rather just get my books and get to class.”
There are already other students filling the hallways, and the bustle of morning rush buzzes all around us. It’s happened at every school I’ve ever been to; the first few days there everyone stares at me. I’m used to it.
I don’t like it, but I’m used to it.
Dana and I go downstairs to the main level and round the corner of the foyer, heading to the long corridor adjacent to the front doors of the school. We’re running a little late, but there’s a small group of boys blocking one of the halls.
One of them has his back to me, his arms full of books. He’s much smaller than the four boys who are standing directly in front of him, and I can tell by his hunched over stance and cowering head that this isn’t the first time this has happened. I grit my teeth and shift my eyes from the back of his head to the face of the boy who’s obviously the ringleader of the bullies tormenting him.
I’m not prepared for what I find.
The sight of him takes my breath away for a moment. He’s beautiful. There’s no other word for it. He’s just incredibly beautiful.
His wavy, dark golden-brown hair is styled perfectly; combed in long locks over half of his forehead, while from the crown down it’s short and clean cut. He has thick dark eyebrows over arrogant brown eyes. His face looks like Michelangelo himself carved it from marble; full lips, a strong jaw, high cheeks, and a perfectly rounded nose.
His body is well-muscled in the arms and shoulders, over his chest and his back, and his torso tapers down to a narrow waist. He’s probably a model for designer underwear on weekends.
He’s focused on the smaller boy he’s taunting when he looks up at me and our gazes meet. He stops speaking in mid-sentence and stares. A strange look comes into his eyes. As he’s sizing me up, the boy he was teasing turns to look at me too. He’s a run of the mill high school boy; nothing out of the ordinary. When he looks at me he blushes bright red, his whole face and neck, all the way to his ears. The beautiful bully sees this and laughs, giving him a shove.
“Looking for a girlfriend Thomas? You wouldn’t know what to do with a woman if she came with an instruction manual.”
The boy, Thomas’, eyes drop to the floor and the bully shoves him again, pushing him down onto his hands and knees.
I’ve been bullied so badly and so often, that it doesn’t matter that he’s not doing it to me. He might as well be. Rage bursts into flame inside me and I snap.
“I’m sure he’d be a better boyfriend than you!”
The beautiful face contorts into shock, and then bitterness, and the scowl on it is all for me.
I stoop to help poor Thomas to his feet, and I see that somehow he’s blushing even harder. He’s so embarrassed and ashamed. He runs off, leaving me to face the bully alone. Well … Dana’s still here somewhere, but I think she’s slowly melting into the wallpaper behind me.
“Why don’t you date him, and then you can tell me all about it,” the bully shoots coldly, his brown eyes burning into mine.
I know right away that I’ve made a terrible mistake.
Great. I’ve made enemies already and I haven’t even gotten to my first class yet. This is not how I wanted to start off at my new school. It might be the right thing to do, standing up to bullies, but is it what Sadie would do … or the old me?
Suddenly a strong female voice sounds loudly behind me.
“Are you jealous already, Astor? She just got here.”
I turn on the spot and see a very pretty girl my age who is obviously one of the popular girls at this school. She’s the type who, despite being in the exact same outfit as all the other girls, including me, somehow manages to look far more stylish than most of the rest of us.
“Give her a little time so she can really have some good reasons to hate you,” she continues.
The beautiful boy, Astor, is just about to smart off to her when she holds her hand up in the air, her palm facing him, and shuts him down. She smiles at me instead.
