Page 88 of Unhinged Kallie

“No, I swear.”

Lisa hit Talon across the face, and the wonderful composure I’d reined in all day broke free of its cage.

“Please, let go of me,” Talon begged as Lisa grabbed her arm and dragged her into the women’s bathroom. “I swear I don’t want to be captain.” I heard Talon say before the door closed.

For whatever reason, I hummed The Gambler as I marched for the door. Pushing it open, I watched Lisa hit Talon again as she tried to cover her head. Talon really could’ve used my dad’s self-defense training class.

Lisa was so focused on Talon and her whimpering that she never heard the door close or the lock click shut.

“Psst,” I said as Talon cried out from another slap.

I loved the startled look on Lisa’s face when she looked over her shoulder and saw me standing by the door. My lips curled up in a smile as I slipped my backpack to the floor.

“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Lisa scoffed.

“Thank you, Lisa,” I said, stepping further into the bathroom.

“For what?”

“For being an insufferable person that treats others like crap, and today you chose my cousin. Not a smart idea.” I didn’t have problems with people in school, but that was because I kept my head down, had top grades, and gave off a ‘Don’t fuck with me’ aura. It helped that Carter was still a local celebrity, and everyone remembered him beating Taylor and then his sudden disappearance.

Not that anyone accused Carter, but everyone remembered the fight.

“Your cousin….”

“Did nothing wrong other than make you look like an idiot for not being as good as she is and coming up with what I’m sure is a kickass routine. If you weren’t a jealous cunt, you could’ve praised her and made her a co-captain. Knowing Talon, she would’ve given you all her ideas because she…” I held up my finger. “Is a people pleaser. She just can’t help herself.” Lisa looked at Talon and then at me. “Instead, you attacked her verbally and physically as you tried to intimidate her into dropping out of cheerleading and maybe even the school altogether because your ego just can’t handle a bit of competition.”

I stopped when I was within lunging distance and put my hands on my hips. “The issue is that I saw you, and you really couldn’t have picked a worse day to piss me off.”

She turned to face me, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave me her best intimidating stare. “What are you going to do now that you don’t have your big brother here to save you?”

“Carter is not my brother, which is good since I’m fucking him.” Lisa’s and Talon’s mouths dropped open at the same time. “Secondly, I don’t need his help.”

“Spare me.” Lisa rolled her eyes and made the grave error of trying to push me out of the way to walk past.

Grabbing her wrist, I twisted it around, and she screamed as the delicate joints popped out of place.

“Ah! My wrist,” she cried out, her knees buckling as I held her at the odd position with little effort. Some days I really loved my dad, other days not so much. Today was a conflicting day all around.

“Kallie, you really don’t have to do this,” Talon tried to reason with me, but I turned my glare on her.

“Don’t even start. You’re so fucking oblivious I’m not even sure how you manage to make it through a day without being hit by a bus.”

“But…”

I ignored the rest of what she said and let the fury that had been poking at me all day loose on Lisa. Grabbing her long ponytail with my other hand, I rammed her face into the white sink.

“Oh my god,” Talon said, her hands covering her mouth as blood splattered the white porcelain.

Lisa shrieked and started to cry as more blood dripped onto the floor from her nose. Not wasting a second, I hauled her ass into one of the stalls and shoved her face into the toilet water.

“Kallie, let her go. You’re going to kill her.”

“That’s kind of the point, cuz. Welcome to the reality of our family. If you got your nose out of your books and projects, you might notice what’s really going on around you.”

Lisa’s gargled screams were more frantic as she tried to push herself away from the toilet. Lifting my boot, I hit the flush, and the water swirled around her head.

“Kallie, seriously, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’ll kill her. Let her go.”