Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I sent her a small smile. "Shopping sounds . . . fun?" I had never had the opportunity to go shopping like normal girls my age did.
"Oh, it is! You need new clothes for school, too! You're so pretty. You should start dressing like it!"
I blushed at her compliment, muttering a small thank you. I could feel Trevor’s eyes on the side of my head, but I didn’t dare turn to look at him. Krista looked at her mom. "So, can we?"
Miss Brinson rolled her eyes. "I'll give you money Friday night so you two can leave the house whenever."
"The food is really good, Miss Brinson.”
I kept my eyes away from Lacie when she spoke, keeping them trained on my plate instead. I didn't want to look at her. She made me want to make myself invisible.
She terrified me.
"Thank you, Lacie. How's school?"
Miss Brinson was honestly such a nice person. She was nice to everyone, even people that she really didn't like. She had taken me in with open arms and treated me like a real mother should. And though we all knew how much she disapproved of Kaleb dating Lacie, she was still nice.
I wish I could have had this my whole life.
"School is so boring. All everyone is talking about is this girl that got abused and put in the hospital.” I tensed up at her words. Miss Brinson set her fork down, her jaw tightening. “It's so stupid. It was her own fault for being abused. She was obviously doing something wrong."
Miss Brinson was about to speak when Trevor cut her off. "How nice of you to give us your goddamn input on your thoughts of the fucking abused girl. You're such a fucking stuck-up bitch, only caring about your petty fucking drama.” I jerked my eyes up to his face in alarm at his words. “If I were a girl, I'd slap you and yank all of those died fucking blonde strands out of your fucking head."
Miss Brinson didn’t even warn him about his language.
I went to get up, really just wanting out of the room and to get some fresh air, to get away from Lacie, but Paul shook his head at me. "Don't. You don't want to show her that you're scared of her. She's like an animal. She can sense that shit. She knows you’re that girl. You’ve got to show her you're stronger than what she thinks you are."
I stayed in my chair, but my whole body was tensed, and I felt like throwing up. "How dare you?!" Lacie dropped her fork onto her plate with a loud clang that made me flinch in my seat.
"How fucking dare you?" Trevor never raised his voice, but it still whipped across the table as if he were yelling. "I'm not stupid. Everyone knows it's Tracey that was fucking abused.” I swallowed vomit, fisting my hands so tightly in my lap that my nails dug into my palms. “Don't sit there and act like you don't know who the fuck it was. You've been going around, having your fucking little followers ask everyone at school for information on her, all because you feel like she's a threat to your stupid ass fucking popularity.” He let out a humorless chuckle, shaking his head. “Guess what, Lacie? Tracey lives in this house, with your fucking boyfriend, and she's fucking ten times prettier than you'll ever be.” I swallowed hard at his words, my heart racing in my chest—not in fear this time, but because of his words. He thought I was pretty. “You're the ugliest bitch I've ever laid my eyes on, and you would be doing us all a fucking favor by walking the fuck out of here and never interacting with us ever again."
Her mouth was hanging open in shock by the end of his speech, and she was at a complete loss for words. She swung her furious gaze to me and let out a blood-curdling scream, sending her plate of food flying across the table. I quickly curled in on myself and put my arms over my head, squeezing my eyes shut. I felt the plate smack my arms as the food fell all over me.
With my heart racing in fear, I jumped up and ran out of the room, tears running down my face, my chest heaving up and down as I desperately tried to fight the panic attack working its way through my body.
I ran into my room, slamming my door closed behind me. I flung open my balcony doors, desperately gulping in the fresh air. I clutched the railing with a white-knuckled grip, forcing myself to focus on the fence, forcing myself to count the cracks I could make out in the wood as I forced myself to calm down.
My door opened behind me a couple of minutes later after I finally managed to calm myself down. Kaleb stepped into my room. "Tracey, I am so sorry."