Don't Look Back(65)

“Is everything really okay, Samantha?” Mrs. Messer asked softly, coming to stop beside me.

Nodding, I worked to keep my voice level. “Yes. We were just talking.”

Her gaze didn’t miss anything. “Is the condition of his face something I should be concerned about?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I have to go.”

Mrs. Messer nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

There was no escaping our meetings, but it was better than the alternative—an honest-to-God, real psychiatrist. Hurrying to homeroom, I slid into my seat seconds before the bell rang. The first two classes weren’t bad. It was the next class, English, that I was dreading.

Veronica was waiting for me when I walked in and headed for where I’d been sitting since I returned to school. She stuck out one thin arm, blocking me. “You can’t sit here.”

For a moment I entertained the idea of grabbing her by her overprocessed hair and dragging her to the floor. “Why?” I demanded.

She twisted her lips into a frigid smile that was oddly familiar. Candy snickered from her seat. “Mr. Dase?” Candy raised her voice, waving her arm back and forth. “Mr. Dase?”

The teacher looked up from the stack of paper on his desk and let out a loud sigh. “Yes, Candy?”

“Can you make Sammy sit somewhere else?” she implored. “We don’t feel comfortable sitting here with her.”

Fire scorched my cheeks as a dozen or so faces turned to me. One stood out the most—Goth Boy. I expected him to look pleased that I was getting paid back for the years of abuse I’d put him through. Instead, his almond-shaped eyes just looked sad behind the spikes of black hair.

Mr. Dase raised his brows. “Why don’t you feel comfortable, Candy?”

“It’s okay,” I said, hating the way my voice trembled as I headed to an open seat in the back. “I can sit back here.”

Satisfied with the resolution, he went back to shuffling his papers, but out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Veronica shoot Candy a pointed look.

“Mr. Dase,” Candy whined, waving her arm again.

Taking my seat, I gripped the edges of my desk.

“Yes?” Mr. Dase sighed.

Candy sat up straight, pushing her chest out and arching her back. “I don’t like that she’s sitting behind me.” Her voice dropped to a stage whisper. “You do know she was the last person to see Cassie alive, right?”

My knuckles ached from how tight my grip was on the desk. Okay. That was it. There was a good chance I would hurt one or both of them.

Our teacher’s expression remained bland. “I am sure you’re perfectly safe where you are.”

He then moved on to roll call, and that quieted Candy down, but the damage was already done. Stewing with anger and embarrassment, I had no idea what was covered in class. When the bell rang, I had to force myself to walk out of the class without confronting them. Their laughter followed me through most of my classes.

In bio, I figured Candy would keep quiet without Veronica being there, and I wondered if that had been me once—calling the shots like Veronica. Making the other girls do terrible, mean things out of spite and boredom.

I was now a strong believer in karma.

My crappy day got a little better when Carson came into class. The smile on my face wasn’t forced or weak. It was big and stupid—real.

He didn’t smile back as he sat beside me, and I felt the happy little feeling deflate. “Why did Scott give Del a black eye? He won’t tell me why.”

“Oh.” Not what I’d expected. Glancing up at the front of the class, I could tell that Candy was trying to listen. Squeezing my pen to keep myself from turning it into a weapon of mass destruction, I kept my voice low. “Del didn’t really do anything.”

“He didn’t?” His voice was dangerously soft. “Because I’m thinking the worst here, and if so, he’ll have a matching eye by the end of the day.”

My eyes widened. “No—no, nothing like that. I broke up with him, and then I had this memory about something he did. We kind of got into it after that, and he wouldn’t leave. Scott sort of took care of that.”

“What do you mean, he wouldn’t leave?” Anger shone from his blue eyes, along with a fierce protectiveness that had me wanting to smile like an idiot.

“It’s not a big deal, really. Everything is fine now.” With the exception of Del thinking he could somehow renegotiate our relationship status.

Carson didn’t look too convinced, but he scooted closer, pressing his knee against mine. “What did you remember?” “Uh, it’s really embarrassing.”

“I can deal.” He grinned.

My lips twitched. “I’m sure you can, but I’m not confident that I can.” I watched him as he waited, sighing when I realized he wasn’t going to let it drop. “I’m sure you already know. It has to do with... photos on a phone.”

One brow arched, and then he leaned back as he figured it out. “Would this be something that happened around seven months ago?”

I nodded as my entire face turned warm. “Yeah, well, I had no idea he’d taken those photos when... it was happening.” Focusing on the back of Candy’s head, I continued almost painfully. “I don’t know why I forgave him when it happened. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It’s disgusting.”