Vincent (Made Men, #2)(102)

“If that was the case, then my whole high school career was one long nightmare and I will wake up right…” Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and opened them a second later, “Now. Well, it looks like no one asked Glenda the Good Witch for help.” Elle laughed hard and Chloe couldn’t help joining in. Elle was glad when Chloe loosened up.

They both began eating their lunch while Elle carefully looked at the robot’s tables. That side was actually pretty diverse. You had a few athlete tables consisting of a full football team table and the rest being a mixture of baseball, softball, basketball and soccer. This left just a few tables.

Her most hated table was the fashionista one, who only bought designer labels and were all mostly cheerleaders. Cassandra was, of course, the head of that table. The table adjoining Cassandra’s consisted of the filthy rich, and I mean, filthy. They were all boys with the head being Sebastian, which was Cassandra’s twin brother. Elle shivered in fright at not only the sight of him, but the sound of his name.

This brought you to the final table, which Elle really couldn’t describe. Three guys had always sat there; one was Nero, who was basically the king of Legacy Prep, and the other two were his crew, as the school liked to call them. The big one was Amo and the smaller one was Vincent; both were seniors, as well. However, Elle noticed a new boy sitting with them.

He must be a freshman. Elle wondered who he was. All she could see was his dirty-blond hair from the back.

She suddenly felt like someone had stepped in her personal space. That was when she realized she had made a huge mistake—she’d dropped her guard.

“I have been looking for you all day. I have a little mess and I needed the waitress to clean up for me.” Cassandra took Elle’s plate and pushed it off the table. Then the high-pitched screech of her voice started back again. “Go on, clean it up, waitress.”

The whole cafeteria grew silent at her words. That word waitress made Elle’s skin crawl, and yet it might as well be her birth name here as far as they were concerned.

Elle thought about the two options she had. Option one: blatantly ignore it or pretend you didn’t hear it; and option two: respond with either a witty response or a few short words. She chose the first then stared at Chloe, wishing she hadn’t by her panicked expression.

“Bitch, I know you hear me.” Cassandra took Chloe’s plate and held it above her head. Chloe quickly tried to move out of the way, but two of Cassandra’s fake blonde bimbos moved to stand on either side of her, forcing her to sit back down. “Clean up the mess like a waitress is supposed to do, or the little freak will have her own mess to clean up.”

Freak was the only other word that made her skin crawl more than waitress.

Elle felt a washrag hit her face, courtesy of Sebastian. She took a moment to see Chloe wringing her hands. She didn’t want this for her.

Okay, this couldn’t be worse. Of all days to have the three messiest foods. Elle swallowed her pride and picked up the washrag. Then she really swallowed her pride when she got down to clean the mess up off the floor.

When Elle was done shaming herself, she walked over to Chloe. “Come on, Chloe. Let’s go.” She held her hand out. She knew Chloe would never take it, but she would get the message to get out of there.

“Sorry, you missed a spot.” Cassandra was about to tip the plate over Chloe’s head, and as a result, Elle did the only thing she could think of. She pushed the plate harder in the opposite direction, all over Cassandra.

The cafeteria was filled with mixed emotions. Some couldn’t help laughing while the others were too in shock of what had just happened to react at all. Elle felt sicker than she had ever been in her whole life. She was seriously about to vomit up the little lunch she hadn’t mopped off the floor.

“You fucking bitch!” Cassandra’s voice screeched higher than anyone thought imaginable. “You are done.”

Elle knew only one option remained now. Run.

Elle grabbed the back of Chloe’s shirt. She was in serious shock, but not enough to hinder her from getting the hell out of dodge. Elle ran straight for the door; this was the whole reason they sat at the table closest to it.

Right before she was going to pass through it, though, she noticed Mr. Evans standing in the doorway. Mr. Evans was her first period English teacher and the only English teacher in Legacy Prep who believed you could be creative in English; not to mention he was nice to look at—all the girls had a crush on him since he started teaching here at the beginning of the year.

Shit, she was trapped. Elle stood there, knowing she was a goner. There was no way anyone did that to Cassandra and got away with it.

“Elle, Chloe, go on back to class,” Mr. Evans spoke calmly, maybe too calmly, but Elle wasn’t about to waste another second of this golden ticket. She had just won the damn lottery.

Elle and Chloe high-tailed it out of the lunchroom. On their way out, Elle heard Mr. Evans calmly speak.

“Ms. Ross, clean up the mess you just made. I can’t have other students thinking they can get away with this, now can I? Oh, and when you’re done, meet me in the Vice Principal’s off…” His voice trailed away.

I am so screwed. No, I am beyond screwed.

When they reached the Spanish classroom and the door came to a close, Elle spoke first.

“I am so sorry, Chloe. It was just a reaction. I didn’t want her to spill it on you.”