Broken Beautiful Hearts(37)

“I’m aware. But she’s a bitch who can make my life miserable.”

“Only if you let her.” Why am I giving Grace a hard time for wanting to fly under the radar when that’s exactly what I’m trying to do? “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“Don’t apologize. I think about telling April off at least ten times a day.” Grace tucks her hair behind her ear. “But she’s cheer captain, which means she picks the routines and decides who gets the prime stunts. I can’t afford to get on her bad side or she’ll stick me in the back row. Or find an excuse to kick me off the team altogether. A cheerleading scholarship is my only chance at getting into a decent college. My GPA isn’t great.”

“I get it.”

“What’s your locker number again?” Christian asks.

“I don’t know. It’s not on my schedule.” That would be too easy.

“Are you sure?” Grace asks. “Usually it’s on the back, at the bottom.”

I scan the printout Miss Lonnie gave me. “Six sixty-six. That can’t be right.” I check again.

LOCKER #666.

“You got the Beast? Let me see,” Christian says.

I hand him my schedule. “What kind of high school uses the symbol of the Antichrist as a locker number?” A month ago I would’ve thought it was funny. But now that I’m April’s latest target, this is ammo.

Christian stops in front of my locker and checks the combination listed on the schedule. He opens the bright blue door and peeks inside. “No sign of the Antichrist or any weird satanic stuff. Just a couple of girls’ phone numbers.”

“Thanks.” I take everything out of my bag except for a notebook and a pen.

“Incoming,” Christian warns.

April zeroes in on me, her resting bitch face intact. “How’s the first day going so far?” she asks. “Looks like they found you the perfect locker.”

Madison laughs.

“Why do you have to start shit all the time, April?” Christian asks.

“I don’t know, Christian. Why are you such an asshole?”

He lowers his voice. “You must’ve rubbed off on me.”

April notices Grace standing beside me and acts shocked. “Seriously, Grace? I thought we were friends.” This girl gives new meaning to manipulative, and Grace can’t afford to piss her off. I don’t want April to give her a hard time because of me.

“Grace’s dad told her to show me around. He’s a friend of my uncle’s. So lay off her.” I have no idea if it’s true. Hopefully, April’s and Grace’s fathers aren’t golf buddies.

“I’m going to class,” I tell Christian.

I mouth bye to Grace, and I head down the hall.

Hopefully, I’m going in the right direction. But getting lost is worth it if it means I don’t have to listen to April’s annoying voice anymore.

Titan, the Twins’ friend who threw the barn party, walks up beside me. He’s a lot taller than I remember and he makes my cousins look average-size. His T-shirt strains across his broad chest, and he flashes me a well-practiced smile.

“How’s your day going?”

“Fine, thanks.”

“Did you have a good time at my party?” he asks.

Small talk. My favorite.

“Yeah. It was my first barn party.” I read the room numbers on the classroom doors. Am I going the right way? I have no clue.

“Need some help finding your class?” Titan asks. “What’s the room number?”

“B-nine. I thought I knew where—”

Before I realize what’s happening, Titan literally sweeps me off my feet—in a move that I’m sure he thinks is swoon-worthy. He slipped his arm under my legs like he had practiced this a hundred times.

It catches me off-guard and my pulse speeds up the moment he touches me.

“Put me down, Titan.”

“What’s the problem? I offer this kind of assistance to all the pretty girls with leg braces.” He grins and makes a huge show of carrying me down the hall. “Coming through,” he calls out so everyone will hear him.

How far away is my classroom?

The crowded hallway traffic parts like the Red Sea as people move out of his way. Screaming at him will just call more attention to us. It literally feels like every person in the hall is watching me, and I can’t stand it.

I turn my face toward Titan’s neck and hide.

It seems like it takes forever to get to my class. “Here you go,” he says, bending down until my feet touch the floor again. “Door-to-door service.”

I’m so annoyed, but people are still gawking. This will be lunchroom gossip for sure. But nothing anyone in Black Water says about me could be worse than what some of my friends were saying about me back home.

“That was so uncool,” I say, just loud enough that he can hear me. “Don’t pull that crap with me again.”

“I bet you’ll change your mind.”

“Doubtful.” I turn away and walk into my classroom.

Less than half the seats are occupied in the tiny room. I go straight to the back row and take out my notebook so I won’t have to make eye contact with anyone. At least nobody in here saw Titan’s performance in the hall.