Chloe (Made Men, #3)(16)

Walking up to the school after Christmas break gave Chloe mixed feelings. Her father had mentally tortured her every night, and the night of his swearing in, he had stepped it up a notch. She hadn’t cried a tear since realizing her father was right: Crying didn’t erase her past. Crying didn’t make touch easier for her to take. Crying didn’t make the nightmares stop. Crying had never once saved her or made one thing easier for her.

It was as if she had used all of her tears up. Her eyes had run dry, and there was nothing left to cry for.

Yes, she was able to get away from the insane asylum, but this wasn’t any better.

“Still a freak, I see.” Cassandra giggled to her little group as they passed for obvious reasons.

But there was one silver lining. The best part about her life was here, and that was Elle. She had missed her a lot and hadn’t had a chance to visit Elle over the break due to moving and her father’s new position. She hoped, now that school had started back again, the excuse of projects and homework would help her.

Surprisingly, she found Elle waiting at the front of the school on one of the benches.

“Why is your face bruised?”

How could she tell that fast? Chloe had thought she had expertly put on some concealer and foundation to hide it.

“I didn’t think it was that obvious,” she whispered to her.

“It’s not, but I can tell because I’ve had to do the same thing,” Elle admitted. “Now, what happened?”

“I-I uh … tripped again.”

Elle went silent understanding what Chloe had meant before she quickly got up and started heading into the school. The last time they had walked the halls, it had turned bloody, so Chloe now started walking directly behind Elle, using her as a shield. It was easier for her this way, looking down at Elle’s feet, following right behind. At least no one will see the school freak coming right at them.

They didn’t talk about her bruises once as the day went on, and even though Chloe should have lied to Elle, there wasn’t much of a point. She always knew when she was lying.

With her going to Art next and Elle going to Health, she expected them to go their separate ways, but Elle continued to lead the way to Art class. What is she doing?

“Wait here when class is over. I’ll get over here as quickly as I can,” Elle told her as she reached the Art room.

“It’s too far; you shouldn’t.”

“I’ll be fine, just wait.”

“No, I can—”

“What are you going to do when Sebastian takes a book to your face or drags you outside so everyone can beat up on you? Are you going to be able to take it?”

Looking down at her hands, she started wringing them. She knew the answer; they both did. She didn’t want to say it, though.

“I’ll meet you here,” Elle told her before she whisked away.

Walking into her classroom, Chloe felt defeated. She wanted to be strong like Elle, but anything strong in her had died the day she had been taken.

Taking a seat at her table that once remained empty before her scars, she looked at the table that held Cassandra and her other old friends. The empty seat beside Cassandra had once been hers. Chloe had gone from sitting at the cool kids table to the table no one would ever dare to sit at because that was where the school freak sat.

It was strange to show up at school and lose every friend you’d ever had because of the way you looked. It was even stranger to lose the one friend you’d had since kindergarten …



“That’s mine!” Chloe told the little boy who had just snatched away the beautiful picture book she was flipping through.

When the boy had run away with it, laughing, she wanted to run and tell the teacher, but with it being her first day of school, she was afraid they would start to call her tattle tale and begin to make fun of her.

She began to pout in the corner by herself, but a blonde girl came over and handed the picture book back to her.

“I’m sorry. Sometimes, my bubby can be mean.”

Chloe gave her a hug. “Thank you! Do you want to play with me?”

“Yes.” The little girl smiled at her. “My name’s Cassandra. What’s yours?”

“Chloe.”

Then another memory bombarded her.

“Can you believe we will be in high school next year!” Cassandra had practically squealed it in her ear with excitement.

The two had dreamed about high school for years and had endless conversations about the day they could finally attend Legacy Prep High.

“I know! I can’t wait.” She smiled, hoping it was going to be everything they dreamed of …



The memories made her realize it wasn’t strange, but it was sad. Their relationship had gone downhill when her father had started running for mayor as a democratic candidate. Cassandra’s father, being a strong republican, had said many harsh things about her father, and eventually, she believed it had started rubbing off on Cassandra. Then, when their dreams had come true of becoming a freshman, she could see that Cassandra had changed during summer break. Cassandra was determined to make her high school fantasies come to life, no matter the cost, and she wanted to take Chloe with her.

Chloe didn’t want to become the most popular girl in school the way she did. Cassandra had wanted to do it dirty by bullying girls like Elle and now her. It had been hard for Chloe. She hadn’t wanted to lose her friendship at first. And then, when Cassandra had become unpredictable, Chloe had been scared to get in her way or, worse, be on the receiving end. So now she agreed that it was sad watching your best friend turn into a monster.