“Nope. I’m outta here.”

“Alex.”

“See ya, Cord!” Stuffing my books and papers back in my bag, I flashed him a quick grin and waved as I hurried in the direction of where Jamie had just gone. I had no plans on meeting up with him. I really did have to meet with Beth and Hannah. The daily supper date was now a tradition for us and it was highly anticipated every night for me. They didn’t ask questions about the years before or bring up names or things that happened to me. They were comfortable to be around, unlike Marissa, who had emailed me every day since her visit.

She was determined to be friends again. I had no interest. That ship had sailed. Accepting her friendship was the beginning of a slippery slope. I just knew it. Then Angie would be in contact. Justin might be with her. Even Eric might give me a phone call.

They had all ditched me.

I wasn’t signing up for a second abandonment.

Going through the doors that led to the food court, I stopped abruptly before I rounded the corner. I heard Jamie saying, “Come on. Seriously. You’re killing me, Chatsworth.”

Expecting Tiffany’s comeback, my eyes popped out when Hannah growled instead. “Lay off, Jamie. I mean it. I have a crap load of texts to show my sister if you don’t leave me alone.”

“She said I could be with other girls.”

“Not her sister. She didn’t have me in mind and you know that. She’d go ballistic if she knew you were doing this.”

“Come on,” his voice lowered to a husky soothing murmur. “Doesn’t that feel good? I can make you feel really good. You know I can. Just say the word. You can feel this all night long.”

A slapping sound came next before Hannah rasped out, out of breath, “I told you to stop touching me. I mean it.”

“Bitch!”

Gritting my teeth, I tightened my hold on my bag and threw my shoulders back. Cued my entrance and I rounded the turn. He had Hannah pressed against the mailboxes. The rest of the room was empty, not a surprise. It was Friday night. Most didn’t eat in the cafeteria on the weekend nights. Plastering a bright smile on my face, I marched up to them. “Sorry I’m late, Hannah. I got caught up with a group project.”

Jamie turned. His glare doubled from the usual one he kept for me. “You’re everywhere.”

His hand hadn’t moved from under her shirt and Hannah slapped at it now, pushing him away at the same time. “She’s my friend.”

“She’s weird.”

My back stiffened, but I couldn’t argue. I was weird.

“She’s my friend,” Hannah stressed again. “Leave me alone, Jamie, and leave her alone.”

“She’s in my group for class.” His eyes chilled. I expected frost to start growing on them. “I don’t know what you’ve got over Cord, but it’s not cool. I’m going to find out.”

Okay. The slight enjoyment I’d been having fell away. Anger replaced it. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” He raked a disdainful eye up and down me. “You’re not hard on the eyes. I’ll give you that one, but I know you’re not banging Tatum. So I figure you’re blackmailing him.”

“You think the only reason he likes me is if I were blackmailing or sleeping with him?”

He wasn’t far off, but it wasn’t Cord that was sharing my bed.

“You’re not giving it up to him. You’re a damn prude if I ever saw one.” A cocky smirk came over him. “You can’t stand the sight of me, I know that too. Most girls love me. Hell, most girls put the moves on me within five minutes of meeting me.”

Hannah groaned, “Oh my god.”

He kept going, his gaze harsh as he stared me down. “Your social skills suck too. Only people I can tell that like you are Cord and this chick, plus her freak cousin too.”

“That’s enough!”

Ignoring the outrage beside us, my eyes narrowed to slits and I took a step closer. His eyes widened, just a fraction, before the same cocky arrogance slid back in place. Oh yes. He was cautious of me now. He saw the anger in my eyes and he’d taken notice of it. It wasn’t the anger he’d dealt with in Hannah or his girlfriend, or any other girl.

They were normal. I was not.

I had banked this rage for so long, since coming to Grant West, but it was there. It was why my friends had left. They’d been afraid. Jamie wasn’t, but he had fallen silent. He knew he’d stepped into something that maybe he wasn’t sure he should’ve.

As I continued to stare at him, only him, Hannah was behind me now, I let the rage grow. I let him see what was inside of me.

It had gone beyond the bristling stage. It was full-on raging in me now.

I was loving it. It made me feel alive.

It made me feel powerful.

Then Jamie backed away. “Whatever. You’re a freak.”

An evil grin came over me. He was right. A part of me was freakish. It was the part that’d been given birth when my parents dumped me. I’d been scared of it, but now I was starting to embrace it. No words had left my lips, but an unspoken knowledge was there. I would do anything to get back at him. He only had to give me a reason. I would enjoy it. No, I would thrive on it. Jesse and everyone else be damned. In that moment, as I was feeling my rage, no one could stop me.

Jamie saw it all. He backed down from it.

Wise choice, my friend.

“Jamie!” Hannah smacked him in the chest. “Stop talking to my friend like that. I mean it.”

He scoffed at her, shaking his head, as he backed away from us. He didn’t turn his back so he treaded in reverse until he hit the door. Reaching behind, he fumbled for the handle and pushed the door open as he slipped through it.

“I’m so sorry. He shouldn’t talk to you like that. He’s such an ass**le.”

I shook my head and pushed it down. The rage was still simmering, but I had it under control, enough to look at my friend. She wouldn’t know.

She gave me a shaky grin. “I’m really sorry.”

She didn’t. I shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ve grown used to his attitude. We are working on a project together.”

“Still,” she sighed. “He shouldn’t be able to talk like that to you. I’ll say something. I’ll make him stop.”

“It’s okay.” When she tried to continue arguing, I stopped her. “I mean it. I’ll handle him.” I already had, though she’d been unaware of it. Jamie wouldn’t be a problem for me anymore. He would be fearful from now on, but I highly doubted that I’d have to deal with the same type of callous treatment again.