I think that came from Channing’s half-brother? Max? I wasn’t sure. None of them had made overt steps towards friendship. I was tolerated because of Heather.

Kate stopped at our table, and the other three fanned out behind her. Like the rest of the school, she was wearing the school colors. She had on red pants and a black shirt. The pants were more like tights, and the black shirt was transparent, showing off her red bra underneath. Her hands went to her hips and she glared at me.

I was getting used to all the glares. I felt naked without seeing a couple a day now.

I grinned up at her. “I feel like I should be a hot-air machine. For every bad look I get, I could pop out a balloon with a smiley face.” I smirked. “Bet the glares would stop then.”

Heather snorted.

Some of the guys snickered.

I added, “Like right now. You’d get one in black and red.” I gestured to Kate’s clothes. “It’d match your outfit.”

I caught a faint grin from Cory, but it was masked as soon as she saw me watching. Her eyebrows fixed and her face went blank again. I sighed. So close.

Kate’s sneer turned into a snarl. “You think you’re funny?”

One of the three added, “Maybe she’s taking lessons from Logan?”

Another snorted. “Probably. She needs all the lessons she can get.”

My smile had stretched from ear to ear now. It was genuine, too. “Is this another warning from you? I thought you moved past the cliché insults and name calling. Oh wait. You said lessons. Yes, that’s referencing that I’m dumb. That’s another cliché insult.” With my hand in the air, I lifted a finger with each point. “I’m ugly. I’m dumb. I have too much sex. Those are the three main ones most simpletons use to insult others. The clothes and the mannequin gave me hope. I thought you were starting to progress, but then I heard that you’ve already done that before. It’s recycled material. You guys need to find new stuff. You know what they say about comedians?” At their blank faces, I nodded. “What I expected. If they use old material, the act is boring. People move on. If you’re going to keep drawing fresh fear from everyone, you need new stuff.” I stood and patted Kate’s head. “You can do it. I believe in you.”

Logan stood by the door and held it open. Mason came in behind him. Both found me immediately. I wondered who had notified them, but then Kate grabbed my arm. She twisted it and got into my face. Her hand tightened on my arm and she lowered her voice, “You have until the end of the day to drop out of school. This is the last warning.”

A taunt rose to my tongue, but I swallowed it. The jokes were gone.

Three thoughts happened at the same time. David’s image flashed again. “Fuck it,” came next. Third, when I knew what I was going to do, I thought, “Let’s see how this goes.”

Kate’s eyes widened as she watched the myriad of expressions before she saw my intent. Her hand let me go, and she started to back away, but it was too late. My hand latched onto hers instead, and I took one second to comment, “Bet you weren’t expecting this,” before my other hand grabbed the back of her head and used all my body weight to slam her head into the table.

Everything went silent for a moment. The only sound I heard was my heart thumping. It was calm and steady. Thump.

“You bitch!” someone shrieked from somewhere, but the voices were so far away. They were a slight buzz to me now.

Thump.

People screamed. I heard a few guys swear. Footsteps pounded on the floor. I kept track of all that was happening in the back of my mind. I got a better grip on her head and held her arm down while I tried to lift her head for another slam. She was yelling. I saw her mouth open and caught the flash of terror in her eyes, but then I was jerked backwards. Someone punched me on the cheek. It hurt, but it didn’t penetrate the numb sensation that had taken over me.

Thump.

“You’re going to get your ass beat.” Someone spit on me, but I wiped it off and twisted around. I lunged for whoever was in front of me. She had black hair, maybe Jasmine? I yanked on it and then punched her face.

“Oh, shit!”

“AHHH!”

“Get her off!”

“GET HER!”

I wound up for another hit when I was lifted off my feet. Two strong arms wrapped around me and carried me away. Kicking at them and trying to squeeze out from their hold, I yelled, “Let me go!”

“It’s me. Stop, Sam.”

Kate was being held up by a couple of guys. I think it was Jasmine that I had hit. Natalie and Parker stood around her and both were glaring at me. One brushed Jasmine’s hair from her forehead and was inspecting her face. I growled. I wanted to get them all. Fuck it. I was out for blood now.

Grabbing onto one of the arms around me, I sunk my nails into it. They protested, so I pushed them deeper. I needed to get free. The need to hurt them back was a frenzy inside of me. So many people had hurt me, I wanted to hurt them all—Analise, David, Garrett, Jeff, Lydia, Jessica, Becky, Adam.

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

“Let me go,” I yelled. My voice broke, but I didn’t care. I tried again.

A litany of curses came from behind me and I heard, “Sam, it’s Mason. Stop it.”

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP

“SAM,” he yelled in my ear.

“Get her out of here. No one will say anything.”

Mason argued over my head, “Yes they will.”

“Not if everyone says they’re liars. We’ll handle it. Get her gone.”

“Fine.” His arms tightened around me, and he carried me through a side door. We stepped outside before he let me back on my feet. I knew it was cold, but I didn’t feel it. I was heated. Enough logic had filtered back in as they discussed what to do with me, but my blood was still boiling. The need to hurt them was so powerful. My hands shook, and my head went down. I gasped for air, trying to fill my lungs so I could think straight, but it wasn’t working. The need to run back inside was aching. I had to go back, and I started to, but Mason caught me around the waist. He pushed me against the wall and positioned himself in front of me as a barrier.

“Stop,” he murmured. He kept a hand on my stomach, but it was a light touch.

I drew in more breaths and closed my eyes. Get it together.

“Sam?”

I shook my head and lifted a hand. I needed a minute. Enough reason had come back, and I was starting to realize what I had done. I still didn’t care. There would be ramifications. There were always ramifications. I was trying to remember why I used to care about them.