♔

hen I wake upI'm still reeling from my visit to the gym. I stretch out my legs, scrunching my toes in the pink satin sheets as I remember the look Max had given me. I'm used to people judging me, and maybe they're right to. Maybe I'm just a spoilt princess with the world at her feet; maybe I'm everything he thinks I am.

I spend the journey to school taking everything in. The streets are cobbled, the street lamps the same canary yellow as the rain-slickers and the daffodils. Rose shrubs line the sidewalks, hedged and trimmed into the perfect spheres, bursting with white blossoms. The Palisades is like another world almost, where ugliness ceases to exist. Where each piece, from the people to the flowerbeds, fit perfectly.

I'm sick of it.

The girls are at my locker when I get there, and I can tell from their faces that they know I'm back with Justin. Without a word, I open my locker and glance in the mirror, waiting for the barrage of questions.

"How could you take him back?" Tiana asks. "He cheated on you, Liss. Do you even know what people are saying?"

"It's all over school," Marnie adds. I glance in her direction and see she's enjoying this.

I slam shut my locker and turn back to Tiana. "What are they saying?"

Her eyes darken. She tugs at her sweater. "They're calling you desperate."

It feels like the blood leaves my face. Never in all my eighteen years on this earth have I been referred to as desperate. "They don't know what they're talking about," I say. My tone is short, clipped; I mean business. "It was all just a misunderstanding."

The girls look at one another but know better than to question this. Instead, Tiana hooks her arm in Marnie's, and when Justin walks toward us and throws an arm around my shoulder, I force myself to kiss him on the cheek.

When we make it to English, Kino is already in his seat. I take a seat next to him, careful not to touch him as I unpack my things. Once the class settles, Miss Granger turns away from the board and gives us her brightest smile. She starts to speak, but her voice is drowned out by a surge of wind battering the shutters. The weather channel had said that for the first time in forever, a storm is brewing, and by the way the leaves keep circling the windows, they are right.

We spend the morning highlighting passages from Romeo and Juliet. I've always been a sucker for tragedy, there's just something about all the passion and loss that reminds me there's more to life than this.

"So," Miss Granger says. "Who can tell me, what are one of the main themes of Romeo and Juliet?"

The class is silent, as always. Half of these kids haven't done the reading – including Tiana – and half of them are asleep. In my head, I have the perfect answer to this question: the theme is that love is a violent force that takes over all other values. Love forces Romeo and Juliet to defy society as well as the most important thing of all: family. It's portrayed as a dangerous emotion that takes hold of people and forces them against their world, their beliefs, and most importantly, themselves. Except there's this role I've been playing for the last five years, and putting my hand up in class doesn't fit it.

"I know the theme," Jase says without raising his hand, and all eyes turn to face him. He leans back in his chair, looking over his shoulder until his eyes fall on Kino. Already I know how this will end.

"The theme is that the hierarchy shouldn't be breached, or else chaos ensues. Those of us with class shouldn't be mixing with paupers. I mean, look what happened to Juliet when she let Romeo into her life. It's a warning. There's a class system for a reason, and muddying it leads to problems."

He looks at Kino as he says it, and Kino tenses beside me. His eyes burn into the back of Jase's head, but he doesn't utter a word. With his dad owning several successful chains, Jase is probably one of the wealthiest guys here. Which is why, for the most part, he gets what he wants, and it's why Miss Granger doesn't utter a word. Schools like this rely heavily on parent donations, and Jase's father singlehandedly built this school up; he can just as easily tear it down.

A surge of pity rolls through me. It doesn't surprise me that Jase would say such a thing – he's always been a bit of a bully – but it surprises me Kino doesn't retaliate.

There's an awkward silence. I didn't think it were possible for Kino to tense up any more, but he has. I risk a quick look in his direction, watching as the tiny muscles in his jaw begin to twitch.

One second passes, then two. Before I can think about it, I turn in my seat to face Jase and say, "Romeo wasn't poor. He was equal to Juliet in terms of status and class. Maybe you'd know that if you could actually read."

Miss Granger hides a smile, the way she always does whenever a student says what she can't. "I'm glad someone's done the reading."

The class continues, and slowly, I feel Kino relax. I know it must be hard being the new kid, especially when the rest of us have pretty much grown up together; it's why, despite the looks several people give me, I don't feel bad for calling out Jase.

At lunch, the cafeteria is rife with whispers. At first I'm paranoid and think they are whispering about me, but then Marnie sits down after getting her tray, and her eyes are alive with excitement.

"Did you hear?"

I follow her gaze to the next table over, where Annabelle Jenkins sits alone. "Hear what?"

"Annabelle had a threesome in her hot tub last night with two guys on the football team." Then, in the loudest voice, she says in Annabelle's direction, "S-lut."

Annabelle, who would have to be deaf not to hear Marnie's jibe, turns a beetroot color, before turning her back to us. My eyes soften. Annabelle isn't a particularly nice person. In fact, she'd spread some rumors about me a few years back, but I can't help but feel bad for her. Even her own friends seem to have ostracized her, because she's been banished to the table by the trash can.

This is the way of our school. You are on top one minute and at the bottom the next. It is a reminder that things are never stable, not my family life or social life, and surviving means playing by the rules.

I felt a shift next to me and look up to see Justin, who takes a seat. He throws an arm around my shoulder and says, "The amount of money this school has, you'd think they'd at least serve up some lobster or something. What do our parents pay these people for?" Then he kisses me on the cheek. I try not to flinch.

"I know, it's totally inedible," Marnie says. The look she gives Justin is bordering pornographic. When she catches my eye, she smirks.

I'm grateful when the bell rings. We pick up our trays and dispose of our left overs, before I follow the others to the exit. Annabelle looks up just as I pass her table, and her eyes lock on mine.

I wonder what she's thinking right now. Maybe about the time she told everyone my dad ran off with another woman, and that's why he's never home. Maybe she's thinking this is karma. I know I am.

When school lets out, I head toward the parking lot. Max's truck is there again, two cars away from mine, and he's leaning against the driver door as he texts on his phone. That same anger I'd felt all last night returns. It had taken a lot for me to turn up at that gym, only for him to humiliate me.

He looks up as I get closer, those dark eyes scanning my face. He raises an eyebrow, pushing himself off his truck to say something, but Kino strolls up to him and he turns his attention to his brother.

I ignore them both and unlock my car, but then Kino calls my name. I turn around, surprised when he takes a step toward me.

"Thanks," he says, his expression serious. "I mean, for sticking up for me before. I appreciate it."

I glance at Max, who furrows an eyebrow as he looks between us, clearly confused by this gratitude. I ignore his reaction and turn back to Kino. "Don't worry about it. See you tomorrow."

I slide into my car, feeling Max watch me as I turn on the engine. Then, with a quick glance behind me, I reverse out of my space and watch them both disappear in my rearview mirror.

❤️