I feel him before I see him. His overpowering presence that fills every room creeps up behind me. The sound of my rapid heartbeat almost drowns out his approaching footfalls.I glance down both sides of the hallway. Empty. Fuck.

My mouth goes dry, goose bumps pebble across my skin, and the small Hairon my neck rise.

“Hey, love bug,” his deep raspy voice taunts. A moment later, he appears on my right side, leaning against the locker next to mine. “Still haven’t shed your armor, bug?” He taps his index finger against the side of

my back brace.

“Leave me alone, Colt.” My feeble request is met with a dark chuckle.“Is that really what you want? According to rumors, you have a little crush on me.”

I don’t hide the way I roll my eyes. “You know that’s not true.” It’s really not, but of course, everyone would believe it. He is popular, a star player on our football team, tall, muscular, and of course, handsome. What’s not to love? For me, it’s his nasty personality.

He takes another step closer, eating up all the space until he is so close I can smell him. His spicy aftershave tingles my nose when he leans in, and his hot breath fans over my cheek as he talks. “I don’t know… those texts were pretty convincing.”

Before I realize what’s happening, he grabs my wrists and twists me around to face him. He turns us both so my back is against the locker, and his body cages me in. “What are you—”

The words get lodged in my throat as Colt grabs the corner of my brace and pulls the velcro off with one hard tug “No!” Panic takes over, and I drop everything in my hand to fight Colt off. I look down at my body, just to find myself completely naked. All my clothes are in a pile at my feet, leaving me completely bare in

front of him.

“Oh my god! Look at this freak,” someone calls.

My head snaps up, and I find the hallway filled with students and teachers. Everyone is looking at me, laughing and pointing at me. Humiliated and exposed, I frantically try to cover myself with my arms,

looking for a way out, while Colt stands in front of me, laughing the loudest out of the crowd.

“LAST STOP!”

My eyes fly open, and my fingers dig into the sweater draped over my lap as if the soft fabric could protect me from my bad dreams. A fog of sleep and confusion is still heavy as I look around the now empty bus.

“Last stop, miss,” the bus driver calls down the aisle.

“Oh. Sorry.” Scrambling off my seat, I grab my sweater and backpack and make my way out. “Thank you,” I tell the driver when I pass him. I only receive a grunt in response, but I don’t hold it against him. This was a

long-ass bus ride.

It’s good to stretch my legs after getting off the bus, the third—or was it the fourth?—since leaving Grandma’s. I’m still not sure whether she was sorry to see me go or not. She said she was, but she didn’t waste any time getting me on the bus and walking away.

The weeks I spent with her were a nice escape from regular life. Sometimes, when Mom is in one of her really low moods, she looks at me like I ruined her entire life. And I guess I did, in a way. She wouldn’t have gone bankrupt paying my medical bills if it wasn’t for me getting injured so badly while I was training. She wouldn’t have lost her job, either. I needed round-the-clock care in the early days. I know I cost her a lot much morethan I can ever make up for.

At least the last few weeks were a break from the guilt, even if my grandma isn’t exactly the loving maternal figure most people picture whenthey think of a grandmother. Mom’s never been that way either, so I guess it runs in the family.

But there was no guilt at Grandma’s, and she at least tried to make sure I was comfortable and happy while I was with her.

It’s over now, and I’m actually looking forward to spending a night in my own bed again. It might be small, and it might be in a trailer, but it’s mine.

The walk from the bus station doesn’t take long, or maybe it’s anticipation making the walk seem quicker than it is. Either way, the sight of the familiar trailers up ahead gets my feet moving faster. I got plenty of

sleep during the long bus ride, but that didn’t mean I was comfortable. And I could use a shower after all that traveling.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I walk into after unlocking the front door.

Somebody robbed us. Somebody cleaned us out completely because the place is empty. “Mom?” I call out in a shaky voice, almost afraid to move. I can hardly even breathe. “Are you here?” The only answer I get is the echo of my own voice.

I’ve been gone for two weeks. What could possibly have happened in two weeks? I search my memory for any hint of us getting evicted, but everything was going okay as far as I knew. Was this visit planned as a way to keep me out of here while something awful happened? Could Mom have at least warned me before I got here? Or what if it was something even worse than that? What if she had an accident and is in a hospital somewhere? What if she—

The sudden blaring of a car horn outside the trailer makes me jump before I spin around to look out the still-open door. A car much nicer than any I’ve ever seen around here is sitting out there, and a moment later, the door opens, and a familiar head pops out. “You’re earlier than I expected! Iwas going to meet you at the bus station, but you were already gone.”

“Mom?” I whisper. It’s her, but it’s not her. I mean, she’s driving a Mercedes, for one thing, and she looks great. Like she just had her hair done, and she’s dressed in clothes much nicer than the jeans and T-shirts

I’m used to seeing her in. “What happened?” I blurt out as she gets out of the car. “Where is

everything?”

She reaches me and gives me a brief hug, which is still better than what I expected. Mom has never been big on displaying affection. “Why don’t we get in the car, and I’ll tell you about everything along the way?”

“Along the way, where?”

Just like that, her beaming smile slips, and now I’m looking at a woman who reminds me more of my mother. “Honestly, Leni. Why do you have to make everything so difficult? I’m your mother. Do you think I would take you anywhere dangerous?” She laughs like it’s actually funny, like she would never do anything like that. And it’s not that she’s ever hurt me, exactly, but she’s also never gone too far out of her way to protect me.

I get in the car like she asks and look once more at the trailer. It looks so sad and empty now. Not that it ever looked that great before. “Is all my stuff gone, too?”

She clicks her tongue, impatient. “Yes, dear, the whole place is emptied out.”

She quickly returns to her chipper attitude, smiling from ear to ear. “It has been a very big couple of weeks. I would have called you at your grandmother’s, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”

She succeeded. “So what’s the big surprise? What happened? Did you win the lottery?”

“In a way, yes. I hit the jackpot.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, I fell in love! I met the man of my dreams, and we’re getting married next week.”

If she crashed the car right now, I wouldn’t be more surprised. “You’re what?” It’s not April Fool’s Day, is it?

“Is it so surprising a man could fall in love with me?” she chirps, giggling. “Yes, we’re in love. I know it’s all happened so fast, but like they say, when you know…” She gives another little giggle.

“He is the most incredible man. Kind, generous, funny, intelligent. And all he wants, Leni, is to take care of us. This is the end of all of our struggles and concerns. We’re finally going to live the life we both deserve.”

I’m still stuck. I can’t piece any of this together in my head. “So where are we going?”

“To his house—our house, now.”

“We’ve moved in with him?"

“Well, silly, what did you think? Yes, naturally, we’re moving in with him. Actually, I already have. It was only a matter of waiting for you. Now, everything is complete. We’ll be a family together.”

Maybe I fell asleep on the bus and haven’t woken up yet. I actually pinch myself just in case that’s true, but no, I’m awake. And more confused than I can remember being in a long time

“I know it’s cliché, falling for your boss,” she continues, oblivious to my shock. “But there was no stopping it. The second we set eyes on each other, it’s like it was meant to be. Destiny.”

“So this is your boss? At the new law firm you started at?” She wasonly there a few days before I left for my trip.

“Yes. I can’t wait for you to see the house! It’s a mansion. James is so looking forward to having you there, too. He’s been so excited all day. He even wanted to pick you up, but I thought it would be better if I did since this is all such a big surprise. You deserved to hear all about it from me.”

“What’s his last name again? James what?”

“James Alistair.”

Alistair. Fuck no.

I’m going to be sick. As if the rest of this wasn’t bad enough. I no longer see the scenery we pass as Mom drives us to our new home, babbling the whole way. I see the hallway back at school, back before everything fell apart.

Back when I was still in training a few years ago.When I had a whole bright, shining future ahead of me.

I could walk through the halls with my head held high as people greeted me, waving and saying hi as I passed. I was popular. I had friends. People wanted to be near me, the local celebrity on her way to the Olympics. I never saw myself that way. I wasn’t anybody special. If anything, I used to wonder if all those people who wanted to be my friend would lose a little bit of their excitement if they saw how grim and tough life as an aspiring Olympic gymnast could be. I didn’t have much room for fun or parties, or all the other things kids were into. But it was nice, feeling their approval as I walked to my locker and looked forward to chatting with my best friend before class.

Until somebody slammed into me from behind hard enough to knock me against a row of lockers. “Whoops,” a male voice said, nasty and cold. I barely had time to shake off my surprise before being jostled again by a second person.

“Stuck-up bitch.” Colt Alistair sneered at me while his brother laughed. Nix was already on his way down the hall, snickering over his shoulder. But Colt continued staring at me, almost like he was challenging me to fight back. I was too stunned and confused to offer anything but a puzzled stare.

I couldn’t understand why they didn’t like me. Everybody liked me. I had never done anything to them, either, not even close. We had hardly everspoken to each other, and when we did, it was usually because they were saying something nasty to me, and I was asking what I ever did to deserve it.

They hated me, and nothing has changed in three years. And now, my mother is marrying their father. Dread plants itself in my stomach and starts to spread through my body, sending waves of icy disbelief down to my fingertips and toes.

I wish I had never gotten on that bus to come home..