“So how about it?” James asked me, and I could hear the smirk in those words.

This was not where I thought my afternoon would be going. I looked pitifully at my assignment. I’d get maybe a B - B+ if I was lucky handing it in the way it was. Because of James, my A streak was going to be broken.

Motherfucking James.

“Not gonna answer?” he pressed. “Or do you use your body to do that too?”

I took a deep breath and finally stood up.

James chuckled in surprise and took a step back as I turned to him. I took hold of the bill and stared down at it for a moment before I looked back up at him. The asshole wasn’t all that taller than me, and he wasn’t all that meaty either. I glanced from his head down to this shoes, and took a step closer to him.

He stood his ground, his eyes growing a little wider, like he thought he had me. Nearing him until I was close to being flushed against the length of him, I trailed my finger down his torso slowly, smiling flirtatiously at him. He didn’t expect that, and the lust that suddenly stirred in the depths of his eyes was laughable. When my hand reached his jeans, I quickly grabbed his balls with my hand and squeezed.

I squeezed hard. Harder than anything I’d ever squeezed before.

Leaning into him as he shrieked suddenly from the move, I waved the bill in front of his face and told him, “You must think I’m trying to charge by the inch, in which case I think you’ve overpaid.”

I threw the bill in his face and let go of him. He crumbled to the ground, grabbing at his junk and wheezing. His friends laughed down at him, their hands over their mouths like they were trying to stifle their sounds.

“You’re a fucking dead bitch!” he screamed up at me, silencing the cafeteria. “Dead, Leah! I know where you live, you little trailer trash slut!”

I tried to stand my ground. Tried my absolute hardest not to show him I was shaking from adrenaline this confrontation had stirred. I turned away and went to grab my notebook when I heard him howling again. I whipped my face in his direction and gasped at Carter bent over him, grabbing a fistful of his hair.

“What did you just call her?” he growled. “Did you just threaten her life, you stupid piece of shit? I’m going to fucking kill you now, motherfucker!”

The ass kicking James received after that would roam the hallways for over a year. It would keep every guy that ever thought of humiliating me away in fear of the same fate. Carter beat him to the ground, drawing blood, looking like a homicidal maniac. All the while, he ordered James to apologize to me, and James did.

Dozens of times.

I remember just standing there, watching every moment unfold, as the students around us screamed or laughed or ran in search of a teacher. I was horrified yet I couldn’t look away. Even Rome was trying to pull me away, telling me repeatedly to leave the cafeteria. I shook him off, and was rooted there, watching until the very last second.

Carter got five good minutes in before three teachers descended upon him and tore him off of James. They dragged him out of the cafeteria, and I would later be called down to the office to discuss what had gone on with a very baffled Principal. I told the Principal everything, and he was dismayed by our actions.

I didn’t get into trouble, but Carter was suspended for two weeks.

Honestly, I don’t know how he didn’t get expelled.

*

Russell had received a phone call from the school about the incident, and the second I stepped foot inside the trailer, he lost it with me. My body seized up as he came bounding to me, that stark look of anger on his face.

“You think you can just assault someone because they hurt your fucking feelings?!” he shouted, grabbing me roughly by the arm and leading me to the bedroom. “Do you have any fucking idea what could have been at risk?! They could be suspicious of us, Leah! They might send people around just to make sure you’re not learning this shit from somebody at home! How the fuck could you be so selfish?”

He shoved me inside and I landed on my single bed. I sat up and looked away from him as he paced the small space, his hands on his hips.

“It’s that fucking kid again, isn’t he?” he went on, pointing to the window. “You don’t fucking think I know you spend every minute with him? You think I’m unaware of your sneaking out of here when you think I’m passed out? I’m not a fucking idiot, Leah!”

I didn’t say a word. I stared down at the floor and tried to breathe calmly. He was frightening when he got angry. It was like waiting for thunder during a storm; you knew it was coming, you knew it would make you jump, but you couldn’t know when it was going to erupt.

That was Russell in a nutshell. He was angry, and he exploded at random moments, causing you to jump and clench your chest as your heart raced inside of it. My anxiety was through the roof and an apology was at the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t push it out.

I didn’t regret standing up to James. I wasn’t going to apologize for grabbing his balls. He deserved to have them ripped out if it had been up to me. I couldn’t lie to Russell right now and tell him I wouldn’t do it again. I’d do it a thousand times if I had to.

“You learning that violence from him?” he questioned, but I had no time to answer because he was a freight train, moving through the conversation without waiting for a response. “He’s a fucking nobody! A kid with mommy issues and a piece of shit father that can’t even control his own son!”

The second he started talking trash about Carter, I felt my body go rigid. My anger returned and I glared up at him.

“You’re the last person to preach about parenting!” I shouted back so suddenly, I hadn’t even thought of saying it.

He went still, his face looking down at me with pure disbelief. I sat, rattled and afraid. He took a quick step to me and it happened too fast to see it coming. He backhanded me across the face and my head thrashed to the left. My brain felt like it’d been shaken, and the muscle along the left side of my neck was sore. My cheek stung badly, and I had to blink back tears.

“How’s that for parenting?” he growled out. “You’re done with that boy. I ever see you around him, and that hit will be hell of a lot worse!”

He left the room and slammed the door shut.

I stretched open my mouth, trying to work my jaw. The hit felt like it’d stunned my entire head and I didn’t know what was working and what wasn’t.