Chapter 69 CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Scarlett’s POV
"What did Rachael even do to you?" I asked, keeping my voice steady. "I am not scared of bullies, Skye."
Skye scoffed, crossing her arms. "This is not what you were saying a few weeks ago when you begged Blue to take you as his little pet just to be safe from me. You ran to him crying."
My face burned with a sudden, intense heat, but I refused to let her see me waver. "That’s because you were a coward," I shot back, raising my chin. "If you had actually come at me yourself, one-on-one, I would have needed no one’s protection. Isn't it funny how you had to get multiple big guys to corner me and beat me up? Why did you do that, Skye? From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re the one who’s actually scared of me."
A collective gasp echoed through the surrounding students. Skye’s eyes narrowed into slits, her chest heaving in absolute disbelief.
"I see," Skye whispered, her voice dangerously quiet. "Now you have the effrontery to talk to me like this. Fine. We will settle this once and for all. No boys, no interference. We will fight in the courtyard in one week’s time."
I froze. The words hung in the air. This felt like a setup. If I agreed, I was playing right into her hands, and there was no way the guards wouldn't conveniently look the other way while she did whatever she wanted.
"No," I said firmly. "I would not agree to that. I’m not playing your stupid games."
Skye smirked, looking around at the watching crowd. "Then you are admitting that you are scared of me. You’re nothing without your keeper."
"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Skye," I said, trying to sound bored.
"So you come at me riding on Blue’s favor and you think you’ll just get to go scot-free?" Skye stepped closer, her breath smelling faintly of sour apples. "Think again. Watch your back, slut. I promise you, I will ruin you before your time here is done."
A cold shiver ran straight down my spine. It’s not every day you get such a direct, venomous threat from someone who actually has the means to carry it out. But I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me flinch. I held my head up high, deciding to use the one word I knew would rile her up more than any insult.
"Whatever," I said simply.
I turned on my heel, grabbed Rachael’s hand, and walked away from the table, leaving my untouched lunch tray behind. It looked like lunch would not be happening today.
We wove through the staring crowd and hurried out of the suffocating air of the dining hall, heading straight into the open courtyard. The fresh air hit my face, but my hands were still shaking.
The moment we reached the center of the concrete courtyard, Rachael forcefully pulled her hand out of my grip.
I sat down on one of the low concrete slabs of the courtyard fountain, tilting my face up to look at Rachael. She stood there, her chest heaving as she glared at me.
She hissed, "Why did you do that?"
I was completely speechless. I stared at her, my mouth slightly open. Before I could even think up an answer, she threw her hands in the air and said, "Did I ask for your help, Scarlett?"
"Rachael, she was pulling your hair in front of the entire cafeteria," I said, my voice rising in disbelief. "I'm your friend. I was trying to help you."
Rachael let out a bitter, dry laugh. "Friends? You just made things ten times worse. You should have ignored me. All you did just now was dig a deeper hole for yourself, and for me."
She looked more frustrated than angry now, her eyes swimming with a mixture of helplessness and exhaustion. She shook her head and made to walk off, turning her back on me.
"Wait," I said, standing up quickly to follow her. "Why was Skye picking on you anyway? Your ex-friends were also being incredibly mean to you yesterday. What happened?"
Rachael stopped walking, but she refused to look at me. She stared off toward the treeline at the edge of the courtyard, her jaw clenching. "Katie likes Stan," she said, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "And they think there is something going on between us."
I blinked, processing the information. "Why not just tell Stan then? If he knows they're targeting you because of him, maybe he can do something about it."
Rachael snapped her head around, shooting me a fierce glare that was meant to burn. "Why should I tell him? And don't you dare say a word to him, Scarlett. I mean it. I am nothing to Stan. It would be entirely inappropriate to drag him into this."
I held her gaze, knowing even Rachael did not believe the words coming out of her own mouth. The way Stan looked at her, and the way she got defensive whenever his name came up, proved there was definitely something there. But I didn't push that angle.
Rachael sighed, her posture deflating. "Just stay out of my matter for now."
I crossed my arms and gave her a hard, unyielding look. "I don't know if you know this about me yet, Rachael, but I am incredibly stubborn by nature. You are my friend, and I will not turn a blind eye to your troubles just because it's safer."
"What part of mind your fucking business do you not understand?" Rachael shouted, her voice echoing across the open space.
Before I could reply to the outburst, two figures walked into sight from the corridor.
Blue and Stan.
Rachael’s eyes went wide the second she spotted them. Without another word to me, she turned and ran off toward the residential dorms, her sneakers slapping against the pavement. Stan immediately gave Blue a quick, questioning look, and Blue gave him a sharp nod. Stan broke into a speed walk, heading after Rachael immediately to track her down.
Left alone, Blue turned his intense, grey gaze toward me. He started walking slowly across the courtyard in my direction, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.