Hoping she didn’t plan on anything too extreme today, Sora breathed to ease her knotted stomach; it might just be money, but she didn’t bring her purse, and generally, that was more Lori’s department as the 3rd in command.
The crowd parted for Jenny, more awkward waves and chuckles as they passed, knowing precisely what was up if Sora was with any of Kari’s little pack of ravenous wolves.
Sora glanced up at the lanky girl—she was shockingly strong for her thin arms and legs.
It was rare for her to come and fetch her herself, and that made Sora believe Kari demanded it.
No one bossed Jenny around but the Alpha Bully.
“Umm… What’s Kari w-want?” “Stuttering again, huh?
Meds not working?” she joked, giving her a small smirk.
Bitch… Mary basically confirmed they’re probably causing all of the problems!
“Eh-heh… I, umm, I-I guess not.” They stopped outside of the gym, a small, unreadable smirk on the bully’s face as she smacked Sora’s butt to move forward, making her yelp.
“Ack!
Jenny…” “Don’t keep the boss lady waitin’, flat-ass.
I’d love to see you meet up with your ol’ pal again, but I got somewhere to be.” The bully probably did it on purpose because she was wearing a skirt.
A few boys’ eyes darted their way, making Sora blush while trying to restrain herself from rubbing the tingling area.
Hesitantly moving through the closed double doors to escape a second threatening slap, Sora hissed out a long stream of air as they closed behind her.
Tingles ran along Sora’s spine when a girl on the opposite side locked it with a key only the janitors were supposed to have.
As she feared, the only janitor she knew was standing a short distance away: Wendy, her old best friend who worked part-time for the school.
She grabbed the straps of her backpack to stop her hands from shaking as she saw Wendy’s muddy, brown eyes centered on the floor, her left hand rubbing her elbow and refusing to look at her.
Kari… Why did you force Wendy to be here?
Looking between the scattered teenagers setting up volleyball nets for the girls’ volleyball team to see if there was anyone besides Kari’s gang, she couldn’t spot anyone who wasn’t connected to the girl.
She realized she wouldn’t have the cushion of strangers with the door locked, as well.
Kayla stepped around her after locking the door, a big grin on her goofy face as she motioned with her thumb to the locker room.
“Kari’s waiting!
Oi, thanks for the key, Wendy!
Hah, c’mon, Sora, let’s go!” Sora walked silently past the athletes, and she saw Wendy join them out of the corner of her eye; neither of them managed to look at each other.
“Gloomy much?” Kayla giggled, slapping Sora on the back.
It seemed the other girls were more comfortable getting physical lately.
“C’mon, lighten up!” “Ugh…” Sora let out a weak laugh.
“What’s this about, Kayla?” “Hmm?
Wi-dunno,” she shrugged with a cackle.
“I was told to lock the door and bring ya in; I’m the fisher today!” “A fisher, huh… funny.” Glancing at Wendy, she saw she was wearing a pair of ripped jeans they’d gotten together three years ago, around the time Kari showed up in their middle school.
They looked a little small on her, but she was also a lot skinnier since the last time they’d spoken.
Sora cursed at Kari, Wendy’s terrible drunk mother, and her fate; life had only gotten worse by the year.
Nerves mounting as they entered the girls’ locker room, Sora’s fear settled in when she finally saw the pack leader herself.
“Brought her, Boss!” Kari sat on a bench between them, amber eyes somehow shimmering with her neutral expression as she appraised Sora.
“Hmm…” Wearing all-black sportswear, a fitted polyester T-shirt, shorts, and training shoes, Kari was ready for her rigorous sports routine.
A gym freak, she played and excelled in everything.
Being 190 cm tall and as toned as a Sports Illustrated model, she had everyone wrapped around her pinky finger.
Kari wasn’t smiling like the other six girls standing around her, causing a nervous silence to ensue as they waited for her to speak.
Lori sat next to her, using one of the brushes she’d stolen from her a few months back to straighten her long brown locks, not looking particularly interested in the gathering.
After the awkward pause, Kari scratched the back of her head, her shoulder-length black hair shifting, and she seemed a lot more agitated than normal.
“I didn’t see you at lunch, Sora… I was hoping to catch you before the school day ended, but I got a call that pissed me off.
So, I had to cool down a bit.” Sora held her breath, cleared her throat, and crossed her arms under her bust as the girl’s assaulting eyes berated her.
All the girls stood stock still as Kari continued, nose twitching, and Lori even stopped brushing her hair.
“I like to think of myself as a patient and understanding person… I’ve learned a lot since moving here.
But some things really… set me off.” Fingernails digging into her side, Sora saw a concerned look across Wendy’s face, still refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.
Wanting to pull Kari’s attention away from her, Sora cleared her throat—probably not a good idea, but she never liked putting Wendy in Kari’s crosshairs.
“Umm—ahem—d-did I, umm… What d-did I do this time?” She flinched as Kari stretched, cracking her neck, seemingly attempting to work off some tension before dropping back to the bench with a low grunt.
Sora could have heard a pin drop in the still atmosphere.
She hadn’t seen Kari this upset in a long time.
“Show her.” Lori clicked her tongue, a grimace crossing her face as she set the brush down to take out her phone from her back pocket.
“Dammit, Sora… You’re always so stupid.
Kari may just kill you if you do shit like this.” She made a short, guttural grunt before opening a video and holding it up for Wendy and her to see.
Sora’s face drained of color; it was the video she’d sent to the police department.
“I-I d-don’t—” Sora’s stammer cut off as Kari loosely held up her hand, closing her eyes and taking a long, deliberate breath.
“I get it… I do.” “W-What?” Sora took a step back, but two of Kari’s girls blocked the exit.
It didn’t make sense.
How did she get a video she sent to the police?
She couldn’t think properly as Kari continued talking.
“Being the… little vixen you are, you thought you could upset the balance of my school by sending this to the police.
Surely, if anyone could help your place in life, it would be the good defenders of the people.
Right?” Sora couldn’t speak—she didn’t know what else she could do or say—Kari’s underlying livid tone and tense stretches said it all: she was dead meat.
All she could do now was wait for whatever punishment Kari had in store.
It wasn’t like screaming or yelling would get her anywhere while trapped inside the locker room, and Kari knew it.
Kari mournfully shook her head, eyes opening to stare at Sora.
“I let you live here, Sora.
I let you stay, despite everything everyone told me, but you’ve forgotten the cardinal rule… “Life is simple, Sora,” she snapped, flexing her fingers.
“You have power, or you don’t… You don’t, Sora.
You don’t have a backbone—at all—so you didn’t confront me, and instead… you did this… “Well, at least you did surprise me a little,” she grunted, hands resting on the bench as she leaned back to stare at the ceiling.
“Hmm… What to do with you now?” “You could always kill her!
Heh, like she did her mom!” Lori chimed in, making Sora’s skin crawl and several of the girls shift nervously.
“I mean, how many chances have you already given the girl?” Dammit!
It’s not like I meant to kill my mom in childbirth, you son of a… Kari clicked her tongue a few times, leaning forward to give the smirking, brown-haired girl a side-long look.
“Lori… What did you tell me when I first came to Miami?” “Humph,” she grunted, looking to the left with a slight pout.
“It was different back then; gah, she’s just… such an eyesore.” Seeing the casual girl return to playing with her phone, Sora wouldn’t put it past the insane bully to actually stab someone, and the others could see it too by their shifting eyes.
Wendy forced a chuckle, drawing everyone’s focus to her.
“U-Umm… Can I go now, Kari?” Just as everything went quiet, a twinkle appeared in Lori’s brown eyes, her vision shifting between them.
“Oh!
I know what our little fox’s punishment should be, Kari!”