There was a reason Kari had scouts tracking her progress through seasons since middle school: she was the pretty sports prodigy with a shining future, and everyone wanted to feed off her indomitable confidence.
Sora would have admired her too if she hadn’t known how ruthless she really was; the girl was physically gifted, and after what Kari said, she wondered if Lori and Jenny were the influences that brought out the rotten side of her.
Shivering as she caught sight of Hannah, Sora’s jaw tightened in her momentary lapse in judgment.
No… Kari only believes in the strong.
There’s no room for weakness when it comes to her, and if someone does show it, she’ll eat them alive.
She is the Alpha Bully who makes it easy for everyone under her to pick on whoever they want.
Kari didn’t look her way once, as if she wasn’t even worth her time.
She dominated the volleyball practice, drawing a moderate crowd that couldn’t keep their eyes off her.
She really is a succubus… There’s no way she can be stronger than all the boys and not be using some kind of magic, Sora grumbled internally while double-checking her towel and shoving open the door to exit out the back.
Her hand rose to shield her eyes from the blazing sun that beat down on her tan skin.
Swallowing a hard lump in her throat, Sora’s fingernails pressed against her arms as the soft sea breeze tingled her hair under the cloudless sky, doing nothing to mitigate the Miami heat.
Hannah followed soon after, not looking too thrilled about the task she’d been given, but Sora knew it was more about Sora wasting her precious after-school time than the act itself.
No, Hannah couldn’t care less about bullying Sora—she wasn’t worth her attention.
Sora’s cheeks flushed further as she caught confused glances from a few of her peers walking through the field to hit up the nearby shopping centers of Miami’s lively South Beach area, and to pull her mind away from the questioning stares, she tried to pretend no one was around her.
No one will think a thing when I get further away from school; they’ll just think I’m heading to the beach!
I just need to get away from school… Quivering, Sora thought about the hotel staff that managed the over fifty-million-dollar suite her father owned in South Beach.
Ron and Howie never judge me when I tell them about Kari, but there’s not much they can do about it since they’re just staffers at the hotel.
She’d refrained from mentioning anything about Kari having powers to the two since when she’d brought up her thoughts to Dr.
Jones, it had given just the ammunition needed to convince her dad she was making things up.
Mary had the documents, so it didn’t matter what she said.
Still, she had to keep what few people she had in her corner and not scare them away to remain sane—the unneeded meds didn’t help—it hurt a lot that her dad didn’t believe her, but he was trying to do his best.
Instead, it was the stupid people Mary mentioned that were screwing her life up.
It doesn’t make sense!
she internally screamed, feeding off her boiling blood to move past the shame of only having a towel on as a covering in the middle of the bustling city of Miami.
Kari didn’t sound like she wanted me around at all—which is fine; I’ll leave.
Yet Lori and Jenny want me to stay so they can bully me?
The hell?!
Lori, sure—she’s a damn psychopath… But Jenny?
Jenny doesn’t really care for me; she mostly ignores me.
Why would she want me to stay?
Everything she’d come to think about the Trinity of Bullies had come into question after Kari shut down Lori.
It had been shockingly therapeutic to see the nutcase get a taste of Kari’s heat, but it still didn’t make sense.
Taking a deep breath, Sora started down Dade Boulevard toward 24th Street.
Students avoided her out of habit, while most tourists and joggers ignored her, which was nice.
At the intersection, she crossed over to Pedestrian Bridge.
Finally away from school!
I just need… No… Halfway across, she slowed to a stop, her heart thumping against her ribs as the crowd of tourists and locals flowed around her without pause.
Straight ahead of her was Lori, making Sora’s throat catch as she leaned against a green signpost with an innocent smile.
There’s no way she’d do anything in public, right?
Although… it is Lori… Teeth grinding together, Sora pushed forward; she couldn’t cross without moving past her.
It was the middle of the day with tourists flocking, and joggers running up and down the avenue, but she’d recently learned about something called the ‘bystander effect,’ which she had first-hand experience in.
A low growl rumbled in Sora’s throat as Lori’s smile widened with each step closer she took.
Don’t, Lori… Get your kicks out of seeing me naked with a towel in public, and let me go… Lori played with a fruit smoothie in her hands, taking a few sips while waiting, and when the straw dropped from her glossy lips, Sora’s gut tightened.
“Well, well, well,” Lori clicked her tongue, showing a teasing grin as she looked her body up and down, “what a bold little fox you are.
Going out with only a towel on—mmh, daring.” Sora’s chest tensed, cheeks burning; a few tourists frowned as they scooted around them, but carried on, and Lori swiftly closed the distance, whispering in Sora’s ear, “You aren’t going to transfer.” Sora forced a smile.
Lori didn’t have the balls to go against Kari—she was bluffing.
“K-Kari told me I had to.
Are y-you telling me I should let her know you want to c-challenge her?” “Mmh, stuttering as usual…” Lori’s smile didn’t waver as she shook her head.
“No, no, no—you are going to go against Kari’s order.” “Hah!
Funny.
I don’t think so!
If she s-says I need to go, then I go.” Shaking her head again, Lori licked her lower lip and her tone darkened.
“I’m telling you… you aren’t going anywhere.” Lori walked past, the wind of her movement grazing her hot cheeks, and Sora took a shuddering breath and exhaled; it was over.
Her tension eased, and she took another breath to calm her pounding heart.
She didn’t… A freezing smoothie poured over her head and into her towel front, yet Lori’s whispered words against her ear were colder than her drink.
“I said, you’re not going anywhere!
Don’t think of skipping class tomorrow, or Wendy will get it.”