SWNOVELS Forged in Blood: Chapter 13
The usual hum of chatter in the Dionysus Commons dining hall seems to have gone up a hundred decibels. A group of about twenty students, some of whom I recognize from high school, are crowded in the corner, and I crane my neck to see what’s causing all the fuss. Too many people block my view, so I give up and turn to study my options for lunch.
“Penelope!”
My feet and heart falter. Surely it’s a coincidence that someone just called out that name. It isn’t totally unique.
But when I turn around, the crowd parts enough for me to see that my misfortune is real. My worst nightmare comes alive before my eyes. Standing there, larger than life and surrounded by sycophants, is Penelope Nugent. The girl who made so much of my time in high school a misery. The same person responsible for the nickname that will haunt me forever—Opeelia.
The memory of that night in the school auditorium sears my brain and makes my knees wobble. I grab onto the back of the nearest chair to keep myself from dropping to the floor. Emotions wash over me like I’m back there—excitement at playing Lady Macbeth in our school production, then the humiliation and crushing despair. The sting of their taunts.
I suck in a deep breath and drag my eyes back to my tormentor. I heard she went to some fancy college in California, so what the hell is she doing here? Please tell me she’s just visiting. There are a few people from our old class in the year above me, so that’s entirely plausible. Please God, do not be this cruel to me.
“Everything okay there, sweet girl?” Malachi’s concerned voice cuts through the fog in my brain.
“I’m fine,” I grit out.
“You sure?”
“She said she was fine, Kai.” Axl’s voice carries its usual bored tone. “Let’s go.”
I tear my eyes away from Penelope and her crowd of admirers. Xavier is watching her with an amused look on his face, and Axl is scowling, seemingly at nobody in particular. Malachi stares at me, the look in his eyes mirroring the concern in his voice. “You two go ahead. I’ll catch up,” he says, not tearing his gaze from mine.
“Don’t take too long.” Axl shoots me a look filled with disgust before getting in the coffee line next to Xavier.
“Who is she?” Malachi asks.
“Who?” My voice comes out in barely a whisper.
“The girl you were gawking at like you’d seen a ghost.”
I shake my head, trying to dampen the onslaught of painful memories brought to the surface at the sight of my high school bully. I guess Malachi knowing who she is doesn’t matter. If she’s here as a student, my life at Montridge just got one hundred times worse. And there’s not a single thing I can do about it. Thanks to the stipulation attached to my trust fund, I’m required to attend Montridge University if I want to go to college.
“She …” I swallow down another knot of emotion. “She went to my high school.”
He frowns. “I take it you weren’t friends?”
“Definitely not,” I croak.
“Seems like there’s more to it than just going to the same school though.” He probes further, his green eyes burning into mine.
I shrug. “She was kind of mean to me.” That’s the understatement of the century, but to tell him the full extent of her cruelty would take me at least a week and no doubt make me come off deranged. Nobody could put up with that level of torture without doing something about it. Except that I did. I was completely powerless to stop her.
“Kind of mean, huh?” He searches my face for more answers, but I refuse to give him any further information about my traumatic time in high school.
“Kai. You coming or what?” Xavier yells from the other side of the dining hall.
Malachi keeps his eyes locked on mine for a few beats longer, then blows out a breath. “Don’t let her get to you, sweet girl,” he says, before he heads off in the direction of his friends.
Yeah, right. If only it were that simple.