Page 53 of False Idols

Jordan smiles at me. It’s a bad smile. It’s not a smile that’s like Beau’s. Beau knows how to turn his on and off, but I don’t think Jordan can do that. The only smile that Jordan knows how to give is a mean one.

“What do I want? What I want,” he says and shoves my shoulder as he talks, “is for you to fucking disappear. That’s what I want, Nevaeh.”

“Leave me alone, Jordan.” I straighten up and try to shoulder past him, but I don’t get anywhere because Jordan punches me in the stomach. My knees give out and vomit rises high in my throat but I manage to keep it down while Jordan holds me up.

“Hey, hey, keep it together, Nevaeh. We’ve all gotten hit hard every now and then by life and you deserve it more than most.” He shoves me against the wall and I’m gasping like a fish out of water. “Now, what the fuck do you think you’re doing around here lately, hmm? Because it looks a whole fucking lot like you think you’re going to get to have a normal time at college and that’s just not fucking happening, you dumb bitch.” He takes a step back from me and gives me a once over. I can see his mind working. He wants to teach me a lesson. He’s going to hurt me, I just don’t know how yet.

“And if The Reaper isn’t going to be the one to fucking teach you a lesson, then I will.”

He’s just going to have a damned soliloquy about it before he does it. I never liked Jordan, not in youth group or in school. He always had to have the last word, but at least that’s buying the time I need to get away from him.

“You know they should have never let you into this school with the rest of us. Not with what you did, you fucking freak.” Jordan turns his back on me and that’s when I grab my still ringing phone.

“Nevaeh, where are you? Is everything-”

I hit the video call button for the call and point it at Jordan while he’s still talking. “You’re trash, Nevaeh. I’m going to make sure you regret ever setting foot on this campus. They’re going to think The Reaper did it. I’m going to kill you and nobody’s gonna stop me.”

“Hey, fuck you!” Sunny screams and I almost smile. I can’t talk, not with the way I’ve just got enough air in my lungs to not be leaning against the wall. I’m glad I don’t throw up while Sunny starts to scream at him.

“Where the fuck are you, Nevaeh?” Sunny yells.

“What the fuck?” Jordan looks surprised but it only lasts for a second before his face twists into anger. “Give me that phone you stupid cunt.”

“Nevaeh, get out of there!” Sunny screams and I do what she says. I bolt down the hallway and my side aches with every step I take. My lungs burn and my throat is on fire from where Beau used the netting on me. I don’t know how my day has gone so wrong. Today it all seemed so normal, but I knew this was coming.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep normal. I don’t deserve to keep normal. Jordan is right. They shouldn’t have let me in here with what I did, but they did. They did and I have nowhere to go, so I’m staying. I run hard, pump my arms as fast as they can go. I can hear Jordan screaming at me while Sunny begs me to tell her where I am but I can’t stop long enough to get the words out. I just keep running. I nearly sob with relief when I see the opening to the student section up ahead. I sprint up the slope that leads to the level I was just on and I’m going so fast that I can’t really stop and end up slamming into the railing at the top.

“Nevaeh!” Sunny yells and then she’s right there beside me. “Are you okay?” She wraps her arms around me and I burst into tears. I hold on to her and let her pull me away from the entryway that I expect Jordan to come barreling out of any second, but he never does. Another few seconds tick by and then a minute before I realize he’s not coming. He didn’t follow me.

“Who was that guy?” Sunny whispers to me when we break apart.

My hand is shaking and I lift my phone to see that I still have it on. I hit the end call button and shake my head. “He’s one of Beau’s friends.”

“What was he going to do to you? Was he the friend you were going to talk to?”

I shake my head. My legs feel like they’re about to give out, so I sit on the first bleacher seat I see. “No, I-that was someone else.”

“I thought he was going to kill you. What the fuck was that villain speech?”

“Are you okay?” I look up to see a girl I’ve never seen before looking at me with concern.

“I’m fine,” I tell her quickly and duck my head.

“Yeah, but-” A girl grabs her arm and pulls her back from Sunny and I. “Don’t talk to her. That’s Nevaeh.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, huh?” Sunny whirls around to face the girls but I stand quickly and take her hand.

“Let’s go,” I tell her.

“Yeah, but you heard that guy. He was going to hurt her!” The other girl argues with her friend, but I’m not sticking around to hear what her friend will tell her to explain why I’m not worth being worried over.

“People here are psychos,” Sunny tells me while we walk. We’re taking the long way out of the stadium. Anything not to go back down into the hallways that lead out to the parking lot. “Everyone heard what he was saying. They know you weren’t safe and no one was going to do anything to help you.”

“They’re just angry with me. For what I did.”

“You were just a kid, Nevaeh.”

“So was Beau.”

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