Page 30 of Ruthless Chaos
Cassidy’s eyes are fixated on the bruises on my neck.
Never in my life have I wanted to be invisible more than now.
I’ve never felt this small before.
The feeling of helplessness that comes from being mistreated because of how you look—something you havenocontrol over—is paralytic.
Cassidy reaches out and picks at my sideburns. She frowns, then tries to run two fingers through my hair. They don’t make it through. They took me from my room so suddenly that I didn’t have time to detangle my hair before it dried.
With a huff, she pulls my hair so forcefully I’m sure she’s uprooted a few strands. My scalp aches, but I resist the urge to soothe it with a touch. Cassidy wrinkles her nose.
I’m light-headed from hyperventilation.
Abruptly, she reaches down and yanks the hair on my privates. A scream tears from my lips before I can stop myself. My eyes burn.
The girls don’t flinch. Liz actually smiles.
These people are monsters.
Cassidy’s eyes roam over my body again, her eyes gleaming with disgust.
This is it. They’re going to kick me out.
I don’t match their standard of beauty. I can’t even fathom the horrors that await me at Hell House ifthisis supposed to be better.
The silence is tense.
I feel like I’ve been standing in front of them for hours. Two of the girls in green whisper to each other. Liz wears a smug look; she must have told them horrific things if she was so rude to my face.
“Congratulations, Allie,” Cassidy says dryly, clasping her hands together. “You’ve passed your assessment.”
Her words don’t bring me any relief.
If I don’t fit in, why would she make me stay?
I shuffle away, my shoulders weighed down with dread. Tiredness starts to settle in too. I’ve been awake now for far too long.
All I want to do is curl up in a warm bed and forget any of this happened. Maybe at some point I’ll wake up and realize this was all a terrible dream.
This place is too strange to be real.
When I’ve joined the group of “successful” girls, I cast my eyes back to the group who just humiliated me. Realization hits me like a bolt of lightning.
Cassidy looks familiar because I saw her at the party.
She was standing with the guy who kissed me.
Her fixation on my bruises suddenly makes sense. Does she think I had sex with him, too? She might use that against me.
It doesn’t matter.You’re never going to see him again.
That thought comforts me.
NINE
ALEXANDER
I shutthe door on the screams emanating from the basement, a smile twisting my lips.
