White is for Virgins (18 page)

“Well they did,” she said, her voice coarse.

“I know. I should’ve thought it through,” I told her, and I seriously meant it. She was a new girl, nothing interesting, and people just wanted to talk. She didn’t need the attention; she seemed to hate it, in fact.

“I’m… sorr-” I started to say, as stupid as I felt to say it.

“This is it,” she said, reaching for the door handle.

I pushed the button on my side of the car to lock the doors. She shot me a strange look, and moved to manually unlock the door.

I pushed the button again.

“Just, hear me out, Em,” I told her, “You’re mad at me, and when I try to apologize you try to run away.”

“You suck at apologizing, Fox, so let’s stop pretending you actually mean it,” she sighed, reaching to unlock the door again.

I smirked and pushed the lock button.

“I do mean it! You think I just go around spreading these rumors for fun?” I asked her, feigning amusement.

She looked at me like she was considering the idea.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted. She just sat there, seemingly annoyed and staring at the handle.

“Emery, I am sorry for the shit you’ve had to deal with because of being in my presence,” I said formally, trying to hide my smile as she smirked and shook her head.

“I’ll fix this,” I told her, and unlocked the door.

“Yeah, whatever,” she sighed, opening the door, “You’ve said that already. And look what happened.”

She slammed the door and ran behind the little white house.

Holly started mumbling some kind of song, a mix of ABCs and Elmo’s World. I watched her through the rear view mirror as I backed out of the driveway and headed for home.

Girls are strange. Very, very strange.

Chapter 13

.EMERY POV.

I didn’t expect much from Fox, but I couldn’t deny that the smallest inkling of interest pulsating through my veins was curious as to how he planned on fixing the mess he’d made.

Mondays, as I’ve said before, were not my days. They never are, never had been, and I would never expect them to be. But I also never expected the situation to escalate…

Boy, did it escalate.

Everyone was whispering my name as I walked by; it usually was followed by a rumor of some sort. I tried shutting it out as best I could.

Exiting the stall, I walked to the sink to wash my hands before heading to 4
th
period. My stomach grumbled, and I regretted not eating something for breakfast, but I was a nervous wreck. The whole school thought I was some slutty STD spreading leech. I doubted my body could function right as it was, and I didn’t want to burden it with having to digest anything.

The mirror, much to my horror, was covered in lipstick and eyeliner. Words like ‘slut’, ‘whore’, ‘white trash’, ‘virgin-my-ass’, ‘pregnant cow’, ‘HIV positive’ and ‘ugly, nasty bitch’ were smeared under two bold words at the top of the mirror: Emery Price.

I hadn’t expected them
to go this far. I hadn’t expected to
care
if they went this far, but try as hard as I freakin’ might, I did. I hadn’t expected to cry, because I should’ve expected the rich bitches to spread stuff like this. I hadn’t expected them to get so caught up in me – the short, quiet new girl. But they did.

In short, there was A LOT that I hadn’t expected.

The tears silently made their way towards the sides of my eyes, where along with a few particles of mascara, they slid down my cheeks at a snail’s pace. They were warm, but I felt cold as ice on the inside. Numb, even.

As I shoved my way past the bastards in the hallway, I bumped into a firm and familiar figure, whose hands spun me around as I tried to shove past him, too.

“Em, history is this-” he started to point out, but he must’ve noticed my face because he then asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing you don’t already know about,” I choked, glaring at his perfect features and his merciless emerald eyes.

Then with one strong tug, I pulled myself out of his hold and ran for the gym. I knew it’d be free this period, and I could care less that I was skipping history. For once, I could’ve cared less about grades and behavior and attendance and being the perfect student.

I let it all out, whimpering like a
freakin’ baby. I had a good cry, letting the warm tears rain down my cheeks and plop into my lap and onto my shaking hands.

Why was it so hard to just… blend in? To just wander throughout the school year like a ghost? A ghost who got good grades and aced her tests?
Why?
Why wouldn’t they just leave me the fuck alone?

Two words: Fox. Evans.

I wish he’d been smart enough to just spend the night at the party; at least made it home without getting caught with DUI. He was such a dumbass, and it was all his fault that I was getting all this unwanted attention. The worst part of it? He didn’t give a damn about who he hurt. I bet he could care less about all the drama and stress I’d been dealing with.

He was such a heartless pig I wished he would just –

“Emery?” a voice whispered softly from behind me.

I slowly twisted my head around, and my fears were confirmed.

There stood Ms. Tibble, in the flesh.

“Honey, what are you-” she stopped, and rephrased, “What’s the matter?”

I sat there for a long time, the trails my tears had left on my cheeks were starting to dry and my eyes were probably all puffy and my makeup all smudged, but it didn’t matter to me.

“What are you doing here?” I muttered, staring aimlessly at the pattern on my uniform skirt.

“I saw the mirror in the bathroom, and I tracked you down in history to make sure you were ok, except you weren’t there,” she said in the same soft, almost caring voice.

She tucked her skirt beneath her thighs as she took a seat on the bleachers beside me for whatever reason.

“Emery honey,” she said, placing a hand on my shoulder which I shrugged off quickly.

Honey?
Only Nina called me
honey
, and I liked it because I knew she wasn’t half-assing it.

I started to calm down. The sadness and self-pity had subsided, leaving nothing but fury in its place. Ms. T exhaled and I prepared for her to leave, or to ask that I go to the guidance counselor or something.

“The girls at this school can be complete bitches,” she stated sourly, and my jaw dropped as I stared at her hands. I couldn’t look her in her perfect face, but I managed to look at her perfect, small hands. Her nails were painted hot pink, and cut at a fair length. Not long enough for claws, but not short enough to be ugly.

“Yes, they can,” I murmured, “And they are.”

“You don’t deserve this kind of treatment, Emery,” she said solemnly, “You and I both know that. The staff and anyone else who isn’t completely senseless can see that.”

The staff?
New tears formed.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m getting it anyway,” I muttered, water threatening to spill from my eyes again.

“I know, but it’s high school. Everyone at one point or another gets talked about. You have to move on and let them talk.”

“Just let them talk?” I asked incredulously, glaring into her bright blue eyes which were lively as ever. “Are you aware of how hard that is? It’s easy for you to talk, but having everyone talk about you, judging you and writing those vile words all over the bathroom – that’s not something I can just shrug off Ms.
Tibble.”

“Why do you think I dress like this?!” she laughed as she gestured to her short skirt and her tight dress shirt. She
laughed
.

I gave her a quizzical look.

“I try to take the attention from the other students, by dressing like this,” she explained, “You’d be surprised how many rumors end up back in the lounge by the end of the day about me,” she smirked.

I stared at her disbelievingly again.
She’s seriously insane…

“Well your brilliant plan couldn’t help me,” I scowled. “In fact, this all started because of your stupid Tapeline of Truth game.”

She looked at me, the smirk gone from her face. It looked as if her eyes grew gray and hazy, clouded with something that resembled remorse.

“I’m so sorry, Emery,” she said softly, “I really am. I thought a smart, beautiful girl like you would have a steady boyfriend by now.”

“Nope,” I smirked, “Not even close. The guys at this school are repulsive.”

“Repulsive? I don’t know about you, I think they’re rather adorable.” She tried to hide her smile.

“Snakes are only adorable until they bite you and poison you,” I muttered, “Then the venom destroys your tissue and you suffer because you got too close.”

“Are you always this deep?” she asked all of a sudden.

I don’t know how I managed it, or where it came from, but the look on Ms. T’s face was priceless. I laughed.

“No, I just wanted to ruin your image of men,” I admitted.

“You can’t ruin the image of Fox Evans,” she smiled, nudging me.

My spirit, short-lived, died when his name escaped her lips. My smile had a heart attack and its flat-lined on the spot.

“In my case, you can,” I growled. “He’s the reason everyone’s talking about me.”

“What? I thought that was my fault…?”

“No, spreading my virgin states was your fault,” I smirked, “But being a whore was his.”