“Zayley, stay here,” Leighton ordered.
“Why?” she shot back. “What are you going to do?”
She didn’t receive a response. Leighton only unlocked the driver’s door side of the vehicle. In one quick motion she grabbed the handle and forcefully pushed the door open causing it to hit Peyton. She stumbled and fell on her butt.
Peyton’s eyes grew wide with fright. “You crazy bitch! You could’ve killed me!” She couldn’t believe that Leighton Kressel just pulled a stunt like this on her.
Leighton kneeled down in front of her, making sure that she was giving Peyton her undivided attention. “Next time I’ll do it harder.”
Peyton chuckled nervously. “I am so going to tell my mom about this. Your ass is going to be suspended just like Sage and Ariana.” She was regaining her confidence and her signature smirk appeared. Leighton never tore her eyes away from Peyton’s and her vocal tone was even and clear, not showing a bit of fear. “You don’t get it do you?”
“You can tell whoever it is you need to speak with to make you feel safe. Even if I am suspended, it will not keep you safe from me or anyone else. You have to leave the house sometime, right?” The signature smirk from Peyton’s face had disappeared. Now she was staring into the face, the eyes of a girl she no longer recognized. This was not the quiet, shy, Leighton Kressel talking to her. “Even if you don’t leave your home, there are ways to get to you from the inside.”
“You don’t scare me,” Peyton said nervously.
“You should’ve stopped while you were still ahead.”
With that Leighton stood up as if nothing had ever happened and closed the driver’s side door.
Zayley walked around the corner of the SUV to stand near her big sister. She hadn’t ever known her to act so brave. It was as if she wasn’t even scared of Peyton.
Leighton locked her SUV and didn’t even bother to bat a lash in Peyton’s direction. She was somewhat surprised there were not many students outside in the parking lot. She soon learned that it was because they were inside the school in awe over what some were calling “Peyton’s latest attention seeking stunt.” The halls in the school were covered with pictures of a naked Peyton Evers having sex with a guy. Leighton nor Zayley recognized the guy’s face and after seeing the explicit pictures they didn’t want to know who he was.
They heard someone gasp from behind them. Leighton didn’t even turn around to see who it was. Peyton’s eyes were locked on the pictures. How could he have done this to me? He promised he’d keep this between us.
“Peyton!” her mother shouted running up to her. “What happened to you?” She wasn’t sure if her mother was referring to the dirt on the back of her jeans or the pictures.
She knelt down beside a picture and picked it up with her hands. “He promised,” she mumbled to herself.
Her mother looked around at all the faces staring at them without a hint of remorse. “Peyton,” she said embarrassed. “My office now!” But Peyton didn’t budge. He promised that he wouldn’t do this to her. Why’d he lie to me?
The loud speaker came on. Soon pleasure sounds of someone having sex filled the loud speaker. “Ooohhhh,” the woman moaned in pleasure.
“What the hell?” Leighton heard a student ask the girl standing beside her. Many students snickered and Leighton noticed Principal Evers face flush.
“Say my name,” the man ordered. Peyton’s heart fell to her stomach. She recognized that voice.
“Da-Da-vie!”
By this time Principal Evers had left Peyton on the floor and was running back to her office, but it was too late. The sexing continued. Kissing sounds echoed throughout the school and then a door slammed. “What was that?” Davie said. There was a pause. “Mia, I thought you said that Peyton was staying over at her father’s condo tonight.”
Everyone gasped. The woman was Principal Evers!
Now a voice that sounded like a robot was speaking: “Principal Evers, I have given you several opportunities to tell Peyton the truth. Since you have failed to do that she had to find out from me.”
Then, the recording went dead.
“Wow, her mother’s cheating on her dad,” she heard a student say.
“She’s a slut just like her daughter,” another one chimed in.
She’d had enough. None of these people liked her and she didn’t like them either. And where the hell were Sailor and Gigi when she needed them? She still couldn’t believe it. Davie? Out of all the men her mother could’ve cheated with she chose Davie. Her father was going to be upset when he found out if he didn’t already know.
“What’s going on?” Vanessa asked looking from Leighton to Zayley.
“Apparently someone filled the halls with naked pictures of Peyton and a guy having sex,” Zayley responded filling her in.
“And you just missed a recording of her mother sleeping with someone named Davie,” Leighton added with crossed arms.
“What a juicy morning,” Vanessa said.
“That’s how you describe it?” Leighton asked. “I have a sweet tooth. I’m going to the cafeteria to get a cinnamon roll.” She started walking but Vanessa and Zayley didn’t follow her.
“Did I miss something?” Vanessa said, looking at Zayley for an answer.
“Let’s get a cinnamon roll and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Peyton waited impatiently in the school’s parking lot waiting for Sailor and Gigi. About ten minutes later they finally pulled up and got out of Gigi’s sedan.
“Where the hell were you guys, huh?” Peyton yelled at them.
Sailor sighed. “I got a flat tire and had to catch a ride with Gigi.”
It was obvious by the look on Peyton’s face that something was wrong. “Peyton, what happened?” Gigi questioned, not skipping a beat.
Peyton began to laugh and then her laughter turned into tears as she broke down and told them about the naked pictures of her in the hallways and the recording of her mother having sex with another man.
She didn’t tell them about her encounter with Leighton earlier. She was embarrassed that she’d let Leighton speak to her the way she had.
“Wow,” Sailor said. “This sucks.”
“Sucks?” Peyton nearly yelled. “I don’t even know how to describe this.” She noticed that Sailor was slightly shaking as if she was cold.
“So what do we do now?” Sailor asked.
“Besides getting you a coat?” Peyton said.
“I’m not cold,” Sailor snapped. She looked away from Peyton who just stood in awe with a frown. “Sorry. Today just hasn’t gotten off to a good start.”
I’m just nervous about telling you the truth.
She’d never kept anything like this hidden from Peyton before. And she knew that once she told her the truth, their friendship would be over.
Chapter 22
Peyton was tired of standing in the school parking lot but luckily she wasn’t alone. She was in good company with her two best friends, Sailor and Gigi.
Peyton was leaning her back against her sedan while looking towards the school’s entrance. There was a small crowd of students standing near the entrance watching her, gossiping to their friends. And she was the main subject. She turned her sights away from them. She wanted to leave the school grounds immediately. After everything that had happened to her at school today, she was certain that someone was trying to make her life a living hell. Who could be doing this to her? She wasn’t sure; but if she made a list, everyone’s name at school would be on it except for Sailor and Gigi’s.
“I don’t want to spend another minute on this campus,” Peyton said.
“You want to leave?” Sailor questioned.
“Yeah.” She took another look at the people studying her. She hated the stares she was getting and turned her head away from them one last time.
“I have perfect attendance. If I leave school, my mom will freak,” Gigi quickly added.
Peyton rolled her eyes. She’s
always the good one. “Can’t you tell her you’re sick or something?”
“I’ve never been a good liar. But don’t worry because Sailor will go with you to keep you company.” She quickly hurried off knowing that Peyton would try to talk her out of attending class. There was no way she was letting her come between her and her studies.
Peyton watched her leave in disgust. She wished that she had half the brain smarts Gigi had, but she assumed that she wasn’t blessed in that area. The truth was that she really didn’t apply herself. She’d heard people refer to her as a “lost cause” and say that if she “applied herself more” she could actually make something out of herself. Both of her parents graduated from high school and went on to college to receive a bachelor’s and master’s degree. At this point, she didn’t have plans to obtain a degree. She didn’t think she was smart enough for college. She’d been told by people on a regular basis that she was stupid so what else was she supposed to believe? She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with herself in life. But right here right now she knew that she didn’t want to be on this school campus.
“Let’s go,” she ordered Sailor. She turned around and walked to the driver’s side of her car and hopped in. Sailor didn’t waste any time getting into the passenger’s seat.
“Where are we going?” she asked Peyton.
“To my house.”
“What if your dad’s there? We could get in trouble.”
“My dad’s at work this time of day.”
She revved up the engine and sped the car away while her mother ran outside to the spot she was parked in. Peyton looked in the rearview mirror and saw her mother collapse to her knees, her hands balled up into fists beating the ground beneath her.
Sailor closed her eyes, her heart rate increasing. She swallowed a hard lump in her throat that had formed. “Peyton, I need to tell you something.”
Chapter 23
“Wow, Leighton,” Vanessa said in awe of her best friend after hearing Zayley tell the full story of what went down between Leighton and Peyton in the school’s parking lot this morning. She didn’t want people around them overhearing and making a big deal about it even though she was certain that someone had to have seen the incident. “You actually hit Peyton with your door when you got out of the car?”
Leighton nodded.
Aidan who had just joined the trio of young women before Zayley told the story shook his head. “I can’t believe that you would stoop to her level, Leighton.”
Leighton didn’t respond immediately to him. She was letting the intensity of his words sink in. And she didn’t like the way it sounded or made her feel. She turned to look at Aidan, her hands clasp firmly together. “Sage and Ariana lost their father to a freak accident at the car plant he worked at, and I lost my one and only uncle. I had to grieve in silence, and then I had to come to school every day and look at the face of that bitch. Poor Sage and Ariana had to transfer from The Academy to Sentinel High and everything would’ve been fine for them if it hadn’t been for me.” She never paused; she wanted to reveal the truth about how she really felt and what she’d been going through. “I can’t even go to the bathroom without her giving me hell. She locked me in a stall. She might as well have held me prisoner there, and she wouldn’t let me out. I hate being confined to small spaces. It freaks me out. Sage and Ariana walked in and defended me and then they were suspended. So Peyton decides now that my cousins are gone, she’s going to pick a fight with me over a damn parking space. I park there all the time. She could’ve broken my damn window; she was knocking so hard.” She sighed and narrowed her eyes. “I hit her with my SUV’s door; and if I had to do it again, I would. I’m tired of dealing with her. I didn’t do anything to deserve being treated this way and told I’m ugly and stupid. All of the verbal assaults and the…It doesn’t make any sense. I was tired of being attacked so I did what I had to do. And I’m not ashamed of it. Everyone who is bullied verbally or physically do not run away; some of us fight back and that’s what I chose to do.”
Aidan, Vanessa, and Zayley didn’t say a word.
Leighton gave him the most intense look that she’d ever given him before getting up.
“Where are you going?” Vanessa asked worried about her.
“Somewhere,” was the only response she provided before walking away.
Vanessa stood up. She wasn’t going to let Leighton leave by herself but Zayley gently tugged on her arm. “Give her some time,” she said.
“Dealing with the loss of our uncle amongst…other things hasn’t been easy for her or anyone in our family for that matter.”
“I’m so sorry,” Vanessa apologized.
Aidan held his head down. “She’s never going to speak to me again,” he said in a low voice.
“Give her some time,” Zayley repeated. “She’ll come around.”
He slightly lifted his head so that his gaze would meet hers. “I should have known that there was more to it than that. Leighton would not just attack someone out of the blue for no reason at all. That’s just not her. And—I mean, she was holding so much in.” He thought about how good it felt to hold her in his arms—to feel her against him. He didn’t want to leave her yesterday and he didn’t want to leave her now.
“I’m sorry.” He looked away from Zayley. “But I have to make things right with her.” He was up and out of the cafeteria before Zayley or Vanessa could protest.
Chapter 24
All Leighton wanted was a moment of silence for herself. She didn’t want to be bothered with Zayley, Vanessa, Aidan, or anyone else. She just wanted to be left alone. That couldn’t be too much to ask for.
The cold, windy, air grazed her face as she continued what seemed like a long stroll to her SUV. Before she could make it, she heard someone call her name but she didn’t turn around.
“Leighton, please,” Aidan said, running to catch up with her. She rolled her eyes with her back still facing him and then stopped walking. He came to a stop in front of her blocking her path. “I-I’m so-sorry,” he panted. “I’m so sorry, Leighton. I shouldn’t have said what I said earlier to you.”
I can’t believe that you would stoop to her level, Leighton. His recent words to her were haunting him.
“You should be,” she snapped at him. She walked around him but he blocked her path again. She gave him a cold look. “I want to be alone.”
“I understand that but I…I want to tell you that I…”
“That you’re sorry?” she interrupted. “Yeah, I know. You’ve already said that.” She walked around him again deliberately bumping into his shoulder and he didn’t try to stop her this time.
He wished he could take back what he’d said to her only moments earlier. “I can’t believe that you would stoop to her level, Leighton.” She was nothing like Peyton. Oh, how he wished he could just take those words back.
He slightly turned around and watched her until she got into her car. Then, he turned around and headed back towards the school. He was going to give her the space that she needed. As hard as that was going to be for him, he was going to do it for his best friend, Leighton Kressel—the woman he loved.
Chapter 25
“Please, don’t be mad at me,” Sailor repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. They were both sitting in Peyton’s car in front of Peyton’s home. The garage was open and she noticed that her father’s car was inside which was weird since he was normally at work this time of day.
“What is it?” Peyton said between clenched teeth. “You better tell me right now because I don’t think I can handle any more surprises.”
“I think I know why your dad’s home,” she admitted in a shaky voice. “Do you remember when someone first sent that letter to everyone threatening you and your mom?”
Peyton nodded.
“A few days before that lengthy text came out your dad came to my house and was talking to my mom. He was there when I got home from school one day. I didn’t hea
r the entire conversation but I heard him tell my mom that he was sick.”
Peyton’s breath caught in her throat. “What do you mean he said he was sick?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t catch the conversation from the beginning. All I heard him say was that he was sick. I accidentally knocked a vase off the table and they heard me.” Peyton took her eyes off Sailor long enough to look at her father’s car that was still sitting in the garage. “That was the end of that conversation,” she heard Sailor mumble.
“After he left the home, my mom was acting really strange like…like something was wrong.”
Peyton leaned her head back against the seat and slightly turned her head to Sailor and listened intently. “I kept questioning my mom about why he was at our house and she eventually told me. Your dad gave her a check for one hundred thousand dollars for me to put towards my college tuition. He told her that he was sick but he didn’t tell her what he had. Before he came to my house and handed that fat check over to my mother, he went to Gigi’s house and gave her mother a check for the same amount, saying that it was for her college education. Then, my mom said that he said he had already made sure you’d be very well taken care of.”
By this time, Peyton’s mouth was wide open. Why would her father go to her two best friends’ houses and give their mothers a check for college tuition? “How could you have kept something like this from me?”
“At first I thought you knew because he is your dad and you guys live in the same house…But when you didn’t mention it, I kind of thought that maybe you didn’t know. When that text was sent to everyone about you and your mom, I didn’t know what to think.”
“Did you tell anyone about my dad giving your mom or Gigi’s mom a check?”
“No.”
“I can’t believe this,” Peyton said. “I mean, my dad said that he was sick, right?”
Sailor nodded.
“But with what?”
“I have no idea. For the few minutes that I saw him, he didn’t look sick to me. My mom did say that when he first came inside he had to sit on the couch because he was feeling weak.”
Flawed and Dangerous #1 Page 7
