Harper let out a sharp, nasal laugh. “She’s so clumsy.”
I stayed on my hands and knees, staring blindly at the blurry silver frames of my glasses on the track. My hands were throbbing. The skin was scraped raw, small beads of moisture forming on the abrasions.
I waited for the whistle. I waited for Coach Miller to yell at Chloe, to send me to the nurse, to do anything.
The whistle didn’t blow.
“Get up, Lin,” Coach Miller’s voice called out from a distance, sounding bored. “Stop holding up the drill. Tie your shoes and keep moving.”
He wasn’t going to do anything. He never did when it came to Chloe Vance.
“You heard the coach,” Chloe whispered, stepping closer so only I could hear her. Her expensive running shoe stopped inches from my fingers. “Stay on the ground where you belong, Maya. It’s safer down here. Unless you want to end up like Leo.”
The mention of his name again, whispered like a threat, flipped a switch in my brain.
The months of fear, the hiding, the silent endurance—it all vanished, replaced by a cold, terrifying calm. I realized in that split second that hiding wasn’t protecting me. It was just making me an easier target. She didn’t just hate me. She knew something.
I didn’t reach for my glasses.
I pushed myself up off the track. My vision was blurred, but I could clearly see the arrogant smirk on Chloe’s face as I stood. She didn't step back. She didn't think I would do anything.
I lunged.
I grabbed the collar of her white polo shirt with both hands, my grip like a vice. Chloe gasped, her eyes going wide with sudden shock. Before she could raise her hands to push me away, I stepped in, drove my right knee sharply up into her midsection, and twisted my hips.
I used her own backward momentum against her, practically throwing her over my hip.
Chloe slammed into the red rubber track with a heavy, breathless thud.
“Chloe!” Harper shrieked.
Harper came at me from my right side, swinging her arm in a wild, panicked arc. I didn't even think. My body moved on instinct, recalling hours of drills in the boxing gym. I stepped inside her swing, deflected her arm upward with my forearm, and grabbed her shoulder. I swept my leg behind her knees and shoved hard.
Harper flew backward, crashing onto the green grass bordering the track.
Silence descended on the field. It was absolute, ringing silence. No laughing. No running. No breathing.
I stood between them. My chest was heaving, my heart hammering violently against my ribs. I looked down at Chloe. She was curled on her side, clutching her stomach, staring up at me with an expression of pure, unadulterated terror.
I took two steps forward, bent down, and calmly picked up my glasses. I unfolded the arms and slid them onto my face. The world snapped back into sharp focus.
I looked down at Chloe again.
“Don't you dare mess with me again,” I said, my voice low, steady, and loud enough for everyone to hear.
Coach Miller’s whistle finally shrieked, a frantic, piercing sound that broke the spell. “Hey! Hey! Break it up! Lin, my office! Now!”
I didn’t look at him. I turned my back on Chloe and Harper and walked off the track, my head held high, the stinging in my palms completely ignored.
The walk to the locker room felt like a dream. The adrenaline was slowly draining from my system, leaving behind a cold, creeping realization of what I had just done. I had assaulted the daughter of the most powerful man in town in front of thirty witnesses.
But as I pushed open the heavy metal doors of the girls’ locker room, the fear was quickly eclipsed by something much worse.
The locker room was empty and echoing, smelling of chlorine and cheap body spray. I walked down the second aisle, heading toward locker 142.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
The metal door of my locker was hanging open. The combination lock lay on the floor, the shackle violently snapped, as if someone had used heavy bolt cutters to break it.
I rushed forward, dropping to my knees. I tore through my backpack, tossing my chemistry textbook and my spare clothes onto the floor. I checked the hidden pocket at the bottom of the bag.
It was empty.