Screw My Childhood Sweetheart—His Alpha Brother Marked Me First!

Chapter 18 I kept my head down as I walked towards the entrance , only stealing a few furtive glances to try to pick out the groups . I was hoping for casual friendships . The kind where you sat together at lunch and assemblies but never actually discussed more than homework and the latest gossip . I needed to find that middle - of - the - road group . The one that nobody paid any attention to because they simply blended . Those were my people . My gaze caught on a group of girls who stood by the front doors . They all seemed to circle one girl in the center .

She was tall and lean , with long blonde hair that looked so shiny she should've been in a shampoo commercial . She tossed her hair over her shoulder and laughed . The sound was meant to be carefree , but I could hear the lie in it . There was a slightly false tinge to the vibration that I recognized because I heard it in my father's laugh and in my own . I couldn't help but wonder what the girl was hiding behind that fake laugh . I turned my focus to the doors , pulling one open .

The halls were already filling with people , and I did my best to dodge around them as I moved towards my locker . I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached it without getting lost or knocking into anyone . I spun the dial on the lock and it popped free . Swinging my backpack around , I unloaded the notebooks and binders I wouldn't need until after lunch . I pulled out my schedule , scanning it for what felt like the hundredth time . First up was astronomy , then pre - calculus , and finally art . I'd be holding it together until art . God , I hoped that the teacher was good .

I was so focused on my schedule , I didn't feel the shift . Typically , I was tuned to that change in tone , always on the lookout for those soft whispers . The ones people thought you couldn't hear but that were worse than if they'd screamed whatever they were saying . I stole a quick glance to the side . A group of three girls and two boys were speaking in hushed voices , but every so often , they would all look my way . I turned back to my locker , hoping to hide my red cheeks behind the metal door . I took a steadying breath . They probably didn't get a whole lot of new kids around here .

They were just curious . " Her sister was killed in the accident . Can you imagine ? " A female voice drifted down the hall . My breathing picked up , and I scrambled to zip my backpack up . " I heard it took them hours to get her out of the car . She should've died , " another girl said . I could see them out of the corner of my eye , that same group of girls who'd been at the front of the school . They stared blatantly at me , not caring at all if I noticed . It wasn't the act itself that bothered me , it was how it made me feel .

It was as if their gazes scraped at my skin , leaving me raw and bloodied . " That's awful . You'd never be the same , " a brunette girl murmured . My ribs tightened around my lungs , cutting off my air supply . I needed out , away from their eyes and words . I slammed my locker closed and hurried down the hall . I dodged people left and right , a few muttering curses in my wake when they dropped a schedule or book . I hurried farther into the depths of the school , looking for anything that resembled respite .

Most of the classrooms were lit and already filling with people , but there was one up ahead that looked dark . My vision went hazy as I struggled to get any sort of air into my lungs . Memories flashed in my mind . The feel of Lacey's hand in mine . The pain in my side . The darkness stealing me away . Shouts and lights . The pain . I yanked the door open to the darkened classroom and stumbled inside . As I did . I slammed into a hard form and gasped . Then I was falling . " Shit ! " Sara Lili Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion.

She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland's breathtaking cold.