CHAPTER 22: _ NEW ALLY?

There is no worse betrayal than false kindness. Especially when it comes from the monster who stood by and watched you bleed. She stands frozen, clutching the phone Darien forced into her hand like it’s some cursed object. She glares at his retreating back, watching him disappear into the crowd of elite predators who pretend to be students.

"I don’t trust you," she mutters, loud enough for him to hear but soft enough to feel like it costs her something. "But since I don’t have a better option, I’ll come."

Darien lifts a hand lazily, not even turning around. "Whatever. My numbers are in there. Call if danger lurks... but for the record, I’d appreciate it if you stayed out of trouble. I don’t need reasons to babysit you."

She scoffs. "I blame myself for thinking you were different."

He turns at that, eyes scanning her from head to toe like she’s something he stepped on. "Thanks would be the correct thing to say."

"Why should I thank you?" she snaps. "From the look of it, we both need each other."

Darien strikes a pose and pockets his hands. "Whatever. Just don’t be late. I hate lateness." His eyes slowly travel across her again before he shakes his head. "And do something about that uniform. I hate dirt."

’Well, and I hate you!’ Heidi screams in her head. But she knows she can’t be rude to him. His brothers had punished her for just raising her voice at them. Darien, though seems more sophisticated, has this overwhelming aura that tells her he’s more dangerous than Grayson and Morgan could ever be.

Not to mention they’ve got supporters and worshippers around, casting side-long glances at them and cursing Heidi under their breath in envy as they walk past. Why? Just because Darien seems to be talking to her.

She just can’t wrap her head around the fandom of arrogant and selfish bastards like these ones. Speaking of which, Sierra has warned her to steer clear of the Bellamy boys when they aren’t bullying her.

And Darien, right now, doesn’t seem to be bullying but talking to her. That will enrage Sierra and her clique. She can already feel their eyes like needles in her back. No kindness ever comes without consequences in this school. Every smile is a transaction. Every word is a trap.

Heidi hates to be Sierra’s lackey, but she doesn’t have the strength to take in all four of them. Moreover, she is currently at Sierra’s mercy and doesn’t want another round of beating.

She gulps and clears her throat. "Don’t talk to me outside."

Darien’s time seems to pause for a moment that he invests in staring her down, so hard that she nearly wishes for the earth to swallow her up. "I’ll talk to you wherever I damn please." He finally blurts as if he’s never heard anyone resist him as such.

Of course he would. Arrogance looks good on him. Too good. If he weren’t her mate, maybe she could hate him properly. But the bond blurs everything right and wrong, fear and longing. He doesn’t even have to raise his voice to make her feel small. What kind of twisted joke was the universe playing, tying her to men like him?

Just then, he turns and walks away, hands in his pockets like he’s done a great deed. The moment he disappears around the corner, her heart shatters. Heidi watches him go, and a tear escapes before she can stop it. It slides hotly down her cheek.

Stupid bond. Stupid, suffocating ache in her chest. It tightens every time her so-called "mates" walk away from her like she’s a bug under their boot.

She wipes her face furiously. "I don’t need them. I don’t need any of them."

If she says it enough times, maybe it’ll be true. Maybe it’ll drown out the part of her that waits for them to look at her differently. The part that aches when they walk away like she’s disposable.

She’ll reject the bond when the time comes. She’ll sever it so hard it’ll make their smug little Alpha heads spin. But why does it hurt so much? Why does their disapproval feel like a blade slicing through her heart?

She hit it once, twice, and thrice, coughing as she fought the tears about to come raining down again. "Stupid heart. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

Alone now, she straightens, wipes the remnants of tears from her eyes, and tries to brush the ink from her uniform. It’s useless brushing it as the damn stain is smeared into the fabric.

"Argh... what to do now? Mrs. Castell will have my head if I go home with a uniform like this." Heidi groans, slapping her own forehead.

She’s so caught up in her storm of thoughts that she doesn’t hear the approaching footsteps until a voice pipes up beside her.

"Um, hi! Here... take this."

Heidi turns, startled, and finds herself face-to-face with a girl about her age, maybe a little older. She’s petite and curly-haired. For an Omega, her uniform is perfectly clean, her shoes are polished, and there’s a faint smell of lemon shampoo radiating from her.

She thrusts a neatly folded, clean uniform into Heidi’s hands.

"I saw what happened," the girl says quickly, like the words are fizzy in her throat. "I mean, not all of it... But enough to know those Darn Bellamy boys are the worst. Sorry, I didn’t say anything earlier. I kind of froze."

Heidi is too stunned to even process. "What?"

"I mean, you can’t keep wearing that thing," the girl repeats, waving the uniform. "It’s like a walking target. Everyone’s seen what happened. You’re officially ’tagged’ by those jerks now. If you stay in that, you’re basically putting up a ’please torment me’ sign."

Still, Heidi stammers. "I—I can’t accept that."

The girl steps closer and lowers her voice. "You really want to go to class looking like you fought a dirt tornado?"

Heidi looks down. Her skirt is crusted with mud, and her shirt still bears the ink stains from the shoe incident. Damn it. Not only her, but Darien’s right too. She needs to do something about her dirty uniform. It’s only going to do more harm than good.

"I didn’t think so," the girl says with a grin as if she can read Heidi’s mind. "Besides, I’m not using it. Better you wear it than the janitor has to sweep your broken bones off the floor later."

Heidi stares dumbfoundedly at her. "Why... are you being nice to me?"

She’s sorry if she doesn’t trust anyone here: Nice doesn’t come free, at least, not here. Not to girls like her. Maybe Junie is just another trap wearing a sweet face. Maybe she’ll humiliate her later, say it was a dare. But even knowing that, Heidi clings to the shirt like it’s a lifeline. Because survival means accepting crumbs, even when you know they might be laced with poison.

Well, Junie continues to sheepishly grin. "Because I’m not a sociopath. And watching those Bellamy boys bully you felt gross. I’m Junie, by the way."

"Heidi."

"Well, Heidi, you need a survival strategy. How the hell did you get in trouble with the Bellamy boys on the second day of school?"

Try being their mate. Apparently, that’s her offense. Well, and being an Omega too; Heidi thinks internally but takes the uniform and lets a smile stretch across her face. "Thank you. Seriously."

"Don’t thank me yet. I’m about to tell you something that might get us both detention."