Chapter 3: First Day

Brie’s POV

Sh*t, the first bell had already rung and here I was trying to fix this idiotic plaid skirt and button down to make it seem like I didn’t just get dressed in my car. I mean I did, but the entire student body didn’t need to know that.

Not like it mattered anyway. I was a social pariah of my own making. Around the halls, I was either the girl who cried rape or the freak who didn’t speak.

Slipping into the back of the class, I took my seat and silently prayed the teacher didn’t call me out for my tardy behavior. Normally the teachers left me alone; it wasn’t like I was going to offer up an excuse. They learned that the first week when we just stared at each other after they gave me a lecture which was meant to set an example. They later called my mother and got the letter stamp of approval from Dr. Broner that I had developed “selective mutism”.

I could talk. I spoke to my parents, I had talked to Vic, but I couldn’t speak to anyone else, not after they wouldn’t believe me the first time.

The teacher turned to face the class, her wide-framed glasses landing on me with a look of disapproval. It wasn’t the first time Miss Crowler gave me that look, but I never failed a test or missed an assignment. Despite knowing how bright I was she still had her opinions—everyone in this godforsaken town did. Even still, she was probably the most decent adult in this town.

This town was cursed. Or at least those who moved here and weren’t born here were cursed. Nothing else made sense for why such a small town could ruin my life in such a major way.

“Miss Matthews, late again. I know you’re the town’s gymnast star, but we need to do better with attendance,” Miss Crowler said.

Bite me!

That was the only time this town liked to acknowledge me as anything other than that girl. All year long the town spread their rumors and whispered their lies, but during competition season I was the goose with the golden eggs. It made me sick, but I couldn’t quit. It was the only solace I found in this town. It was the only thing that helped me feel less like a freak myself.

I nodded. The only response anyone at this school has gotten in the past four years.

“I don’t know why you even try, it’s not like she’s going to speak,” came the voice of my mortal enemy. Well, one of my enemies.

At first, I thought she might have been sweet, but just like everyone else, she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Noelle. Every year I tried to avoid her and her idiot boyfriend, and every year they made it their personal mission to harass me. They treated me as if I had told the police it was them who attacked me. If I didn’t trust my own memory I would have taken the time to consider if it were them.

“Leave it to Ellie dearest to make an a*s of herself on the first day.”

The classroom door slammed shut as the familiar voice filtered through my ears. A breath of relief barely escaped my lips as Vic sat beside me. My saving grace and only friend I had in town. I tell her every chance I get that she’s my own personal superhero, always arriving to help me in need.

“Settle down, Miss Sharp. That language will not be tolerated in my classroom and I’m going to need your tardy slip as well.” Miss Crowler said.

“I wish I had one, but I was in the principal’s office. I had to get my roster. All those summer classes meant I got a modified one. You can call yourself,” Victoria shrugged.

She wasn’t lying. Vic had this creepy craving for knowledge and had spent her summer days taking college courses and her nights gouging me for words to help her advance her sign language. She was a social outcast by choice and single-handedly the smartest kid in the school.

I wasn’t sure what caused her drift from the rest of the school, but I was sure it happened long before my arrival. Regardless, it worked out in my favor because I got a lifelong friend who made this town feel a little less lonely. I couldn’t thank her enough for that.

“It’s our senior year, I’m not letting that b*tch get away with anything. What are they gonna do, hold us back from walking at graduation?” Victoria signed to me.

I held in my chuckle and shook my head. Did I mention she was the biggest troublemaker I’ve ever met? She had fearlessness about her that I wish I had, or rather wish I still had.

“Let it go, she’s not worth it. We’ve been dealing with her for years, so what’s a couple more months?” I signed back.

Vic had been wanting to get revenge for all the sh*t that Noelle and Logan have been getting away with over the years with their constant “bullying” of us, but what’s the point? His dad was the richest man in town, not to mention my father’s boss. What could we do? Anything that had to do with the Peak family in a negative light just disappeared. They were the untouchable family and by being Logan’s girlfriend, Noelle was untouchable by association.

In the beginning, it bothered me, but by now I was used to it. We wouldn’t be here for much longer anyway. Vic would get into an Ivy League college and move away, and I would decide if I wanted to go away for school or for gymnastics.

Either way, Logan, Noelle, and the entire curse town of Riverback Heights would be behind us. Just a couple of months and we’d be free.

“Would you ladies like to share with the class what you’re saying?” Miss Crowler asked.

That was our advantage. No one knew sign language, and no one cared to learn either. As long as I could understand what the teachers were teaching and they could understand the assignments I turned in, no one crossed the imaginary line that was drawn.

“I just asked her what I missed,” Victoria said innocently.

“Unfortunately, I hope Miss Matthews informed you that she was late as well. She’ll be no help catching you up, but I’ll be glad to discuss it with the both of you after class.”

The silent groan hung heavy in the air. A summons after class from Miss Crowler meant a lecture and most likely a life lesson by the time you left. She was a woman of many words and never seemed to run out of any. My mother would say she was cursed with verbal diarrhea. She said the same about my grandmother.

“You’re too nice to them. Someone’s got to give them a taste of their own medicine, sooner or later,” Vic whispered.

Vic’s words were those of finality. She had dealt with the injustice at the hands of the Peak family her entire life. I was more than certain that she endured more than I had but she never told me why.

One thing I did know, Vic wouldn’t leave for college until she left her mark on each of them just as they did her.