Conceited and Cruel

N I N E

Marc sits on Darren's desk, spinning a basketball on one finger. Darren is laughing and talking with him and a couple of other kids, including Lila Winston. It's two minutes until bell, and Mr. Hubert must be letting them hang out. Suzy Fisher is trying to talk to Austin Crowe, but Chloë Dunlap is leaning in for gossip. I clench my jaw at this. The only person I like right now is Whitney. She hangs back from the circle at Darren's desk. That's why I love her.

I think about how it's going to go down for a minute, flexing and curling up my hands. My eyes keep flickering between Darren and Marc and Lila, and I can't decide who I'm angrier with.

Finally, I swing the door open, my hands balled into fists. The entire room goes silent, heads turning to gawk in fear at me. Mr. Hubert glances up from his computer, peering over his glasses. "Ah, Miss Kingston, I presume you are feeling better."

"Much better," I hiss, letting the door slam behind me as I glare at the group circled around Darren.

Darren meets my eyes and smirks. Now I've done something, he mouths, blue eyes twinkling with mischief. I scowl. That jerk.

After Mr. Hubert goes back to his screen, I march right up to Darren, pushing some girl and Marc to the ground. Spreading my palms out on his desk and leaning forward. "No." It's all I could make out.

The corners of Sperry's lips twitch as he tries to keep a straight face. "No what? Taking your 'friends'? I did them a favour."

"Who cares about them? It's all about me." I counter, gesturing to myself and scoffing.

"You self-centered brat!" Darren spits at me in a hushed voice. He leans closer to me with a scowl.

"Oh, I'll give you brat," I whisper back, getting closer still. So close that his deep blue eyes practically reach out and pull me closer. "Whatever you did to me this morning, Houdini, it wasn't funny." My eyes flicker to his lips, then back to meet his eyes. Darren's breath catches, and I know I've scared him. "You're going to pay for everything you've done to my kingdom, Sperry's." I rest my hand on his shoulder, only to dig my lavender nails into his skin. "No matter what."

Darren yelps, pulls away, a hurt puppy dog look plastered on his face. "Aw, look. Little Sperry's is hurt." I say, mocking sympathy. Darren gulps, looks away as if he's going to cry. A strange feeling of satisfaction settles within me. I poke my bottom lip out, flick his forehead for the pleasure of kicking him when he's down. Watching him bite his lip in discomfort. Then I turn around to bathe in my victory.

Only to find myself face to face with Mr. Hubert.

* * *

I twirl my pen around through my fingers. Unexpected and downright unacceptable. I scoff silently, pretending to throw the pen at Suzy Fisher. She doesn't see me. Intolerable behaviour. My fingers manage to throw the pen up and catch it over and over again now. Unbelievable, especially from you, Miss Kingston.

". . . Miss Kingston?"

My eyes shoot across the room, landing on my teacher. Her eyebrows are raised, and she does not look happy. Great, I already have Mr. Hubert turning on me; I don't need Ms. Striker turning, too. "Yes, Ms. Striker?"

"Are you paying attention?" She narrows her eyes in anger and/or suspicion.

I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. "No, Ms. Striker. I'm so sorry. I just don't feel good today, and I've already been to the nurse to lie down. It helped for a while, but I'm still a little lethargic and out of it."

Ms. Striker's expression softens, and she makes her way toward me. "Did you maybe want to call the office and go home?" She asks with a sympathetic smile, helping me stand.

I nod, grabbing her hands and smiling sadly. "That'd be great, Ms. Striker, thank you. Can I go out into the hall to call home and see if it's okay with my parents first?"

Ms. Striker smiles, gestures to the door. I nod in thanks and hurry myself out of that classroom. Kids shoot dirty looks at me, probably pissed at my ways of getting out of class. Oh, and the fact that I treat them like dirt.

I close the door gently behind me and start to call my mom. As I'm waiting for her to answer, Marc comes up the hall, nodding his head to a beat only he can hear. He notices me and avoids eye contact, but when he passes, I shoot him a dirty look and bare my teeth at him. He gives me a disgusted face and rounds the corner in a huff.

Wow, Marc.

"Hello?"

I jump, having forgotten that I was on the phone. "Hi, Mom. I don't feel too good and was wondering if it'd be okay to just come home for the day. My teachers are fine with it."

"Sure, honey. No one is home right now, so I can't babysit your sick self, but you can make do, right?"

I roll my eyes, but keep my tone sweet. "Yes, Mom."

"Alright. See you, sweetie. Bye." She hangs up without waiting for me to say bye, too. I shoot Ms. Striker a thumbs up through her window before heading to my locker to get my stuff and go.

As I open the front doors of the school, a girl comes up from behind me and squeaks, "Are you Tara Kingston?"

I sigh in frustration and turn around. "Yes, I am."

"Um, Darren Williams wants you to have this," the girl says, handing me a wadded up piece of paper before scurrying off. I roll my eyes, push open the door and step outside.

Somewhere on my way to my car, I 'accidentally' drop Darren's paper.

* * *