Chapter Four

Helga escorted me to the dining hall and ditched me with a, “Find me after dinner. Have fun!” Then she hurried off, leaving me to the mercy of wide open doors and a massive room filled with students. 

My eyes shot toward the server bar, and I wondered if I could make it there, grab some food, and find a corner where no one would notice me. Or would I stick out like a sore thumb?

There were so many people here that I was sure someone would notice me. And with my luck, it would be the loudest, mouthiest person in the room.

I peered over my shoulder, considering finding the girl’s bathroom and hiding there until dinner was over, then head over to Helga. Doubt she’d be any wiser. 

I was about to choose the latter, turning away from the dining hall and going to look for the girl’s bathroom, when a girl around my age stepped into my view with a wide grin. 

“You must be Lana?” She swooped toward me, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Hattie!”

I blew a face full of blonde hair away to answer her. “H…Hi?” It came out as a question, mostly because I had no idea who she was or why she was so nice to me.

When she stepped back, she picked up a lock of my fiery red hair and said, “I love this color. Is this real?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately.”

Her brows furrowed as she let go of the hair. “You don’t like your hair? It’s really pretty. You’re lucky to be born with it.”  

“Not really. Red tones are a pain to strip if you want to color it.” 

She smiled. “Well, you shouldn’t. It’s gorgeous. But anyway, I’m Helga’s granddaughter. Think you already met her?”

“Oh. Yeah, right.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Anyway, I figured you needed company. I mean, if you don’t mind? I can show you around and introduce you to everyone?”

I peered into the busy dining room, feeling a sudden sense of relief. “You know what? I could use some company. Thank you.”

“Great. I’ll introduce you to every—”

“Please, no.” I stopped her. “I mean, not yet. I kind of just want to eat and get used to everything, if that’s okay?” 

She paused for a moment, peering between me and the dining room. Her smile widened. “Of course, sorry. This must be really overwhelming to you.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much.” 

Without warning, she hooked her arm with mine and steered me toward the server bar. “You chose the best night to show up. Fridays are pizza and burger night. Mrs. Fell makes the best pizza on the planet.”

I shot her an inquisitive look as she grabbed two trays and handed me one. 

“Oh, she’s one of the cooks. Mrs. Peters—yeah, you might want to avoid eating all together if she’s the cook for the evening. Trust me.” 

“Bad food?”

“Yeah. The food poisoning numbers are astounding after people eat anything she’s made.” 

I nodded, pretending not to notice how people started staring and pointing. “I’ll remember that.” 

I followed Hattie’s lead, helping myself to two slices of pizza and a burger, then headed for the back of the dining hall to sit. I barely sat when Hattie scowled past me. 

I followed her gaze, finding a group of girls huddled together, giggling and peering our way. 

“Great. She noticed,” Hattie sighed, flopping down beside me. “See the blonde?”

“There’s three of them. Which one?”

“The blondest one. The one that looks like her hair is one bleach away from falling out with too much lip gloss.”

“Oh. Okay?” I watched the girl smirking at me, then turned her head toward her other blonde friend, saying something that made the other girl laugh. 

“Yeah. That’s Chrissy Wells. Watch out for her.”

I took a bite of my warm, cheesy pizza and sighed in delight. Hattie was right. Mrs. Fell made a mean pizza. “Something to do with her noticing me?”

“Yes. She’s the biggest bitch in this school. And it’s obvious she’s plotting something against you.”

My eyes swiveled back in Chrissy’s direction. “What makes you think that?”

“Queen of obvious,” Hattie rolled her eyes. “Sorry, not trying to scare you. But be careful where she’s concerned. She’s not nice.”

Based on Hattie’s expression, I had a feeling she had been a victim by Chrissy’s hands more than once.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” I took another bite of pizza, tearing my gaze from Chrissy to distract myself from being the target of a potential upcoming disaster, only to become aware that the entire dining hall was staring at me by now. Great.

“So…” Hattie spoke, shifting in her seat. She hadn’t touched her food yet, staring at me. “I know there’s no great way to say this, but, I’m sorry for what happened to you. You seem great, and he’s a fool.”

I lowered my half-eaten slice of pizza onto my plate. “So everyone knows.”

“Unfortunately, someone got hold of your file and now the whole school knows about it.”

I sighed, pushing away my plate. The pang of hunger was suddenly gone. “Guess shit happens.”

“No.” Hattie gave me a sad look. “Bad things happen to good people all the time.”

“You don’t even know me.” It came out more blunt and cold than I intended, resulting in Hattie’s sad look morphing into full-on hurt. I quickly shook my head, “Sorry. I don’t mean it to be…well, mean. It’s just—”

Hattie shrugged. “You’re not wrong. I don’t know you.”

Not knowing how to respond, I reached for my carton of chocolate milk and unscrewed the cap. I pretended to take a sip from it.

“But, hopefully, you’d give me a chance to get to know you. From what I can tell, you seem great.”

I placed the milk on the table. “Based on?” 

“I heard after your boyfriend rejected you, you bought fleas online and planted them in his bedroom.”

“To be more precise, in his mattress, bedding, curtains, and clothing.” Come to think of it, I did notice Raymond still scratching himself at the wedding. Though, I was too broken to fully appreciate it. I sat forward. “Wait, how do you know that?”

She grinned, shrugging. “My mom works for the Daily Moonscope.”

My mouth dropped open. “She’s the one who reported it?”

“And she loved every minute of it.” Hattie nodded with a wide smile. “When I found out you were coming here, I knew I had to meet you.”

 “Wow.” I had no idea there were people who actually agreed with what I did. The evening after Raymond rejected me and informed me he was marrying my sister, in the heat of anger and need for revenge, I decided to act on it. 

Unfortunately, I was caught for the fleas incident, and word got out. Somehow, I made it in the newspapers. No one had said a thing about the dyed clothes and hair remover I mixed into Raymond’s shampoo. Yet. 

“I think he had it coming,” Hattie nodded, picking up her burger to her mouth. She was about to bite into it when she closed her mouth and lowered her burger, eyes wide, staring past me. “Oh, no.”