Chapter 4 Public Enemy Number One

I cried a lot while I was driving home. Every time I hit the brakes, the wet spray paint on my windshield caught the streetlights, blurring my vision. I parked in my driveway and sat there for a long time. My hands were still stained pink from the scrubbing. I didn't want to go inside. I didn't want to explain to my mom why our car looked like a crime scene.

I spent an hour in the dark with a bottle of nail polish remover and a rag. The fumes made my head spin, but I kept scrubbing. The letters slowly faded into pink smears, but the message remained etched in my mind. Stay in your lane.

I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the clicking of those phone cameras. I heard the snapping of the manicured nail against the classroom glass.

When the sun finally came up, I felt like I was heading into a war zone. I wore a plain black hoodie and pulled the strings tight. I didn't look at anyone as I walked into the building. I didn't even go to my locker. I went straight to my first class and stared at the chalkboard until my eyes burned.

The morning was a gauntlet of whispers. I could feel the heat of a hundred stares on the back of my neck. In the hallway between second and third period, the crowd seemed to part for me, but not in a good way. It was the way people move away from something broken or dangerous.

"There she is," a voice hissed from behind a locker door.

"Is she really dating him?" another whispered.

"No way. Look at her. She’s probably just paying him to sit with her."

I kept my head down. My plan was to make it to the library at lunch and stay there until the final bell. I didn't want to see Knox. I didn't want to see Blaire. I just wanted the world to stop turning for a few hours.

I was halfway to the library when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty classroom. I gasped, ready to fight, but it was just Knox. He looked worse than I did. His eyes were shadowed, and he looked like he hadn't brushed his hair.

"We need to talk," he said. He closed the door and leaned against it.

"There’s nothing to talk about, Knox," I said. My voice was shaky. "You saw my car. You saw the photo. This is over. Tell Mrs. Higgins you found another tutor. Tell her I’m incompetent. I don't care."

"I can't do that," he said.

"Why not? You don't even want me there. You said it yourself, you don't need a babysitter."

Knox stepped away from the door. He looked out the small window into the hallway, then back at me. "Blaire and I broke up last night."

The air left the room. I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. "What?"

"She showed me the photo. She started screaming about how I was embarrassing her. She said if I didn't quit the tutoring and fail on purpose to show I didn't care about school, she was done." He let out a dry, harsh laugh. "So I told her to be done."

"Knox, you can't be serious," I said. "She’s going to destroy me. She’s already starting."

"I know," he said. He looked genuinely sick. "That’s why I can't quit. If I quit now, she wins. She thinks she can control who I talk to and what I do with my life. I’m tired of it, Aria."

"But I’m the one paying the price!" I stepped closer to him, my hands balled into fists. "It’s not your car that’s covered in paint. It’s not your reputation that’s being dragged through the mud. You’re still the captain. You’re still the star. I’m just the girl who’s in the way."

Knox looked down at his shoes. He looked smaller than I had ever seen him. "I'll help you. I'll make it stop."

"How? By standing next to me? That just makes the target bigger."

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "But I’m not going back to her. And I’m not failing. I'm going to pass that test on Friday. I'm going to show her she doesn't own me."

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to scream at him for being so selfish. But I saw the way his hands were clenched at his sides. He was fighting a war of his own. For the first time, I realized that being the golden boy was just as much of a cage as being invisible.

"Fine," I said. "We study. But not in Room 302. Not where people can watch us."

"Where then?"

"The public library. Five miles away. After your practice."

Knox nodded. "Okay. I'll be there."

He reached out like he was going to touch my shoulder, but he stopped himself. He pulled the door open and checked the hallway.

"See you at six, Tutor," he said quietly.

He disappeared into the crowd. I stood in the empty room for a minute, trying to catch my breath. I had just agreed to keep playing the game.

I walked out and headed toward the cafeteria. I needed to show them I wasn't afraid, even if I was trembling. As I entered the room, the noise level dropped. I walked to the lunch line, my heart pounding.

I felt a foot hook around my ankle. I stumbled, my tray flying forward. It hit the floor with a deafening clang. Spaghetti and chocolate milk splattered across the white tile and my sneakers.

The room erupted in laughter. I looked up. Blaire was sitting at her usual table, surrounded by her court. She wasn't laughing. She was just staring at me with a cold, dead expression. She held up her phone and made a clicking sound with her tongue.

"Clean it up, Aria," she said. Her voice carried across the silent room. "You're making a mess of everything."

I didn't cry. I didn't say a word. I knelt and started picking up the pieces of the shattered plastic tray. I could feel the milk soaking into my socks. Every eye was on me.

I realized then that Knox breaking up with her hadn't ended the war. It had just turned it into a bloodbath. And I was the only one on the front lines without a shield.