Chapter 7

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Over the next two days, I couldn't stop talking about the devil spawn that was Zachary Mazur. Well, maybe bitching and moaning about him was more like it. Nat and Amari were clearly getting sick of it. They "forgot" to invite me to their AP Chem study fest on Saturday. I didn't blame them for wanting a break from me. I was annoying the crap out of myself as well. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been triggered so sharply by anyone. Not even Bea or Trick.

Zac was constantly trying to get me in trouble during second hour. It took the patience of a saint to ignore him every morning, and, as someone who considered being called a "bitch" a compliment, benevolence and restraint were hardly my strong suits.

To add insult to injury, I had been forced to endure an additional hour afterschool with him for the past few days in detention. I was falling behind on my club duties and desperately trying to make up for lost time by getting ahead on assignments during detention so I could touch base with other club members via FaceTime once I got home.

My anger towards Zac continued to burn hotter each day. Much like some skeevy villain from a James Bond movie, I began formulating a plan to get back at him. I managed to piece together more of his origin story from Shy Nobody to the Bane of My Existence after doing some digging on social media. I tracked down Evonne Walsh, a quiet girl who had tightly curled light brown hair and a warm, olive-toned complexion. She had been one of Zac's only friends back in middle school. Evonne was now attending a public high school, but, from what I could gather off of their back-and-forth commenting via Instagram, the two had kept in touch for a few months after Zac's dad was incarcerated.

I started messaging Evonne on Instagram. She revealed to me that Zac's mom divorced his dad shortly after authorities hauled him off to prison. Their family lost almost everything in the process. Mother and son moved back to Queens to live with his grandma where, I assume, he underwent his massive growth spurt and transformed into a completely different person. His mom eventually remarried, they became rich again, and Zac was able to re-enroll at Ashton Wellesley.

I wanted to hit the son of a bitch where it hurt. Physically, I was no match for him. Academically, I could take him down without breaking a sweat, but he didn't seem to give a shit about school. I did, however, extract one very helpful tidbit from Evonne. Such a sweetheart that girl.

Evidently, Zac had harbored a bit of a crush on me back in seventh grade. I kind of suspected that he liked me at the time, but the loser had been so far down the Ashton Wellesley's food chain that I never thought much of it.

Maybe it was time to remind him of how sweet and charming I could be?

I'd never dabbled much in dating or boyfriends, but I assumed nothing said revenge like crushing a guy's heart into a million pieces. I didn't even need Zac to like me. I just wanted him to start thinking with his dick whenever we were together. From what I saw at Aleah's party, he certainly didn't appear to be very selective when it came to girls. Once I had the fucker by the balls, it wouldn't be difficult to make him fall in line like everyone else at Ashton Wellesley's and recognize the undisputed crown on my head.

***

As I strolled into second hour on Monday morning, heads turned and tongues wagged. I had makeup on. My long brown hair flowed down my shoulders in luscious waves instead of being tied up in its usual messy ponytail. I had undone the buttons on my dress shirt as low as they could go and rolled up my skirt as high as possible without violating dress code, at least, not to the point where Mr. Tilton might notice right away.

I sat down in my seat and waited for Zac to show up. The bell rang. He wandered in late. As usual. I smiled brightly at him.

Zac took one look at me and, for once, said nothing. He slumped into his chair and immediately put his head down on the desk. I coughed, loudly, to get his attention. I heard a light snore. My eyes blinked rapidly as I tried not to swear out loud.

Did this shithead seriously just fall asleep on me?

Zac snoozed through the remainder of class as I sat there in utter disbelief. I hadn't been expecting him to write me a sonnet with hearts in his eyes, but the least he could do was acknowledge my time and effort. I didn't fucking wake up two hours early to beat my face and curl my hair for this kind of lame reaction!

Once the dismissal bell rang, I stuffed all my shit into my backpack and flew out the door with a backwards glance.

Later that afternoon, as we sat in detention, Zac kept staring at me with the hint of a smile on his lips. I glowered at him.

When Mr. Tilton left to go on a restroom break, Zac stood up and walked over to sit beside me. "Are you okay? You seem bitchier than normal."

I ignored him.

"You look different today."

No shit, Sherlock!

I was mad as hell that it took him this long to notice. I decided to play dumb. Babyboy was going to have to fucking work for my attention.

"What are you talking about?"

He grinned. "You trying to impress someone, Caterina?"

My jaw ticked. "Why do you care?"

"Evonne messaged me out of the blue the other day."

Shit! That sneaky bitch!

I feigned innocence. "Oh?"

"She told me you reached out to her."

I decided not to deny it. "Is that a problem? I can be a very friendly person when I put my mind to it."

Zac reached over to tug on my hair. Gently. "Very pretty. But you're gonna have to do better if you wanna get in my pants."

I glared at him.

How did the bastard figure everything out so quickly?

It was possible I had underestimated him. "No one is trying to get in your pants, Mazur!"

He leaned in a little too close for comfort. I suppressed a gasp. Our noses almost touched. His eyes were a much lighter shade of brown at this distance. Like amber. Or light shining through a glass of whiskey. I could see traces of all the faint bruising and scarring still healing on his handsome face.

In husky tones, he asked, "If I were to kiss you right now, what would you do?"

My cheeks turned several different shades of pink. This seemed like a golden opportunity for me to strike, but all thoughts of seduction flew out the door as I scrambled to get away. "You wouldn't fucking dare! Tilton will be back any minute now."

Zac laughed. Evilly. "You're too easy."

"Excuse me?"

"You're so predictable, babygirl."

Contempt swelled inside me. I plopped myself right back down next to him. With way more swagger than I actually possessed, I boasted obnoxiously, "If I really wanted to, I could have you on your knees, begging, to be my little bitch. Carry my books. Buy me tampons. All kinds of fun shit. Because we both know you've been dying to kiss me since seventh grade!"

He stared at me defiantly. His entire demeanor shifted. Cold, hard, impenetrable. My shoulders tensed up slightly.

"Is everything always about winning with you?"

"This isn't about winning," I argued. "It's about the consequences for your bullshit!"

"No, it's about how you wanna lord over me like you do to all the other assholes at this overrated shitshow of a school."

"That's not true," I said heatedly. "Don't even try to flip this around on me! You're the one that punched out Trick, you're the one that got us into detention, and you're the one that screwed up my entire schedule this week! You have no idea how hard I've worked to get to where I am and how easy it would be for everything to fall apart. Don't fucking act like you know me, Mazur!"

"Wow. You see yourself as the victim in all of this? You practically stalked Evonne just to dig up dirt on me. Quit fucking around, Caterina, because I didn't come back to Ashton Wellesley to make friends. I haven't forgotten how everyone treated me. When shit hit the fan with my dad, you motherfuckers really showed off your true colors. There are a lot of names on my shit list right now. Your brother was one of them. Some of your friends are on it. Don't make me come after you, too."


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