“You guys, could you please not talk about me like I’m not sitting right here?” I said. “I don’t think I’m that much different. I’m just…happy. That’s all.”
“Now that is definitely an effect of the Drake blood,” Avery remarked, his eyes flicking over to the Drake table where Ari was sitting by himself and eating. “Or maybe just the Drake who gave it.”
“Come on, Avery—don’t tease,” I said, feeling my cheeks get hot with a blush.
“I’m not teasing, Katydid.” He grinned at me. “I’m just glad to see you looking so much better—so much happier. And I’m grateful to a certain Drake for making it happen.” He looked at Ari again.
“It’s not all about Ari Reyes,” Megan objected. “Kaitlyn has been taking better care of herself—being kinder to herself. Haven’t you?” she asked me.
I nodded and smiled at her.
“I’m trying.”
In fact, though it had been an effort at the start, I had been repeating the mantra Megan had given me on a regular basis—I’m a kind, sweet, wonderful person and I have people who love me—and I found that it really did help.
Megan was a big believer in what she called “positive self-talk” and I was beginning to think she was right. How can you ever feel good about your life if you’re constantly putting yourself down? After all, you have to love yourself in order to feel worthy and accepting of love from others, right?
So by being kind to myself and thinking and saying good things about myself to myself, I was actually beginning to feel more confident and less like a timid, scared mouse that just wanted to hide in a corner all day.
Maybe I was coming out of my shell—becoming more assertive and less frightened.
I had no idea how soon I would be called upon to prove that theory but it happened that very day, right before dinner…
49
Kaitlyn
I was on my way to the Drake’s Den when Nancy Rattcliff and her two cohorts stopped me. The halls were mostly deserted, since everyone was in their dorms getting ready for dinner. The Weird Sisters seemed to appear from nowhere—they surrounded me and backed me up against a wall.
“Well, well you little freak,” Nancy purred, giving me a nasty smile. “And where do you think you’re going?”
The old Kaitlyn would have hung her head and retreated into herself, hoping they would just go away. But I didn’t feel like the old Kaitlyn anymore—didn’t feel like I deserved to be mistreated or abused.
“Where I’m going is none of your business, Nancy,” I snapped, lifting my chin. “So let me go, now.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Nancy said, glaring at me with her big, black eyes. The top half of her face was pretty—really pretty—with high cheekbones and dark eyes and a cute little tip-tilted nose. But the bottom half was where everything went wrong—her jaw was almost masculine and her mouth was huge and filled with big white tombstone teeth that seemed to gnash like a hungry hippo’s when she talked.
“I know where she’s going,” one of the other Weird Sisters sing-songed. “She’s going to see Ari Reyes, the Drake prince.”
“Everyone in the whole Academy is talking about the two of them,” the other Weird Sister said.
“Well she won’t be seeing him anymore,” Nancy snarled. She glared at me. “Ari Reyes is mine—got it, you little freak? So you stay away from him from now on!”
The old me would have cowered and begged her to let me go and promised anything she wanted. But to my surprise, I did none of these things. Instead, I lifted my chin and stared her in the eyes.
“If Ari is yours, hadn’t you better let him know?” I asked. “He’s never said anything to me about it so I don’t think he has any idea.”
“I’m his princess—his fated-mate,” Nancy snapped. “He just doesn’t know it yet. And you’re going to get out of the way so I can make him see the truth—that I’m the one he wants.”
I shrugged coolly. “I can’t promise to stop seeing him, but I’ll be happy to pass the message on. I’m sure Ari will be surprised to hear it.”
“You little bitch!” Nancy’s eyes narrowed and her face grew white with anger. “He’s only with you because he can’t see you!” she snarled. “Because you’re always hiding behind that rat’s nest of hair all the time. Well, we can fix that.”
Up until now she’d been holding her hands down by her sides. Now she raised them and I saw a silver gleam as what she had in her right hand caught the light—a pair of scissors. No—not even scissors—these were huge, heavy, old-fashioned looking things and the blades were nearly nine inches long. Shears would probably be a better name for them.
“Let’s see how much Ari likes you when he can see the freak side of your face as well as the pretty side.” Nancy grinned nastily as she grabbed the front of my hair and raised the scissors.