Page 76 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

I pushed away from the sink.

“I'm not leaving him alone. If anything, you'll be seeing a lot more of us.” I tilted my head slightly. “You might want to get used to that.”

Her face flushed.

“And as for the rest of it…” I shrugged again. “Go ahead. Dig. Tell people. Tell Jackson. Tell the whole school. I don’t care. You spent an entire weekend looking into my childhood and all you found were missing yearbook photos. That’s not evidence. That’s just sad.”

I let the silence sit for a second.

“Oh. And one more thing.”

Her brow furrowed.

“I'm definitely not going to stop sleeping with him.”

Naomi’s face twisted. “Grab her. Now.”

They rushed me from both sides. The bigger one got there first and clamped down on my upper arm. The smaller one was only half a step behind.

I let them close the distance. Then I moved. I trapped the bigger girl’s grip against my ribs with my elbow, pivoted hard, and drove a palm strike straight into the smaller girl’s jaw. Her head snapped sideways and she hit the floor hard.

Naomi was already swinging.

I ducked under the punch and drove my knee up into her stomach. Air burst from her lungs as she folded. At the same time the bigger girl yanked on my arm, trying to drag me off balance. I twisted free before she could lock the hold.

She came at me again, this time going for my throat.

Wrong choice.

I stepped inside her reach, caught her wrist, and used her own momentum to drive her into the tile wall. She hit shoulder-first. Her head cracked against the tile a split second later. She slid down and didn’t get back up.

That left Naomi.

She was on one knee, one arm wrapped tight around her stomach. The smaller girl stayed on the floor, still clutching her jaw, making no move to get up. Naomi lifted her head and looked at me.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" I murmured.

“Fuck you!”

She charged again, shoulder lowered like a bull. I stepped aside at the last second, caught her ponytail as she barreled past, and used her own momentum to turn her. She clawed at my wrist, but I already had the angle. I dragged her down by the hair and forced her onto her knees in front of the toilet. I kept her there.

“Listen to me.” My voice stayed level. “You think this was rough? That was me being generous.”

I tightened my grip just enough to make the point.

“I let you run your mouth because I had better things to do. That’s over now.”

I leaned closer to her ear.

“That ends today. Next time you come for me, I won’t hold back. I’ll make sure the damage is permanent.”

Her breathing came harsh and fast against the porcelain.

“Are we clear?”

She said nothing, still clinging to one last scrap of defiance.

So I shoved her face into the bowl and flushed. Cold water surged over her head. She thrashed hard, nails scraping at the rim of the toilet and then at my wrist and forearm as she tried to break my grip. I held her there for a few brutal seconds, long enough for the point to land, then yanked her back up by the ponytail.