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“Can you push that one up a bit?” I ask, pointing to Communications, the subject he wanted me to take care of.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Just a little,” I say.
Todd doesn’t argue with me too much, and in no time, Stone is too close to failing for the college to allow him to play for them. That’s just what I need.
My phone rings, and it’s a number I don’t know. I answer and look Todd in the eye.
“Is this Raina?” a voice asks.
“Yeah,” I say.
“I heard you need uh…a friend?”
“Thanks,” I say. “But I was with Todd.”
I hang up. Todd stares at me in shock before his face breaks into a smile. He’s less dull when he smiles.
“Thanks,” he says.
“No, no. Thank you,” I say and walk away.
I’m going to get a lot of calls, and telling them I was with Todd makes me cringe. But the computer geeks all know how to get into the system, and I want to hit Stone where it hurts. Two people can play at this game.
Is it petty? You bet.
But I’m not going to take this lying down. I’m so sick of just getting by without fighting back. I’m so tired of men thinking they can do whatever they want and that I have to keep drawing the short straw. This whole thing might be pathetic, but it makes me feel empowered.
Instead of lying down and taking the punches, I’m defending myself and striking back. It means something.
It was what my mom was never able to do, and as much as I loved my mom, I’m not planning on walking the same road she did. If I have to engage in petty warfare to show the world that I’m not someone to be trifled with, so be it.
I don’t know how long it will be before someone notices the changes in his grades and Stone gets kicked off the team until he can make it right. But it doesn’t matter; I have time. I’m not going to study for his tests anymore, and I’m not going to crack open his textbook. I got Todd to push up my mark enough that Stone can’t complain. I don’t know who’s responsible for the other subjects, Stone or someone else, but frankly, I don’t give a shit.
All I want is for Stone to realize he can’t always get what he wants.
It’s as simple as that.
When I walk back to my room, I feel elated. I’m standing up for myself, and I’m going to show the great Stone Giles he’s not that great at all. Even heroes fall. When he realizes he’s just human like the rest of us, maybe he’ll stop being such a dick to the people who try to be nice to him.
I just wish it didn’t have to be this way. As much as I’m going to stand up for myself, a small part of me wonders what could have been if he’d just let it be. I doubt we could have dated, but maybe, just maybe, we could have been friends or, at least, not enemies.
But we’ll never know now.
Chapter 10
Raina
So far, everything is going okay. Aside from my little rivalry with Stone, my dad asking for money, and the fact that all my hard work won’t ever pay off, I’m doing justgreat.
When I glance at the clock, I realize I’ve been staring at my books for an hour without taking anything in. I just can’t figure shit out today. My head keeps spinning with everything I need to take care of that’s getting in the way of my future.
I still don’t have a job. I guess I could go into town and be a barista at the local Starbucks, or waitress at one of the bistros, or something like that. But I don’t want to do that.
It’s not because I want to dedicate my time studying but because I don’t want to create a constant stream of income my dad can just suck away from me. If I start working to fund him, there’s never going to be an end to this.
I know he’s threatened to expose me if I don’t give him money, and I hate that. But I can’t give him what he wants.
