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"No, I think I’e But Mike thinks I’h is a hulacial as she says, "Do you think ofhis little slut?"

"I don’t think of you at all," I lie

"Not even when he fucks you?" Danica asks, not caring at all that there is a twelve-year-old standing beside us I don’t answer, and she s all of my old trash My toys, my dresses, and now my boyfriend You can have him, Hailey He’ll never make love to you in a way that he hasn’t made love to me first"

"At least he can lookwhat Mike toldto do her from behind the one time they did it on the tour bus

Danica’s whole face burns red as she hisses, "What did you just say?"

Her fists clench at her sides, and I know it’s tirab Luke by his elbow and spin us around, and Danica’s breath is hot on my neck when she screams in my ear, "What the fuck did you just say to ht inleave! You want to tell ly I am? Do it, because once I leave here, this is done"

"You think you’re just going to live happily ever after?" she sneers "Hailey, I’ toto finish school"

"How?" I ask just to get it over with "What, are you going to sleep with rades?"

"I have friends," she threatens with a s to start rumors about me? About how I’m a whore? How I have STDs? What, Danica? Tell uess her evil plan, and I rolllike manure with holes in my clothes My snow boots freshs tied over theive even the tiniest shit what a bunch of frat boys and sorority girls think of ," Danica erated pout It twists into a smile, and she taunts, "What did Mike think of my dress, Hailey? The one with the blue flowers you loved so much"

My blood boils under my skin, but I force a smile back "That stupid video you sent him? He didn’t even watch it And even if he had, I’m sure he wouldn’t have liked it as much as the red dress I hen I starred in the band’s e flares across Danica’s face, and she hisses, "You’re lying"

"I’ she’s told me a thousand ti?"

Oneme--my eyes,againstme backward I fall from the unexpected blow, and my brother drops to his knees to help ister what just happened, when he starts to rise to his feet, anger rolling off hi involved, and when I’ irls out the , I forcethrough ry, I want to cry I want to scream so loud it hurts, and then I want to fall apart on the sidewalk Instead, I lare, and I ly stepsister, Danica You try so hard to be the princess, but you’re hideous inside Your daddy is the only listen in her eyes as she clenches her fists at her sides I wait for her to punch ainst my bloody lip and turn away froressive stance, and he eventually lets h I pray my swollen lip hat she needed If she needed to knock me down, fine, she knocked me down--

"This isn’t over," she calls afterthat words will never be enough to stop her fro havoc on my life It will never matter to her how et back up

When I turn around and walk back to her, her eyes have dried, and her face is vicious The little girl I knew in Indiana is gone, possessed by a coldhearted bitch who’s spent the past fewyou want to say to ht in the eye

"Yeah," I say, channeling years of lifting hay bales andhorses I spit a mouthful of blood on the sidewalk, and I fist ht me "You punch like a little bitch"

When I pull back my fist, I pull it back far And when I punch Danica in her startled face, I punch her as hard as I can

Chapter 52

If my life was a fairy tale, I suppose I would have knocked Danica out on that Thanksgiving afternoon four o She would have fallen on her ass, the hit would have been clean, and I would have stood over her victorious, noting a look of surrender in her eyes