Prologue

“If you get into any more fights, you’re expelled, young lady!” The principal slammed my disciplinary folder onto the desk in front of him, his white toupee ready to fly off his head any second. He stood up and put his hands on his hips. “The only reason why you’re even getting this chance is because the museum donates too much money to this school.”

I popped a bubble with my gum. “Then it’s a good thing my mother works there. Is there anything else? Or can I get to class so I can graduate in a couple weeks?” I smoothed my skirt out as well as I could, more to give me something to focus on than anything else.

A vein bulged from his forehead, and his face turned dark red. “I mean it, Miss Odile. This is your last chance.”

“If that’s all, Principal Cardinal…” I stood up and grabbed my backpack. “I believe precalculus is my first class of the day.” I left his office, ignoring his sputtering voice. I popped my gum as I wandered to my locker. I opened it and sighed. I lifted my hand and stared at the scabbing on my knuckles.

“No more fighting…” I laughed with a bitter note. “Not like I wanted to in the first place.” I grabbed my precalculus book and slammed my locker shut.

Someone stood behind the locker door.

“Boo.” He grinned, and I jumped.

“Damn it, Bruno!” I popped him in the arm.

He rubbed his arm, pretending that it hurt. “Welcome back, cous.” He stood taller than me by half a foot, though he outweighed me by over fifty pounds of muscle. His dark green hair paired well with his pale sea form green eyes.

I raised an eyebrow and gave him a look. “It’s your fault I got in trouble in the first place, cousin.”

He took my textbook from me and held it. “You didn’t have to help me when I got jumped.”

We walked towards my class. “It was three on one. You’re good, but not that good.”

“Yeah, but you took the fall.”

“Your mum would have killed you if you got in trouble and ruined your scholarship.”

He laughed heartily, a bellyful chuckle. “You’re right about that.” He sobered back up. “It just sucks that you were the only one who was punished. What’d the principal say?”

“If I want to graduate, I can’t get into any more fights. And don’t worry…” I smirked. “Karma will deliver what’s coming to those assholes.”

We arrived at my class, and he handed my book back to me. “I’ll see you during lunch. See ya, V.” He turned and walked away.

“Good luck in physics,” I called out.

He waved his hand over his head in acknowledgement.

I entered the class and silence filled the air. The looks on the other students’ faces told me everything. They feared me.

As they should, I reminded myself.

I took a seat up front, but away from everyone. I pulled a notebook and pen from my backpack. I needed to pay attention in precalc since it was my worst subject.

Time moved slowly during the day until lunch period finally arrived. I dropped my stuff off in my locker when I heard something slam against metal. Curiosity got the better of me, so I followed the noise. I turned a corner to see two football players, Brayden and Phil, cornering a willowy student with pink hair and fear-filled turquoise eyes hiding behind a pair of thick black glasses. He held something close to his chest, but the bullies ripped it away from him with ease. I took my phone out to record the interaction.

Don’t get into a fight. Don’t get into a fight. Don’t get into a fight. Don’t get into a—

“Please, don’t!” The bullied male tried to stop Brayden from tearing something out of the book they pulled from him.

Philip, a redhead with dark amber eyes, pressed his arm against the artist, holding him back from the bully.

The pink haired boy fell to the ground when Philip gave a hint of leeway.

Riiiiiip. Brayden tore a group of pages out and ripped them in half then dropped them onto the floor. Then he riffled through a tall black portfolio bag and pulled out a canvas. He saw something on it that made his face twist in fury. He took the canvas and snapped the wooden frame, then he punched through the canvas itself.

“No!”

That was too much. I set my phone on the ground facing the hallway. I straightened my blouse, cardigan, and skirt then stomped over to the bullies and the pink-haired boy.

Brayden’s gelled blue hair did not move as he whipped around towards me. His orange eyes narrowed as I stepped up to him and his friend. “Weren’t you suspended last I checked?”

Philip backed away, almost like he wanted to fade into the background.

I snubbed them, going to the bullied tree. I put my hand out to him. “Here, lemme help.”

The pink-haired boy looked confused, but he grabbed my hand. I pulled him to his feet and dusted his uniform off. I picked up his fallen books and backpack from the ground.

“Don’t ignore me!” Brayden shouted.

The tree shook, but I kept my body between him and Brayden. I handed the books over to bullied teen. “Here.”

He stared at my knuckles when he saw them.

I smiled. “Don’t worry. I didn’t get these from bullying people like Hayden over here.”

The football player bristled behind me. “Brayden.”

“My-my art…” the pink-haired male said in a low tone.

“I’ll take care of it. Just meet me by the flagpole after school. I need to teach Kayden some manners first.”

I glanced back and the football player clenched his fists.

“It’s Brayden.”

The pink-haired boy looked between the two bullies and me. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

I beamed brightly as I lightly tapped him on the cheek. “No worries here, love. Now, lunch is almost over if you wanted to grab a bite before your next class.”

He ran off, giving me one last look before he escaped.

I turned to Brayden and Philip. “Now, how do you want to do this, Okayden?” I dropped my backpack from my shoulders.

He screamed, “My name is Brayden!” He handed the canvas over to Philip.

I put a finger to the side of my chin. “Really? Because I thought you name was Jayden or Xayden.”

“It’s Brayden, you dumb bitch.” He lashed out and punched the locker next to my face.

I kept goading. “Whatever makes you feel better, Zayden.” Don’t fight. Remember graduation.

He grabbed both of my upper arms and slammed me into the lockers.

Philip dropped the canvas then touched Brayden’s arm. “Stop before she—”

Brayden dropped me, and my stockings tore.

“Damn it!” Philip whispered sharply.

We all looked over to end of the row of lockers and saw Bruno with the principal.

Well shit.

Principal Cardinal pointed towards his office. “All of you. My office. Now.”

The three of us walked towards the principal, the two boys ahead of me. I swooped down and grabbed my phone. I put it in my cardigan pocket with the camera out to make sure I had everything. Bruno tilted his head, and I thumbed back to the sketchbook and canvas. He nodded then ducked over to grab them and my stuff.

The three males entered the office first. Brayden and Philip took the two chairs in front of Principal Cardinal’s desk, while he sat behind it. I stood between the chairs, my back tall and my chin up.

“What happened?”

“She attacked us!” Brayden started on his story. “We caught her messing with another student and stopped her. She then attacked us!”

The principal looked to Philip. “Is this true?”

“Yes, sir,” the redhead’s voice was small.

“Valda, you’re ex—”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Principal Cardinal.” I stepped up to the desk. “You’re not going to expel me.”

His eyebrow arched, but his face tinged red. “I’m not?”

“No, because if you expel me, I’ll take the entire school down with me.”

He stood up and slammed his hands on the desk. “Is that a threat?”

“No, it’s a promise.” I took my phone out of my pocket, paused the recording, emailed it to him, then restarted the recording. “Because, if you watch the video, I did nothing wrong.”

“What video?” the three of them asked at the same time.

The computer dinged, and the principal glared at it.

“That video.” I grinned. “Now, either you suspend or expel these two pieces of shit, or I’ll give the video to Auntie Alice.”

The color drained from their faces, but for different reasons. The boys because it could ruin their college prospects, and the principal because Auntie Alice was a reporter who would destroy the reputation of the school if the video got out, and it was shown that nothing was done.

“All I want is to finish up the year, graduate, and never see any of your faces again. But if you even try to get me in trouble over this, I will make sure that the entire city knows how corrupted this school is from the inside out. Who knows, maybe the cops would like to come down here and press assault charges on these two?” I made a mental note to get a copy of the video to the pink-haired boy, in case he wanted to go to the police. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ll let you dole out the correct punishment to these two. I believe a two-week suspension like you gave me would be appropriate.”

I left the office and slowly exhaled as I turned off the recording and emailed it to myself. The adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I felt like I could take on the world. I looked down at my clothes then at the clock. “Well, I could stay for my final classes…” or “I could enjoy my freedom a little bit.” Freedom it is.

I messaged Bruno telling him that I would grab my stuff from his house later.

He replied with a thumbs down. It’s already in your locker.

I rushed to my locker and threw it open. My backpack and the sketchbook with torn pages sat neatly inside. I put on a pair of leggings I kept for “emergencies,” like escaping school. I shimmied off the skirt and wrapped it in the cardigan, then stuffed them inside my backpack.

The sketchbook and canvas were another story. I carefully placed the torn pages inside the sketchbook and set it into my backpack. I looked at the hole in the back of the canvas and whistled lowly. Pretty sure the pink haired tree would cry if I gave them back like this. An idea popped into mind.

I sent mum a message, Heading to annoy you.

Why? she replied.

Need help with an art thing.

I could almost feel her sigh in exasperation. Fine. Bring lunch.

I grinned and left campus. I grabbed some tacos for us and entered the museum of art. I waved to the guard that stood near the employee door.

“You in trouble again?” he asked. His violet hair was shaved close to his head, but his scarlet eyes sparkled.

“Maybe? Maybe not? You know how it is, Harold. Teenage hormones.” I shrugged.

He chuckled. “Get downstairs before your mom calls in the calvary.” He pressed his key card to the lock, and it clicked open for me.

I raced through the door and down the stairs to the restoration vault. Glass enclosed the art pieces and their restorers. They wore all white jump suits that covered everything but their faces. The clear face masks protected the art from the humidity of their breathing.

I pressed my face to the clear glass and made faces.

One of the other employees saw me and pointed. Mum lifted her head to look, and I backed away before she could see my shenanigans. She said something to her coworker, and they nodded. She stepped into the decontamination area and stripped out of the white suit and then came into the regular part of the vault.

I smiled and held up the bag. “I brought tacos.”

My mum was shorter than me, but we had the same copper hair. My teal eyes came from my dad, though. Her lavender eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“Why can’t I just come down to see my favorite person?”

She shook her head. “Because I know better.” She led me to her artbook-cluttered office, and we went inside. We sat down at a small three-person table, and I gave her the tacos. She took a bite, swallowed, then repeated her question, “What did you do? You’re back for one day and already getting in trouble.”

“Depends on who told you what,” I admitted. “Mum, I swear that I didn’t get into a fight this time.” I pulled my phone out and let her watch the video while I ate. “The only time I paused it was to send the principal an email with the video attached.”

Her face hardened when she saw Brayden slam me into the lockers. “I’m surprised you didn’t fight back.”

“Then I wouldn’t have the upper hand.” I sighed. “I didn’t lie that all I wanted to do was graduate and get way from there. Principal Cardinal said that if I got into another fight, I’d be expelled. I’m only a couple months away from freedom, so why would I jeopardize that?”

“Because your sense of justice is in the physical sense,” she mumbled then handed my phone back. “You’re still going to tell Alice, right?”

I nodded. “Of course. Just after I get my diploma. These are the same bullies who jumped Bruno. I won’t let them get away with getting a slap on the wrist.”

“Who’s the other boy? The one with pink hair?”

I shrugged. “No idea. But that’s why I’m here. I wanted to see if there was anything we could do to fix these.” I pulled the sketchbook out from my bag. “And this.” I set the canvas on the table.

She stood up and looked at the art pieces. “Not much we can do about the sketches, but if it’s not too important, you can glue them onto a stabilizer.” She picked up the canvas. Her hands shook. “I hate those boys for destroying this.”

“Can you fix it?”

She set it down in front of me. “I can’t because I’m on the clock. You can though.”

My face lit up. “You’re going to teach me?”

She nodded. “Leave your bag here, bring the painting and the papers. I’ll let the other conservators know that you’ll be working on a project for school.”

We left her office and went through the decontamination procedure. Forceful air whooshed away any dust, we dressed in the white jumpsuits, and put on the clear face masks. She spoke with the other archivists and placed me away from the more expensive art.

“We’re going to repair the canvas here, since the papers can be done at home.” She walked me through the repair process.

“First, we’re going to take the canvas off the frame.” I helped her pull out the staples that held the canvas to the frame.

“Second, we’re going to do a temporary joining with acid-free tape on the back to hold the pieces in place.” She laid the painting facedown, and we taped the pieces together.

“Third, grab that magnifying glass.” She pointed to a lighted magnifier. I carried it over to her. “Watch.” She used microtools and tissue paper to glue the two edges together, fiber by fiber. “Your turn.”

I took over, doing exactly what she did.

“Take your time, there’s no rush. Better to be perfect than fast.”

I just needed the tiniest dab of adhesive to connect the fibers together, then applied heat to harden it.

“Just like that. Now, I have to get back to my work, but just keep doing what you’re doing.” She patted my covered hair, then went to the other side of the room to work on the painting she was restoring.

Careful…Careful… I told myself as I slowly glued the canvas back together.

“Valda,” mum whispered.

“Yeah?”

“It’s time to go home.”

I looked away from the magnifier, and it took a second for my brain to catch up. I closed my eyes and tried to wipe them with my arm, but the clear face mask stopped me. “What time is it?”

She smiled. “It’s a smidge after five.”

“Oh.” I looked at the canvas. “Is it done right?”

She inspected it. “Only thing I would add is an extra bit of adhesive like…” She took over, gluing a thread of tissue paper along the former tears to strengthen it, then heat bonded it.

I finally saw the painting and knew exactly why Brayden was pissed when he saw it. The model was his adult girlfriend lying in the nude. It was tastefully done, focusing on her clavicle up, but Brayden was a neanderthal, so he must have assumed the worst about it and the artist.

“Besides that, you did wonderfully.” She held it up over her head. No light shined through the canvas. “Though, we’ll need to restretch it to be sure.” She rolled it up and handed it to me. “We can do that at home.”

We left the restoration area, took off the white jumpsuits and placed them in the laundry. I grabbed my stuff and the sketchbook from her office and home we went.

“Why are we going to this party?” Bruno asked me as we walked up to the mansion.

“Because I like to annoy people.” I patted his arm. “You’re here because Auntie Alice said if you didn’t leave your room for a night, she’s worried that you’re going to become a NEET.”

“Ugh. Who invited them?” a woman scoffed.

I turned and faced her. She twirled her white hair while glaring with her beige eyes.

“It was an open invitation, Cassandra,” I answered. The painting the pink-haired artist did not quite capture her ugliness. “It’s a graduation party, and we’re graduating. Shouldn’t you be with your boy toy, Tayden?” I pretended to gasp. “Oh wait, he was expelled, so he couldn’t graduate.”

After I received my diploma, Auntie Alice used my video, along with anonymous reports from other students of the bullying that took place at our school. Brayden and Philip were the scapegoats, so they were expelled and lost their collegiate dreams.

“Now, if you excuse me, I see a friend.” I left her standing there, seething, while I dragged Bruno further into the house then into the backyard. I grabbed a bottle of water and found what I was looking for. I knelt down and touched the petals of the fire bush.

“All this for a flower?” he huffed.

“This is a Fireweed, and I’ve only seen them in magazines. I heard the Huchinsons had one and wanted to see for myself.”

I looked up at him and saw him wave to someone else. “You know, you don’t have to escort me, Bruno. Go mingle with some of your friends.” I shooed him away. He shrugged and left my side. I sat down on the stone next to the warm bush and drank some of my water.

Fireweed only bloomed after a fire. It radiated heat in waves, and I yawned next to it. I waited until the garden emptied as partiers went inside to dance to the music. I pulled a lighter from my pocket and lit it under one of the buds. It opened up in its copper glory. I flicked off the lighter and just stared at the flower. It smelled like a campfire, the burning of wood under a full moon. After a few minutes, I took my phone out and snapped a picture of it, so I would not forget seeing it.

Something skittered near me, and I jumped to my feet. An opossum hissed at me as it waddled through the bushes. I leapt away from it and bumped into my water, knocking it over. I sighed and went inside to grab another bottle.

The music thundered as I opened the door and went inside the house. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were full of students. I found another bottle in the cooler and tried to find Bruno. I took a sip of the water, but someone bumped into me, and I lost the cap. It did not take me long to find it on the ground, and I took another swallow of water.

I found Bruno trying to dance with some of his friends, but none of them were coordinated. Neither was I, but I knew that well enough to not even try. I watched from the sidelines, drinking as the night continued. I yawned and slid to the ground to sit. I looked at my watch and darkness and silence clouded my vision and hearing.

I woke up in a bed with a start. My head pounded, and I panicked. “Where am I?” My eyes shifted to a machine with beeps and a bag of saline. “How did I get to the hospital?”

The door opened, and my parents rushed in. “You’re awake!”

“What happened?” I asked them, hoping it was not what I thought it was.

“You were drugged. Bruno and that pink haired boy from the bullying video brought you home,” Dad explained.

I tried to remember what happened. “I found a fireweed, and I had a bottle of water… I was being safe!” I swore.

“We know.” Mum patted my hand. “Bruno said he saw you sit on the floor while he was dancing. He didn’t realize that you were unconscious until the artist checked on you, and you didn’t move. They drove you home, and we drove you here.”

Someone knocked at the door.

“Police,” they announced.

Dad opened the door for the officer.

She looked at me in the bed, her bright yellow hair pulled into a ponytail. She flipped open a little notebook and grabbed the pencil from behind her ear. “What do you remember?”

I told her about arriving, then the fireweed. There was blankness after that.

“Who do you think would want to hurt you?”

“Truthfully?” She gave me a look like I was an idiot. “Brayden Hall, Philip Des, and Cassandra May.”

She stopped writing. “Are you sure?”

“I got Brayden and Philip expelled from school, and so they technically didn’t graduate. Cassandra was Brayden’s girlfriend. They are the only ones that hate me enough to do something like this.”

She snapped her notebook closed. “I’ll be in touch.” She stiffly walked out the door.

I looked between the door and dad’s pale face. “What are the chances that they will actually get in trouble for this?”

“You just accused some of the children of the richest families in the state. Unless there are multiple eyewitnesses and camera that prove it, I doubt they’ll get more than a ‘stay away’ order.” He ruffled my hair. “I’m just glad that nothing happened to you.”

I was glad that he would not lie to me. “Me too.”

“Oh!” Mum jumped up. “To lighten the mood a bit, I received word from the museum director. Your pink-haired friend’s art is going to be showcased in the Amateur’s Hall as a favor to me and because the director loved his art.” She grabbed my hands in hers. “She says he has great potential, and she’s proud that she knows someone who could see it.”

I chuckled. “At least one good thing came out of this.” I then thought about it. “Mum, I don’t even know his name, so we’re not really friends.”

She laughed. “His name is William. Just you watch. This is the start of a budding career for him.” She winked. “And maybe a start of a love story for you.”

I coughed, and dad handed me the cup of water. I drained it and answered, “Mum, have you seen me? Have you seen his art? Dude’s gotta have a list a mile long of beautiful models that he can pick from. There’s no way he’d go for a thorny vine when he can have a delicate flower.”