Chapter 4

At her words, the crowd erupted.

They came at me in twos and threes, hands closing around my arms without a word, pinning my shoulders down.

I couldn't move. In desperation I said,

"Marvin's only a scholarship kid. Forget ten thousand each, he couldn't scrape together a thousand. The pendant is mine. My parents are the richest couple in this city. Touch me, and they won't let any of you off!"

"That's hilarious. Now she's the billionaire's daughter. She'll say anything."

Someone burst out laughing.

"Stealing Marvin's pendant wasn't enough, now she's making up a billionaire family. The nerve on her!"

Watching me get put in my place, Miranda couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from lifting.

"There actually is someone at our school who's the billionaire's kid. But—"

She drew the word out, her eyes bright with a thrill she couldn't hide.

"But I already confirmed it. That person is Marvin! I saw it with my own eyes, him climbing out of the billionaire's car. If you're going to make up a story, at least make it a decent one."

I almost laughed with rage.

Marvin had ridden in my father's car, yes, but only because Dad dropped me off and gave him a lift a few times on the way. If Miranda had watched a few seconds longer, she'd have seen me in that car too.

"So Marvin's rich, but I never thought he was this rich!"

The crowd boiled over, more of them piling on to punish me, all trying to win Miranda's favor.

They had me pinned down hard. My arms, my shoulders, everything ached beyond bearing.

The tangle of shouting slammed against my hearing aid, and my head swelled with wave after wave of dizziness.

All my life my parents had held me like something precious. Apart from that kidnapping when I was small, this was the first time I'd ever been humiliated like this.

Miranda stepped up and looked down at me, one hand reaching for the pendant at my throat.

"Louise, you dared to steal Marvin's things. Give it back!"

The cord bit suddenly into my neck. I struggled on instinct, trying to shield the pendant.

"Let go, this is mine!"

My struggling made her hand jerk, and her fury flared at once.

"You're still dodging? Still fighting me for it?"

A slap came down hard—

"Crack!"

The clean sound of the slap rang out, and heat flooded my cheek in a searing burn.

The blow knocked me off balance, and I stumbled half a step.

"I didn't steal anything, and I never chased after anyone. Bring Marvin here and make him set it straight!"

"You still dare bring up Marvin? You're really asking for it!"

Miranda raised her other hand and swung at me again.

I turned aside to dodge, my head snapping hard to the side.

Seeing it, the students holding me clamped down harder, locking my arms and legs. In the chaos Miranda's palm raked viciously across the side of my ear.

At the same time the pendant's cord kept getting yanked—

"Crack!"

With that clean snapping sound, my left ear went empty. The hearing aid was ripped clean off, and the world dropped into a droning hum.

Blood ran down the curve of my ear and into my neck.

When she saw the pendant shatter, panic flickered briefly across Miranda's face, then her chin came right back up.

"Broken, so it's broken. It's just a piece of jade!"

"Marvin's family is loaded. They won't miss a little thing like this!"

She looked down her nose at me, held fast by the crowd.

"Louise, forget the pendant, you steal and you play the victim about it too! Today I'm settling the score for Marvin, and teaching you a lesson about hounding people who don't want you!"

I only watched her coldly, spacing out every word.

"You're finished."

Miranda sneered.

"I'm finished? I think you've got that backwards—"

"Miranda!"

Marvin's voice was frantic. Like a man gone mad he shoved through layer after layer of the crowd and burst in, wild and disheveled.

Dozens of students turned to look at him at once.

"Marvin's here. Must be coming to settle up over Louise stealing his pendant."

"But he's too late, his girlfriend already handled it."

Someone was even fishing for credit.

"Marvin, we did a lot to help this time. Miranda said ten thousand each, don't forget."

No one noticed how Marvin's whole body shook when he saw the shattered pendant and the hearing aid on the ground, and me pinned by the crowd, my face drained of all color.

Miranda, not knowing any better, thought he was upset over the pendant. She hurried up to him, all sweetness.

"Marvin, you're here! Don't be angry. Louise doesn't know her place, she kept stealing your things and hounding us and slandering us!"

"I only had everyone stop her to settle the score for you. It's fine that the pendant broke, right? You're so rich, you don't care about a little thing like—"

She never finished. A vicious slap landed across her face.

"You bitch, didn't I tell you not to blow this up? Who gave you permission to lay a hand on her?"

Under everyone's stunned eyes, Marvin shoved her away hard.

Then his legs buckled toward me, and he dropped to his knees in front of them all.