Page 11 of Monster Made
“You wouldn’t by any chance be working with… Ray Campbell’s dad?” I finish the question in a whisper, aware once more of the presence behind me. I don’t know why I should worry about him hearing me speaking the name of another boy. I only know that I should.
“Al Campbell?” she questions. “Yeah, he’s my boss.”
For the first time in my life, I have the sudden desire to hug Cass Henley. “Okay,” I say quickly. “Let’s do it. I want to go to Devil Tower with you. And, uhm, learn all about cell mitosis.”
She shrugs. “Fine. Wait for me Wednesday after school. We’ll go together.”
_
SLAM.
If it were anyone else getting pushed against the lockers by Quill Nelson, they would be shitting their pants. And that includes me, his usual victim.
But Cass Henley doesn’t even break eye contact with him. She merely gazes at him coolly as he holds her pinned to the locker.
I feel a surge of something completely absurd in the pit of my stomach as I watch him stand stiffly just inches away from her. Something like… jealousy?
I should be thankful that for once he’s bullying some other girl than me. But instead, it pisses me off. Especially because he chose beautiful, perfect, condescending Cass Henley.
True to that last description, she turns her icy blue eyes on Quill, staring him down somehow in spite of the fact that he towers over her.
“Can I help you?” she asks mildly.
Maybe my jealousy comes not from the fact that he’s bullying someone other than me, but that she is clearly not in the least intimidated by him. She knows how to take him.
She must be the only one in school who’s not terrified of him.
“What were you saying in science class?” he growls. “What did you tell Piper?”
“That doesn’t concern you,” she says icily.
He pushes her back roughly, but her body has nowhere to go. Only her head, which snaps back abruptly, hitting the metal locker behind her.
“What did you say?” he spits out.
“I told yourgirlfriendthat she’s poor and stupid. Do you have a problem with that?”
His…what?
I don’t even care about the insults as I take a step back, reeling from the way she’s just defined my relationship to Quill. Is she insane? Doesn’t she know how much he despises me? Or is she just trying to goad him on?
Yes, that must be it, I decide, my heart racing as I tear my eyes off her to look at him. He seems absolutely furious, and I assume it’s because of that word.
But instead, he hisses, “Don’t youeverinsult her again.”
My eyes widen in shock.
“Fine,” says Cass, completely unbothered.
“Don’t youspeakto her again,” continues Quill.
“Got it.” She waits a beat. “You mean, ever? She’s my lab partner.”
“Don’t fucking speak to her. Don’t fucking look at her. Don’t fuckingthinkof her.”
With every sentence, his voice grows quieter, until the last words are spoken in a deathly whisper that makes my blood run cold.
But Cass doesn’t seem at all alarmed. “Fine,” she says again, sarcastically. “I’ll do my best not to speak to, look at, or think about your girlfriend. How about letting me go now?”
