Right Hook (Gaslight series) COMPLETE

53| No point cryin' over spilled milkshake

Alyssa ♔
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The balancing act I'd perfected is wavering. Between Max, my parents, and the high school hierarchy, I can't help but feel like I'm walking a tightrope, one step away from tumbling over. Alyssa Class, the tombstone will read, the girl who had everything.

Until she didn't.

Across the hall, Marnie smirks and grabs Justin's arm, hanging off his hand for dear life. Since the disaster that was my party, she's made it clear I'm being frozen out, and she's the one taking my spot. Not that I care, but the whole thing has got my guard up. Her silence is only the first step, a subtle warning that I'm no longer part of the crowd. The worst, as they say, is yet to come.

Still, I'll be damned if I let her see me quaking in my boots. Shoulders back, I cut through the crowd of loitering students and head to my locker, ignoring the chatter that follows me. The side-glances. The smirks. Oh, how Alyssa Class has fallen, they're thinking; I'm thinking it too.

After putting away my things, I glance at my phone, smiling at the morning message from Max. Another couple of hours, and I'll be back at the gym, training with Maddie for my upcoming fight before snuggling with Max.

Part of me still doesn't believe it. If someone had told me this at the start of this year that I'd be boxing in a gym, I'd have told them they were crazy, but I'm grateful either way. Despite all the chaos with my parents and school, training and Max make me happy, and I'll be damned if I let anyone ruin it.

With a glance in my locker's mirror, I take a deep breath, allowing the air to settle in my lungs and undo the knot in my stomach. If my mother could see me, she'd say something like, Alyssa Class does not cower behind her locker, and even though the thought of her right now makes me nauseous, she's right. Marnie and the others were never my friends, and if being with Max has taught me anything, it's that caring what others think gets you nowhere, so that's what I plan to do. Not care.

I lean on the door as I wait for Tiana, taking in the wall opposite, adorned with colorful posters and announcements for upcoming events. In all the chaos of the past few months, I'd completely forgotten about prom. For a moment, I smile, remembering how good Max had looked in a tux, but after the disaster that was the last party, it's going to take some serious begging to get him to go with me. Still, I happen to be very convincing.

"Hey," says a breathless voice behind me. I turn around, smiling in relief as Tiana throws her arms around me. "Sorry, I'm late. I was talking to Marnie."

I'm instantly tense. "And what did the spawn of Satan say exactly?"

Tiana bites her lip, which means there's something she's not telling me. I fold my arms and give her this look that makes her blurt out, "She told me I need to stop talking to you, or they're going to freeze me out too."

Of course she did. Someone like Marnie isn't happy until everyone is bending her to will. "And what did you say?"

There's such a long pause that I prepare myself for the worse. Not only have I lost my parents, but now I've lost my friends too. Still, it's not the worst thing in the world. I'm not completely alone. I have the gym, Maddie, Max–

"I told her I wasn't going to stop talking to you," Tiana says, and the relief I feel is instant. Out of all my supposed friends, she is the one who always stuck by me – I don't know what I'd do without her.

"I love you," I say, hugging her, but the truth is, I wouldn't have blamed her if she'd sided against me. The key to surviving in a high school like this is to follow the masses, and going against Marnie is dangerous. "But are you sure? You know what Marnie is like."