Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 4

When I found the beach where my class was, I laughed at what they were doing-or rather, not doing. I'd never heard of a school that had beach strolling as a sport, but the Gold Coast Grammar sure as hell did. Then I realized only some students were walking the beach. The others were out on their boards, riding the waves. I had to admire them, but I didn't think I'd ever join them.

The teacher smiled when he saw me and came over. "As you can see, I'm pretty relaxed about what you can do out here. Do you surf?"

I laughed. "No. I'm definitely not a surfer."

"Right." He looked away, probably trying to keep an eye on the students. "Well, then go for a walk or something. Just be back here in an hour." He trudged back to the shoreline, where he yelled at some boys on their boards to keep out of the flagged area.

I turned to my right and saw one of the girls who'd tried to steamroll me in the classroom, so I headed the other way. When I reached the rocks, I sat down and stared out at the sea. My house wasn't that far away, and I wished I could run home, leaving behind all the psychotic people I'd met since arriving at the Coast. I'd never heard of such a huge group of people being so mean, especially when I hadn't given anyone a reason to hate me.

"Hi." The soft voice came from behind me.

I turned around to find a pretty, blond-haired, small-framed girl standing on the rock above me. "Hi."

"Mind if I join you?" she asked timidly.

Thinking of how horrible every person I'd met since moving to the Coast had been, I thought about telling her to fuck off, but something about her made me think twice. She looked broken. And I didn't mean in the sense of some batshit crazy chick that needed to be in a mental institute. The look in her eyes almost mirrored my own feelings. "Sure," I finally said.

She stepped down on the rock next to me then jumped onto the sand and sat. "I'm Lilly."

"Zara."

"Zara," she said under her breath.

I expected her to say something else, but she remained silent. Wasn't it her job to ask the new girl questions, not the other way around? I was about to ask her how long she'd been at the school when two of the girls who had set me up to be raped climbed down the rocks about twenty metres away from us. They didn't look in our direction, but I wasn't as relieved by that as I thought I should be. Something had changed inside me. I wasn't afraid of them, but I didn't know why. I looked at Lilly. Her face had gone white as... well, a lily. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at my stupid analogy. Her eyes were fixed on the girls, and I realised that was how I should've been as well. But I wasn't. And for some reason, she was.

"How long have you been at this school?" I asked.

She looked back at me, her face still pale. "Um... six months, I think."

I cocked my head toward Emily and Amy. "Who are they?"

She looked down at her bare feet digging their way into the sand. "Someone you don't want to know."

I wanted to ask her what made her so afraid of the girls, but if what I thought was the reason was indeed the reason, I didn't think it was something she would divulge to a complete stranger. I opted for another approach. "So they're the bitches, eh?"

"Something like that." Lilly tried to put on a smile, but it wouldn't have fooled anyone, especially not me. She put her hands on her knees, probably trying to stop them from shaking. "So when did you start here?"

"This is my first week. And I'm from Sydney, in case you were wondering."

She nodded then looked back down the beach at the two girls that she so clearly feared.