Virgo got through the rest of the day stumbling from one uneasy social interaction to the other. She exchanged glances with Quinn 'Quinn Bee' Mayfield during passes through the halls. Apparently, all the upperclassmen frequented the upper floors in the early hours and the underclassmen took over for the final periods of the day after the work-study students had departed for work. That was when she ran into Girl and Girl's constant companion, her attitude.
"Still looking lost, I see. Should I put a chip on you?"
"I'll take a chip out of your teeth if you talk to me like that again."
Girl recoiled at Virgo's tone but she managed to catch herself. Didn't think you were that brave, sweetheart. Virgo reluctantly respected Girl's determination to hold her position in the face of somebody she found intimidating.
"Do you need helping finding AP US History?"
"How do you still know my schedule?"
"Eidetic memory—and I wrote it down. You spent a long time counting cuckoo birds, sweetie."
"Don't call me sweetie."
"Would you prefer 'babyface'?"
"I'd prefer my name."
"Valerie?"
"That's my name."
Girl's lips twisted to one side. "Sure it is, babyface. APUSH is this way. Hurry up. He's a dick about attendance."
Girl was tall. Tall for fifteen, tall for seventeen. She walked like nobody was going to get in her way, and nobody did. Virgo wasn't sure if she should be jealous or worried. The funny side eyes Girl got made Virgo's nerves hum. She hated being looked at, Girl didn't give a shit who looked. She had places to be and had already decided how she'd go about getting there. Virgo could come aboard or stumble behind; it made no difference to her.
"What's your name?"
"What's in a name?"
"It's something to call you by. What am I just supposed to call you, 'Girl'?"
"Don't care."
"Is that why you don't call me Val?"
"I don't call you anything, we just met."
"You laughed when you heard my name. Do people laugh at yours?"
"I don't care." Her face was turning red.
"You'd tell me what it was if you didn't care. You think I'm going to laugh."
"I think you won't understand, but I don't need you to get it, I need you to let it go."
Girl was one of those kids, the ones who poured Pine Sol in the fruit punch just to see what happened. She didn't know what she was doing, but she wasn't sorry when it was done. Virgo was just the opposite.
Girl walked her to her locker after class. She hadn't said more than a handful of words to Virgo all class period. She hadn't raised her hand. She hadn't addressed the other students and none of them had had more than a cold look for the girl who had to be too young for all the classes they'd shared so far.
"Here you are, safe and sound. Bye."
"You're really just gonna make me call you Girl?"
"Don't call me anything. Don't speak to me. Don't bother me. Bye."
YOU ARE READING
Fear Her (The Zodiac Cult Killer)
Mystery / Thriller{UNDER MAJOR REVISION} Seventeen-year-old former cult member Virgo Samuels wants to put her past behind her but someone refuses to let her forget everything she's seen and the terrible things she's done. *** Virgo Samuels, also known as the Zodiac C...
