Trapped (Bullied Book 4) (Bullied Series) Vera Hollins (best large ereader txt) 📖

her eyes. “Or I’ll talk to the principal about your suspension.”

“Do that, and I’ll talk to my father about having you fired.” I gaped at him. The audacity!

“I’m not afraid of your father, Mr. Jones,” she said in a slightly raised voice with her hands placed on her hips, and I looked at her with newfound respect. “And you would be wise not to talk to him because I’m not afraid to go to the press and expose your father if that happens. I’m not that easily intimidated.”

He clenched and relaxed his hands as he glared at her, staying silent. I hoped he wouldn’t make this harder than it already was. I just wanted this detention to be over with.

“I see you two have some serious issues with each other, and I’m not sure you really understand the ramifications of your deeds. I’m going to let you go home now.” Huh?

“You’re letting us go home,” Blake stated in a monotone voice, his eyes zeroed in on her.

“Yes, but hang on. I’m not finished yet. Our janitor has work for you, so you’re going to help him out until Thursday. You’ll start tomorrow after classes.”

I stared at her open-mouthed. This couldn’t be happening.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Afraid not, Mr. Jones. This is your punishment, but also a valuable lesson. Just writing reports or essays won’t cut it. You two have to learn to communicate better, and working together can help you with that.”

“No,” I blurted out. This was madness! I was sickened that I had to spend the rest of the week doing who knew what with Blake. No amount of time spent together would make our communication any better.

“You can forget it,” Blake said. “I’m not doing it.” He went for the door, but Ms. Gentry didn’t plan to let him have the last word.

“Then you will face a suspension and possible expulsion.”

He looked at her over his shoulder with his hand on the door handle and snorted. “Expulsion? There’s no way I’d get expelled. You seem to keep forgetting who my father is.”

“And you seem to keep forgetting that your father’s connections don’t matter much now that the whole world knows what is going on at this school. I’ve seen your record, Mr. Jones, and I can say with certainty that your bullying days are coming to an end. I’ll personally make sure you’re expelled if you refuse to attend detention.”

He marched over to her with a murderous expression. “If you think you can make the rules, you’re dead wrong.”

She wasn’t fazed in the least. “I won’t repeat myself, so you better choose your next words wisely.”

Wow. Just wow. I looked back and forth between them with admiration for Ms. Gentry. No teacher had stood up to Blake because they were afraid of his father, so this was the ray of hope Mel had often talked about. Mel believed individuals could change the world, and Ms. Gentry in action definitely confirmed that.

“The same goes for you, Miss Metts. Don’t even think about trying to evade it.”

I gulped, terrified just thinking about getting expelled. I could not let that happen. My parents would disown me!

“I’ll help the janitor.”

“Good.” She nodded at me then looked at Blake. “Mr. Jones?”

His glare was startling. He just stood there and looked at Ms. Gentry and me like we were his worst enemies. Seconds and seconds ticked by, tension rolling off him in waves until he finally gave in.

“Fine,” he spat out. “I’ll do it.”

“Excellent. Look for Mr. Maynard tomorrow. He’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

Giving me a glance full of hatred, Blake spun on his heel and stormed out of the classroom, but I couldn’t breathe any easier. All I could think about was that I was stuck with him for the next three days, replaying in my mind that one sentence that reached the deepest corners of me.

You’re my fucking trigger.

I yawned and rested my head in my hand. I struggled to stay awake in English. If only I was in my bed and sleeping. Ms. Dawson droned on about Virginia Woolf, but I didn’t hear the half of it. I thought about Blake and the way he’d acted the previous day, unease clawing at my insides. He was so fixated on me, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

To make things worse, my mom had given me the money to pay him for the broken screen. This meant I had to approach him and humiliate myself in order to fix this. The money in my pocket felt like lead, weighing me down.

I glanced at Sarah. She doodled something in her notebook, obviously not paying any attention to Ms. Dawson. Hayden, who sat on her other side, was on his phone. He looked even less interested in the lesson.

Sarah and I now sat the back of the classroom instead of the front, having taken the seats of Hayden’s buddies. It was only natural for Sarah to sit next to him after they got together, so switching places was a no-brainer.

I took my phone out of my pocket. I was going to see if Sar knew something about Blake that I didn’t.

Has Hayden told you anything about Blake?

She stopped doodling and reached for her phone in her pocket. She cast me a curious glance before she opened the message. Her reply arrived a few moments later.

Like what?

Like what’s his goddamn problem?

Did something happen between you two in detention?

We had a huge argument before Ms. Gentry arrived. And we have to help the janitor until Thursday as our punishment.

Are you serious?

Is Mel vegetarian?

She texted me back, and I glanced at Ms. Dawson to confirm she wasn’t looking in our direction—not that it mattered much because she couldn’t have cared less that the half of the classroom was chatting or texting. I opened the message.

That’s not good.

Yeah. He mentioned something weird.

What?

He said I was his trigger. Do you know