I grit my teeth so hard my jaw aches.

Me: You can, but then I just might dump your makeup case in the trash.

Bitchy Bitch of the West: Don’t be a freakin’ idiot. There’s like hundreds of dollars’ worth of makeup in that case. And the case is designer!

Me: Yeah, so? Like you’ve pointed out a ton of times, I don’t really care about that sort of stuff.

Bitchy Bitch of the West: Raven, I swear to God, if you don’t give me my makeup case, I’m gonna make your life a living hell.

Like she isn’t already going to do that.

Me: Fine. Where do you want to meet up so I can give it to you?

Bitchy Bitch of the West: We can meet up after lunch by the dumpsters out back where no one will see us together.

I roll my eyes, but type okay and stuff my phone back into my pocket. Then I debate what to do, whether I should go eat in the cafeteria with Katy and her friends or not. It sounds good in theory, but I can’t stop thinking about all the times I got trays of food dumped onto my head by Dixie May’s minions.

“If I were you, I’d stay away from her,” a voice creeps from the shadows of a nearby alcove. Moments later, a girl steps out from it. She has long, blonde hair, blue eyes, and is sporting torn black jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and knee-high Converse sneakers.

“Stay away from who?” I ask, completely confused.

She points up the hallway. “Katy Kiss-ass.”

“You mean the girl I was talking to a few minutes ago? Why? She seemed nice enough.” Nicer than most people.

She snorts a laugh. “Trust me; she’s not nice at all. And all that shit she just said about my brother and his friends isn’t true. She just likes to gossip.” She frowns as she mumbles, “Just like almost everyone else in this damn school.”

“Wait … who’s your brother?” I ask, knowing she means either Jax, Zay, or Hunter, since that’s who Katy was talking about. Before she can answer, though, I note her blonde hair and blue eyes, and it clicks. “Never mind. You have to be Hunter’s sister, right?”

“So you’ve met my brother?” she asks, stepping closer to me.

I nod. “Yeah, for a few minutes in the main office this morning. And then I had fourth period with him.” I don’t bother mentioning the crapfest that happened between Hunter, his friends, and me.

“Oh.” Her eyes light up with recognition, which puzzles the heck out of me. “You’re the new girl.”

I shift my weight. “Um, yeah. I’m Ravenlee. Or, well, Raven. No one really calls me Ravenlee.”

She glances over me then chews on her bottom lip, as if she finds something hilarious.

I start to grow self-conscious and brace myself for some sort of rude remark about to be thrown my way.

“You know, something my brother said to me this morning is totally making sense now,” she remarks. Then she smiles. “I’m Harlow, by the way. I’m Hunter’s little sister and the school’s official outcast.”