Holy shit.

Victoria glared at her computer, brow furrowed, fingers tapping impatiently on her cheek as she rested her chin on her hand and her arm on her desk.

Holy shit.

Rachel Amber, the most popular – and therefore valueable – person in the school had posted a selfie of her with Chloe Price.

The asshole stoner idiot who acted all ‘woe is me’ just because her dad died or something stupid.

How the fuck did that happen?

The picture revealed quite a show in the background, and Chloe had a beer in her hand.

Victoria’s frown deepened.

Late night partying somewhere.

She wasn’t aware of.

This couldn’t do.

Victoria swished her lips from side to side and considered what she’d do with this new information.

More than anything else, Victoria wanted Rachel’s favor.

She was so fucking perfect.

It was ridiculous.

There wasn’t a soul in the school who could say a single bad thing about her.

Rachel being her friend or whatever would open up all kinds of doors to her.

Especially if Rachel would model for her.

Victoria sat up straight, sighed, cracked her neck, and typed some pleasant nonsense to comment on the photo.

She hated being sycophantic, but this was means to an end.

And she could put on airs all fucking day if it meant she would be more successful and popular.

Wow, look at you go! I can’t believe how hot you look with that eye candy on your arm.

It felt vile.

But it was necessary.

After she posted the comment, she sighed, and slowly looked to the other side of her desk.

She had some homework to do.

It also felt vile.

But it also was necessary.

Sometime later, Victoria was sitting pleasantly out in the school’s courtyard.

Doing some homework or whatever.

She noticed everyone coming to school and watched them walk by her, though she tried to do as such while looking like she was only looking at her homework.

No one could know all of the effort she went through to ensure her social status.

How much effort it took to find new information to pry with.

How a little hicky or bruise could –

Victoria’s trail of thought stopped dead when she noticed Chloe being dropped off.

Hm.

Victoria was hoping for Rachel, first.

This could do, though.

Chloe and Victoria didn’t have much of a relationship, but.

They could at least talk.

And maybe Chloe would be eager to talk about her new girlfriend.

Victoria watched her out of the periphery of her vision while Chloe meandered around.

It always seemed like she enjoyed being late.

Whatever.

Victoria idly played with her pencil and looked at the homework that she definitely was not doing.

She sighed wearily.

Eventually, Chloe shoved her hands in her pockets and started walking up the steps.

Victoria stood up, since she’d since made her way the top of the steps to surely see Rachel when she came in.

Chloe looked to her and raised an eyebrow.

She stopped, then walked in front of Victoria.

Victoria smiled pleasantly.

“Oh! Um. Emily Price, right?”

Chloe’s eyes lit up and she scoffed.

“Chloe. Chloe Price.”

Victoria just smiled, smiled, smiled, and nodded.

“Oh, of course, how awful of me, just with everyone that’s talking to me, it can be easy to forget names sometimes, you know?”

Victoria knew perfectly well that Chloe didn’t know what it was like.

Chloe hummed flatly.

“Uhhhh. Yeah. Sure. Definitely.”

She looked past Victoria to the entrance to Blackwell.

Victoria’s eyes followed her.

They both looked back to one another.

Victoria kept smiling.

“I’ll let you go, soon. I know you’d be just loath to be late to class. I just want to know what’s up with you and Rachel.”

Chloe looked away and rubbed at the back of her neck.

“Rachel? Nothing. She’s a … friend, and we moshed together.”

She looked back to Victoria, and raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

Victoria chuckled.

“It’s not every day Rachel posts selfies with her and a new girlfriend onto her feed.”

Chloe hummed flatly.

“She posted that, huh.”

Victoria nodded again.

“And it is such a cute picture. You two in your little … punk getups. It’s adorable.”

Chloe kept her eyebrow raised, but said nothing.

The silence was a little awkward.

Victoria cleared her throat.

Chloe kept being quiet.

Jesus Christ.

Did Victoria have to do everything?

She breathed in, mostly to calm herself down from her frustration at being so nice to someone so stupid for so long, and kept her plastic smile affixed nicely.

“What’s Rachel like? Have you two been together long? Oh you just must tell me ---”

Chloe suddenly exhaled, amused, and grinned.

Victoria’s expression broke momentarily, but she was good at controlling her face and kept her pleasant smile.

Chloe brought her hands out of her jeans and let her arms hang loosely in front of them.

She let them wave gently back and forth and side to side.

This might have been as comfortable Victoria had ever seen her.

“Ohhhhh. I see.”

Victoria blinked.

“Wh ---”

Chloe cut her off and took a step closer.

Victoria was suddenly reminded of the fact Chloe was taller.

And had a fucking shiner from being punched.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll tell you everything you want to know about her. Just as soon as I can pet your hair.”

Victoria blinked only about a million times.

She crossed her arms unknowingly and scoffed.

“Excu ---”

Victoria cleared her throat and hurriedly raised a hand up to cover her mouth.

God damn it.

How the hell did this bitch get under her skin so easily like that?

She had to play nice with Chloe, especially if she was a new fling for Rachel.

Rachel would hate her guts if she was mean.

Chloe continued to grin and god damnit Victoria had the impression that she had caught on to this dynamic.

Victoria lowered her hand and recrossed her arms, but smiled pleasantly still.

“Now I’m … sure, that’s perfectly unnecessary. How about we just get some nice coffee and --- “

Chloe shook her head, still grinning like the huge fucking idiot she was.

“Nah. Coffee sucks. Your hair or nothin’.”

Victoria now frowned.

Chloe looked past her to the entrance, again, before back to Victoria.

“Ain’t got all day, Chase.”

Victoria considered her options –

Chloe was getting impatient, despite her ridiculous, shit-eating grin –

Victoria laughed politely.

Chloe blinked.

“Good one. I almost believed you for a second, there.”

Chloe just rolled her eyes, and brushed past Victoria.

Victoria quickly turned around.

Fuck.

“Chloe. Wait.”

Chloe paused, but didn’t look back to her.

“I’m listening.”

Victoria tapped at her own arms impatiently, nervously, anxiously, annoyed –

“Fine. Touch my hair. Just get it over with already. But I expect a fucking book report out of you for this.”

Chloe exhaled, amused, and turned around.

Jesus Christ.

Her grin was ridiculous, now.

Victoria couldn’t even look at it.

It’d just make this too humiliating.

She looked off to the side, and Chloe walked up in front of her.

Good lord.

Did she not even fucking shower?

Victoria could smell her stank from a mile away but it was even more noxious when she was forced to be close to her.

What the hell did Rachel see in this girl, again?

Chloe didn’t delay much longer.

She raised a hand up and pleasantly patted at the top of Victoria’s head.

Victoria gritted her fucking teeth and dug her nails into her own skin as far as they could go.

“Your hair is all soft and fluffy.”

Victoria rolled her eyes.

“That’s what happens when you take care of it.”

Chloe got a dangerous sparkle in her eye.

Oh, shit.

Victoria suddenly realized this was probably a bad time to make fun of her.

“When you take care of it, huh.”

Chloe’s hand pushed down farther and she started vigorously throwing her hand through Victoria’s hair –

Fucking ruining it -

Victoria fucking screeched and shoved Chloe away –

But Chloe was making her way away from Victoria, anyway, laughing –

Fucking bitch –

Did she even know how long it took –

“I don’t even know Rachel, by the way, that’s the first time we hung out since I met her, so ---"

What the fuck –

As if on cue, Rachel magically appeared, bursting from the entrance –

All three of them froze for a bit.

Rachel looked to Chloe.

Chloe looked to Rachel.

Victoria looked to Rachel.

Rachel looked to Victoria.

Rachel smiled warmly.

“Nice hair, Victoria.”

Fucking –

Rachel and Chloe giggled –

Rachel grabbed at one of Chloe’s hands and tugged her into the school.

Fucking.

Fuck.

Ugh.

Just great.

Conned by the biggest idiot on campus.

Victoria remained frozen in place, stewing for a bit.

But.

Still.

Maybe that was a lie.

Rachel certainly didn’t act like she didn’t know Chloe very well.

Who just tugs someone along without even talking to them?

What a fucking weird girl.

Ugh.

Victoria raised a hand up to her hair and felt how frazzled it was.

She groaned miserably and took to fixing it.

A few minutes later, using her phone as a mirror, she was more-or-less confident that her hair was fixed.

But still.

Goddamn it.

Just thinking about how quickly Chloe figured out Victoria’s sycophantic intentions –

Ugh.

Victoria really hoped that Chloe wasn’t a new fixture in Rachel’s life.

Chloe was probably the only other girl on campus that Victoria had absolutely no influence over at all and she fucking hated it.

Victoria stewed for a little while longer.

She saw Nathan and some fucking nameless jock out of the corner of her eye.

The jock was bullying Nathan.

Whatever.

Victoria blinked, then hummed in consideration.

Nathan was some twitchy idiot.

The kind that would probably shoot up the school, if his family hadn’t just made a huge contribution to it.

But maybe it would be nice to have the Prescotts on her side.

Maybe it would be nice to tend her fucking ego after that humiliation.

Victoria cleared her throat, stood up, and cracked her neck.

She could own this school if she fucking wanted to.

Chloe, and Rachel for that matter, would know that soon enough.

And then they would be clamoring for her attention.

Victoria was all smiles as she made her way over to the jock.

It was her turn to play someone.