Naked by Stacey Trombley Read Free Book Online Page B

armor rising. They’re just rumors right now.
    They don’t know the real truth. With a little luck, they never will.
    I jump when the bell finally rings, much louder than I remember it being.
    While everyone else leaves class—the only thing more interesting than the new girl is the chance to escape the room, I guess—I sit there and watch them exit. Desperate for a second alone.
    “Do you need anything, Anna?” the teacher asks me. “Are you okay?”
    Scratch that. There’s really no chance to be alone, not here.
    “Don’t worry about them,” he says. “They’re just interested in the new girl. It happens every time.”
    I don’t answer, just grab my things and head out into the packed hallway.
    Strangely enough, things seem to slow down once I’m out there. It almost feels like I’m back in the city, surrounded by strangers. Almost invisible. No one says my name, no one calls me a hooker, and no one points in my face.
    But when I start forward to my next class, the boy and the redhead point at me, and the people they’re with, three other kids leaning against the lockers, they turn toward me all at the same time.
    I want to wrap myself up in a sweater or something. Anything to keep myself away from their curious stares.
    “Seriously?” the redhead says. “That’s that girl from middle school?”
    “I heard she had like three kids.”
    The redhead gasps. “What is she? Some kind of slut?”
    So much for being someone new. I’ll always be dirty Anna.
    I duck my head and press my way through the crowd, and then I realize that I have no clue where I’m going. I just continue to walk. I keep my eyes mostly to the floor but glance up every once in a while to see if I can find something or someone to save me.
    “I heard she was in rehab!”
    They think it’s funny to say those things about me. But all they have are rumors. If they knew the truth, the full truth, would they still be laughing? If they knew what I had to do to survive, would they hate me or pity me?
    “I heard they found her shacked up with some rich sugar daddy…”
    “No way!”
    “Where’s she been for three years, then?”
    I shove myself past some big girl who’s probably not used to being pushed around, but I don’t care. She makes an indignant grunting noise, but I’m not scared of her, just like I’m not scared of anyone else here. Not the students. Not the teachers.
    As horrible as this feels—the eyes, the name-calling, the thoughts in my head that tell me I don’t have a future—none of it can be as bad as what I’ve already been through. I have the scars to prove it.
    “Gross, I can smell the skank from here.”
    No one knows. No one will ever know what I’ve been through. No one but Luis.
    Unfortunately, thinking about those bad things only opens the floodgates to memories I’d rather forget.
    My breathing is quick and heavy, my heart pounding. I try to convince myself I’m okay, but the bodies pressing in on me are impossible to ignore.
    A massive hand crashes into my chest. My back slams against a wall behind me. It’s dark and I can barely see my attacker. But I can feel his hot breath on my face.
    I shake my head. It’s just a memory. The past. I’m not there now.
    I close my eyes and hear Luis’s voice telling me how strong I am. How amazing I was to live through everything and still come out fighting.
    I was on the streets, ready to give up, crumple into a ball, and disappear. Anything to make it stop. Then he found me. Lifted me up—
    A soft hand wraps around my wrist.
    For a moment, I’m in shock, stuck between the memory and the present.
    But the touch is gentle. Almost the way Sarah grabbed me the other day. Whoever it is doesn’t want to force me somewhere. Whoever it is wants to help.
    I look up to see hazel eyes surrounded by glasses and freckles. I barely know him, but right now he’s the most welcome face I’ve ever seen.
    Jackson.
    I follow him down the hall and through a set of double