The Girl I Was Before by Ginger Scott Read Free Book Online Page A

phone and social media. Just as I thought, that was all part of the performance. I’m sure she’ll tell everyone they did a thorough investigation, and everyone will believe it, because she’s checked everyone’s phone—but mine.
    “Pretty sure you don’t have the right to kick me out,” I say. Benefit of being a lawyer’s daughter is a shallow understanding of the law. I know more than Chandra does, and that’s all that matters. Sticking to my promise to myself, I don’t move from my spot about twenty feet away from her. I stand there, in the open foyer, where my voice echoes. And I revel in how it makes her uncomfortable.
    “How did you think this was going to go?” she asks, never fully admitting to anything—never really laying out what this is all about.
    “Not sure what you mean?” I say, resisting the urge to fold my arms. I won’t close my body off to her. These might seem like tiny wins in the chess game of interpersonal communication, but I need every tiny win I can get.
    Chandra looks down at the pillow, running her hands along it, pulling at the corners to make it even and straight. She lifts it from her lap and sets it to the side, then untangles her legs, walking over to me slowly. I hold my ground.
    “You will be out by tonight, or I will make your life so fucking miserable, you will literally run home to California,” she says, each word coming out amid her steps, until her elbows are brushing my body and her breath is choking me she’s so close.
    I don’t blink. Not once. Inside, I’m crumbling, because I didn’t expect Chandra to fight so hard. That picture; it will ruin her. But she’s acting as if she has it completely contained. I know how rumors spread. I’ve helped pass them along. I’ve watched my dad spend millions trying to stop them. And when there’s something as sexy as a photo of the campus it girl with a shitload of drugs—it’s only a matter of time.
    “Do your worst,” I say, waiting for her to flinch. She doesn’t, and the only thing I have left is my sister. I think of my sister, and the shitty things I started, and the cruel things this girl standing across from me has done. I know I’m right, and good has to win. I’m not naïve enough to think it always wins, but this time, it has to. And I’m willing to be a relentless bitch just to get my way.
    Chandra doesn’t respond. She let’s the half smile on her overly-red lips linger, and waits for me to back away, which I finally do, retreating to my purple room. I pull the small screwdriver from my desk drawer as soon as I step inside and take down the overpriced coat hanger I bought with my own money. I place it in the side pocket of my duffle bag.
    One way or another, I’ll be out of this house soon. And I’ll be damned if I’m donating my good decorating taste to this place.

Chapter 3
    H ouston

    “ R emind me how much they’re paying you for this…and how much you’re giving me for being here?” I ask Casey while I lie under a table shielded by a black tablecloth. There are at least a dozen cords in my hands, and I’m trying to find a way to weave them through a one-inch space in the plywood, makeshift-stage we’re propped up on.
    “Two K,” he says, “and I said I’d give you half. Of course, that was when I thought you would fix my shit, not lend me yours.”
    “Way I see it, the fact that I’m spending the night here with you is worth way more,” I say, peering up at him with my back flat on the floor.
    “Wow, is that your best pickup line? No wonder you haven’t been laid in…what, two years?” he says, feeding one more cord down to me from the back of his speakers.
    “If you’re going to be a dickhead all night, I can leave…” I start to get up.
    “You’re not leaving. I know how much a thousand bucks means to you,” he says quickly, holding the end of the cord out for me. I take it, because he’s right. That’s at least a week and a half of shifts and tips at the