her. “Are you going to cry? You look like you’re going to cry.”
Madison and Charlene giggled.
As Harlow sprayed a stream of whipped cream into one girl’s mouth, then the other, she said, “Look, Dorkthea, I’m not going to sugarcoat the truth because you’ll probably eat it. You are a dork. And ugly. And fat. Face it. You’re a disgusting she-creature.”
Dorothea’s cheeks blistered with humiliation, her lungs deflating. She’d tortured herself all summer, running five miles every morning. Still she carried extra weight.
Be strong. Be brave.
“I won’t sugarcoat the truth, either,” she said, lifting her chin. “True beauty isn’t the size of your body but the size of your heart. Your heart is small, making you the most hideous girl I’ve ever met.”
Sky blue eyes glittered with venom.
Madison and Charlene huffed and puffed with indignation.
Score! Harlow-1, Dorothea-1. All tied up.
“Ask any boy in school to choose between the pretty girl and the nice one with a heart of gold,” Harlow grated. “Heck, ask any boy in the world! Guess who will win every—single—time.”
Be strong. Be brave. Stand up for yourself! Easier said than done. Harlow had a way of stripping a girl of her humanity and leaving a wounded animal.
“Who a boy chooses doesn’t matter,” Dorothea said, knowing deep down it was true. “With your own words, you proved boys can be as ignorant as you are.”
The girl’s mouth opened and snapped closed.
All right. Time to go. Before things got worse!
Could they get worse?
Yes! Dorothea took a step backward, intending to run...when she smacked into a wall. No, not a wall, but a person, she realized with a gasp. As strong hands settled on her waist to steady her, she glanced over her shoulder to see—
Daniel Porter!
Her crush. Her eternal flame. Her one and only. A senior just as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside.
She’d adored the boy since the first day of kindergarten, when she’d skinned her knee during gym, and he’d come to her rescue, acting as her crutch while she limped to the nurse’s station.
Today he was taller, of course, and cut with muscle...and he was peering at her with the most beautiful gold eyes framed by thick black lashes. Peering at her. Not the other girls. But...his hands still rested on her waist. He could probably feel the fat rolls underneath her shirt.
Tensing, Dorothea jumped away from him to sever contact.
He frowned at her. “Everything okay here?”
His voice! So low and husky. Her heart leaped into her throat, making it impossible to breathe or speak or even pretend to be cool.
Unaffected by his presence, Harlow flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. “This is a private conversation. Move along, Daneroni.”
Two years ago, when Harlow had given him the nickname—Daniel plus pepperoni—he’d had a problem with acne. But he didn’t have a problem anymore. The summer sun had cleared his skin, bronzing him to perfection. In his black T-shirt and faded jeans, he was the guy every girl dreamed of dating.
An-n-nd he stepped in front of Dorothea...acting as her shield? Her eyes widened as he leaned down, going nose to nose with Harlow. “You’re the queen bitch. Everyone gets it. Don’t be surprised when someone pushes you off your throne.”
The color drained from her majesty’s cheeks, but she gave her hair another flick, as if she’d never been more confident. “You obviously lost brain cells when you gained biceps, so I’m going to let this infraction slide. Just know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now—move—along.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “How about you give me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I’ll actually like and move to a new town?”
Dorothea gaped. Daniel Porter, the hottest boy ever born, had just out-bullied Harlow Glass.
Forget crushing on him. There, in that moment, Dorothea fell madly, deeply and passionately in love with him. My hero!
Harlow kissed the tips of her fingers, then blew him a kiss with only the middle one extended. “Come on, girls,” she said as she shouldered him out of the way. “Let’s give Daniel time to think about the error of his ways.”
The group marched off. Madison glanced over her shoulder to wink at Daniel.
Something dark rolled through Dorothea. Jealousy? She moved, blocking the love of her life from the blonde and perfect cheerleader’s view. “Thank you. For everything.”
He bestowed his full attention on her, and oh, my stars. She almost melted into a puddle of goo. His eyelashes! They were so long they curled at the ends.
When he smiled at her, revealing straight, white teeth newly freed from braces, she forgot how to breathe.
“Don’t let Harlow’s cruelty get you down,” he said. “She likes herself, which means she has terrible taste. I think you’re perfect just the way you are.”
Her still-thumping heart dropped into her ankles. Perfect? Her?
He gently chucked her under the chin. “See you around, Dottie.”
He knows my name! A nickname she suddenly loved.
As he strode down the hall, she called, “Yes! I’ll see you around!” Then her cheeks blistered with humiliation. Shrieking at him like a banshee? Not cool.
And oh, wow, had he seriously called her perfect?
Waves of feminine pride flooded her, something she’d never before experienced. Shoulders squaring, chin lifting with more attitude, she made her way to her new locker and dropped off her backpack.
A senior—Jessica Kay Dillon—had the locker next to hers. Tears welled in Jessie Kay’s eyes as she wiped whipped cream off the door. Dorothea caught the remaining letters—L-U-T—and swallowed a groan. Harlow must have spelled slut.
Jessie Kay had a reputation as “easily had and easily forgotten,” and Dorothea’s heart suddenly ached for her. The pretty blonde and her sister Brook Lynn had lost both of their parents. Their uncle had come to stay with them, but he must not have had any money to spare, because Jessie Kay’s clothes were ill fitting and threadbare.
Dorothea repeated what Daniel had just said to her, because—obviously—the words had the power to change everything. “I think you’re perfect just the way you are.”
“Like your opinion matters,” the blonde snapped before stomping away.
A little of Dorothea’s newfound confidence wilted. I’m strong. I’m brave. I’m perfect. Daniel wasn’t a liar.
She floated to first period on a cloud of euphoria. What
