VACANT novel Chapter 2

The walk to school was short, and her shoulders slumped as she clutched the bag's strap. It wasn't always easy for her to get to school thirty minutes early. Her conversations with Mr. Edgar would pass the time, and she'd frequently be late for school, but now that he was MIA she'd run out of options and climb the nearest tree, where she sat looking down on everyone.

She gushed as the pain in her chest intensified and echoed throughout her body, and her palm reflexively grasped her sweater, her hand turning into a fist, and her head suddenly felt heavy. Her breathing became laboured, and her shoulders became stiff as if the ache in her chest had now spread to her shoulders, threatening to cause tears.

A continual reminder that she is weaker than the rest of the pack, and that she may end up like her mother.

Hopeless and frail.

She lays against a tree branch, attempting to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. She concentrates on the black Mercedes that rolls in and the crowd that forms around it.

She notices how his physique glides out of the car, how he runs his finger through his brown tangles, and how his football jersey screams for attention beneath his new Zara jacket. Hundreds of people were drawn to him by his smile, or perhaps it was the new Gucci belt he wore around his waist.

She used to wonder if they would still be there if they discovered his secret. If they find out, his family will buy him the gadgets to keep him from disclosing his sexuality to the rest of the world. They bought his silence, and he was a prisoner in his own home.

Would they be able to stay? Would he still be seen as a man of integrity? Would he still have the title of Alpha?

They paid attention to her when she needed them, and all she had to do was ask for what she wanted.

Nonetheless, it irritated her that her mother's remarks seemed to be stuck on a tape recorder in her thoughts, as she tried to figure out how the bully she saw in front of her eyes was created.

Nina beams as her Porsche slams into Timmy Night's backpack. The poor guy tries to stop her, but she almost runs over it again and him in the process.

She watches as everyone runs to the doors as the bell sounds, disrupting the school drama. She drops from the tree, steadying herself for a moment before moving off, the loud noises having faded to murmurs. She praised the goddess for relieving her pain with all of the access and didn't even realize when it was eventually gone.