“You’re Raven Carver, aren’t you?”

I face forward with a frown.

“Sorry, but Maybell told me you were coming today. I didn’t think you’d be at school already, but usually the only new kids who come are people from the home.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly given an option so, here I am.”

“Are you gonna run?”

I laugh lightly, shifting my eyes to hers. “Nah. I’ve got nowhere to be. Now I’m stuck in the system ‘til I’m eighteen anyway, so fuck it. May as well cruise through.”

“Those guys back there, you need to be careful. They’re… not like most high schoolers. People around here listen to them, follow their every move.”

So those are the guys the chick was referring to this morning.

“What you did today? They won’t allow that without getting you back. They can’t.” She shakes her head.

“I keyed his Denali.” I shrug. “Big fucking deal.”

The girl stops, her eyes widening. “Yeah, you got that part right. It is a ‘big fucking deal.’ If they let some nobody, new girl like you – no offense – openly disrespect them like that, it’ll threaten their entire system.”

“System.”

“Yeah. System. They’re a big deal around here, and not just at the school. You either kneel at their feet or get stomped under them. They’ll make sure you’re shamed, one way or another.”

We make our way up the dirt driveway. “He disrespected me first. If there’s one thing I know about guys, it’s if you let them walk all over you, they’ll take pleasure in doing it.”

The girl steps ahead, pulling open the screen door as she looks back at me. “If there’s one thing I know about the boys of Brayshaw, it’s that they’ll destroy anything that threatens to mess up their vision. Watch out, Raven. Your little stunt today may have gotten the guys you’re used to off your back, but for these guys? All you did was paint the mark brighter.”

I raise a black brow and she scowls at me.

“A target from them means a target from all their followers,” she spits.

Right. “Let me guess… you’re a follower?”

This time it’s her who pops an eyebrow. “Welcome to Brayshaw High.”