Read Neverland Academy for Free Online Page B

contact with Daphne and winked just before twirling the
drumsticks and kicking out the beat of the first song. Daphne’s heart sank. She
barely even heard the music while she thought of all the college girls
surrounding her, ogling her boyfriend. Rocks was 22 and she was only 17. Maybe
he wanted someone older, more mature. Not a girl that was still in high school
and living with her parents. She couldn’t block out the vision of the brunette
flirting with him, or how he enjoyed it.
    As
he hammered the drums, Daphne watched him intently, interpreting every nuance
in his behavior as a sign that he’s moved on. The music was nothing more than
irritating background noise by now. Daphne could have sworn he winked at
somebody else. Following his gaze, her eyes rested on the brunette, who was
leaning on the other side of the stage.
    Daphne
had had enough. Once the band paused for a break, she shoved her empty beer
bottle into Carrie’s hands and made her way to the side of the stage just as
Rocks was coming off.
    “Hey
baby,” he said as he reached out for Daphne, but she dodged him.
    “We
need to talk.”
    “Now?
We’re in the middle of a show. It can wait 'til later.”
    “No.”
Daphne glared at him. “It can’t.”
    A
look of boredom washed over his face and he stared up at the rafters in the
ceiling. He sighed heavily. “I know what this is about.”
    “You
do?” Daphne was puzzled.
    “Yeah.
It’s about us, right? Look, Daphne. I like you. You know that. But this thing
we have—with you living here and me in Atlanta—it’s just not going
to work.”
    Daphne
panicked. She had gotten herself all worked up about the other girl and had
been fully prepared to let him have it. She hadn’t been expecting him to break
up with her. “But we can make it work. I only have one year of school left, and
then I can do whatever the hell I want. I’ll come back to the city. Everything
will be fine.”
    Rocks
shook his head. “I know what your parents are like. They won’t just let you go.
Anyway, you should move on too. I’m not worth crying over.” One of his band
mates tapped him on the shoulder and mumbled something in his ear. “Hey, look.
I gotta get back on stage. You take care, okay?”
    By
the time he’d reached the stage, Daphne was pushing her way back through the
crowd to reach the exit. In her rush to get out she bumped into several people.
    “Hey bitch !”
    Daphne
turned to find a tall blonde in a silk top, stained with some kind of red
liquid.
    “You
spilled my drink!”
    Daphne
scowled at the girl and turned to leave. She didn’t have time to argue or
apologize. Not with the rising tide of emotions she was trying to hold down.
    A
clawed hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around. Something took hold of
Daphne. It was another emotion, one that caused this whole Athens mess to begin
with. The same one that took hold of her at Kiera’s party in Atlanta. As the
blonde girl turned Daphne to face her, Daphne clenched her fist and swung hard
and fast, making contact with the girl’s cheek. The girl swung back and just
barely nicked Daphne across the forehead. Daphne swung again, but her arm was
caught as a bouncer dragged her away and out the front entrance.
                
    ***
     
    “You
don’t think it was too much, do you?”
    Mrs.
Werring clutched her husband’s arm as they departed from an upscale Italian
restaurant and walked toward Clayton Street where they had parked. Her heels
clicked against the sidewalk, a subtle arrogant sound against the background of
drunken college revelry going on around them. They were, after all, right
across the road from the main campus of the University of Georgia.
    “Not
at all, darling,” Mr. Werring replied. “You made a notable impression tonight:
firm, capable, and as tenacious as ever.”
    “Are
you sure? Don’t you think I come off as pushy and arrogant?”
    “Absolutely
not. And even if you had, there are plenty of other potential