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Rylie blow the shot.
     
    “Yes?” the counselor asked.
     
    Patricia engaged her in a conversation, gesturing toward the targets. Rylie heard Amber repeat, “Loser.”
     
    Rylie turned until Amber was in the line of her bow sight. It would be easy to release the string and watch the arrow bury in her neck. She was confident she could make the shot from this distance.
     
    “Hey! Bow toward target!” snapped the archery instructor.
     
    She hesitated. It would be so easy...
     
    But now Rylie was being watched, so there was no way to do it without being seen. She eased up on the string and aimed at the hay. Loser? Yeah, right.
     
    Her second arrow flew true. It sunk deep into the yellow ring around the bull’s eye.
     
    After finishing, Rylie returned to the back of the line. Patricia still had Louise’s attention, so Rylie approached Amber. “What do you want?” Amber asked.
     
    Rylie folded her arms. “If you have a problem with me, you need to say it.”
     
    “What? You’re crazy.”
     
    “You made me miss the target on purpose!”
     
    Amber gave a barking laugh. “It’s not my fault you suck!”
     
    “Why do you hate me so much?” she demanded.
     
    “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re a freak who hides out in my cabin and wears old, nasty clothes?”
     
    Louise heard them. She started to walk over.
     
    “At least I’m not an idiot who thinks my daddy’s money makes me better than everyone else!”
     
    “Shut up, bitch!” Amber pushed her, and sudden fury choked Rylie.
     
    “Do not touch me,” she said.
     
    “Like this?” She planted both hands on Rylie’s shoulders and shoved.
     
    Something inside of her snapped.
     
    Rylie slashed at the other girl’s face with her fingernails. Amber shrieked and fell back.
     
    Pouncing on her, Rylie flailed with both fists. She wanted to beat her. She wanted to hurt her. But something about punching didn’t feel right, like her hands weren’t meant for that purpose.
     
    She wanted to bite and tear.
     
    Amber sobbed. It only made Rylie angrier, and in a way... hungry.
     
    Hands clamped down on Rylie’s arms and hauled her off Amber. She kept trying to hit and kick with a guttural roar. Rylie’s skin was a thousand degrees. She was burning in her own anger.
     
    It took Louise and two other girls to separate them. The moment they managed to get Rylie to her feet, however, Amber came flying at her. She lifted a hand to strike Rylie. “You’re such a freak!” she shrieked.
     
    “Cut it out!” Louise snapped, putting herself between them. “Your nose is bleeding, Miss Richmond. Take yourself to the infirmary. Now!”
     
    Amber wiped the blood off her lip. Her eyes widened and her face paled when she saw it. “Freak,” she spat one more time before flouncing away.
     
    Louise rounded on Rylie.
     
    “I have been very,
very
patient with you. My parents divorced when I was your age, and I went through a rebellious phase, too. But between your disregard for authority and aggressive behavior, we’re reaching a breaking point. Do you understand?”
     
    Rylie barely registered the words. She couldn’t focus. Her flesh was overheating, and she could barely breathe. It wasn’t asthma.
     
    She shook her head to clear it, but it only made the world spin more. She could hear the chattering of squirrels and the birds in the trees and smell nearby deer scat. Her back legs didn’t want to support her weight. It was all she could do to focus on Louise’s moving mouth through the haze.
     
    “Are you even
listening
?”
     
    “I hear you,” Rylie said, but the words felt clumsy in her mouth.
     
    It was too bright. She needed to go somewhere quiet, safe, and dark.
     
    Louise frowned. “Turn in your wrist guards and go back to camp. We’ll talk later.”
     
    Rylie peeled off her protective gear and dropped them in the bucket without looking. She glanced up at the sun. It was late afternoon, and it would be dark in a couple