From the Damage 1 - Opposites Attract by Jasmine Denton, Genna Page A

and leaned her head against the cool window. He could see the tears slowly trickling down her cheeks, but instead of pulling her into his arms to comfort her, instead of wiping them away, he let her cry alone.

    Chapter Seven—Secrets Revealed

    Carmen stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking into her reflection.
    Through her eyes, she looked warped and distorted. Purple blemishes made her brown eyes look sunken, and her skin had grown pale.
    Since finding out custody was on the line, Carmen decided to bide her time.
    She’d go to school, and she’d be the perfect girl with the great grades, and she’d make her sister happy, and she’d do everything right. But she knew none of it would be enough. She’d never be happy.
    Carmen grabbed her purse off the bathroom counter and pulled out the diet pills she’d stolen from the drugstore. The directions said to take one tablet, but she went ahead and swallowed two to give herself a head start. Focusing her energy on losing weight gave her something else to think about, something other than her mother’s death.
    ≈≈≈
    Walking to her locker that morning, the hallway was quiet and empty because Meagan had finally gathered the sense to get to school and homeroom before Lena and her posse found her. Approaching the locker, she was relieved to find the janitor had finally covered the letters that branded it. Of course, now she had a giant black paint spot on the door, but at least her locker wasn’t still labeling her as promiscuous.
    She pulled the door open, thinking of the secret Ryder had told her. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around what he’d done—or how the sweet guy she knew could’ve done something so horrible—but she didn’t hold it against him, not even for a split second. He’d learned from his tragic mistake, and now all he needed to do was fess up to Gage because he had a right to know.
    Ryder understood that, whether he was willing to admit it or not, and Meagan was sure that in time, Ryder would come clean about the whole messy ordeal.
    “You!”
    Turning, Meagan saw Lena marching toward her.
    “Seth was suspended from the team for that stupid little stunt you pulled.”
    “The stunt I pulled?” Meagan asked with a laugh.
    “Turning him in for the graffiti. C’mon. You know what I’m talking about, so don’t act like you don’t!” Stopping in front of her, Lena placed her hands on her hips.
    “When are you going to leave him alone?”
    Meagan clenched her teeth, trying to hold back her anger. “When are you going to stop being delusional? I haven’t done a single thing to any of you, and if you’d open your eyes, you’d see that you’re protecting a predator.”
    “A predator?” Lena laughed. “That’d be you. He told me how you came on to him, how you asked for it—”
    “I don’t have to listen to this.” Walking past Lena, Meagan tried to get away.
    Lena whirled around, latching on to Meagan’s arm.
    Just then, something in Meagan snapped. She spun around, swinging her fist, and punched Lena square in the face.

    Lena screamed in pain as blood squirted from her nose. “Oh my God, you freak !”
    Gasping, Lena covered her nose, making her voice sound more nasal than usual. “Look what you did! Homecoming is next week, and you...I think you broke my nose!”
    “Now it matches the rest of your face.” Turning on her heels, Meagan walked away, feeling a small glimmer of pride. She’d never been a violent person, but Lena had been asking for it for a long time.
    ≈≈≈
    It was seven o’clock the next night when Kelly knocked on Gage’s door. She realized she should have called first, but she’d been in the neighborhood, and she couldn’t get the beautiful little girl out of her mind. She felt so bad for Lizzie, and for Gage. It was just so horrible the way he’d lost his wife. What would drive a mother to shoot up a school?
    When he answered the door, she lingered in the hallway outside. “Hey,” she