H A I L E Y
I felt something twist violently in my stomach, rage mixing with that old familiar sting of shame, the shame I thought I’d buried, the shame I had worked so hard to burn away with every sleepless night, every surgery, every moment I fought to prove myself.
They had no idea what I had sacrificed, what I had endured. To them, I was nothing more than the rumors they whispered about, the caricature they painted to soothe their own insecurities.
Valerie’s nails dug lightly into my wrist. I turned my head and saw her eyes blazing, her lips pressed so tightly together I thought she might draw blood.
“Hailey—” She whispered, her voice trembling with restrained fury.
I swallowed hard, forcing air into my lungs. My instincts screamed at me to march up to them and tear their words a
