Warrior (Book Three of The Silver Society)

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When Jade and Beth went back to school, they were greeted by stares and confusion. "Oh my God, Beth, what did you do to your hair?" Sabrina asked.

"It's so... short," Helen added.

"I cut it," Beth replied. "If you don't mind, I kind of want to be alone."

"Beth, come on, we've given you time," Shelly protested. "It's almost like you're ditching us for that freak."

"She's not a freak, Shelly. Stop talking about her like that."

"Wow, Beth, are you turning traitor on us?" Elsie asked.

"Don't say that!" Beth shouted, suddenly overwhelmed with rage. Traitor. Oath breaker. Warlock. They all mean the same thing, Beth thought. Before she knew what she was doing, she had Elsie pinned against the lockers. "Don't you ever call me a traitor!"

Elsie screamed as Beth put pressure on her shoulders, keeping her trapped in place. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Shelly demanded. She grabbed Beth's arm.

Beth flung Shelly off of her with enough force to knock her onto the floor. "You've lost it!" Sabrina declared as she helped Shelly get back on her feet.

Helen watched them and began chewing on one of her braids nervously. It was pretty obvious that she couldn't quite read the situation to figure out what she should do. She finally kept her distance from Beth, choosing to hide behind Shelly and Sabrina.

Elsie tried to escape, but Beth slammed her back against the lockers again. Elsie let out a terrified whimper. "I'm s-sorry," she stuttered. "Just let me go."

"Take it back!" Beth demanded, slamming her against the lockers for the third time.

"Beth, let her go," Jade said firmly. As much as she enjoyed watching the popular girls get their butts kicked, she didn't think it would go over well for Beth if she got caught beating random people up on her first day back.

Beth tossed Elsie aside and walked away from the popular girls with Jade. It took over a minute for her to calm down and realize what had happened.

"Did I really just do that?" Beth asked in horror.

"Yeah, you kind of did," Jade confirmed. "It was very entertaining, by the way, but I figured I should stop you anyway."

"I guess I just got myself kicked out of the popular clique," Beth said with a sigh.

"No big loss there," Jade mumbled before she softened a bit. "I'm sorry... I know they're your friends..."

"No, you're right," Beth replied. "They don't get me. They never really have. They accepted me, but when it came to anything other than talking about cute boys or fashion or whatever shallow subjects they were into at any given moment, they didn't really get it. They aren't my friends, Jade... You're my friend. The Silver Society members are my friends. Those girls are just... Jerks."

Jade was proud of Beth for realizing that, but she was also sad that it had been necessary. "Do you want to have lunch in the library with me today?" She asked.

"Definitely," Beth replied firmly.

"Just do me a favor and tell Randy first so he doesn't panic and get himself into trouble?"

"Okay. I have class with him next period anyway."

"Hey, guys," Cierra said as she joined them. "Wow, Beth... New look?"