Borrowed Time Part 2

Chapter 253

Following the very odd conversation that she had been subjected to with Bryce, Juliette started to feel a bit more hopeful that maybe the entire universe hadn't heard about what had happened with her and Ethan, and that maybe, just maybe they didn't all believe his dumb fucking side of the story, but she was quickly given a reminder that no, Bryce Benedict was actually just a fucking idiot, and hanging her hopes on him was perhaps the stupidest thing that she could've done.

All she was doing was sitting down and waiting for a text back from Shelby to see if she was going home with her or waiting for Esme, and she felt these fucking eyes on her, not a welcome thing when most of the day had been spent without people looking at her the same way - she was finally becoming old news again.  When she looked up, she saw it was a herd of Freshmen, the same ones that clung to Ethan like he held up their entire universe for some reason, giggling about him being handsome, about how nervous they got around him... It was really gross, but she'd seen how he thrived over their attention.

No one should thrive off of a fifteen year old's attention, those brains are nowhere near formed, not to mention they're basically babies.  Not a full year prior they were middle schoolers, that was fucking nasty... But regardless, they were staring at her, snickering, whispering amongst themselves.  She caught one of their eyes and raised an eyebrow, quieting them down fairly quickly as she leaned forward a bit.

"Is there something I can fucking help you guys with?  Do you really have nothing better to do than stare at someone?  Get a hobby, get a life, and get them both as far away from me as you can possibly muster, because I am sick of it."  She snapped, feeling any of the patience that she had tried to have the past few days drain away from her more and more with each word they spoke.  She noticed that the leader of their little group, the girl that had been cast to play Frenchie, Mandy, straightened up and stepped a bit back, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Whatever guys, let's just go... Wouldn't want her crying wolf about us too."  Juliette set her jaw, standing up as she watched them all take a step back.  She walked closer, noting the nervousness that seemed to settle over each of them, suddenly too anxious to speak a single word.

Cowards.

"Do you lack critical thinking skills?  Like, does Ethan offer a free lobotomy with every conversion to whatever weird cult you guys follow where you hang on that freak ass bastard's every single word?"  She asked, noting how they all flinched away, looking sheepish.  Some of them trained their eyes on the ground, scuffing their slides or shoes, mumbling, fiddling with their hoodie strings, but she was really sick of having to be the bigger person, having to pretend like she didn't notice what people were saying around her because she didn't want him to win.  She snapped her fingers.  "Hey.  I'm talking to you... Or are you all too cowardly to actually say shit to me, you have to say it behind my back?" She asked, noting how Mandy huffed, puffing her chest out even as her hands trembled a little.

"Yeah, well... At least we don't lie about boys to get attention!"  Her voice squeaked over the words, her face getting more and more red with each word, like she was realizing how dumb what she was saying really was.  Juliette let out a chuckle of disbelief, pulling her hair up before she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Do you think I gave these wounds to myself?  Think I busted my teeth up, got stitches, and got bruises all over me just for the fun of it?"  She asked, and Mandy faltered, her brows furrowing as she continued to try to stammer something out.