Beauty and the Beat

Beauty and the Beat (24)

I didn’t talk to Ethan for the rest of winter break. I didn’t talk to Maxxon either. I ignored all their calls and texts. I just didn’t want to have to deal with either of them.

Bennett was the only person I could talk to about this. But he wasn’t much help, since there really wasn’t anything he could have done to help me. But I was expecting as much.

I didn’t want to go back to school. I knew no one wanted to go back to school, but I had a different reason from everyone else. I really wasn’t looking forward to the classes I had with both Maxxon and Ethan.

As Bennett and I walked through the crowded hallways before the first bell rang, I was reminded of another reason why I did not want to go back to school. There was just way too much noise and I hated it.

“So, what are you going to do when you finally have to face Maxxon and Mr. Deveraux?” Bennett questioned as we continued on our way down the hall.

I made a face. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far yet.”

Bennett rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

I didn’t want to have to think about what I’d do when I had to face them, because I just didn’t want to face them. It wouldn’t be that hard to avoid Maxxon in our dance class, but he sat next to me in English. And then Ethan taught that class, so it wasn’t going to be that easy to ignore him then…

“Are you going to tell Maxxon who you’re dating?” Bennett asked me now, and I almost tripped over nothing. “I guarantee that he’s not going to give up on it until he finds out who gave you a hickey and who you didn’t want to cheat on.”

“You know I can’t just tell him!” I almost shouted, lowering my voice when I remembered people could hear us. “I’m not allowed to tell anyone. And I don’t even know if there’s a relationship to keep secret anymore anyway.”

I didn’t want to think about that. I just wanted to stop thinking. I didn’t want to have to face Ethan, but I didn’t want to break up with him. I just wanted to stop hurting, but I didn’t know how I was supposed to do that.

When a crying Katarina rushed by and bashed right into me, she didn’t stop and continued to run. Bennett clutched onto my arm to steady me, and I luckily didn’t fall over as we watched Katarina continue her way down the hall.

Bennett and I now turned to see what she had run from, surprised when we saw Maxxon standing there. I gulped when he locked eyes with me.

“Well, I think it’s time to get to class,” I excused, patting Bennett’s shoulder before taking off away from him. “I’ll see you later!”

I knew I was going to have to see Maxxon later, but that only meant I didn’t have to deal with him right then, so I was going to put it off for as long as I possibly could.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, just how you would expect the first day back after winter break to be like. No one wanted to do anything, but the teachers continued to push work onto us. That was just something else I wasn’t looking forward to.

I avoided Maxxon throughout dance, but he didn’t try to talk to me because he knew I was avoiding him. He spent the whole period with Bennett, and I knew they were talking about me because they kept looking over at me as I was with Freya. I also noticed how Katarina would glare at Maxxon, see that he was looking at me, and then she’d scowl even more.

The last period of the day was the one I wasn’t looking forward to the most. I didn’t know how I could avoid Ethan when he was the teacher. He could have given the class a free period (and then everyone would have loved him even more) and then he could have made me go out into the hallway to talk to him. I really hoped he wouldn’t do that.