Beauty and the Beat

Beauty and the Beat (35)

I didn't want to go back to school, even more than I usually did. I didn't know how I could. It was hard enough sitting inside Ethan's classroom after just breaking up, but now that I knew I meant nothing to him, being in that room hurt me even more.

It wasn’t even a place to learn any longer. Every day I had to deal with looks and ridicule, and I never said anything back in fear that I would get in trouble and get expelled. Ethan didn’t get fired and move away just so I could get expelled over something else.

Not that I should have cared about what he thought any longer. It shouldn’t have mattered to me, and yet it still did. I just wanted to forget about him but that seemed like it was impossible to do.

Maxxon drove me to school, neither of us saying a word to each other. He seemed to understand how difficult this was to me without me even having to say anything to him about it. Maxxon usually understood how I felt without even talking to me. I really liked that about him.

I almost skipped the last period of the day, but then decided against it because I knew nothing good would come from doing so. I also didn't have a ride home so there really wasn't a point because I’d still just be stuck at school.

I'd maybe had said ten words all day by the time school ended. I really wasn’t in a talkative mood. The only people I usually spoke to were Bennett and Maxxon, but they knew I didn't want to talk and the respected that.

When I saw the familiar blonde hair as we walked through the parking lot after school, I stopped dead in my tracks. I hadn’t seen Katarina without Freya since Ethan and I had been exposed. The two of them seemed suddenly attached at the hip, most likely because of their hatred for me. But now Katarina was all alone.

She smiled when she saw me, much to my chagrin. The last thing I wanted was to deal with her.

“Hi, Sadie,” Katarina greeted, that too sweet of a smile adorning her features. I made a face at her. “How are you today?”

“I’m fine,” I answered, even though I wasn’t so sure that was very truthful. “Thanks for asking.”

Katarina stopped walking, and I bit the inside of my lip. I did not want to deal with her. “Oh, of course,” she continued in that fake sweetness her voice always carried. “I always like to know how people on campus are doing. Especially the skanks.”

This didn’t hurt like it would have earlier. I already knew Katarina didn’t like me, and I wasn’t going to let it bother me any longer. She wasn’t important to me. 

“Well, the skanks would like you to know that that’s appreciated,” was all I said in response to that, shrugging and continuing on my way. Both Bennett and Maxxon blinked in confusion before following after me.

This seemed to anger Katarina. Obviously she wanted a reaction out of me, but I wasn’t going to give it to her.

"Are you, like, the queen skank or something?" Katarina called out after me, causing me to stop once again.

Bennett looked back at Katarina and glared at her. "You're really bad at coming up with insults, aren't you?" he questioned.

This only caused Katarina to glare at him. "This is between me and the slut, thank you."

I was already tired of talking with her. She was a psycho and I didn't want to be around her any longer.

I turned around to walk away again, but Katarina wasn't finished. She quickly made her way around me and stopped right in front of me.

"Listen here, bitch," she practically snarled, but I wasn't afraid. "Just because you have Maxxon and Bennett on your side doesn't mean that anyone else at this school likes you. They all think you're a slut who slept with her teacher to get a good grade."