Scent of Blood [Lesbian Story]

Athena Harding

        "Remember, child. You are the pride of this family - this clan. Do not forget where your loyalties truly lie."

        Like a mantra, she repeated these words to herself as if the world was falling apart; her eyes were listless like a seed waiting to break its shell and grow. She kept her head low as she plugged her ears with music; her surroundings were like flies that gathered around a mound of shit - a reality in every other high school. 'tis irritating, she thought as her eyes caught the sight of meagre fools throwing a ball vertically across the hall.

        "Miss Autumn," a soft voice called out to her, but she did not hear. The stench of the path she treaded on invaded her nostrils, which allowed her to differentiate every abled body around her - jocks, nerds, cheerleaders and the like. "Miss Autumn?"

        "Yes?" She finally replied without bothering to face the representative behind her, vex evident in her tone. The stench she was searching for - her target - lingered about, yet she could not discern where it came from, though she was certain it was around. The redhead behind her - the representative - annoyed her as she made her way in front of her and mouthed away information that proved useless to her.

        "Well, that is everything that needs to be said," The redheaded girl smiled at her, but she kept the same indifferent face she had from the moment she stepped into the vicinity, not showing a speck of emotion other than the negatives. "Please follow me for the first hour. Apparently we have the same class together." The redhead explained as she proceeded towards the said class.

        With her head hung low, she followed her through the malodorous hallway of Saint Theresa High School. The mixture of pride, jealousy, and envy in the air nauseated her just as both of them entered the room, where a few dozen teens of different ethnicity were standing and gossiping, mostly making loud noises that irritated her to no end.

        All eyes were on her, most of them were of looks of belittlement and the other majority of detest. She merely brushed their unwanted stares and went to the last empty chair at the end of the room, silent like the swish of an arrow. A few whispered comments about her, most of them poked fun at her, but lucky for them she did not hear any of it.

        "Alright, settle down class," Announced the teacher, who entered the room with a disheveled hairdo and an almost broken pair of glasses, which caught the attention of a few wagging tongues. Like soldiers, the crowd of teenagers obeyed and sat accordingly as if they actually came to school to learn. As the teacher took the daily attendance, he noticed an error in the print, then looked up and called for the misplaced name; "Rise Autumn?"

        "Sir!" The redhead raised her hand, which caught his attention immediately as well as the entire classroom. "It is actually pronounced as Reese." She corrected him, and then turned around to look at the new kid with the same picture-perfect smile plastered across her face.

        "Oh, I see. Miss Rise Autumn?" He called out once more as he adjusted his red-framed glasses. Unplugging her earpieces from each ear, she stood up and faced the silent music, her eyes locked at the teacher. Her piercing blue eyes stared him down as the man swallowed his own spit and looked way; his heartbeat suddenly rose unexpectedly. "A-alright, welcome to Saint Theresa High."

        Rise merely ignored his so-called warm welcome and sat back down silently, her ears already attuned to the soft whispers of gossip roaming around her. Eyes closed, she hung her head a little low, and her nose inhaled the atmosphere. The sound of everyone's breathing irritated her; the way their lips moved at the spelling of her name made her scoff, the way they stole glances at her made me her want to jab a knife into their eye sockets. Though, she would prefer the latter.