[2] 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐌 𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐃 , 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗒 𝗃𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗌𝗈𝗇

𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋 | 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

Thomas had always been cute, but however impossible it seemed, he had gotten cuter. He looked older but still possessed the elfish looks and the boyish charm of last year. She remembered his birthday was early this summer. He was eighteen now and he looked it. But where his eyes were usually bright and awake, there were hints of eyebags beneath them. Where the corners of his mouth were usually upturned into a permanent smile, they were now angled downwards so that a frown was etched upon his face. It seemed like it had been there for a long time. Suddenly, Regina didn't feel the positivity radiating off of him any longer.

But where there was deep guilt rooted inside of her, there was also an immense feeling of comfort. Thomas was always the person she could always stand, the person she could relax with and the person she could tell anything to without the fear of being judged. She missed when he tried to teach her how to drum, and she missed when he flipped through vogue magazines and told her what would look good on her. How they once replaced the marshmallows in the chubby bunny challenge with strawberries and how long Thomas teased her for being terrified of butterflies.

Seeing him hanging out with Silena was fine. She knew they were close as siblings. They were almost like the same person in two different gendered bodies. But Clarisse? Clarisse 'I hate everyone and if you even look my way I'll shove your head in my armpit' La Rue? He couldn't be serious. He was talking the most shit about her last year. Why was he so friendly with her now? Anger was building up inside of her, like it always was when something even remotely bad happened to her.

"Right. What the fuck is all of this, then?" Regina said through gritted teeth, her arms crossed over her chest accusingly. The three of them looked up, different reactions and expressions carved onto their faces. Clarrise was pleasantly surprised, until she seemed to question why Regina would show up out of the blue and curiosity overtook her. Regina couldn't pin point Silena's expression; she didn't expect much from the pretty girl due to the fact that they had only ever shared glances and half smiles last year if the two ever crossed paths. And Thomas?

Thomas wouldn't even look her in the eye.

Clarrise, like the leader she was genetically made to be, spoke first. "So you finally showed up? It's only taken a whole year."

Regina bit the inside of her cheek. She had no care nor intention of talking to Clarrise. She was looking at Thomas who was packing up his nail kit, a gulp stuck in his throat as he tried to look anywhere but her direction. She could understand why he was so angry and why he was acting like he was, but she still thought that it made him immature.

"So you can't even look at me then?" Regina said with a slight raise of her voice, causing Silena to look at her menacingly. That girl looked scrappy, but she also looked like a hair puller, so she wasn't too afraid if the pretty girl decided to throw a swing.

Thomas continued to ignore her. He packed up his kit and stuffed it into the pocket of his plaid Gucci trousers. Then he got up, helped Silena put on her jacket and walked out the Ares cabin without even a glance back.

You could practically see the steam erupting from Regina's ears.

If that was how Thomas wanted to play it, then that was how they were going to play it. She didn't even miss him. She hated strawberries anyway. "Fine!" She screamed, turning to where he was now walking down the path with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "By the way, have you ever heard of fucking concealer? Maybe you should stop spending money on Gucci bags and start spending money on hiding the ones under your eyes!"