Freya Snow: Book One - Hunt

Chapter Ten

By the time biology finished, Freya was starving. She hurried to the dining hall, hoping to not have to stand in line for too long.

Luck, however, wasn't with her, as her biology classroom was all the way at the other end of the school. By the time she got to the dining hall, the queue was all the way out of the door.

Freya took her manga back out of her bag, keeping her nose buried in it as she slowly moved up the line. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to start trying to talk to her.

The boy standing behind her bumped into her once, but she responded with a scathing glare before returning to her book, and he didn't so much as brush up against her again, allowing her a little relief, though she still felt suffocated between the feel of everyone's eyes, and the oppressive sound of chatter.

By the time Freya got the front of the queue, she bought herself a sandwich and a carbonated apple juice, which actually contained more sugar than the cola drinks that the school had banned. She wanted something that she could eat quickly.

She glanced around the room, finding it full. There were no quiet corners that she could see, just cramped spaces jammed with other people.

She eventually spotted the end seat on a table become free, as well as the seats next to and opposite as a group of three friends left. She sat on the end seat, putting her backpack on the seat next to her, and wolfed down the sandwich in three bites before downing the can of pop as quickly as she could.

As soon as she was done, she got up and left, deciding to try and find the library. She wanted a new book to read that afternoon.

Freya left, only to see three girls follow her out, only to hurry in front of her, blocking her path and trapping her in a corner. After a couple of moments, she recognised them as the girls that had been whispering in biology.

"Do you need something?" Freya asked, trying to keep her voice calm as panic rose through her.

"I just wanted to let you know," the ginger girl in the centre said, "you shouldn't eat that fast. That's how you gain weight, you know."

The blonde at her right sniggered, and Freya figured that it had been a jab at her weight. She rolled her eyes. The three girls in front of her were stick thin, but they were also barely five foot and as flat as cardboard. Yes, Freya was bigger, but that was only because she had a woman's body, rather than a girl's.

Or, at least, that's what she tried to tell herself. But it didn't stop the twisting in her stomach.

"Anything else, or can I go?" Freya asked, hiding her hurt behind a thick wall of nonchalant sarcasm.

The ginger girl looked a little put out by Freya's rebuff, but didn't walk away. "So, Mr Thompson seemed to like you in biology."

Freya raised an eyebrow. She'd been under the impression that she'd annoyed him.

"How did you get so smart, anyway?"

Freya froze at that, recognising the question. It wasn't a real question, it was a trap. And one Freya hadn't ever figured out how to get out of.

Freya shrugged. "I just am."

"So, like, what? You're some kind of weird genius?"

Freya shrugged once more, just wanting them to let it go. She felt claustrophobic, unable to get away from them. Every time she spoke, it was like defusing a bomb. One wrong move and they'd have all the ammo they needed. If she stayed silent, they'd accuse her of being rude, which would also give them the ammo they needed.

There was no winning, Freya knew. They would keep pressing until she slipped up and they had their story about the freaky new girl.

"Well, are you?"