Chapter 5
“I think I’m going to die if she makes us run another lap!” Cassandra panted, as she slowly jogged beside me.
I let out a laugh, as the coach blew her whistle obnoxiously. “Hurry up! Your cardio should be a lot better than whatever the hell this is!” she barked at a couple of girls who were literally dragging their feet behind them.
Cassandra stared at Coach White with wide eyes, as she picked up her pace immediately. “I hate gym.” Cassandra grumbled, as she wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. “The only good thing that comes out of this class if that I get toned legs!”
“It’s not that bad.” I shrugged.
Cassandra rolled her eyes, raising an eyebrow at me. “You could say that for yourself.” Her voice came out ragged and breathless. “You’ve barely broke a sweat!”
I let out a bitter laugh, shifting my gaze away from Cassandra’s. Little did she know, I was only used to running so much because after Mrs. Rosenfeld died, I ran for hours to try to escape the fact that if it weren’t for me, she would still be alive today.
“Class is dismissed!” Coach White yelled, as all of the girls let out a breath of relief. “Go get changed!”
We all rushed to the locker rooms to change out of our gym uniforms. The bell already rang, signaling that the next period had started. I was secretly satisfied that I had lunch after gym, because otherwise, I would be late to my next class.
“Are you coming to lunch today?” Cassandra asked, already waiting for me by the doors.
I shook my head, giving her a small smile. “I don’t think so. I have to study for an English test next period.” I stared at the time on my phone. “Can you tell Max that I won’t make it today?”
Cassandra nodded, as she gave me one last smile. “I’ll see you after school!” she waved, before disappearing at the corner.
I began walking to the library, where I used to go for lunch every day before Max showed up to the school. As I was about to turn to the hallway where the library was located, someone placed their hand on my shoulder, stopping me from walking.
Turning around, I faced three familiar girls. I recognize their faces from somewhere, but I couldn’t pinpoint where I had seen them, and what their names were. But, that wasn’t the point, because they weren’t looking at me with friendly expressions, especially the one pretty blonde one that was shooting daggers at me with her eyes.
“You’re Riley Monroe, am I correct?” she asked, her voice low and uninviting.
I pursed my lips, as I gulped nervously. “That’s me.” I whispered in a voice so low, I wasn’t sure if she could hear me. “Listen, I’ve got to go, can we talk another-“
The blonde let out a malicious laugh, as she pushed me against the wall. My eyes widened, as she pressed my back against the wall forcefully. I finally took the time to notice that amongst her was another blonde, and one brunette. All three of them looked like they belonged in a fashion magazine advertisement.
“Let’s settle something, okay?” she hissed in my ear. “I don’t know what the hell Everett ever saw in you, but I’m glad that he finally snapped in his senses and dumped your pathetic ass. But now, you’re messing with my best friend, Cassie. Back off of my friends and my boyfriend, got it?” Her face was inching closer to mine, as she stared at me with eyes dark and cloudy. When she realized that I was too scared to say anything, she let out a low chuckle, before her eyes glared into mine. “I said, got it?”
“I-I,” I stuttered, as I dropped my gaze to the ground, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
When I didn’t say what she wanted to hear, her face turned an ugly scarlet red. Her cat like eyes darted at me, as she shook her head threateningly. “You’re making a mistake here, Monroe.”
She backed away from me, but her two other friends came crowding around me. They surrounded me so that I had no way out.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
The brunette scoffed at me, before rolling her eyes in disgust. “One, stay away from Everett.” The brunette snapped. “He’s ours.”
“And two,” the other blonde stepped forward, her icy blue eyes burning into mine, “stay away from Cassandra. She’s our friend, not yours.”
“And if you don’t listen to what we say, you can-“
“What the hell is going on here?” a voice asked, as all three of the girls suddenly backed up from me. All three of them, like perfect actresses, put on an innocent smile, as they battered their eyelashes up at Everett.
“We were just asking Riley where she got those boots.” One of the blondes pointed to my Doc Martens. “They’re so cute.”
“But Katie, you said that they were ugly because they didn’t have a heel!” the brunette whined.
Katie, the blonde, shot the brunette a murderous glare. Everett, who was avoiding any eye contact with me, let out a sigh.
“Just leave her alone.” Everett said. My heart began to beat faster. Was he defending me? “She’s really not worth your time.”
My heart fell to the pit of my stomach, as I gulped down the ball that was in my throat. Sucking in a deep breath of air, I heard the sound of heels clatter away, but I noticed that there was still a figure standing in front of me.
Staring up slowly, my eyes met Everett’s green ones. I held in my breath, as my cheeks turned bright red immediately from just staring into his eyes again. The feeling felt so familiar and comfortable, yet strange.
“What did they say to you?” Everett’s voice was low.
I stared down at my Doc Martens, refusing to look in his eyes ever again. I noticed that my hand was trembling by my sides, as I clenched my fists together tightly, my nails digging into my palms. “Nothing important.” I muttered, as I pushed myself off of the wall. “I have to go study.”
I began to walk down the halls quickly, trying to escape Everett, but I just couldn’t. I felt his hand latching around my wrists, as my eyes widened. A burning sensation formed from where his hand was touching my wrist, as I jerked my hand away immediately. My breathing became heavier, as I stared up at Everett from behind my curtain of hair.
“Did they hurt you?” Everett asked, his voice no longer harsh and full of hatred. I instantly felt relaxed at his smooth voice, the voice he used to use to speak to me.
But, why the hell did he care?
“It’s none of your business.” I whispered softly, before turning my back on him once again.
This time, he didn’t stop me.
*
“…so we’re getting our official uniforms for our first game next week.” Max said, as he turned to me with a grin. “Guess what number I am?”
I frowned, as I stared at Max cautiously. He had a suggestive grin on his face, as we wiggled his eyebrows. Rolling my eyes, I let out a long sigh. “Don’t tell me you’re number sixty-nine.”
Max clamped a hand over his lips, as he stared at me, pretending to be offended. “You know Riley, I’m starting to think that you don’t think too highly of me!”
Glaring at him, I gave him a light punch on the shoulder. “Seriously, what number are you?”
“Twelve, Riley.” Max smirked. “So, how did you do on your English test today? Cassandra told me that you skipped out on lunch to study for it.”
I stared at the ground, deciding that it was best if I left out the details of what happened during lunch break today. I didn’t want Max to get all fussed up and confront Katie and her followers about what happened. Most likely, Max would go and blame Everett, which was something I didn’t want.
“It was alright.” I muttered, quickly changing the subject before Max could question me about my change of tone. “Cassandra sat with you at lunch today?”
Max nodded. “Yeah, I was kind of surprised at first.” He mumbled, shrugging. “I thought she was going to leave after she told me that you weren’t going to be here, but she stayed.”
A small smile slipped across my face, as I raised an eyebrow at Max. “See? I told you she wasn’t all that bad.”
Max had a dazed look in his blue eyes, as he smiled off to the side. “I know. She is kind of cool.”
My jaw dropped, as I turned to Max with a broad grin. “Oh my God, no way!” I gushed, shoving Max’s shoulders back roughly. “Am I sensing a crush here?”
Max turned to give me a glare, as he rolled his eyes. “Riley, stop jumping to conclusions.” He muttered. Max was trying to hide the fact that a hot red blush crept up his neck, but I caught it before he could make it go away.
“Max and Cassandra, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes-“
Max clamped a hand over my mouth, as I heard someone clear their throat by Max’s doorway. The two of us stared up with wide eyes, as Max’s little sister leaned against the door frame, smirking at Max. She had her arms crossed smugly, her nose high in the air. “Max has a girlfriend? Gross!” she scoffed.
“No, I don’t.” Max grumbled under his breath, shooting me a glare before turning back to his sister. “What the hell do you want, Violet?”
Violet was thirteen years old, smack in the middle age of when girls hit puberty. Ever since Violet got her first bra and period, she carried around this snotty, know it all attitude. She had bleached blonde hair with bubblegum pink and cotton candy blue streaks, and always wore an ill fitting fuchsia colored lipstick. The night she got home looking like that, I was at Max’s house with his parents. You would not believe the look of horror on Max’s mother’s face when she saw her daughter’s hair looking like she just came out of a drag queen salon.
“I was going to ask Riley to help be re-dye my streaks, but I’m much more interested in knowing about this girl Cassandra.” Violet smirked.
Max groaned, as he threw a pillow towards my direction. “You see what you did?” he muttered at me, before turning back to his sister. “It’s none of your business, Violet. Get out of my room.”
Violet rolled her eyes, as she turned her back on us. “Fine, I’ll just go tell mom about your new girlfriend!“
“You wouldn’t dare!” Max shouted, as he bolted up from his seat to chase after his sister.
“Mom! Mom!” I heard Violet yelling from the bottom staircase. “Max has a girlfriend!”
“I do not!” I heard Max’s voice protesting. “Don’t listen to her!”
“Well Max, when were you planning to bring this girl home to meet us?” Max’s mother suddenly asked, as I muffled a laugh.
*
For the past few days, I’ve been avoiding Cassandra at all causes. I didn’t mean it offensively, but I knew well that if Katie ever saw me around Cassandra, she would go completely ballistic. I’ve been trying to stay out of drama and problems for a while now, and I wasn’t about to get in the center of attention again.
I would hide out in the library during lunch hours, and whenever Max asked about it, I would either tell him that I was studying, or I wanted him and Cassandra to have extra time for themselves. When I told Max that, he simple blushed, and looked the other way.
So, I was in a tight spot when I saw Cassandra waiting by my lockers after school. I bit my lip when I noticed that she didn’t seem too happy, and had her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her eyes darted in my direction down the hall, as she pushed herself off of the metal lockers.
“Riley!” she called out, as I hide behind the wall that I was hiding behind.
I groaned, cursing under my breath. I hide behind the wall like a coward, as I heard the sound of footsteps coming closing and closer to where I was. “You could’ve found a better hiding spot if you were trying to hide from me.” Cassandra suddenly appeared by my side, making me flinch.
Trust me when I say that the expression she had on her face wasn’t amused. She looked angry, and even a bit hurt that I had been trying to avoid her.
I cleared my throat, as I let out a croaky laugh. “Avoiding you?” I sputtered, giving her a tight smile. “Never!”
Cassandra gave me a bland look, before she crossed her arms. She let out a deep breath of air, flicking her blonde locks over her shoulder. “Riley, jokes over.” She said. “Care to tell me why you’ve been hiding from me for the past four days?”
“There’s no reason.” I muttered. “Can I leave now?”
Cassandra gave me a long stare, before she dropped her arms by her sides. “I know what happened.” She let out a sigh. “Everett told me.”
My eyes flickered up to hers, as I let out a low groan. “What exactly did he tell you?”
“He told me that he didn’t see everything that happened, but knowing that Katie was there, he figured that she was harassing you.” Cassandra explained.
I let out a bitter laugh. “Well, he was right,” I mumbled, “which is the reason why we shouldn’t be talking now, because if Katie or one of her followers happens to waltz on by, I’ll get my eyeballs pulled out.”
Cassandra pursed her lips. “Don’t worry. Katie’s bark is bigger than her bite.”
“How are you so sure?” I scoffed.
Cassandra shrugged, before she gave me a weak smile. “I just am. But, I don’t think she’s worth dumping away our friendship. Agreed?”
Cassandra help out her hand for me to shake. I hesitantly stared down at her outreached palm, before letting out a sigh. I shook her hand firmly, as a grin spread across her face. “Agreed.” I repeated.