IVY
The rumours continued, echoing through the hallway and spilling into the group chats. As I walked along the hallway the next morning, I felt eyes on me, poking and prodding me, with numerous fingers being pointed at me. That wasn't all. Whispers and giggles at every corner, behind my locker, beside me in class, accompanied by notes and subtle insults. So much for trying to save my face, so much for a new life.
The homeroom teacher was later than usual, and the gossip girl no longer threw crumpled notes at me. They sat in front of me and started asking questions.
"So is it true you're having sex with the guys?" I recognised one of the girls as Brenda. I didn't need anyone to tell me she was daft and ridiculous.
"I think you should leave. I am not interested in talks like this."
"Oh, come on, you know what we're talking about. All the guys of the Serpent Circle are pretty hot, you know. How does it feel taking all those thick inches in? I can feel the pain and the pleasure already. Those howls of orga..." My face contorted into a disgusted smirk, and I scoffed irritably.
"Please leave, I have work to do."
"What about Ronan?" Someone else asked. "Are you really his sister? Tell us."
I rolled my hand at that question, rising from the table with my book in my arms. I might as well miss homeroom. Anything to give me peace.
"Tell the truth bitch! Is Ronan your brother or are you two fucking?"
I heaved a deep sigh and reached for the door, but before I could pull it, it suddenly flung open. I jolted backwards, my books clattering to the floor. I moved forward, bending to gather them, when three girls walked into the class. My eyes landed on the one in the front, and my eyes widened at her appearance.
She was wearing a black mini skirt, a jacket and blouse of the same colour and a triple heel boot. Her hair was dyed blue, her lips as red as blood and her eyeballs were covered with snake design contact lenses. Oh awkward, her whole appearance was ghostly and haunting.
"You're the new girl aren't you?"
I snapped out of my mind to find the strange-looking girl leering at me.
"Yes. I'm the new girl. Is there any problem with that?"
"Oh, the feisty kind." She chuckled and moved closer. "There are lots of problems with it actually. You stole someone else's spot! You heard that, this scholarship was not meant to be yours. You don't belong here!"
"Careful Maria," Aria's voice rang from the back. "She's not the one to blame."
"Then who is," Maria snapped, anger crawling onto her face. "That scholarship could have been given to someone more deserving, not a lowlife like her!"
"Well, excuse me, Ma'am," I fired back. "I understand your grievances about the scholarship, but you'd do well to mind your language. What the fuck do you mean by lowlife?"
A gasp rippled through the classes immediately, everyone placing their hands over their mouths in horror. The whole class stood still afterwards, a chill descending onto the atmosphere. It was as if a ghost had been awakened, and it was coming to kill us all.
"Did you just talk back to me?" Maria suddenly asked, moving another inch closer to me. I tightened my grip around my books and stepped backwards but I collided with something. With a gasp, I turned and spun around. But I had been surrounded by the other three girls who accompanied Maria into the class.
.
"I'm asking you a question new girl, did you just talk back to me?"
"Of course I did." I raised my eyebrow nonchalantly. "Didn't you hear. Do you need me to repeat all I said?"
Another round of gasps erupted in the class. I threw a look at Aria then and she shook her head disapprovingly, fear plastered across her face.
"Do you know who I am?" Maria questioned. "Do you have an idea what I can do, how horrible I can make your life?"
The dangerous glint in her eyes got to me now, but I refused to falter. This was not my first time with bullies.
"Do you know I am?"
"Well, I don't care. Ma'am" I snapped. "Not about you or anything you think you are capable of. I would like to leave, please. You're standing in my way."
The preceding gasp was louder than the others. I could feel tension calling onto my skin like tiny hands, fear clouding the room.
"She is Ronan's sister, Maria. You shouldn't do anything to her."
"Ronan's sister?"
"Yes," Brenda answered again. "The entire circle are in love with her."
"She isn't anybody's sister," Maria said with a shrill, mocking laughter. "You really think those men love you?"
It was Aria who spoke now.
"Ronan is not going to like this. The guys warned us about their sister."
"This thing here is not their sister," Maria's angry voice vibrated through the room now. "She is a slut who slept her way into the school and has been trespassing with my men. I am the princess of the Serpent Circle, and you..." She stopped and scanned me all over with disgust in her eyes. "You are nothing but a cum bucket."
My hands flew fast, landing right across Maria's face. The next events happened too quickly. I was on the floor, she was tackling me, sending punches to my face. Two of the other girls held me to the ground, while the other two sent kicks into my sides. The pain engulfed my brain and suffocated me so much that I began to regret my actions. These girls were stronger than me and they could kill me. I knew the meaning of fear then. I opened my mouth attempting to scream, but the door of the class flew open before I could.
The sight before me was a breath of fresh air. Cassian, Ronan, Ezra and Lucien, all standing there like mountain giants.