Chapter 12
Jasmine's POV
"Maybe I should not have come to school," Was the first thing I thought to myself when I stepped inside the hallway.
But I was so desperate to prove to myself, to Hardin and the entire school that they did not break me, especially after what had happened in the hallway yesterday, and then when he had abandoned me in the closet, crying my eyes out.
I had gone straight home immediately, afraid that I would be harassed some more or worse, have to explain to Nadia why I looked like I had cried my eyeballs out and was worried that I would not be able to keep it a secret.
My mother had come up to visit me when I had refused to come down, worried that I would not be able to eat if Hardin was sitting at that table and stomach the smirk on his face for making me cum even though it was without my consent and made me absolutely disgusted by myself.
I hated him so much for making me unable to tell my mother the truth like I had always done growing up, because I was worried about how she would react and what it would mean for her marriage. I had lied to her that I was coming down with the flu and because I had yet to shift into my wolf form, it was a lot easier for her to believe since actual werewolves were hardly ever ill.
I had spent most of the night tossing and turning on the bed, afraid of the door opening and revealing Hardin on the other side. I had even resorted to turning off my phone due to the amount of messages I kept getting about the rumour and offer from the boys at school to sleep with them.
Sleep deprived and tired, I arrived at school earlier than usual the next day in order to avoid having to face anyone in the hallway as if that was going to change the fact that we would be having classes together but at least, not everyone would be witness to my harassment today if it ever happened.
"Today, we will be doing something very different from what we usually do and this will require your cooperation and participation, Do you understand?" Miss Amy, our teacher for the lesson that was ongoing said, and there were murmurs as people wondered what kind of assignment she would give this time. Miss Amy was always known for her unconventionality in giving out tasks and on another day, perhaps a normal day before, I might have been excited to participate. But now, I wanted to just hide under a table and hope everyone forgets about me and that stupid rumour.
A note was passed to me and I should have not opened it but I was really worried about what it might be.
My eyes widening in shock and horror when I saw a quickly scribbled phone number and details of an address, with a short phrase that whoever wrote it used it as a medium to let me know exactly what he thought of me.
There were snickers all around me and when Miss Amy cleared her throat, the whispering simmered down even though I was still getting dirty looks from different people in the class.
"Like I said, today we will be doing something very different from what we have been doing since we started the new year."
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, scanning the classroom.
"Something has been hidden somewhere in the woods. You will have only a specific amount of time to find the instrument in your wolf forms and the first person to discover what had been hidden wins. You can call it the hunt if you would like. May the best man win."
I heard someone ask Hardin if he was going and I heard a negative answer filled with what he truly believed was his doing, his answer "no" because he and some of the others believed that they were way past hunting like little kids because it looked cheap.
Speaking about the assignment after Miss Amy left and the class waiting for after recess during which wolves had been ordered to shift and participate in the task, I swallowed nervously in one corner, hoping that no one would remember me and the fact that till today, I had been unable to shift, my highest attempt at transformation limited to only my claws.
I had thought my prayer to be lucky was answered but like everything else, I just had to be wrong this day.
"So, tell us, Jasmine, since you are yet to shift, are you sure you should be in this class if it's difficult for you?" The voice of the person who had broken the jinx faded away as I heard all of the words that were thrown at me after that horrible question that was more or less a statement.
There were all sorts of whispers as I headed out of the class immediately and rounded the hallway, unable to stomach the words that I had heard and wondering if that was how people truly saw me.
As nothing but an opportunistic.
As I sat on the ground at the end of the hallway, all of the words that I had heard kept coming back to me and I laid my chin on my arms and shook, my eyes watering again at the amount of rumours that I had heard again.
'How can she even think that she could seduce someone like Hardin? So because her mother thinks she has secured the bag, Jasmine does not know anything.'
'She thinks she so special because her mum married rich and into the Alpha family and she cannot even be bothered to change the fact that she does not deserve to be there'
The voices were turning even louder in my head and I sniffed, wondering what I had done to deserve the amount of hate and disgrace I had been through in the past couple of days.
Everywhere I turned, there was always someone or something to remind me that I had been trying to force myself on Hardin, a baseless rumour that should have not gotten the traction it did and would not have, if Hardin had taken down the website that had uploaded the video mocking me about my inability to shift and told everyone else the truth.
I was about to turn and take the back exit door that led to the parking lot so that I would go home when I heard a couple of girls giggling.
"You should have seen her face yesterday when Hardin dragged her away like she was crazy after she came to ask him to take down the post." One of the voices said and I paused where I was standing, hoping that my identity was not going to be discovered.
"I was so excited to post that news because I knew that Hardin, ever the savior would finally see her for the slut that she is and not know what to do with her." The other person answered and when they both giggled, my blood boiled. Because I knew that voice. I remembered who it belonged to.
It belonged to Dahlia who had come over to the mansion that day to have sex.
So, meanwhile I had thought that the person behind the post and all of the subsequent videos circulating was Hardin and at the end of the day, it was just some bunch of girls?
Why were they doing that to me?
Angry, I wiped tears and came out from where I was hiding, to find Dahlia and three other girls who had been leaning against the wall and talking, paused to look at me.
The eyes of some of the girls widened in surprise but Dahlia looked like she had just been told that the Earth was round, her lips tilted up in a wicked smile.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here girls!" She said stepping forward towards me and even though I had not been expecting her to be with so many girls, I stood my ground.
"Do you hate me? Is that why you posted such a wicked rumour of me forcing myself on Hardin when you know that it is not true? You need to take down that post." I said, my voice feeling braver and when Dahlia just threw back her hair and laughed, her and the other girls forming a circle around me, I swallowed nervously.
"Or what are you going to do about it? For the love of God, you can't even shift into your wolf form. Even your wolf is terrified to show her face and say that it came from you. Have you ever taught about that?" Someone else said and when Dahlia chuckled, I stepped forward towards her, undeterred.
"Please take down the video, Dahlia or I'll report you to the school..." A huge slap landed on my cheeks sending me to the ground before I could finish my statement and the girls laughed as Dahlia kicked me.
"Newsflash, Jasmine? Nobody will listen to a nobody like you especially someone that cannot even wolf out. But perhaps by the time the girls and I are done with you, you will learn your place."
She kicked me and as I closed my eyes, waiting in horror for the slap she was about to hit me with again, I heard the voice of the last person that I wanted to see.
"What do you think you're doing?" His deep voice floated down the hallway and when I looked up, Hardin had just walked up to us, his hands in his pockets and eyebrows raised in question.