Chapter 12 The new student

Chapter 12 The new student

Harley

I didn't see Asher again until classes ended that day. I barely paid attention to any class because I kept staring at the entrance, hoping he'd waltz in all his smug glory, but that didn't happen.

Instead, I was left with the gut wrenching feeling of regret. Asher had only wanted to help me during lunch break, but I had shut him out thoroughly. I had told him I didn't care about him which wasn't true.

Despite that we weren't friends, we were acquainted enough that I would be worried about him throwing his entire life away for something that wasn't certain. But it was clear I hadn't managed to get my point across.

What I had done was result back to our original dynamic, the only thing we were both so used to doing around each other. Fighting.

Looking back, I realized I didn't have shut him down when he came to ask what was going on with me. He was the only one who asked, the only one who cared enough, but I had gotten so defensive and ruined things instead.

It was partly because I was embarrassed to tell him the main reason I was crying. It sounded so stupid when I said them out loud.

When I began hearing those whispers on my way to the auditorium, I had tried to shake then off, to pretend that their opinions didn't matter. None of them knew my story enough to turn accurate opinions about me, but the sympathetic looks from some students and the disgusting looks from others had gotten to me in the end.

Neither of those two set of students had approached me, but their words had still hurt regardless. After my morning talk with Natalie, I had managed to muster a bit of excitement for the last first day of school, but the moment I began hearing those whispers, the excitement vanished.

I was fairly certain that the media would dig up the news and make it circulate again. And I was also certain that I would be contacted by my father soon. He wouldn’t want me to leak the news of his affair to the press. His reputation was the only thing he cared about, it was the only thing he had left.

Thinking about those things had made me tear up in the class earlier. I hadn't wanted to go to the cafeteria because of it. Maybe if I had just told Asher what was really happening instead of lashing out, he wouldn't have stormed off and thought I didn't care about him.

Why did I care that he stormed off anyway?

“Hey, Hailey.” a sweet, feminine called.

I lifted my head to see a beautiful blonde standing in front of me and two girls behind her.

I blinked in surprise as I saw the girl in front of me, smiling down at me. “Meghan?”

“You know my name. Good.” She said.

“Yeah, we've been in the same class for four years. And my name is Harley, not Hailey.” I said. I didn't fully understand what was happening.

Meghan Trevor was Golden High version of Beyonce. She was head of the cheer squad and the prettiest girl in school. She was also Asher's girlfriend, or ex girlfriend, I didn't really know what the state of their relationship was.

The two were the power couple of Golden High last year. Only Meghan was meaner than Asher. She once bullied a kid into leaving school because he spilled coffee on her new Chanel. Her minions were just as mean as her.

I had no idea why she was talking to me. She had never exchanged more than a few words with me even while she was dating Asher. But she made it very clear that she didn't like me, or the fact that I spoke ‘rudely’ to her boyfriend. She never seem to remember that Asher taunted me first.

“Same thing.” She shrugged and the girls behind her nodded.

“Not really.” I whispered.

Meghan leaned closer and the strong scent of her perfume wafted into my nostrils. She blew her bubble gum in my face. It took every bit of my restraints not to drag the gum out of her mouth and throw it away.

“So I heard you scored the highest during the scholarship exams. Congrats!”

“Uhm… Thanks?” My brows furrowed in confusion.

Why the hell was she congratulating me? We were never friendly towards each other.

“Is your mom dead yet? Everyone is saying she is.” One of the girls standing behind her said.

“No, she's perfectly fine. Well, as fine as someone in coma is.” I responded. I tried not to be offended by her insensitive question and actually listen to what they had to say.

“Oh, so your mom is not dead, your dad is not dead, and yet you're leeching off us. Why are you still attending this school when you clearly can't afford it?” Meghan scoffed.

It took a few minutes for those words to settle inside me. And when they did, rage coursed through me in waves. My fingers tightened around the straps of my backpack.

“Excuse me?” I forced the words past my gritted teeth.

“Or do you just find it okay to continue leeching off your fellow classmates?” she pulled away and faked a gasp.

“Hey everyone, Hailey is a leech and a thief. She's using our money to pay for her tuition because her father is a fraud that lost all his money.” Meghan said.

Although, class had ended but not students had left, there was still a good number of students in the classroom. If I thought this morning was bad, then I wasn't ready for what would happen when a bully actually approached me.

The weight of their stares pressed on me and the pressure in my chest tightened. I had never been in this kind of spotlight. I was usually the one saving people from bullies but the one being bullied. But I guess this was my life now.

I grabbed my backpack and stood up from my seat. Meghan grabbed my shoulder before I could move.

“Where are you rushing off to, Fraud? Are you going to go scam other people, tell them your pathetic story and hope they'll fall for it too? Well, that's just sad.” She sucked on her teeth and shook her head.

More students had gathered around us to watch the scene unfolding. I ground my teeth together, determined not to let a single tear fall.

“Get your hands off me.” I said, my voice surprisingly firm despite the turmoil inside me.

Her eyes flashed at the challenge in my tone. She placed a second hand on me shoulder, her pointy nails digging into me.

“Or what?” She dug her nails deeper into my shoulder. “What will you do, Hailey?”

My first thought was to shove her away from me. I didn't like people touching me, and I definitely didn't want her to touch me. But when I looked around me, I didn't see a single familiar face. I didn't see anyone who would be willing to help me if things went south. They all seem pretty eager to watch the drama going on than intervening.

Maybe it was because I was already feeling so lonely today. Maybe it was because the only friend I had was thousands of miles away and my life was currently falling apart. Whatever is was, it made me freeze completely.

My mind knew that I had to say something, that I had to get away or at least stand up to the bully, but I did none of those things. I just stood there, among all these people, and stared.

“I didn't realize people here get off on humiliating others. What a shame.” A masculine voice said. The entire class went quiet and turned towards the guy who had spoken.

The boy was sitting at the back. He removed his headphones and stretched his arms. My eyes narrowed on him. I had noticed him sleeping through almost all the classes, but I hadn't paid any attention to him. He wasn't familiar at all. But then again, I don't take part attention to my classmates.

“What?” Meghan called.

The boy removed his headphones and held them out. “These were noise cancelling, but they still couldn't cancel all the noise you were making.” He scoffed.

The boy stood up from his seat and walked towards us. The crowd seem to part from him until he got to us. His eyes darted between Meghan and I as if he was assessing something.

Then he turned to Meghan, his arms folded. “Do you realize how stupid you look cornering someone like that?”

Meghan blinked in shock. “How dare you call me stupid?”

“I didn't, I simply asked you a question, which you didn't answer. You're bullying someone for scoring the highest in a pretty tough exam and you're telling me that's not stupid?” he inclined his head.

Meghan removed her hands, her face crinkling with rage. “Don't you dare insult me.”

“Again, I'm not. I just have one question though. Do you think you can pass the scholarship exams like she did?” He asked.

Meghan pressed her lips together, her eyes flashed with rage. Everyone was staring at her expectantly. She began mumbling things that I couldn't hear, but I didn't care to.

“Looks like my work here is done.” The boy said and turned to me. “Do you wanna get out of her, Miss…” he trailed off.

“Harley, and yes, I would love that.” I smiled. I draped my backpack over my shoulders and began walking out of the classroom. The boy followed suit.

“Thank you for what you did in there.” I said when we got outside.

“It's no problem. No one should ever be put in a spot like that.” he smiled softly. “I'm Ryan. I just transferred here.”

He extended his my and I accepted it. “Well then, welcome to Golden High, Ryan.”

“Thank you, Harley. Are you going somewhere? I can walk you.” He offered.

Ryan was really handsome and he seems pretty nice too. I would never have thought of dealing with Meghan the way he did. I would have probably just walked away if I hadn't just…froze back there.

“I'm actually heading home, but if you want, I can give you a tour around campus tomorrow. I promise there's a lot to this school than what you just saw in there.”

Ryan chuckled. “I'd like that very much.”