“Darlith said he and the guys might come over, and take us into the woods, if you’d like to join us,” Bella told her, making sure that no one could hear. “It’ll be fun.”
Others around them were busy, and no one seemed to pay much attention to them. Locker doors were slamming loudly, people were chatting - everyone seemed to want to use the rest of the day in a fun way. However, being in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, with a set curfew and perpetually watchful eyes, this was mission impossible to many but obviously not all.
“There’s gonna be a bonfire party,” Bella continued, hoping to get her friend interested.
“Are you allowed to light fires in the woods?” Eva wondered, frowning at the idea.
“We’ll be careful, Smokey the Bear,” Bella laughed. “Not like we haven’t done it before.”
“I know, it just sounds a little dangerous.”
“Isn’t that the point?” Bella grinned. “The moon, the woods, the fire, you gaze lovingly into the eyes of your crazy, werewolf boyfriend…” Bella sighed. “The good life.”
“What are you two losers on about? Your life is anything but good.”
Eva felt like someone scratched their nails against those old school blackboards, creating the most horrifying sound, which sent shivers up and down your spine. It was horrible. Shrieks. Annoying. It was Katrina.
It’d been a while since Eva clashed with her, last time being the one where she ended up with a cracked lip. Somehow, she thought they were done but this proved her wrong. However, this time, Eva knew that she would fight back, no matter what. Her dad was counting on her and she needed to be ready and focused, not being beaten up by some low-life school bully.
“What do you want, Katrina?”
Eva slammed her locker door so loud, that everyone turned around. Then, she turned to Katrina. There was no sink here, so at least, there was that. All she needed to do was show Katrina that she wasn’t scared of her. No matter what Katrina said.
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t get physical,” she assured her, “last time, I couldn’t wash your stench off of my hands for days.”
She sounded annoyed and her two buddies giggled. Eva could see Bella rolling her eyes.
“So, if you didn’t come for round two, what do you want?” Eva asked, with much more self-confidence than she really had
.
“Well,” Katrina sighed, “since you’re the only one in the school who doesn’t know, I feel it is my duty to tell you. I do feel so sorry for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
Eva glanced at Bella, but she could tell from the look on Bella’s face, that she also had no idea what this was about. Whatever it was that the whole school knew, it didn’t apply to either Eva or Bella.
“The bet,” Katrina said, victoriously, expecting this to ring a bell. To her annoyance, it didn’t.
“What bet?” Bella interrupted.
“You stay out of this, wolf-lover, unless you want your ass to be fried, too,” Katrina snapped and that much was enough for Bella to back down.
She didn’t want any trouble with Katrina. She had her share of that during her first year here, like everyone else, and then she was left alone. She had no desire to revert back to that.
“What bet?” Eva repeated, switching the limelight back on her.
“Why, the one Dorian made with his teammates,” Katrina giggled.
She looked at Eva’s face and saw confusion. She mockingly mirrored her expression, to the left and to the right, then back at her. It was like a sad clown spectacle and Eva was the sad clown.
“Surely, you know about that, don’t you?”
“Spill it out, you snake,” Eva hissed. “Come on.”
“That’s very rude,” Katrina was mockingly offended and trying to be dignified, “but, I’ll oblige. I’m talking about what everyone already knows. Dorian made a bet with his teammates that he’d get the clumsy, nerdy new girl in bed in less than a month.”
There were a few gasps in the background, and only now did Eva see that a small group of students had gathered around, and they were closely following what was happening. She felt a pang of unpleasant pain, deep down in her belly, and she wished that she was again in that bathroom, safe from these prying eyes, and that the only consequence would again be just a cracked lip, which would eventually heal. This time, unfortunately, she had no such luck.