Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

I’m late for English Lit. Mrs. Wolken will kill me.

It was well after lunch and I guess I took more time than I realized in eating that delicious ice cream. Damn, it tasted amazing though.

I rushed to class after slamming my locker shut. In the heat of getting there, I might have gotten too excited and banged the door open, creating a grand entrance for myself and earning a scowl from the teacher along with a scolding in front of the whole class.

“Ms. Johnson!” Mrs. Wolken screeched in horror and I awkwardly winced at the sound. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with people and screeching today?

What day is it? Screech Casey’s ear off?

I hung my head, a blush erupting from the attention I drew to myself.

“Detention!”

Now, in other schools, you have detention after school or during lunch. In my school, detention happens the second your teacher says you have it.

I begrudgingly stepped out of the class and shut the door, muttering profanities. What a waste of my time and energy. I was rushing for nothing; stupid ass teacher. I silently huffed, walking down the corridor to the dean’s office where I’m supposed to spend the next hour sitting there, staring on that tiny imperfection on the well painted wall.

Turning the corner, my body stilled and my muttering ceased when I caught a hushed conversation going on in the end of the hall.

Now, I wasn’t one to eavesdrop but when you were in my shoes; an illegal street fighter in disguise as a nerd and you heard your name being mentioned, who the fuck are you to judge my motives?

I pressed myself lightly against the wall, my breathing muted and my whole body froze.

“What do you mean you don’t want to do this anymore?” A voice whisper yelled in a hushed tone.

Sonia.

I squeezed my eyes shut when I heard another familiar small voice answer her.

“I meant what I said.” She stated meekly, sounding unsure of herself.

“The job was that you tail her around, scoop in some dirty information and humiliate her, break her tiny little heart. What the fuck is so difficult about that, Pen?!”

I felt a lump rise in my throat, constricting the air inside me as I choked on a cry.

I knew it.

It was too good to be true.

I turned around, not caring if they saw me, then bolting the other way. Screw detention. I can’t bother to give any fucks right now. They all can go to hell.

I ran to the backyard and sat on the same bench I sat on the day Adam witnessed Maddison’s outburst. I picked up a twig and drew on the ground. I couldn’t believe she would do this to me after what I’ve done for her. I threw myself in front of a potential danger to save her! Well, okay. Maybe the ‘potential danger’ wouldn’t be there to bite her if it wasn’t for me, but still!

I glared at the ground.

That bitch, I thought in hatred. My conscience brought up ways on how I can torture her into death’s arms. I shuddered at the murderous thoughts, shaking myself out of that darkness.

I’m not that girl. I never was and I never will be. Bryant certainly didn’t raise me to be a monster.

‘Kindness and good deeds pays off’ was what he would always tell me. Despite the fact that he was a dude who should be stern in raising his baby sister, he didn’t forget to pick up some motherly traits to teach me moral lessons.

I inhaled deeply before letting go in one huge sigh, extinguishing the flames of hatred bubbling up in me. I closed my eyes and tilted my face towards the clouds, relishing the warmth of the sun and the gust of wind that was cooling me down gradually.

What am I supposed to do now, God?

I suppose I can blame fate for what happens next because the second the thought came, a voice called out to me, a very familiar yet infuriating voice.

“Case..?” I inhaled sharply.

“Don’t you dare call me that,” my tone was harsh and I ground my teeth together to keep in the insults threatening to roll off my mouth.

She deserves it. I shook my head. No. I won’t cave in. I won’t be that person.

“Case, what’s gotten into you?”

The voice sounded bewildered and concerned. I snorted, yeah right. Fucking fake bitches are everywhere.

“Oh I don’t know,” I muttered sarcastically.

I’m not the bitch digging for dirty secrets to humiliate someone that sacrificed their life for her.

I was so enraged that I trembled in fury. “Stay away from me!” I snarled at her before stalking away. I didn’t know where I was going, as long as it was far from where Penny was. After wandering around the halls, I ended up in the school’s old storeroom.

I’ve never been in there so when I saw the label on the door, I shrugged. Why not.

I twisted the rusty looking knob and pushed the door open. I was expecting a closet-sized room but instead, it was the size of a class and things were strewn everywhere.

I turned on my phone’s flashlight and searched for the switch. I found them a few feet away from the door. I decided to test if it was working or not. I switched the lights on and jogged back to the door, making sure there was a knob in the inside and working, before shutting it close.

Dust was flying everywhere and the air was a bit musty but I didn’t let that bother me, choosing to look around the room and try to find something that will intrigue and humor me instead. I tied my hair back into a ponytail to hold back the strays of hair falling to my face.

There was a sand sack hanging in a dark corner of the room and rows of shelves with stacked up supplies. I assume that the sand sack was an old one and the school didn’t want to throw it away.

At some point, I found a ball of gauze sitting on the shelves and they seemed to be clean enough. I untangle them and wrap my hands with them, covering both of them with the white strip. I took out the pocketknife out of my pocket, cut the rest of the strip off and flexed my hands.

I clenched and unclench my fists before starting to throw jabs in the air and when I felt the anger becoming unbearable once again, I started to advance on the sand sack.

I gave it a weak jab to tests the hook that was hanging it to the ceiling, each jab harder than the first one and soon I was beating it.

Jab, elbow, kick, hook;

Jab, elbow, kick, hook;

After each blow, I retracted my hands to cover my temples and with each blow. My anger slowly dissipated and my breathing fell into the pace I’ve set for myself.

Sweat dripped down my temples and chin and my back was drenched with it, causing my shirt to cling onto my body. I threw a final hook and decided to cool off, not wanting to spike any suspicion to other students.

I calmed my labored breathing and wiped my forehead with my forearm, trying to get the trickling droplets of sweat away from my eyes.

A sharp clang of an object falling caught my attention and I turned swiftly towards the source of it. I could feel my blood stilling as my whole body froze.

There, beside one of the dust covered shelves, stood Penelope who was staring at me in awe and fear.

“What are you doing here?” I asked aloud in a wary voice, relaxing my stance and tried to not show how frazzled I was by her presence.

Oh God, she witnessed me punching that thing. Dammit. I ran a hand through my hair in agitation, looking at her pointedly. “Well?” I could see her pursing her lips as she casted her eyes downwards towards the unkempt floor.

“I-I was just walking and heard some noises. I didn’t- I-” she stuttered and I quirked an eyebrow at the state she was in.

She’s probably going to tell Sonia about my ability in fighting which will probably trigger some bizarre rumor that can end my non-existent social life and she was nervous.

I snorted at her answer, she obviously tailed me. The noises that were emitted from this room were probably the faint thuds of my beatings towards the sand sack. If anything, a sane person would scram out of there, thinking it was haunted.

“You followed me, didn’t you?” I asked wryly and she had the decency to turn a shade of bright red.

“Well...” I trailed off and she raised her gaze to look at me, seeming puzzled.

“What are you waiting for?” I asked while quirking an eyebrow. She should just get this whole ordeal over with and get going on telling Sonia about the shocking news that the nerd can actually fight back all along but didn’t, which makes her a freak.

I can’t be bothered anymore, what with the competition coming up so soon.

“What do you mean?” Penelope’s voice cut through the silence and brought my attention back to her.

“Well, aren’t you going to go tell Sonia and share some juicy gossip with your bestie about how much of a freak I am?” Sarcasm laced my voice and she winced at how sharp my tone was.

“What- I don’t underst-” Realization seemed to finally dawn on her and her eyes widened.

“Case, you don’t understand!” I narrowed my eyes into slits at what she’s implying.

“Don’t call me that. Only friends can call me that.” I sneered at her. Okay, that was a pretty low blow but my anger was just overwhelming by now, mixing in my disappointment and the sense of betrayal that was suffocating me.

Forgive me, Bry. I can’t hold back anymore.

“Don’t lie to me, Pen. I heard you guys talking in that hall myself. Don’t even try to deny it,” I snapped, she wore an expression of a girl who was trying to justify her actions but at the same time, was lost for words and that sickens me.

“But I-” I shook my head at her.

“Go away, Pen. Leave me alone and don’t ever talk to me.” I whispered softly, giving in to the hurt that’s drowning me.

“Case, please. Just listen to me for a minute,” she insisted but I was way past reasoning. I looked at her sharply.

“No. Now go before I change my mind.” I snapped and even though she seemed to hesitate, she eventually left, shutting the door behind her and leaving me to dwell on my thoughts alone.

God, what did I get myself into?

It seems like it was just yesterday that the biggest problem I had was coping with my brother’s death and now?

I don’t need all this drama to deal with.

Just then, my phone rang and I walked towards my bag in long strides, fishing it out and sliding my finger over the screen without looking at the caller ID.

“Hey, Pix, I was just calling to tell you that the schedule came in early. I hope I’m not disturbing anything,” Levy’s gruff and deep voice came through the line. I sighed in exhaustion.

“No, Lev, it’s alright. Thanks for the heads up. Send me the schedule, would you? Thanks.” My voice was devoid of any emotion and I could hear Lev’s concern for me behind his voice.

“Yeah, sure but are you sure you’re alright?”

I smiled at the gesture. He might not know my real identity but I know I can depend on him street fighting wise.

“Yeah, Lev, I’ll live. See you soon.”

“Yeah, see you.”

The line went dead and I dropped it back into my bag after checking the time. I untangled the gauze from my hands and placed them behind a stack of tissues.

Something tells me I’ll be going here regularly now.

I slung my backpack and hitched it up on my right shoulder before switching off the light and twisting the knob and pulling it open to face the empty hall.

The cameras were just for show in this school so I’ve got nothing to worry about so far.

I stepped into the deserted hall and headed for my locker. I have another subject before the day ends and luckily, it was gym, which means changing. Unfortunately, that will mean that I have to go back to my nerd pose and let myself get beaten up.

‘The things I do to protect my identity are absurd,’ I mused silently while dumping my things in my locker and grabbed my water bottle.

I wonder what would happen now that Penelope had probably delivered the word to Sonia who probably had spread some stupid rumor about me.

Oh well.

Let’s get this over with.