58

KATHERINE THRONES

My eyes fluttered open the next morning, and then they widened in sheer horror. Today was a Monday!

"Christ!" I sprang out of my bed and saw that I was still in the same clothes from last night – I had not even bothered to change out of them. My eyes were hollow and even stung in pain from all the tears I had cried last night.

I glanced at my alarm clock, I had to be in school in the next thirty minutes and the drive to school was fifteen. I'll be late!

I quickly hopped into the bathroom and freshened up quickly. Afterwards, I went to my wardrobe and took out a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, I quickly slid on my converses and I was out of my apartment's door in a dash.

I drove to school as quickly as I could and silently prayed not to be pulled over by the cops. Luckily, I was somehow able to make it into the premises in time. I took a look at myself from the glass of one of the windows in the hallway, I looked like a zombie.

My hair was a mess – I had simply thrown all of it into a bun since I didn't have the time to tend to it, yet it still looked like a rat's ness. My eyes were swollen and had still refused to calm down till now, I looked like I was run over by a truck.

"Katherine! I've been looking for you, you're late!" I heard Kate's voice and then I looked away from the mirror, turning around to face her with a smile.

"Hey, Katie," I said, forcing you a smile and I had hoped that it sounded genuine enough. But from the frown on Katie's face, it seemed like I hadn't sounded convincing.

"Katherine, why do you look so sad? For someone who just spent the weekend on a trip, you should be elated!” She said and then she stepped forward and felt my cheeks, her frown deepening as she saw how hollow my eyes were from a close-up view.

“You look terrible Katherine. What exactly happened?” She asked. My heart began to pound hard against my ribcage at that question. How was I supposed to possibly explain to my best friend that I had sex with Alexander? The same boy that we had earlier agreed on to teach a lesson, the same boy that was famously known for using girls for their bodies? How was I supposed to tell Katie that I had stupidly fallen in love with said boy?

Katie would be so disappointed in me. She’s going to hate me.

I can't tell her this.

I'm so ashamed of myself.

I turned away from her and proceeded to walk down the hallway, going towards my locker. “Nothing Katie. I'm just sick, I'm down with the flu.'' I gave an excuse, hoping she would believe me. But knowing Katie, my inquisitive and discerning best friend, she probably knew that was a lie from the first letter.

“That's a lie, Katherine, and you know it. Tell me the truth, what happened on that trip? Did all go well?” She continued to pester me as she followed behind me.

I wished she would just leave me alone because I doubted if I was ever going to tell her this. I would just live with the secret until the very day I die.

I ignored her unending questions and just continued walking to my locker. Just as I was about to open it, she grabbed me by my shoulder and turned me around to face her, and I let out a yelp at the suddenness of her action.

She stared at me with narrowed eyes and crossed arms, she tapped her feet on the floor as she shot me with a glare, “Katherine, tell me what happened now.”

I felt hot within and beads of sweat broke out on my forehead – one would actually think I had a fever, but in reality, all I was feeling was the bitter sting of guilt and immense panic.

“Katie, I—”

My breath caught in my throat and all my words instantly ceased. My eyes widened in sheer shock as the doors to the school flung open, Alexander and his friends making their entrance.

My panic intensified. Times a million.

Foolishly, I continued staring at the boy, and then his gaze found mine. My heart fell into a pit in my stomach and a cold shiver ran down my spine. As if that wasn't enough, the boy then started walking towards where we stood!

The pounding in my heart increased and it mirrored the rhythm of a war drum.

Why was he coming to meet me?

My mind was racing a million miles per hour as I thought of possible answers to that question, but the only logic that stood out was the fact that the boy was coming here to break up with me.

Yes. he was coming here to do what he has proven to know how to do best – break up with girls publicly and announce that he had had sex with them. Of course, that was what he was coming here to do.

No. No. No. No.

I can't let that happen. It would be so humiliating.

“Katherine, are you—”

I couldn’t let Katie finish her statement before I sprinted down the hallways, hiding in the nearest room I could find.

ALEXANDER WALTERS

I watched as Katherine ran away the moment she saw me. It hurt my heart, deeply. I don't know why she decided to do that, and I had not expected that her action would make me shattered. But here I was, standing in front of the school building with my heart in shambles.

Was she running away because she regretted having sex with me?

She was trying to avoid me because of what we had done.

I couldn’t even bear the thought of that being the possible reason. But that seemed like the only logical one, or else why would she suddenly freak out on seeing me and run off just like that? She probably hated me and hated what I had made her do.

I should've waited a bit longer. Till she was ready. I feel immensely guilty now because it’s as though I had made it through with what she felt she wasn't ready for.

I felt horrible. I was a horrible person.

And the more saddening fact was that I wasn't supposed to be feeling like this. Hell, I was supposed to be fucking elated that I had finally slept with her. Wasn't that the goal all along? To get into her pants and prove a point to the guys?

But harboring this thought felt even more repulsive than the earlier one. It felt wrong.

The plan was simple: to sleep with Katherine and dump her. The half of it was done and now it was time to consolidate it, but it was hard to do so. It was impossible to do so.

Katherine didn't deserve that. Not even in the slightest.

I couldn’t even pretend to not be let down and upset that Katherine was running away from me because she regretted the moment we had shared together.

But why, why would she regret it? Now that I think about it, there was nothing to regret. She seemed ready – no, she was ready, she told me with her own mouth that she was ready. She consented to it. She wanted it as much as I did.

So if it was true that she wanted it, why was she now avoiding me all of a sudden?

What was her reason?

My fists clenched at my sides. I had to know what her reason was.

So, I left my friends and followed her into the lab I had seen her run into.