Blizzard

chapter 9

On Monday morning, a week after winter break, Toni was walking through the noisy hallway. She noticed Martha, Dot and Leah standing next to the lockers. They barely acknowledged her arrival as she made her way to her locker, a few feet from where they were standing. They were blatantly staring at something.

"What the fuck are you all looking at?" Toni said as she took the books she needed out of her locker and put them in her bag. She proceeded to close her locker.

When no one answered, she looked up and followed their gaze to the other end of the hallway, where a familiar blonde was standing with her boyfriend. It looked like they were having some kind of argument. Or more like Shelby was telling Andrew something that he really didn't like.

Someone whistled. "Oooh, trouble in paradise?" Fatin remarked as she joined them in their stare fest.

"Looks like it." Dot answered. She sounded slightly uncomfortable. Toni knew she didn't like to get up in other people's business, which was something she really liked about Dot.

When the brunette made eye contact with Fatin, the cellist exaggeratedly mouthed 'drama' with wide eyes. She was clearly entertained by whatever the situation was.

While Shelby looked calm and composed as she spoke, Andrew looked like he was going to explode. His face was growing redder by the second, whether it was from anger or embarrassment was unclear from where Toni was standing, though he clearly wasn't happy with whatever the blonde was telling him.

"Should we maybe intervene or something?" Martha asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Nah, Shelby is a big girl. I'm sure she can handle it." Fatin said, "Let's just keep an eye on them. To make sure it doesn't get out of hand, of course."

Toni rolled her eyes as she looked at the couple again.

It looked like their argument had come to an end because Shelby started to walk away. But before she'd gotten two steps away from him, Andrew grabbed her by the arm.

"What the fuck." Toni felt her blood boil. Just because she didn't exactly like the Pageant Princess, didn't mean that Andrew had the fucking right to treat her like that.

Before Toni could go over there to intervene, Shelby gave him a withering glare and said something that made Andrew let go immediately. She walked away from him without sparing him another glance.

As Shelby came to a stop in front of them, Toni, for some reason, couldn't stop herself from asking, "What the hell was that about?"

"Yeah, it looked...intense." Leah frowned. She had a concerned look in her eyes.

Shelby sighed before she spoke. "We broke up." She didn't sound sad about it. Like, at all. She even fucking smiled.

Who the fuck smiled after breaking up with their significant other?

"Oh shit." Dot said simultaneously as Fatin remarked, only half mockingly, "Really? I didn't know you had it in you. Congrats!"

"Are you okay?" Martha asked, concern written all over her face.

"Yes, I'm fine." And it looked like she meant it. Shelby didn't show an ounce of regret or the expected sadness that usually came with a break up on her face. The only thing Toni could find on her was relief. Maybe Andrew wasn't just a dick towards the people he couldn't stand, but also the people he supposedly cared about. It wouldn't surprise Toni.

"Why did you break up with him?" Toni asked without malice, genuinely curious. It was obvious that Shelby had been the one breaking up with Andrew and not the other way around.