Now, Then and Inbetween

09

mask on, fuck it, mask off

R U T H P O V

This school day had been rough. First, having to sit through the painful world of calculus - to having Michelle and Jack glare holes into my head in the cafeteria, I was so glad when the day finally came to an end.

I should've seen the glaring from Jack coming. No one rejects him - especially not someone like me. Someone without social standing or status. Someone that doesn't wear make-up every schoolday and is usually dressed like Adam Sandler whenever she can.

By following Louise's advice, I had tried to be alone as little as possible - following around Jordan, Louise and Quentin between classes. I was even seen walking beside Elias for a while, but after he started teasing me about my hair that looked frizzy since I forgot to brush it this morning, I flipped him off and rushed away to class.

I was just so grateful I hadn't run in to Jack that I slammed my locker closed and let out a sigh of relief. Before leaving, I gathered my long, dark hair up at the back of my head and secured it with a claw clip to get it out of my face.

Aside from some freshman kid struggling with his locker combination, the halls were completely empty. I began my journey to the exit, putting in my earphones to listen to music.

"Change your mind yet?" someone sneered into my ear.

I recoiled in shock, almost slamming into the row of lockers next to me. "Jesus Christ!"

The face that came into view before me was none other than Jack. His face held a menacing look, all features tensed, just like I'm sure mine were too. My chest was heaving up and down from the scare he gave me, and I put a hand on my chest to calm myself down.

"Dude, what the fuck? Fuck off."

He looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow. "You think that's supposed to convince me?"

"Yes, obviously." I rolled my eyes. What else was it supposed to do?

He tried to take a step forward to get closer, but I put my hands up and took a step back, towards the exit. "Don't fucking come near me."

"You," he ignored me, breathing in through his nose angrily, pointing a finger at me. "You're not getting away with what you did."

Wait, what did I do?

You kicked him in the balls, stupid.

Ohh, right. That's why he's mad.

I grimaced, biting the inside of my cheek.

"To be fair, you were all up in my business," I shrugged, pursing my lips. "It was kind of deserved."

He seemed to get even angrier at my response, getting into a threatening stance as he stood over me. His face was inches away from me, his gaze shifting between both of my eyes. His finger was still pointing at me, slightly shaking from the amount of anger he was feeling.

"You're gonna regret this," he almost spat, chin tilting up.

I pressed my lips together to stop myself from laughing.

It wasn't that I wasn't slightly intimidated, it was just that his face looked so funny, contorted in anger, I almost couldn't stop myself.

He then stepped back, walking past me. Before he passed fully, he glanced me up and down condescendingly, his mouth quirking up in a self-satisfied smile.

"You're ugly anyways," he scoffed before walking off. "Bitch," he added under his breath.

Wow.