"I, Aspen Henderson, am the reigning Queen Bee of New Hopewell High, and I hereby declare that there will be no more cliques, no more popular crowds, no more nerds, geeks, or outcasts. From here on out, there will be no more high school supremacy."...
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When I stepped into New Hopewell High that next day, all heads turned to me. And not in the usual worship-y, I-wanna-hit-that, she's-so-beautiful-its-captivating-like way. This time, their eyes were exuding terror and trepidation.
With an iced vanilla latte in hand, I made my way down the corridor with furrowed eyebrows. The walk was seemingly long, considering everyone's gaze was fixed on me. I had wondered if it was the bags under my eyes that was enticing so much attention, since I had not gotten much sleep the night before. I spent the early hours tossing and turning, wondering what the heck had happened between Hunter and I.
It didn't help that my mother had ripped the covers from me earlier than usual that day, giving me an earful because I forgot to book my hair appointment for Prom. I think she said that I was not taking it seriously enough or something like that. It's hard to hear when you have a pillow over your face and a throbbing headache.
"Hey y'all," I strutted to the back of the class, where our seats for AP Biology were. The sound of my suede Loubs tapping against the ground filled the unusually quiet room. The glances of the few worn out early-birds left the teacher, who was scribbling something about the human anatomy on the board, and followed me.
"Why is everyone looking at us? I mean, like more than usual..." I whispered to them as I dropped my books on the desk. Instead of responding, Sophie's eyes travelled to the ground.
"Babe, can you give us a sec?" Riley turned to Finn, who had his arm draped around her, and kissed him goodbye with a worried expression.
"What is it?" I shook my head, causing my curls to bounce up. I wasn't one that liked a build-up, sketchy things made me anxious.
"Apparently we sexually assaulted Ava Jones," Riley rolled her eyes in a mocking manner.
"What?" I chuckled in disbelief, "Are you serious? Is this why people are acting so weird?"
"'Yes, everyone is talking about it," Sophie said under gritted teeth, her arms crossed.
"That's ridiculous!" I leaned back on my chair in incredulity. The thought that people actually believed we had somehow assaulted Ava was absurd to me. Laughable really.
"I know, right? They make it sound like we gang-banged her," Tessa added as she sat up, arrant vexation in her eyes.
"That's nonsense," I stated with quiet despair as I sipped my coffee, "Should we be worried?"
"Maybe. I bet that word is gonna get around to the principal by lunchtime," Sophie breathed out, looking out the window to the pouring rain, wet mud, and grey clouds.
"Well, it's not like we are some kind of perverts. We just wanted her shirt since Ava purposely spilled her drink over yours!" Tessa snapped, attracting even more looks from students who were trying to eavesdrop, "You know, she is lucky you didn't make her pay for the shirt."
