Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE NEXT WEEK when we returned to school, there was a constant feeling of discomfort that trailed me everywhere I went. It wasn't necessarily dread for the school day nor was it dismay. It just felt as though something was off and that the tides were changing or that mountains were being moved as we ventured the plain hallways of the school. All I knew was that change was coming, something so drastic and earth-shattering that it will destroy everything that I've finally familiarized myself with.

It was only until we entered our first class with Victoria Snow - of all people - before I finally placed my finger on what happened. Seated all the way at the back of the class instead of the usual front row with her plastic pals, Victoria stared ahead with a glaze in her eyes. She made sure to pick the seat furthest away from the human population, isolating herself in solitary. Her chin was rested in the palms of her hands, elbows propped up on the wooden table. She had not even flinched when one of her cronies turned around to stare at her, pink-glossed lips moving rapidly to whisper judgemental observations to the rest of the pack.

There was no longer a fire in her eyes. She sat there defeated, almost.

"I think I am hallucinating," Apollo started to say before placing his bag on his usual seat before asking, "What is wrong with her?"

His eyebrows were raised as he snuck yet another glance at the usually overly bright and perky girl. She merely let out a sigh before her eyes finally dipped down to the table. Her pupils followed after her own index finger as she traced random patterns on the wood.

"I have no idea." Studying her, I twitched my jaw as the feeling of foreboding flooded me. "She's so... down. It doesn't feel right."

Instead of her brightly colored clothing which she wore like it was a rule in her very own bible, Victoria had opted for a simple dark blue t-shirt, some gray skinny jeans, and a pair of worn out sneakers. Gone were her pastel blouses, flowery puffy skirts, and glossy pumps.

"She looks worse than down, Dessa. She looks downright dead," Apollo commented with slight horror lacing his tone. "I feel uncomfortable just looking at this scene. It is as though someone had wrongfully tipped the balance."

I could only shrug before returning to my seat, unable to form a reply to his comment because he had hit the nail right on the head. There had to be a reason why the tides had shifted and the winds had started to howl. Once the mountain bends, chaos will definitely begin.

---

The second bit of confirmation I received was at the end of the school day. This time, even though it was not as drastic as Victoria showing up without her usual happy-go-lucky get-up or the lack of her usual cronies, but it was close enough for me to realize.

As usual, Apollo and I were walking out of school side by side when his phone had started to ring. He looked down at the device, eyes scanning the caller ID the second he pried it out of his pocket before a frown descended upon his features. His eyebrows furrowed as his bright eyes darkened like the storm, electric blue melting with a metallic gray that sizzled like the sky above us. As a result, I bit my bottom lip as a habit when it came to dread.

"Something wrong?" I forced myself to ask.

Apollo simply stared at the phone, watching wordlessly as the ringing continued. To my ears, it seemed almost as though it was growing louder and louder with each cycle as Apollo furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. The tension was radiating off of him in waves and my nerves were starting to get even more frazzled at his weird behavior. Due to the height difference between us, I wasn't able to sneak a peek at the caller ID but it must have been bad for him to act this way.