Beastiful || Completed||

Forty Two

For the second time that morning, Sasha found herself picking up her scattered books and papers from the floor. The girl who had hit her barely glanced back and kept going. As she tried to pick up the materials, a guy walked by and kicked one of her textbooks halfway down the hallway.

She grunted in annoyance. She couldn't kneel to do anything so she was left squatting in the middle of the hallway.

Finally, after she had picked them up she dusted off her shirt and went back to hurrying to class.

The bell rang and the hallways emptied out but she was still too far away to get there on time so she slowed to a walk.

Her mind was going in a hundred different directions at once. The most pressing issue being, why didn't he want to see her?
It broke her heart that after everything, he'd push her away when he needed her support the most.

She was so hard in thought that she didn't notice Lainey till she had bumped into her.

"Whoa sorry!" Sasha said automatically before looking at who she had hit.

Five girls immediately surrounded her, with Lainey as the ring leader.

"So bitch, you couldn't deal that Jeremy dumped you, you had to almost kill him too? Now he's not going to ask any of us to the prom thanks to you, freak!"

"I doubt he'd ever ask any of you out even if you lot were the last females on earth!" Sasha retorted.

Lainey slapped her. Hard.

As rage filled her, her arms got held down by the girls surrounding her. They pushed her into a locker and she banged the back of her head heavily.

She immediately felt dizzy.

"You think because he showed you some attention, you're now some sort of big shot eh? Let me just tell you now, Stewart.

"You are nothing. You will always be nothing to anyone that matters."

"At least I'm nothing! He barely remembers your names while he hangs with me all the time!" Sasha retorted.

Lainey slapped her again so hard that Sasha's eyes crossed slightly. She refused to cry out or wince.

"Well, not all the time. Your little boyfriend has been quite unfaithful. I mean of course he would be, he's dating you, but really it's unfortunate that he had to cheat on you with her."

Sasha rolled her eyes. This girl would stop at nothing to undermine her.

"Jeremy didn't cheat on me."
Her greatest fears were coming into play all of a sudden.

"Is that what you think?" One of the side girls said before bursting into laughter.

"You forget, I'm the newspaper editor. All gossip runs through me first. So should I ruin your life with not just one but two pieces of bad news?"

Sasha wasn't sure how to reply. What could be worse than having the Boy of your dreams throw you out of his hospital room in a screaming rage?

"Do your worst, Lainey. I don't care."

"Okay, you asked for it!"
Lainey produced a photograph from her back pocket and shoved it in Sasha's face.

The blood immediately drained from her face.
"This could have been taken long before I ever got to know him."

"The date and time is written there in clear white, Sasha."

"It could be edited to make him look bad."

Lainey and the rest laughed. "You know that's not true. He cheated on you plain and simple with your hot sister."

The words felt like acid to Sasha's ears and brain.

This was worse. This was way worse.

Blood rushed to her face as anger filled her. Lainey and the rest were busy laughing and the laughter only served to make her even more pissed.

How could he? How could she? How could they do this to her?

A cold feeling entered her and she crumpled to the floor, hot angry tears coursing down her face.

"I'll save the other bad news for a different time. Just so I can watch you be horrified all over again. Let me just warn you. If Jeremy Cox doesn't come for his senior prom, I swear, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
Lainey said, grabbing Sasha's hair and forcing her to look into her eyes.
She dropped the picture in Sasha's lap and flounced away with her friends in tow.

Sasha was too heartbroken to respond. The betrayal felt raw and painful. Slowly, with trembling fingers, she picked up the picture and stared at it.

Jeremy and Sylvie were busy kissing in front of his house. One hand was firmly on her ass, the other was opening the front door for them to no doubt get down and dirty. Sylvie's were tangled in his silky black hair.

Sasha shuddered as another sob ran through her. So this was what he was doing when he told her he wanted to be alone.
Slowly, she picked herself up and wiped her tears.

*************
The lake was still in the afternoon sun. This was the lake at the park where Jeremy had first asked her out. The way the light slanted across the water was intoxicatingly beautiful.

Sasha surveyed the view and began to paint, letting her sorrow show through the work. Tears ran down her face as she painted the view.

She couldn't really believe it. At the same time, she had expected it. Why would he be faithful to her when she looked the way she did? Why would he want her by his bedside? What made her think she was ever going to be worth his time?

And Sylvie. Sylvie who had warned her off him so many times. So that was why. Because she still liked him as well.

Why couldn't she just tell me? Sasha wondered. Sasha would have backed away and let them be. But apparently the best thing to do was to sneak around behind her back.

She finished the painting quickly.
As she cycled home, a cloud of depression so thick she nearly swerved onto the road, fell over her.
She took a detour and entered the nearest pharmacy to purchase sleeping pills. From her state of mind, she knew sleep would be next to impossible for her at all and she wasn't ready to toss and turn next to the cause of her sorrow.

When she got home, she went straight to her room, popped a pill and went to bed.

*********
Jeremy groaned as a wave of pain washed over him. His entire body was aching and he didn't know how to make it better. Every movement was agony especially to his ribs and back. And most importantly, his toes itched like a bastard.

He took comfort from the sight of the flowers and cards that filled his room. He refused to let anyone visit except his parents.

He cast his mind back to the entire situation that landed him here. The police had questioned him about enemies and such and he'd told them about Tony but there was no evidence that supported it. The car had been abandoned by the roadside with all the tires slit.

The police had asked what to do with the stuff in his car and he'd told them to give everything to Sasha when they were through with running it through evidence. Their date had been the highlight of that day and he clung to the memories desperately.

He regretted yelling at her the other day but he had panicked. He didn't want any one seeing him bruised and battered. He didn't want that memory to be in their heads when they left so that they would compare it to his regular image and wonder at how the mighty had fallen. Or in Sasha's case he didn't want the pity. He didn't want her sympathy or her guilt or anything.

He just wanted to get well and back to normal so that it would be like he had fought with a car and lived to tell the tale. And looked good while he was at it.

He groaned as he shifted in place.

He wanted to do something, anything but lie still in bed all day. He switched on the tv and began to watch a Korean movie in its native language.

As his mind wandered away from the screen, he asked himself the question that constantly came up in his head.

What was Sasha up to?