Rifton Girls' High School is the most elite all-girls school in the city. With a strict scholarship-only admission, a grand school campus and plentiful funding from its wealthy alumni, it is no doubt that the already-talented young ladies within its...
Natalie had thrived on false kindness and the act of being a fair and just ruler as she strutted through the halls with untouchable elegance. With her fall, however, Gillian had come into play with a tad more brutality in her ways. Her brown eyes shone with a knowing look as she walked around, Lisa and the Castle twins at her heels, that screamed, "Mess with me and die. Do as I like and survive."
She had also changed the culture of the Populars to one of rowdier, outright entitlement - they had clearly established their power, refusing to allow themselves to appear like underlying power players any longer. As they walked off to classes, their tall, athletic figures from training towered over the rest of us as they regarded us, lowly peasants, coldly.
They were more like a mafia gang than royalty, to be honest.
I had just settled into my seat at Biology when I heard the laughter of the Populars as Gillian swaggered through the door along with her cronies - or maybe, I should call them her gang members. I stifled a giggle as I recalled comical mafia moments in Chinese dramas.
Mrs Walters sat there at the teacher's table, a smile on her face as usual. Yet, I could notice the caution and fear in her blue eyes as she noticed the mafia boss entered. Her normally cheery vibe had suddenly vanished and in its place was a tense, nervous voice that resembled that of a bully target of the hierarchy. "Good morning, Gillian."
Gillian lost her smile as she muttered a haughty, reluctant greeting, sauntering off to her seat haughtily as if to suggest that she had better things to do than to greet Mrs Walters - and the others did the same. I watched with indignance as Mrs Walters looked down at her marked assignments, ready to distribute them despite the hurt expression on her face.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Biology class was in session and the urge to murder had only heightened.
Gillian and Addison continued their chitchat despite the fact that Mrs Walters was already halfway down the aisle of seats to the last row. Shameless.
"Gillian, Addison? Do you two have any pressing questions on this topic that you wish to clarify?" Mrs Walters asked with a warning tone buried under the layers of a friendly façade as the girls quietened down. She was trying not to flare up; she had mentioned repeatedly that she hated yelling at her students. It seemed that Gillian was merely waiting to see her snap.
The track team runner grinned condescendingly as she responded with Addison smirking at the side, "No, we understand. Addy was just asking me something."
Mrs Walters' lips were pressed firmly into a thin line as she told them to ask her if they had questions before heading back to the front of the classroom - probably furious on the inside and done with the girl who thought she could challenge authority due to her new position as the next big thing of our batch.
But a bishop could not be promoted to the role held by a queen. That was something only pawns could do.
Maybe I was at the bottom - but that meant the only way I could go was up. I could see it now - after one year of misery, one year of hiding and reclusion, they had all grown comfortable. The true colours, though not completely obvious at the moment, were shining through the tiny fault lines in their facades.
Just a bit of a push, a sprinkle of friction - and all the skeletons come falling out of the closet.
In science-y and poetic terms, I was going to be the catalyst to their downfall.
"Okay, so we're done with this chapter!" Mrs Walters continued, ignoring the chatter that almost instantly flooded the room, followed by the groaning at the next line of, "Now, I'll be issuing the homework for this week - "
Knock-knock.
The door swung open, only for its handle to be caught by a perfectly manicured hand before it hit the wall. In came the mighty Mdm Lorenzo, her tall, deadly stilettos clicking against the ground. The I'm-about-to-destroy-someone's-career vibe was strong as she announced, "Mrs Walters, can I see Gillian for a minute, please?"
Ladies and ladies, here we go!
Mrs Walters recovered quickly from her initial shock at the sudden intrusion, probably more than relieved that the problem kid was going to be away for a while. "Of course! Gillian?"
The ew-Walters-and-her-stupid-homework face disappeared as the what-the-heck-is-up expression surfaced on the girl's face. She got up, retaining her confidence and composure despite the concerned expressions of her clique. I struggled to hide my grin as she followed the stern woman out of the room, a fake smile meant to reassure on her face.
As they disappeared down the hallway and whispers got louder, I regarded the situation cooly. Little did everyone know, Gillian Bishop was being forced into a square on the chessboard where she would most certainly be captured.
