Southern Belle

Ch. 26 I Hope You're Sitting Down

Hopefully this will be rewritten soon because I'm so not happy with it, but I needed to get a chapter out to get the ball rolling. Oh, writer's block, why did you have to come right before the deadline of the Watty's? :/

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"Belle, c'mon, talk to me," Nick groaned behind me as we slithered through the crowded hallways on the way to class. I couldn't see his face, but it probably was the exact replica of his annoyed, solemn face that I had been seeing for the past two weeks.

Brushing off his plea, I continued to slump towards Mr. Henwood's class. We still had about half an hour  until class began, but I wanted to get there to prepare before his lecture started. Rumor had it that Henwood was randomly picking a group to present part of their project, and I wanted to ace it. 

Plus, I hadn't been feeling well lately. Between the excess crying and the puke, I rarely had time to rest and take medication. I contributed the fact that I had eaten week-old sushi to my illness, but I knew the truth: Nick's stunt had broken me.

"I'm sorry," he plead again, his breath ragged. For a second, I thought that he actually meant what he said, but then I realized that it was another one of his games.

Scanning the room, I tried finding something to avert my attention to. It was becoming harder and harder to avoid Nick, and I desperately needed an escape. Luckily for me, a girl in Henwood's class passed by, so I eagerly called her name. "Taylor!"

The brown-haired girl spun around, her arms clutching her books. Looking me up and down, she pouted. "Oh...Hi, Belle."

A confused look formed onto my face. Why was she acting like I had three heads? We weren't best friends, but I knew for a fact that we enjoyed working together in study groups. "Are you okay, Tay? Did I do something wrong?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck. 

She nodded. "I heard that you were involved with that Elise Monroe thing, and that's the reason she moved out. Meg was expelled, and when the dean asked about your involvement, she cockily stated that this was her whole idea. One of Meg's friends though swears that you were part of it."

Gulping, the heat rose to my cheeks as the memories resurfaced. After I came back from breakfast the day after the incident, Elise had completely ripped the room of her belongings. I barely saw her on campus, and even Nick had trouble reaching her these past two weeks.

"Belle?" The boy behind me questioned, doubt and anger clearly in his voice. 

Inhaling slowly, I closed my eyes for a second. Why did this have to happen to me? Once I gained enough composure, I shot her a soft smile and muttered, "No, I did not."

A great sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she placed her hand up to her heart. She had bought the lie. "I knew you weren't part of that! You're too nice to do that to Elise."

Too nice. 

Nodding, I listened as she said her goodbyes and scurried into the nearby classroom. Before the next words could even be uttered from Nick, I bent my knees, preparing myself for a sprint to get away from this situation. However, just as I was about to take off, a strong hand yanked me backwards.

And I stared into a pair of icy, cold eyes.

"I know you were lying. You knew about that prank, didn't you?" he spat, venom spewing out at me. My hand firmly planted onto his chest to push him off of me, but he was too strong.