Chapter 116
HANNAH
Just as I was about to step into the classroom, I heard one in a group of girls, who for some reason were still clustering around the door, say, "I can't believe she came back to school after killing Julia. What kind of person is she?”
"Imagine she had all those abilities and yet still let Asher treat her like a maid. Ugh. She's worse than a deadly creeping snake. Why did she have to pretend? Or maybe she just wanted to be close to Asher and steal him from Julia.”
"But Julia had it coming," another girl argued. "Julia framed her and tried to kill her first just because she thought Hannah was weak. Served her right!"
The girl looked up, met my eyes, and gave me a tentative half smile, like she expected me to be grateful that she was on my side, defending me.
As if!
All I wanted was to be left the hell alone and not be talked about. I knew then that I couldn’t stay in school throughout today. I had to get out, and soon before I lost it.
"Hey. You okay?" Willa asked when I plopped into the chair beside her.
"Yes. I can't stay. I'm really fine," I quickly added when I saw her frown. "It's just that I have a lot to do. Take some notes for me, will you?"
Before Willa could protest, and I knew she badly wanted to, I was walking quickly out of the class, hoping and praying she wouldn't follow me.
She didn't. I felt myself relax a little.
The hallway was blessedly silent and empty—that was until I rounded a corner and ran smack into Julia's crew. Cries of surprise and outrage followed when they saw who it was. I took a step back but stopped when Heather pushed her way to the front.
"You bitch!" she spat out with so much venom. "How dare you show your face in school after what you did?"
"You fucking killed her!" another girl yelled, curling her small hands into fists. "You were jealous of her, and so you murdered her like you tried to do so many times before. Only this time—this time-"
The girl dissolved into tears, unable to continue.
"You succeeded this time," yet another girl continued. Her own eyes were brimming with tears. "But I swear Julia's spirit will haunt you for the rest of your miserable life!”
"Life?" one of the girls spat. "What life? You're going to die, more slowly and painfully than Julia ever did. And when you die, I hope you burn in hell."
"If there's a hell for freaks like you!" Heather added. “You’ll pay for everything you did!”
The insults rolled off their tongues. Their accusations were so unfair that I started to do what I had sworn I would never do—defend myself.
A voice broke in before I could get a word out.
"From what I heard, Julia tried to kill her first, so what are you girls still yapping about? Don’t you have anything else to do?”
I turned quickly. There was a girl behind me, a redhead with a mass of curls piled on top of her head. Her clothes fitted her to perfection and were obviously very expensive. I had never seen her before.
She didn't even glance at me. Her eyes were fixed on Julia's minions. Her stare challenged them to start something. The girls stood around for a while, shuffling their feet, glaring at me, and looking curiously at the girl.
Maybe her designer clothes helped shut their mouths.
"Come on, girls. Let's go," Heather said.
Her dark eyes told me this wasn't over as she and her clique walked away.
The fact that someone had to step in to save me from those idiots somehow managed to piss me off.
"I could have handled that," I told the girl stiffly. "You didn't have to defend me."
She shrugged. "I was just stating the facts. As a transfer student, I thought I would hear stuff about how good the school is. Instead all morning, I get Hannah this... the white wolf that. It was getting pretty annoying."
"You're a transfer student?" I asked, thawing a bit. Who transferred at this time?
"Yes. I recently transferred from Blackwood Pack. I'm Mia, by the way." She extended a hand. I shook it.
"I'm Hannah Baker."
Mia smiled a little. "You don't have to introduce yourself. You're popular already." She checked her gold watch. "Shoot! I'm late for a class. I'll run along now, but if you ever need a friend, I'm hoping you'll pick me."
She raised a hand in a wave. I watched her leave.
There was something about her face that niggled at the back of my mind, but no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was.
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