Chapter 34
There, beside one of the dust covered shelves, stood Penelope who was staring at me in awe and fear.
"What are you doing here?" I asked aloud in a wary voice, relaxing my stance and tried to not show how frazzled I was by her presence.
Oh God, she witnessed me punching that thing. Dammit. I ran a hand through my hair in agitation, looking at her pointedly. "Well?" I could see her pursing her lips as she casted her eyes downwards towards the unkempt floor.
"I-I was just walking and heard some noises. I didn't- I-" she stuttered and I quirked an eyebrow at the state she was in.
She's probably going to tell Sonia about my ability in fighting which will probably trigger some bizarre rumor that can end my non-existent social life and she was nervous.
I snorted at her answer, she obviously tailed me. The noises that were emitted from this room were probably the faint thuds of my beatings towards the sand sack. If anything, a sane person would scram out of there, thinking it was haunted.
"You followed me, didn't you?" I asked wryly and she had the decency to turn a shade of bright red.
"Well..." I trailed off and she raised her gaze to look at me, seeming puzzled.
"What are you waiting for?" I asked while quirking an eyebrow. She should just get this whole ordeal over with and get going on telling Sonia about the shocking news that the nerd can actually fight back all along but didn't, which makes her a freak.
I can't be bothered anymore, what with the competition coming up so soon.
"What do you mean?" Penelope's voice cut through the silence and brought my attention back to her.
"Well, aren't you going to go tell Sonia and share some juicy gossip with your bestie about how much of a freak I am?" Sarcasm laced my voice and she winced at how sharp my tone was.
"What- I don't underst-" Realization seemed to finally dawn on her and her eyes widened.
"Case, you don't understand!" I narrowed my eyes into slits at what she's implying.
"Don't call me that. Only friends can call me that." I sneered at her. Okay, that was a pretty low blow but my anger was just overwhelming by now, mixing in my disappointment and the sense of betrayal that was suffocating me.
Forgive me, Bry. I can't hold back anymore.
"Don't lie to me, Pen. I heard you guys talking in that hall myself. Don't even try to deny it," I snapped, she wore an expression of a girl who was trying to justify her actions but at the same time, was lost for words and that sickens me.
"But I-" I shook my head at her.
"Go away, Pen. Leave me alone and don't ever talk to me." I whispered softly, giving in to the hurt that's drowning me.
"Case, please. Just listen to me for a minute," she insisted but I was way past reasoning. I looked at her sharply.
"No. Now go before I change my mind." I snapped and even though she seemed to hesitate, she eventually left, shutting the door behind her and leaving me to dwell on my thoughts alone.
God, what did I get myself into?
It seems like it was just yesterday that the biggest problem I had was coping with my brother's death and now?
I don't need all this drama to deal with.
Just then, my phone rang and I walked towards my bag in long strides, fishing it out and sliding my finger over the screen without looking at the caller ID.
"Hey, Pix, I was just calling to tell you that the schedule came in early. I hope I'm not disturbing anything," Levy's gruff and deep voice came through the line. I sighed in exhaustion.
"No, Lev, it's alright. Thanks for the heads up. Send me the schedule, would you? Thanks." My voice was devoid of any emotion and I could hear Lev's concern for me behind his voice.
"Yeah, sure but are you sure you're alright?"
I smiled at the gesture. He might not know my real identity but I know I can depend on him street fighting wise.
"Yeah, Lev, I'll live. See you soon."
"Yeah, see you."
The line went dead and I dropped it back into my bag after checking the time. I untangled the gauze from my hands and placed them behind a stack of tissues.
Something tells me I'll be going here regularly now.
I slung my backpack and hitched it up on my right shoulder before switching off the light and twisting the knob and pulling it open to face the empty hall.
The cameras were just for show in this school so I've got nothing to worry about so far.
I stepped into the deserted hall and headed for my locker. I have another subject before the day ends and luckily, it was gym, which means changing. Unfortunately, that will mean that I have to go back to my nerd pose and let myself get beaten up.
‘The things I do to protect my identity are absurd,' I mused silently while dumping my things in my locker and grabbed my water bottle.
I wonder what would happen now that Penelope had probably delivered the word to Sonia who probably had spread some stupid rumor about me.
Oh well.
Let's get this over with.
