Chapter 167
Chapter 167: How Was The KISS?
Catherine’s POV
The weight of the day was already pressing down on me before I even reached the Art Department. I kept my head down, clutching my portfolio to my chest, as different eyes followed me.
I was still walking when a group of five girls suddenly swerved into my path, cornering me.
“Hi Catherine! Sorry to bother you,” one of them exclaimed with so much excitement in her voice, her hands clasped together as if she were about to deliver a prayer.
“We have to know,” another chirped, leaning in so close I could smell her peppermint gum. “How did the kiss feel? Was it as incredible as it looked?”
My heart stopped. My mind immediately went to the dark, moments in the classroom with Julian, a few minutes ago. The taste of blood on my lip, and the way he had begged me not to leave him. I felt a cold sweat break out across my neck. My voice came out in a jagged, stammering mess.
“How… how do you know about that?” I asked, my eyes darting around for an exit. “Who told you?”
The girls exchanged confused looks, before one of them actually laughed. “What do you mean ’who told us’? Almost everyone in the courtyard saw it! The two of you didn’t exactly hide it. When that Greek god leaned down and kissed you, I think half the girls on campus actually died on the spot.”
I blinked, the panic turning into a different kind of embarrassment. They were referring to Dante not Julian. I had been so wrapped up in the trauma of Julian’s breakdown that I had momentarily forgotten Dante kissed me earlier.
With a forced fake dry cough, I adjusted my bag, trying to reclaim some shred of dignity.
“Oh. That,” my voice flattened. “I… I have to go. I’m incredibly late for class.”
“Wait!” the first girl cried, grabbing the strap of my bag. “You have not given us any answer yet. Is he single? Sorry… I mean, obviously he’s with you, but does he have a brother? Or a cousin? Can you connect us? We’ll do your laundry for a month, Catherine, seriously.”
I found what they were doing ridiculously shameless. It felt like I had just walked into the middle of an annoying K-Drama scene where the female lead is suddenly the most popular person in school for all the wrong reasons.
“He’s very private,” I muttered, already backing away. “And I’m really, really late.”
“We’ll walk you!” they offered in unison.
“No!” I shouted, then lowered my voice when I saw people staring. “No, thank you. I need to focus.”
I turned and bolted. I didn’t even check where I was going; I just ducked into the first open door I saw. I found myself in the back of a lecture hall where a professor was midway through a boring talk on Macroeconomics. I squeezed into a back row, sliding down in the seat until only the top of my head was visible. Those groups of girls waited at the door for a moment, peering through the glass window like hungry cats, before they finally gave up and scurried away. I let out a long, exhausted breath. Kiera’s plan was working a little too well.
Later that afternoon, the campus quieted down enough for me to finally find Tessa. We found a secluded bench near the edge of the campus gardens. Tessa looked tired.
“Hey. How are you holding up?” I asked softly. “Are your parents okay with you staying with Ethan? Do they even know about your situation?”
Tessa let out a short, cynical scoff. She leaned back, staring up at the clouds. “My parents? It’s just my mom, Catherine. And honestly, as long as she has her bottle of cheap vodka and the TV is working, she doesn’t care about my whereabouts. I just told her I was staying at a friend’s place for a project.”
Shit! I couldn’t possibly know that since I hardly pried into people’s personal lives.
I looked at her, puzzled. The guilt I felt tripled. “Tessa, why haven’t you ever mentioned that before? I had no idea you had your own share of family drama.”
“It’s not a family drama but nonetheless, I don’t like to talk about it,” she said simply. “No offense please.”
I wanted to press her, to really know more about my friend, but I saw the wall she had built around the subject. I nodded slowly. “Alright, forget the family drama story. What about your father? Is he in town?”
Before she could answer, the sound of high-pitched voices arguing, drifted over the hedge behind us. We both went silent, recognizing them immediately. It was Lucy’s inner circle; a bunch of her newfound minions.
“It’s not even a question,” one of them was saying. “Lucy is the Queen Bee. She has told us about how wealthy her family is, and she’s literally about to be officially engaged to Julian. That puts her at the top of the food chain.”
“I don’t know,” another girl countered, her voice sounding skeptical. “Catherine is technically a Vaughn too. And did you see the guy she’s dating? He looks like royalty. He looks equally wealthy, maybe more.”
We heard Lucy’s voice then, sharp and dripping with pride and arrogance. “Please. Everyone knows Catherine isn’t a Vaughn by blood. If anything happens between her mother and Mr. Richard, that name will be stripped from her before she can even pack her bags. She has no standing.”
“But that guy, Dante…” the first girl whispered. “He does look like he’s loaded with money.”
“Anyone can rent expensive clothes and cars,” Lucy snapped. “We don’t even know his family name. He could be some low-level thug trying to social climb, for all we know. Yes, he looks wealthy, but in this world, if no one knows who your father is, you’re nobody. Until he reveals his identity, we have no reason to assume”
The other girls began to murmur in agreement, their loyalty shifting back to Lucy. “I guess you’re right. Though, I still wish I could snatch him from her. Just for a night.”
Lucy let out a smug, dry chuckle. “Dante? He actually seemed to have an interest in me earlier. If I wasn’t already dating Julian, I could have easily gotten him for myself. Men like that are easy to distract if you have the right pedigree.”
Tessa stood up before I could even process the level of delusion Lucy was displaying. She marched around the hedge, her face set in a look of irritation.
“You know,” Tessa said, her voice cutting through their gossip like a blade. “You all are really destroying the air with your ugly voices and dirty minds. Is this all you do? Sit around and invent fantasies about men who wouldn’t even look at you if you were on fire?”
The group scrambled to stand. Lucy moved first, her eyes flashing with rage as she looked Tessa up and down. “How dare you intrude on a private conversation? You’re the little scholarship tag-along, aren’t you? You should learn to keep your mouth shut before you lose the little bit of charity you’ve managed to scrap together.”
Lucy stepped closer, her face contorted. “In fact, maybe I should teach you a lesson in manners myself.”
She pulled her hand back, her palm flat and ready to swing toward Tessa’s cheek. I didn’t think; I moved, stepping around the hedge and catching Lucy’s wrist mid-air. I gripped it hard enough to make it hard for her to pull her hand out, my eyes locked on hers.
“Never raise your hand to my friend again,” I warned, my voice dangerously low. “If you don’t want Tessa defending me, then quit gossiping about me like a bored housewife. You’re supposed to be a student, Lucy. Try acting like one instead of a middle-school bully.”
I threw her hand off with a sharp jerk. Lucy stumbled back, her friends letting out a unified gasp of horror.
“Oh my god,” one of the lapdogs whispered. “Seems like her boyfriend transferring here has given her some real audacity. She’s actually fighting back.”
“No,” another one said, her voice sounding more annoyed than shocked. “It’s just because she isn’t scared of Lucy. If it were to be Sasha, she wouldn’t dare disrespect her like this. She’s just picking on the new girl.”
I smirked, shaking my head in utter irritation. I wasn’t surprised by the mention of Sasha. Amongst Lucy’s new minions were Sasha’s laptops lapdogs who had spent their entire college careers looking for a leader to suck up to so they could feel important. They were leftovers, with no opinion of their own; they just moved from one “queen” to the next.
“Sasha is gone,” I said, looking at the two girls who had spoken. “And Lucy is just a guest in a school she isn’t to be in. If I were you, I’d start looking for a new leader. This one is already falling apart.”
I turned to Tessa and nodded toward the exit. “Let’s go. The longer I stay here, the sicker I become.”