Page 55 of Treacherous

I rose my brows and stared back at them defiantly, but inside I was having a huge case of the WTF's. What the hell was going on around here? Had I somehow become the school leper?

"There's a photo of you online…. You know, the one with you twerking all over a very sweaty, half-naked Noah."

Amy's voice drifted into my mind and I scoffed loudly to myself. So I was being treated like a disease because of the whole twerking business… Fabulous.

"That'sher," one of the girls hissed to her friend as they passed by my seat.

"You have no class," one of the girls spat before sitting at the desk behind me.

"I hope you're happy with yourself," muttered another – Reese, I recognized. Her eyes were bloodshot. "You're destroying everything."

"Come on, come on, get seated, everybody. We have a lot to get covered this morning," Mr. Trammel, the biology teacher called out as he rambled into class.

I opened my text book and tried to focus on what Mr. Trammel was saying andnoton what the rest of the class were whispering.

****

Biology and every class after that passed painfully slowly and by the time I made it to the cafeteria for lunch. I was exhausted and tossing around the pros and cons of homeschooling.

"What the hell is happening in this place?" Hope growled as she dropped her lunch tray on the table before digging my car keys out of her jeans pocket and taking a seat beside me. "People have been acting strange as hell," she muttered with a sigh as she handed me the keys.

"Cheers."

"No probs." Tearing off the lid, Hope dug into her yoghurt with a vengeance. "Thank god it's…" she stopped mid-sentence to lick the yoghurt from her spoon. "…almost home-time. I need a break from this crap."

"Thank god," I said, relieved, as I stirred my coffee aimlessly. "I thought I was the only one being treated like a piranha."

"Jealousyisan ugly trait," Ash offered in a supportive tone before sliding her phone towards me. "On the bright side, Amy was right. Your ass is amazing."

"Good to know," I muttered with a heavy sigh.

Placing my elbows on the table, I rested my forehead against my palm before picking up Ash's phone, holding it away from my body like it was a poisonous snake. "Do I really want to see this?"

I didn’t wait for the girls to answer.

Raising the screen to my face, my eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How the hell can anyone tell this is me?" I asked, feeling acutely relieved that my face was hidden. "This was taken from behind us. All you can see is my ass and the back of my legs." I mentally patted myself on the back for keeping my body tight and trim – and for having the good sense to shave. "You would've had to be there to know it's actually me."

"Maybe so, but it's not hard to put two and two together," Ash goaded with a chuckle. "Noah's not a blonde man – aside from you…and look at how his eyes are glued to your butt, Teegs."

Fair enough it was pretty obvious that the guy in the picture was Noah. You could easily make out the side of his face as he…cupped my butt cheek? Hang on… "What do you meanaside from me?"

A male arm swooped over my shoulder and grabbed the phone before letting out a whistle. "Messina looks like he wants to take a bite out of you." Cam handed me back the phone before sliding into the seat beside me. "Do wolves eat p…"

"Shut up, you little pervert," Hope warned him before slamming her spoon on the table in frustration. "Oh for the love of all that's holy…" she grumbled before jerking out of her chair and marching over to where a group of girls were blatantly staring and pointing at us. Of course Ellie Dennis was one of those girls. Reese was another. All four girls seemed to grow nervous as Hope approached. "Gotta problem, girls?" Hope asked, eyebrow raised.

"Not with you," Ellie replied, cutting a dark look my way.

Hope noticed the evils I was receiving. "You see that girl over there." She pointed to me before looking back at Ellie. "She's my friend. If you've got a problem with her, then I've got a problem with you. You got it?"

"Have you seen the state my brother is in?" Ellie demanded. Shoving her chair back she stood up and stepped right up in Hope's personal space. It looked quite comical really considering Hope had a good four inches on her. "Because ofher," Ellie spat, pointing her finger at me.

"What exactly are you accusing me of, Ellie?" I demanded as I jerked out of my seat and stalked over to where Hope and Ellie were standing. "Because of me." I glared at her. "I have nothing to do with your brother."

"Exactly," Ellie hissed. "You are nothing to my brother, so stay the hell out of his way and stop making problems for him."

Actually I said'nothing to do'and not'nothing to'but Ellie looked so pissed I didn’t bother correcting her. Both statements were true.

"Listen to me carefully, bitch," Ellie growled as she stepped closer and wrapped her hand around my wrist. "I'm only going to tell you this once." Her green eyes burned into mine. "Noah has a lot of people depending on him, a lot riding on him staying focused and doing what needs to be done." Her nails bit into my skin. "Stay away from him or you're going to get him hurt."

---