Page 17 of Harmony

No.

Now all I see is pure hatred.

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Five

“Settle down, class,”Mr. Kendall says from the front of the room.

I’ve been dreading this class all day. For the most part, I’ve been able to avoid Nate. Even in the cafeteria, I ended up sitting with the cheerleaders. He avoided us completely, sitting on the other side of the room.

I knew I couldn’t avoid him here, though. I can almost feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. He’s angry.

“All right, so let’s discuss last night’s reading. Act three ofJulius Caesar.Does anyone want to begin?”

“Brutus is an asshole traitor. He deserves death,” Nate’s voice calls out, making me flinch.

There’s no doubt he’s not talking solely about the book.

“Language, Nate. Please expand.”

He clears his throat as I hear shuffling behind me. I don’t dare look, though.

“Sure. Julius trusted Brutus to have his back. Over everything, loyalty is the most important. Even more important than the blood in your veins or the air in your lungs. If you are not loyal, then you are worthless. Trash. To turn your back on people who would have died to protect you is shameful.”

I scoff at his explanation. Such a pompous asshole. He thinks he knows everything.

“Ms. Jones Do you have a different view?”

Really, I agree Brutus is scum for betraying his friend, but that’s not what this is about. For that reason, I speak up. I allow myself to fall into the role Nate so clearly sees me in.

“Julius is a power-hungry dictator in the making. He wanted to take the throne for himself, with no regard for what anyone else wanted. Had he shown he cared a little bit more about the people and not only himself, maybe he would have been spared. Instead, he was narcissistic, which led to his friend doing what he felt was right by ending the threat.”

“The threat? They had no idea what would happen had things kept going the way they were. It could have been fine. The whole damn country happier and thriving better than they ever had been. One decision. One betrayal ruined that. Don’t get me wrong, they will move on and still survive, but the betrayal will never be forgotten.”

“Betrayal is never supposed to be forgotten. It’s a lesson meant to be learned. Perception is in the eye of the beholder. While you sit back there condemning Brutus for his act of betrayal, he sees it as the ultimate sacrifice in order to honor his friend the best that he can while accepting the consequences of his actions. He knows he has to kill his friend, but in the end, he sees the good outweighs the evil. That’s what this is about. Making the tough decisions and facing the consequences for those decisions.”

Before Nate can form a rebuttal, the teacher cuts in, “Very passionate debate. I appreciate the participation, but let’s move on for now. Who wants to tell me the theme of this scene?”

As another student answers, I glance briefly over my shoulder, finding Nate’s eyes locked on mine.

He sees me as a traitor. He compares me to Brutus.

That’s fine. I need him to hate me. It’s the only way this works. It’s the only way I will find out who is dealing the drugs so Chase can take care of it. It’s my own sacrifice to save Willow. She’s already been attacked once. There’s no doubt they will do it again. Her stalker was never found. Her mother is also still on the loose. We need to end this sooner rather than later.

It’s worth the pain in my chest knowing my chance at something real with Nate is over.

I turn back forward, not willing to allow myself to be drawn into him anymore.

When the bell finally rings, I jump up, needing to leave this room as quickly as possible. To my surprise, an arm quickly links with mine.

“That was brutal. He’s an asshole.”

I look at the smiling girl. Katie is one of the girls on the team. I didn’t even realize she was in my class.

“Yeah well fuck him,” I tell her.

She laughs. “Right. Fuck him. He used to be the king of this school until he started hanging out with the trash. He lost his shine then.”

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