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CHAPTER 4

Bully

Samantha

I walk out of the girls' bathroom after looking in the mirror for the billionth time. I know I look horrible, but I still hope no one notices how red and puffy my eyes are and how dark the dark circles under my eyes have become.

The pink in my hair is so faded and dirty that I decide it's best if I pull my hair up in a messy bun, making this whole bad day look intentional.

I plan to wash my hair tonight, but I'm out of pink dye, so I'll probably go back to blonde ends. The lack of sleep is slowly getting to me, but this is technically the first day of school and this will be my last year, so I have to get ready and show my face.

Fake it till you make it, right?

Man, I really hope people have forgotten about yesterday's humiliating event. I really hope there's new gossip at school and that no one gives a shit that I'm an Omega.

What I do know is that I need to keep my head down and act like I don't have a care in the world.

"Hey babe, how are you feeling?" Jen reaches for me as soon as I come out of the bathroom. I can see in her face that she feels bad for me and doesn't quite know what to say or how to say it so I don't feel like she's taking pity on me.

I don't even manage to open my mouth and mumble a response because I'm almost knocked down by the force that makes me burst into a bone-crushing hug.

"What the hell happened to you yesterday? We were so worried. You just ran off into the woods and didn't even bother to tell us, are you okay, what the hell happened to you?"

"Marie, I'm fine, just get off me, you're heavier than you look." I shake her off, but she still holds my gaze demanding an answer. I grew to love my friends and how much they care about me.

For a good minute I was afraid of losing Marie and Jen's friendship, but it seems I had nothing to worry about. That song comes to mind, "But at least I have my friends..." which makes me smile a little.

"I'm fine girls, I just needed to be alone for a while, you know? I won't lie to you, I wasn't expecting to rank Omega, so it confused me a little bit and I needed to clear my head." and make some sense of it.". They both nod towards me keeping their eyes down showing me that they feel bad about what happened.

"It's not your fault, don't feel bad. I'm very happy that they got the ranks they wanted." I look at the faces of both of them and they don't look convinced, not one bit.

I decide it's best to keep the whole mess to myself with my parents. I will tell the girls once I digest the information better, because I know they will have a lot of questions and even more comments about the whole thing.

"Seriously girls, I'm fine. Let's get to class. I have History first, and we all know Miss Pratt doesn't like to be late, even on the first day of school."

Jen groans because apparently she has the same class as me.

Like an Omega, (oh Goddess, it hurts to even think of me that way, it's like a silver blanket is burning me from the inside out every time I think of my rank).

"I'm sorry, it's me. I'll calm down now." Ming smiles apologetically in my mind. I guess it makes sense, she must be pretty upset about getting that rank, but what if that's really our rank? I mean, my theory about my birth parents starts with them both being Omegas or other low-ranking wolves, so maybe I'm meant to be an Omega.

"Earth to Sam!" a manicured hand belonging to Jen waves dangerously close to my face. "Can we go to class now, or do you want to stick out even more like a sore thumb when you're late for Miss Pratt's class on the first day?"

"Come on, Jen. See you later, Marie." I grab Jen and we head to history class.

During Miss Pratt's monologue about the Cold War, I start to get distracted again, returning to my earlier thought that was so rudely interrupted by Ming's anger. Basically, Marie and others who classified as Alpha, Beta and Delta have most of their classes together and go through intense courses and in-depth studies, while Omegas and Sigmas have minimal education. Gammas usually take a mix between the two, which is why Jennifer might have a lot of classes in common with either me or Marie.

Another interesting thing, as an Omega I realize that there is only one hour of PE per week in my schedule. So much for training, I guess.

"That should be enough to keep the Omega's in shape and allow them to use a broom to sweep the floors on the packing floor." Ming's sarcastic comment brings an amused smile to my face, though it also makes me think about what my options are here. What am I supposed to do with myself after I graduate, if I manage to pull this off for a year and actually graduate?

"You could."

"I swear, Ming, if you say I can sweep the floors at the packing house, I'll block you for a month and not let you get away."

"I wasn't going to say that, but you might want to consider getting a job. You need to eat and get school supplies and necessities. And I have a feeling that going to Alpha Jaxon and asking for help will only result in you." getting familiar with the broom and the floors in the packing house."

"I'll figure something out, Ming."

The bell finally rings to signal our freedom and I am pleased to see the next few periods fly by, surprisingly quickly.

For lunch I join Marie and Jen at our usual spot, stupid me, I didn't realize that means seeing most of our pack members who witnessed my sorting yesterday.

Walking in the cafeteria, I can already feel that all eyes are on us.

"Just ignore them, it will all fade away as soon as Rianna finds someone to focus on other than Jason, and we'll have the new hot relationship full of drama." Marie whispers to us as she rolls her eyes, and Jen, bless her heart, just looks at everyone watching us whispering, laughing and even pointing.

We sit at our usual table and do our best to ignore all the stares. I'll go get us lunch, would you like pizza or burgers?

"Pizza!" both Marie and I respond at the same time and Jen goes to get our lunch laughing.

I listen to my friend talk about how happy she is that Jason has finally left for Alpha training, and how she will now have peace and quiet, explaining all the reasons why she and Jason never got along.

To be honest, they didn't really have any valid reason for not getting along, they just didn't like each other, and it always struck me as odd, but I didn't bother to think about it anymore. Even if they're not actually siblings, their relationship looks a lot like sibling rivalry. And it doesn't help that they're both Alphas, or that Marie was spoiled in an attempt to overcompensate for losing her parents at such a young age.

"So I hear Omega is craving pizza today."

A sarcastic voice can be heard behind me. I try to be the bigger person and just ignore it.

I expected teasing, I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. What I didn't expect was bullying, although Rianna always had it in for me and now she's finally in a position to assert herself as the designated stalker of the helpless Omega that I apparently am.

Judging by the tomato sauce currently dripping from my head, soaking my hair in the process as well as my clothes, I can tell that spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce was another choice for lunch today.

Oh, I'll have to find a way to wash and dry my clothes in the school facilities. I wonder if I could sneak into the kitchen tonight, maybe they have a washing machine or something.

Slowly and dramatically, I stand up looking daggers at the queen bitch who smiles, feeling pleased to humiliate me in front of everyone. Marie mutters something about taking Mr. Biggins out and runs out of the cafeteria. I'm not mad at my friend she's trying to help me by catching her. Before I can start getting revenge on Rianna, Timothy and another amateur guy, whose name I don't know, flank me and hold me down while the bitch uses me as her personal punching bag.

Ming is trying to get out, but we're not allowed to use our wolf form on school grounds, so I have to keep her contained. Suddenly, the stray dogs drop me to the ground, or rather push me down.

Kick! Punch. Kick! Punch. Fuck, that hurts, and there's so much blood that I stop trying to protect myself, I just wait for the beating to end. Marie's on her way with Mr. Biggins, so it'll all be over soon.

Kick! Punch. Any minute now. It'll all be over.

I've lost count of how many times I've been kicked and punched, but I can bet more people joined Rianna in stomping me.

"Miss Bailey, get up and follow me to my office." Oh, thank goodness Mr. Biggins is here. I'm using the last drop of strength I have to get up. My eyes are almost swollen shut, hell, I can't even see out of my left eye, but I will heal eventually.

"Miss Bailey, I must say I am terribly disappointed in you. I guess you've shown your true colors. He keeps sighing, sounding very bored and like he just interrupted his midday nap. "You'll have detention for the rest of the week, and I expect you to know your place and act like it."

It's taking me a little longer than usual to process what he's saying, but 'thankfully' he elaborates.

"You are not to upset those who rank higher than you, especially Rianna, who says she is Jason's mate and soon to be your new Luna. You must keep your head down and not bother her or attack her anymore, or else I might have to inform Alpha Jaxon and strongly recommend that you be exiled from the Crescent Moon pack. I look at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean by 'attack her'?" I do my best to look him in the eye, though it's quite difficult with my puffy eyes.

"Miss Bailey, what did I just say about knowing your place?"

I look down, suddenly finding my shoes very interesting, but also trying to calm the anger boiling through my body fueled by Ming's own indignation. I clench my fists and the extended claws dig deep into my palms, drawing even more blood.

"Get out of my office, I don't want to see you here again!" he stands up abruptly showing me the door and I leave before I can get into any more trouble than I already am.

I see Marie waiting for me outside Mr. Biggins' office and I head towards her. Once she wraps me in a warm embrace, I burst into sobs.

"Oh baby. I'm so sorry that happened to you. Come on, we'll take you to the nurse's office and get you cleaned up. That bitch is going to pay, I promise."

"Leave her alone, Marie. I already have detention for apparently attacking her, I don't want you to get in trouble too."

Marie says nothing more as she leads me to the infirmary.

Once inside, the angel who was the nurse, gave me something for the pain and suggested I take a nap there, under her supervision, so she could make sure I healed and there was no long term damage. Luckily, she never asked what happened or who started it and why, she just healed me as best she could and helped me up to bed.

I look at Marie, who waves goodbye to me and goes back to her last class. She tells the nurse she will come see me after school is out, but the nurse said she might be asleep, so she can go home.

After doing my best to smile at her, she closes the door and I finally give in to the sleep I so desperately needed.

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