5: School blog drama

Genevieve's POV

Today has been an incredibly hectic day. It seems like my wish came true but in a negative way. I had wished to go unnoticed, to be completely invisible, but the opposite happened. As I stepped out of class and headed to my locker to grab my books for the next class, I noticed that most of the students were looking at me and whispering non-stop. I glanced around, wondering why I was receiving so much attention. Absent-mindedly, I opened my locker, causing all my books to fall to the floor.

"Shit," I cursed as I bent down to pick them up.

"Let me help," a girl said, bending down in front of me to pick up the books. I looked up at her, and our gazes met. I recognized her as the girl I had encountered earlier, the one who tried to assist me. I clearly remembered refusing her help. Why was she still here, following me around?

"Are you following me?" I asked. She didn't even know me, and this school was so big that someone could easily get lost. It couldn't be a mere coincidence.

"What? Of course not. I just happened to run into you. I'm Jade, and you are?" she introduced herself with a smile. She had thick curly black hair, gray eyes, and a warm smile, but it wasn't going to work on me. I noticed that she dressed differently, with an unbuttoned shirt revealing a black bra underneath. She wore large round earrings and had a bag slung across her shoulder. She looked like a badass.

"And I am not interested," I responded flatly before turning back to my locker. She chuckled.

"You're different. I like it. It's a good kind of difference. Anyway, how has your first day of school been? Have you noticed anything you don't like? You can tell me. Our school can be a bit overwhelming," she continued chatting. I ignored her, closed my locker, and was about to leave. She leaned on the locker in front of me.

"You must be wondering why the students keep staring at you, right? I know you are. Just relax and let me tell you a bit about our school," she offered with a smile. I was somewhat curious about the reason behind all the stares, and I wanted to know why. This girl seemed to have some information, and it wouldn't hurt to listen to her.

"I'm listening," I replied. Her smile widened.

"Sunnyville High School is filled with different types of students, but none of them are loners. If you look around, everyone is with somebody, either to gain popularity or simply to have a friend by their side," she started.

"Over there are the jocks. They're the school's sports team. You could call them the golden boys, as everyone adores them," she said. I glanced towards a group of twelve kids dressed in neatly matching colorful clothes, passing a ball among themselves and having fun.

"That's the music band. They can sing and dance. They're essentially the entertainment part of this school. We also have the gossip girls. All they do is gossip and bitch about people all day long. And of course, we have the nerds. I'm sure you know what that means," she explained. I didn't care much about the people she was talking about. I hadn't even interacted with them. All I wanted to know was about the three people I had met today.

"What about the girl you saw me talking to earlier?" I inquired.

"Audrey? She's the queen bee of this school. She's friends with Nicole, but their friendship isn't genuine if that makes sense. It won't do you any good to get on her bad side, which unfortunately you already did on your first day. I saw how angry she was earlier," she replied.

That's exactly why I was confused. I had never met her before today, so why was she so angry with me?

"Do you know why she was angry?" I asked.

"Of course. Everyone in this school knows. It's all over our blog. Haven't you seen it?" she asked in surprise. I nodded my head.

"I almost forgot that you just arrived because you're everywhere. You can follow the school blog on social media," she said.

"Show me on your phone," I responded. I wanted nothing to do with this school blog. She took out her phone and handed it to me. My eyes widened in surprise as I saw pictures of me with the boys I had met earlier all over the blog. The person behind it must be a photography expert because they were taken like a romantic photoshoot. What surprised me the most were the romantic hashtags accompanying the pictures.

"What is all this? Why would someone take pictures of me without my knowledge? I won't sit quietly and let everyone have the wrong impression of me," I said firmly. She chuckled.

"And what are you going to do? Sue the blogger or ask for an apology? I don't know how things worked at your previous school, but here in Sunnyville, it doesn't work like that. Nobody even knows who the blogger is," she responded.

"Doesn't this blogger have anything better to do than take pictures of my first day at school?" I retorted.

"The pictures aren't about your first day at school. They're about whom you spent your first day with. Take a closer look at the pictures," she said. I followed her advice and examined the pictures more closely. She was right. I was in the pictures with either Owen or Nolan. The comments were also focused on the two of them.

"Who are Nolan and Owen? And why is it such a big deal that we met a couple of times coincidentally?" I inquired.

"Who are those people? I've never heard of them," she responded. What was she talking about? We were in the same school, and she failed to notice those drop-dead gorgeous boys. I've seen how other girls look at them. I handed her phone back to her.

"Them," I muttered.

"You mean Raging Beast and Deadly Snake!" she exclaimed. I frowned.

"Why do you all call them by those names?" I asked.

"Because it suits their personalities perfectly. Nobody dares to call them by their real names in this school unless they're tired of living. Raging Beast, as the name implies, is cold and always angry. Some students say he has anger issues. He's the son of the Alpha of the neighboring pack. He's ruthless, and even the principal is wary of him. Deadly Snake, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He rarely speaks unless it's absolutely necessary. He could witness someone dying right in front of him and still maintain the same blank expression, clearly unaffected. He's cold and heartless. People say his heart is made of ice. He's the son of the Alpha of our pack. Everyone steers clear of them, and no one wants to cross their path," she explained quietly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear everything I just said?" she asked in disbelief.

"I heard you, but it all sounds like stories bored students made up, like the ghost stories they tell children to scare them before bed," I replied.

"You are one lucky girl. You are saying this because you have not yet experienced their anger. The Raging Beast is notorious for tormenting new students until some of them flee. However, he spared you while the Deadly Snake spoke to you. Despite attending history classes together since our junior year, I have never heard his voice. It's evident why everyone is fascinated by these new developments. Audrey was the only friend they ever conversed with. They have been friends before I arrived at this school, I can't say for sure how long their friendship has been. Rumor even has it that she is dating both of them," she said.

Now I understand why she was furious. I'm certain she's one of those attention-seeking Barbies who believe I will steal her spotlight.

"You can comprehend Audrey's anger now, can't you? For the first time ever, her grand entrance wasn't even posted on the blog today," she said.

"I genuinely don't care whether she becomes angry or not. She shouldn't blame her insecurities on me," I retorted.

"Allow me to offer you some friendly advice. Rule number one for surviving in this school: never get caught in the crossfire between the Raging Beast and the Deadly Snake. You will only end up being consumed. I'm sure you witnessed what happened in the hallways this morning. Also, do your best to avoid Audrey. She's nothing but trouble," she advised. I took my books from her hands.

"I don't think I need to avoid anyone since I haven't done anything wrong. Thanks for the information and friendly advice, but we are not friends," I said firmly. She stared at me in surprise, but I disregarded her and headed toward my next class, feeling a mix of emotions about the information I had just gathered.