In hot water

Chapter 7

Harper's POV

Scott stared at me, mouth agape in shock. He didn't speak or blink for a minute and I was beginning to get worried.

I snapped my fingers in front of him. "Well?"

He jolted, swatting away a fly as he shut his mouth. He blinked rapidly. "That's the craziest shit I've heard in like forever. Are you sure you didn't hit your head somewhere?"

I rolled my eyes. "Why would I joke about being step-siblings with the Whitmore brothers? My life is already fucked up as it is."

"Oh, moon goddess. You are really not joking. How is this even possible? Why will the Alpha marry Stella of all people? We get that she's pretty but her attitude is nasty. That woman is pure evil. Has he even seen the way she treats you?" He inquired looking shocked.

I shook my head sipping my vanilla milk. I had a feeling he wouldn't care even if he was aware of what was going on between Stella and me. I was an omega who was lucky that the Alpha looked towards my direction.

"This is crazy. What do you want to do about it? Should we tell him or..."

"Absolutely not. I'm just going to...bear with it. Until after high school, after I save up enough money to move. Less than three months left right?" I asked cutting him off.

Scott stared at me in hesitation. He always seemed to realise when I wasn't genuine with my words. "Are you sure? The Whitmore brothers aren't exactly people you can bear with." He added wiggling his fingers and putting imaginary air quotes to emphasise his words.

Did he think I wasn't well aware of that? It's been barely three days and I was about to lose my freaking mind. I was convinced I did something terribly wrong in my past life and this was the Goddess's way of punishing me for my misdeeds.

"Three months still sounds like a lot of time to me." I groaned. The school bell suddenly rang signaling the end of our break period. We both had lunch on the rooftop. I've been having my lunch on the rooftop for a while after the bullying got a bit more...intense. Scott always kept me company without a word of protest and I couldn't be any more grateful.

"I honestly don't know how else I can comfort you. I really wish there was something I could do."

I smiled. "Your presence here is enough for me. Come on, enough of the pity party. We need to get to class. I need recommendation signatures from the teachers if I'm going to get a scholarship."

He chuckled. His mood getting much better. "Right." We took the stairs and headed for the next class which was calculus. Scott began walking over to his seat while I headed towards mine.

I couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that I was being watched. I felt a sudden chill and goosebumps lined my skin. My eyes darted towards the direction I felt I was being watched from, and there they were, sitting like kings in their respective chairs at the back of the classroom. Their gazes were like hot lava on my skin. I tore my eyes away but theirs never left mine till I settled on my seat. I could feel it.

I took out my calculus textbook pretending I was solving an equation. Anything to get my mind off them.

"Settle down on your seats everyone," the calculus teacher, Mrs Smith called out to us lightly tapping her desk. Chairs scrambled around as everyone tried to move to their respective seats.

"Turn in your group projects. Pass it on to the group leaders. Group leaders, bring it up here."

I opened up my locker to bring out my group's project. I never met with any of them. They left all the work to me and I had no other choice but to do it. It was either that or get tortured once again. I chose the more peaceful approach except I was beginning to panic. The sheets I had neatly tucked in my desk were nowhere to be found.

"Harper, you are up," Mrs Smith called out to me. I felt sweat trickling down my brow. The room became stuffy. It was getting harder to breathe. Someone kicked my desk from behind.

"Freak, where the hell is our project?"

"I...It was right here I promise. I made sure to finish it up on the weekend," I explained still searching for it.

"Miss Harrington, we are all waiting," Mrs Smith called out impatiently. Something light but non-negligible struck my head. The piece of paper rolled into a ball fell to the floor. I looked up only to find Allison smirking at me.

"Looking for those?" she mouthed. I grabbed the paper only to realise it was my project. The project I had worked so hard on. Tears welled up in my eyes but I blinked them away. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of watching me cry. Not today.

"Are you deliberately wasting my time Miss Harrington? You didn't coordinate your group to do your project and now you are deliberately stalling?"

I didn't know what to say. Telling on Allison would mean I was asking for three more months of hell. Keeping quiet would place me in trouble with Mrs Smith and the other students. I fiddled with my fingers not knowing what direction to take.

"I'm sorry," I muttered defeated. It was pathetic I know but the only option I had left was to apologise and hope my punishment would be decreased.

"Detention for a week. I want the project on my desk first thing tomorrow morning." I nodded in agreement taking my seat.

"Does that mean we are getting detention too?" Noah inquired. I glanced back and they were still relaxed in their seats.

Mrs Smith furrowed her brows. "What do you mean? You turned in your projects didn't you?"

He smirked. "Actually we didn't. The papers are all repeating the same words. Boring just like your classes." Everyone laughed out loud. I was confused as well. Why would they do such a thing and admit it? This wasn't the first time they would be getting into mischief.

She glanced through the papers and with her skin flushed from embarrassment, they were not bluffing.

"Can you three explain what the meaning of this is?"

Cole shrugged. "Our brother suggested it and we decided to go with the flow. It was a bit amusing." By our brother, he meant...Hayes who was casually sitting with his sunglasses perched on his face just like the spoilt brat he was. I wondered why the moon goddess blessed people who didn't deserve it with so much wealth.

"Detention for all of you," she fumed grabbing the projects and storming out of the classroom. Was I going to be stuck in detention with just the three of them? I internally wanted to strangle them. I grabbed my books in order to begin with the project once again. The books were suddenly slammed shut startling me. I looked up to see Allison smiling down at me.

"Did you like my surprise?" she asked, eyes glistening with unrestrained hate. I didn't respond.

"You know after the party last night, I couldn't fall asleep. The thought of how you destroyed my party kept appearing in my thoughts. What I hate most is when people ruin my efforts." That makes the two of us. I wanted to bite back.

"Destroy? I almost died last night in that pool. It wasn't my fault," I replied gulping.

"It wasn't my fault," Laura and Rachel mimicked me and they all snickered. Everyone was paying attention to the show like it was some award-winning movie.

She clasped her hands together looking thrilled. Her eyes flickered towards the triplets before turning towards me. "Really? If it wasn't your fault then that means it was mine right? Fine then. I agree it was my mistake. Why don't I make it up to you? I'm feeling generous today."

"Allison, I don't think..."

"Oh shut up Scott. Interfere again and I would make sure I tell my dad to cut off all business ties with your family," she threatened cutting him off. He couldn't say a word more and honestly, I didn't blame him. I never wanted him to get involved in my mess.

She beckoned towards both of them. "Take her." Laura and Rachel grabbed each of my arms and began dragging me towards the door. I kicked and screamed but that only added to their sick and twisted laughter. The last thing I saw through my hazy vision was Allison sitting on Noah’s thighs and kissing him like she owned him which technically she did. His hands were on her waist, returning the kiss. My chest felt like something had been wrung out of it.

I had no reason to feel anything about them. I told myself that. I kept telling myself that on the entire walk to the gym. Laura’s claws bruised my arm. I still had not convinced myself by the time they threw me on the floor where I bumped my head on something hard.

"We are giving you a five-second head start. Let's see how fast you can run little Omega," Rachel taunted. I heard bones crunching loudly before I could turn around, I spotted the hairs sprouting out of their body from the mirror in front of me. Dread filled me. My legs felt numb and I couldn't move.