4.

ALORA

"If it isn't Alora, the dirty pig," Someone sneered, and I grew rigid.

That voice. How could I ever forget?

I looked up, my gaze meeting that of Brielle Davis with that familiar, cruel smirk she always wore.

The hall grew silent immediately, and people turned their attention to us, eager to see what the sudden remark was about.

If I were a lighter shade, my cheeks would have probably burned. Not out of shame, but anger. The annoyance I felt was so sudden that it even surprised me.

I had spent weeks imagining what it would be like on the day I had to face Brielle again, but I never imagined that we would be in the same university. What a fucking coincidence.

In all my imaginations, I expected to cower before her, but I'm surprised that I didn't feel that way. Instead, I was filled with anger that she thought she could easily bully me the same way she and Mallory did back in high school.

I hated that she saw me and walked up to me confidently, thinking she would be able to make me whimper in fear and fall to my knees, begging for mercy like it used to be.

Even though everything in me screamed at me to shut up and take what she had to say, another tiny part of me didn't want to.

Why should I? Who made them judge to decide who deserved to be happy or bullied? This was a new start for me, and hell would bend over before I let her make me a huge target for bullying.

I took a deep mental breath before speaking. "Are you that desperate for attention, Brielle? Is that it?" I scoffed, eyeing her with disinterest that was taking everything in me to muster.

"Do you want me to give you a five-star reality show scene right now so those cameras can capture every moment and you'll be as important as you were back in high school?"

Brielle was stunned. Just like Mallory, I was certain she didn't expect me to react this way when she came here, but I wasn't done. I had so much to say, the weight of them all weighing heavily on my chest.

"Do you want me to allow you to think you can bully me to make your inferiority complex better?" Concealing my shaking hands, I leaned forward, and my lips curled into a bored smile.

My eyes swept over her lazily as I mentally thanked the heavens that my voice came out strong, unlike the trembling mess that I was inside.

Brielle Davis was your average high school mean girl with deep pockets, and judging by her current actions, she hadn't grown up yet.

Back in high school, she had been the head of the group that bullied me, with Mallory being one of her minions, or friends, like they liked to delude themselves.

Her group of friends wrecked havoc on anyone they didn't like, especially kids from lower financial classes. It was always a rollercoaster of emotions with them, and none were ever positive.

I could still remember every single time I went home a sobbing mess, unable to look at anything edible because of the horrible words they said and the things they did.

Because of them, I would feel disgusted with myself for days on end.

"I don't mind. You know I love the attention." She recovered with a wide smile on her face while she eyed the cameras. "But what about you? You used to love the attention too, right? Remember senior year? When you danced for the camera?" Her eyes gleamed maliciously, and I clenched my fists under the table.

"Why?" She mocked, "Do you think anything's different now that you've lost some pounds? Don't tell me you think you got prettier?" She scoffed, and her eyes examined my body with disgust, but somehow, underneath her disdain, I saw a little bit of envy.

"I don't need anyone to tell me I am prettier. I may not be the finest girl in the room, but I'm way above you on that scale," I said confidently. "I mean, look at that horrible nose job. Please, tell me you sued the doctor." I smirked, and gasps rang through the hall.

"My mama's a surgeon, you know? I could put in a good word for you. Get her to fix it, and maybe your foul mouth as well. All at a discounted price you wouldn't get anywhere else."

The hall burst into laughter, and Brielle turned red. Students began to throw comments about her terrible nose job. Her minions laughed as well, but one glare from her sent them shutting up.

"Now that you pointed it out, I can definitely see it," Harvey whispered to me, but his voice wasn't subtle. He turned to Brielle. "Girl, it's really crooked. How do you walk around with such a bad nose job? If it was me, I would not step out of my house until I got it fixed." He even managed to look sympathetic, which made it more amusing.

"I know, right? "I'd die of humiliation if I had such a nose," Hani chuckled as she leaned forward to get a closer look at Brielle's face. "Damn," she whistled, and the hall began laughing again.

Harvey reached into his purse and handed Brielle a mask. "Here, you can use this to hide it before Lora gets you that recommendation from her mom."

At this point, Brielle was shaking from anger and embarrassment. She slapped the mask away and growled.

"Don't think because you got yourself a little gang of losers, you are now on the same level as I am," she sneered. She slammed her hand on the table and leaned down, "Once a nobody, always a nobody. You will never be on the same level as me." She snarled, and I jerked. Her words sliced through me like a paper cut.

I took a deep breath. No one could see how I was shaking with fear on the inside. Brielle had always terrified me, and even now, while I wanted to defend myself, my body still remembered what she did.

"Oh, please," I scoffed, pushing those fears back. "Are you seriously calling me a nobody when we both know I belong to a class you would never reach? Do we have to compare bank accounts or count assets to prove it?" I levelled her with a hard glare and relished in the feeling of satisfaction I got when she flinched back.

Yes, we had all attended the same high school. St James had been an exclusive high school for the rich, but even the rich had a hierarchy.

My dad's company was worth billions in tech. My mom had a hotel chain and was the heiress to a jewellery empire.

I wasn't trying to mock her hard-working parents, but Brielle was just the daughter of a growing investment company CEO, and her mom was an A-list actress. She didn't compare. I already had shares in both my parents' businesses and four estates in my name.

The only reason she had been able to bully me back in high school was because I was too much of a weakling and didn't want to use my parents' wealth to show off.

"Come on, let's see. Don't you want to prove yourself?" Harvey urged with a wicked grin.

"Stay out of it, fag," Brielle hissed, and my eyes widened at the foul word she used. I was about to get up and give her a piece of my mind when Harvey's voice stopped me.

"She's not very creative." He turned to Hani with a pout.

"I know, right? She lacks a lot of things beside a good nose." They both had this comical solemn expression on their faces that made everyone begin to laugh again.

"Stop it, Brielle. It's getting embarrassing. Just go back to your seat. This isn't high school anymore," Mallory finally spoke up from where she had been sitting quietly.

"You better shut your fucking mouth, Mallory." Brielle barked. "You know? You are so pathetic, jumping from one leader to another." She scoffed, eyeing Mallory like she was dirt.

This was surprising. I knew Mallory said she had changed, but I didn't expect they would have bad blood between them. They were the closest back in high school.

"I'm not surprised," Brielle added. "I always knew you were meant to serve like a dog," she tsked.