<When I was a child I was afraid of ghosts. When I grew up, I realized people are more scary>

|10|

WHICH DAY do you hate the most? Mine's Monday.

Mondays were my worst days. It was a prelude of the day that led to another stressful week at school where I got to be tormented as usual. Another unfortunate thing about Mondays was that it was sports day. And I hated sports. Participating in sports were not just my kind of thing. In any way. At all. Period.

It was drizzling and the sidewalks were beginning to have tiny puddles of muddy water situated in cracks here and there. If not for the fact it was raining very lightly, I would have been soaked and probably shivering to death.

Such a great start to a new day, I thought gloomily, wishing I had brought an umbrella or a raincoat with me.

My shoes scruffed against the sidewalk. Ughh. On the bright side though, I thought not so gloomily this time around, we might not have sports time. Not with how wet the field will be.

Sighing loudly, I entered the school building and went straight to my locker to get the books that I would need for my first lesson. From the ringing of the bell it was 7:50 a.m already. Yeah, I know I came late today. Blame it on those nightmares that had been plaguing me all weekend.

My weekend had been pretty listless. After what had happened to me that night at the party, I had been lethargic, just drifting in and out. Having no energy or willpower to do anything worthwhile, I binge-read. Reading was therapeutic, leading me into faraway worlds where bad things didn't happen. It also made me forget certain unpleasant things. Like Friday night.

I stilled.

My eyes widened a fraction on seeing that the combination to my locker was broken. Weird. That locker had been good the last time I saw it. Hmmm. Something was amiss.

Opening the locker cautiously, I stepped back just in case. You never know with Penfield, honestly.

Thud!

A bag containing decaying stuff fell on the floor, creating a big mess. A fetid smell rose upwards almost making me gag. I was right. Thank you Lord for making me trust my instincts. Imagine if that had fallen on me. Disgusting, I shuddered.

"Eww, check out how dirty her locker is," a blonde haired girl, that was passing whispered-or tried to because I overhead them-to her friend.

"I agree. Definitely trashy like her," her equally blonde friend whispered back. They walked further away giggling to each other. Stupid blonde people.

Looking pointedly at the locker I wondered who had pranked me this time around. It could be Noah, Josh or Katharina.

You forgot Kian, good mind chipped in. Yeah. And Kian too. That was if he had reverted back to his evil ways.

Which got me thinking about him right now. I needed to give him back his jacket the next time I saw him and I had to admit, the guy had tried. Rescuing me from that creepo and singing a song for me, which I still think is ridiculous by the way.

Denial, denial, bad mind taunted. Shhh!

Bad mind was right though because no matter how much I tried to deny it, my breath hitched on recalling that husky voice of his. He had a pleasant voice that made butterflies invade my stomach.

Olay, like seriously? His voice did something to you? I asked myself. Kian was casting a spell on me. It wasn't unheard of.

A piece of paper caught my eye, dragging me away from those betraying thoughts. It was taped to the side of my now dirty locker. I took the note off carefully so it wouldn't rip in the process and had a look.

Hello dear,
Hope you had a smelly time. *snickers*
Xoxo,
Your favorite,
Katharina.

I clenched my fists, fury rising like a tornado waiting to be unleashed on something or someone preferably. That bitch had planted a truckful load of garbage hoping it would fall on me the minute I opened my locker. Well, her hopes were dashed to the ground because I wasn't drenched in whatever she had booby trapped for me.

The paper fluttered to the floor, forgotten. Katharina did not just mess with my books. Especially those novels of mine.

Yes she did, bad mind piped up. Shut up!!

I observed the locker, a sad expression painted clearly on my face. Those books must be ruined now. Argh. There was no way I was going to use it that way- dirty as it was, so I decided I would clean out my locker later in the day. Lessons were waiting for me right away.

Unclenching my hands slowly, I breathed in deeply to calm myself down. Bad move. Here was stinking.

What was I to do to Katharina?

Nothing, good mind whispered. Exactly! She got away with everything. Everytime. But not this time around. No fracking way! That girl was going to pay. I have had enough of their shits. Literally.

I banged the locker not caring if it came off its hinges and stormed to class, backpack bobbing. On my way, all the resolve I mustered earlier melted away and I was back to normal coward me.

Why couldn't I just stand up for myself, I thought as I entered Geography class with no learning materials apart from a pen and a notebook which I had kept in my backpack.

My skin prickled with the stares I was getting. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Katharina and her pals. She had to be mad that her "stinking" plan didn't work. Ha! It was unfortunate that Katharina studied Geography too because I got to be with the bitch in a class.

I wholeheartedly ignored them and went to sit down in the front as expected of me. Bringing out the only writing materials I had, I waited for the teacher to arrive. It was 7:55 am.

My chair was close to a window and I took advantage of the fact. Many a times when I was learning and the lesson got so boring, I usually looked through the window enjoying the view. It was what I was doing right now until someone tapped me. Turning my face to whoever it was, I glanced up. Maude. I reined in the anger festering in me. What did they want now? Was she here to check up on "smelly" me? Well, too bad.

"Get out of that chair and go sit there. I'm sitting down here today," she told me, eyes glaring daggers.

What now? Something was up. Maude never ever sat in front. Ever.

"Why?" I asked, raising my right eyebrow up.

She fluttered her fake eyelashes repeatedly, taken aback. Probably stupefied I was talking back to her. I was surprised too. Where was my newfound confidence stemming from? Except that it didn't last long. Sadly.

"Because I can," she replied, a scowl on her face.

Loathe to cause any other problem for myself, I stood up and packed my things.

"So where am I staying now that you've oh so kindly taken my seat?" I queried, voice dripping sarcasm.

Maude didn't notice, if she did, she didn't show it. She just pointed to a seat in the second row indicating I sit there. Weirdos. Time wasn't on my side to think about what they might be up to.

The teacher had already come in, so I quietly sat down on the allotted chair, forgetting to check if it was clean and maybe wipe the dust off.

We started learning. Our topic was on Rivers. I took down notes when needed and basically paid attention.

"Miss Kincade," Mr. Thomas called. He was a tall man and usually loomed all over us, especially now that we were sitting.

"Can you please state what I just said now? I want to see if you guys are keeping up," he said, motioning for me to stand.

I stood up. The minute I did, there was laughter and giggles behind me. Probably Katharina laughing at her stupid antics. Uncaring about whatever made them laugh, I answered the question and sat down back.

Thirty minutes later, the class was done. I was about to walk out when a hand grabbed my arm. Looking up, I saw Katharina. She was smirking. Like a fool, in my very honest opinion.

"I trust you had a nice time this morning." She winked at me, her minions Aliyah and Maude snickering loudly. Again, like fools.

She continued, flipping her long blonde hair. It almost hit me in the eye. "How's your locker now? Smelly isn't it? And I don't know how you got away. You were lucky then. Not now." Her very red lips pulled up at the corners.

What was she rambling on about and why was I still here listening to rubbish spew from her mouth? I stopped myself from rising to bait. Instead, I fisted the yellow skirt I wore, tightly. If the material was flimsy it would have torn by now. Darn, I hate this girl.

"Oh, and before I forget, I think you've stained your behind. Some people just don't know what it means to be hygienic. Excuse moi." She pushed me away roughly from the doorway and left with her pals, heels clicking on the tiled floor and shallow laughter ringing in my ears.

A/N: This chapter was actually longer than this and I couldn't continue. I know some people dislike long chapters so I left it at this. With a cliffhanger as always *smiles wickedly* So what dyu think made Katharina laugh when Olay stood up? Can you guess? Btw, thank you all for the 2k+ reads and 430+ votes. I'm really glad you guys are reading this book and giving it a chance. Thank you! Thank you! God bless you all. Don't forget to vote and comment. Thanks once more.

Nita.