Chapter 6

6. An Expression That Speaks Of... Care? Serena's POV I am ignorant of all the looks surrounding me as I grip the handle of my backpack, walking through the hallway towards my target. I don't know why, but for some strange reason, I'm having this strong feeling that everyone seems to be scrutinizing me and gossiping about me right now. It can't be ignored and I can feel it all around me. Every eye is on me. Some of them are giving me looks of chastisement, some are giving me looks of disgust, and some are scrunching up their faces as if I must be the most irritating living being on earth, both human beings and supernatural beings alike. It makes me frown with confusion, but I struggle to keep that thought out of my mind. Whispers are endless all around me and it makes me clench my fists. It is not like it is the first time I am receiving such sort of attention from everyone. But why does it feel so much worse right now? As if something is on my face that is creating another sort of gossip for them. I, however, shake the thoughts off and direct my attention back to my object of attention. She is standing directly in front of her locker and the expression on her face tells that she might not be in a very good mood presently. She is taking out her books and shutting the door to her locker slightly while gazing around as if looking for someone. I clench my fists hard and move straight toward her before placing my hand and slamming it hard against the door of her locker. The impact makes her jolt sharply as she diverts her head towards my direction. Her eyes go wide the moment she sees me and I smirk. "Hello, dear friend," I say calmly, and then she chuckles nervously. "Serena, you are here, where the hell have you been all night?" She asks immediately, stepping close to me with worry suddenly written on her face. It makes me frown slightly, I thought she must have forgotten about me and abandoned me. I raise an eyebrow and scrutinize her deeply. "I think the question should be why you abandoned me last night at the club and didn't even bother to look for me," I reply and she frowns. "You slept at the club? Oh my gosh. Are you okay? Hope nothing happened to you. I am so sorry. I looked for you everywhere but I couldn't find you. I assumed you left for home, but I was surprised this morning when your mom called asking about your whereabouts." I gulp. Wow. I lean against the kicker and sigh thinking deeply. "I am in a heavy mess, Cassy," I say softly, and she steps closer, placing her hand on my shoulder. "What is it?" I turn slowly to look at her and then I sigh. " I... I had a one-night stand." She gasps. "What??!!!" "Stinking slut." A human male student says as he passes us, and we both frown at him, watching him leave. That was weird. His gaze is at me and it makes me raise an eyebrow. I and Cassidy stare at each other with confusion. I finally notice that every single student in the hallway is gazing at us and we are surrounded by endless whispers. A lot of them are pointing at me and shaking their heads disgustedly. "Uhm. What the hell is going on Cassy?" I ask but she shrugs. " Believe me. I am as confused as you are. " I also notice that a lot of them are gazing at their phones and also glancing back at me with their heads shaking... With disgust. "Oh my, not only are you a forbidden creature, but you are also a disgusting, vile slut!!" A female voice beside me catches my attention. I am forced to turn around with a raised eyebrow to see her gazing at her phone. I recognize her. She is also a creature of the supernatural world, and she has been one of those individuals who never hesitate to remind me of my personality and my trauma as a mixed race. She is a vampire and an annoying one at that. The look she is giving me is creeping me out. I pull away from Cassy and walk up to the girl. She turns to me but before she can say anything, I snatch her phone from her hand and look into it with serious curiosity, ignoring her annoying yells and insults. The next image I see makes me almost drop the phone with shock. I blink rapidly trying to figure out if I am not seeing things. That can't be me, right? I strain my eyes closer to the phone screen blinking rapidly. "Stop acting like you don't know about it, bitch. That is you and nobody else!!" The girl screams and it increases the amount of rage brewing in my head for her. I, however, ignore her with all my attention focused on the video playing out on her wide Android screen. It makes my heart beat loudly; it makes me bite down on my bottom lip in disbelief. How the hell can this be possible? There is no way. Is this what happened last night while I was drunk in that room? Who the hell could record that and spread it out before everyone? I immediately look up to realize that everyone is now gazing at their phones and this forces me to blink with my eyes already glistening. My lips begin to tremble. This is not right at all. Whosoever did this must have posted it in the school's public domain. So every single damn person in this school, whether supernatural or human, actually knows about this. I return my focus to the phone, already becoming nervous as hell. This is the worst embarrassment one can ever think of. Is this the handwork of Damon? He is the only one I know who is capable of committing such atrocities. He is the only one who has always been after my life. Right from the very beginning, my presence was made known in this school. Is he the one who recorded this? I need to get close to him and ask him what is the meaning of this. I am about to return the phone to the girl when somebody else speaks from another direction in the hallway. "To think that you would stoop so low to seduce the alpha of this school. How vile and insignificant can you get? Couldn't you maintain your lane you halfling?!" I scrunch up my face and turn my head to look at whosoever said that. The person is also another supernatural being and a very close friend to Damon. She is also a member of the werewolf clan, and I have seen her flow along with one of Damon's friends, who I assume might be her boyfriend. The look she is giving me right now is filled with so much disgust it makes my heart clench tightly in my chest. That can't be true, right? I think to myself before returning my focus to the phone. I gaze at it and zoom quickly to picture the image of the guy who has his arms wrapped tightly around me, hammering himself into me brutally as if I am the only thing he cares about in the world. This is the most humiliating video I've ever seen in my life. To my greatest shock, it is Damon I am looking at right now, wide and clear on the screen and my eyes go wide. My hands begin to tremble. I feel extreme heat creep up through my body. The girl with whom I'd been using her phone immediately walks up to me and snatches it away from my hand. "Stupid vile creature!!" she says loudly before stomping away from me. I am left standing in the hallway, surrounded by castigating and disgusting looks all around me, and it makes my body tremble without control. This is not Damon. Damon cannot go through this and spread this out to everybody, can he? Is he not that ashamed? I can't even begin to explain how I feel. I am feeling the sudden urge to crawl into a hole. I need to escape from the scenery before me presently. I can't bear to look at the looks on everyone's faces. I suddenly feel someone's hand touch me on my left shoulder and I turn quickly to see that it is Cassidy. "We need to leave right now, Serena, and we are so going to talk about this." She declares sharply as she attempts to pull me away, but then my phone rings immediately in my pocket and it makes me frown slightly. Without waiting for her next sentence, I take out my phone to see that it is my dad calling and my eyes go wide once again. Oh Goddess, please do not tell me he has figured out about this. "What is wrong?" Cassidy asks immediately and I divert my eyes to look at her. I turn the screen of my phone towards her for her to look at it and watch as her expression suddenly turns from that of worry into extreme fright. "You don't think he has figured out about this already, do you?" She asks immediately and I shake my head briskly with nervousness rocking through my body. "I don't know..." I am unable to complete my sentence when somebody suddenly bumps sharply into my shoulder from behind, upsetting me and making me lose control of my footing. "Silly bitch!" Cassidy takes hold of me, helping me to gain control of my stance before I turn around to see that it is one of Damon's friends, Brian, the one that has been the most annoying and the most frustrating of them all. I think I even hate him far more than I hate Damon. This is the reason I've never attempted to encounter him in any way ever since they began their antics. "Hey. Watch how you talk, Brian." Without anyone telling me, I know that's Damon's voice, and just like I predicted, he shows up with that annoying but beautiful cute face of his. But what he just said was unexpected. I am expecting him to feel as frightened and worried as I am the moment he looks at me, but to my greatest surprise, he just smiles and walks up towards me with a sort of expression I have never seen on his face before. An expression that speaks of... Care? Did I imagine that? "Hello Serena," he says softly before walking past me, and this makes me frown slightly. This is the first time he has ever addressed me by my name. I am not giving time to process that thought when the endless ringing of my phone in my hand jolts me back to the present. That was weird. But I need to attend to my dad right now and figure out why he is calling me by this hour of the day when he knows I will be in school. I pick up the call immediately, feeling my heart in my throat. "Hello, Dad." "I need you to get your silly little ass back to the Blackthorn Mansion right now!!" He declares sharply with a hiss and ends the call immediately. Oh well, I guess I'm screwed.