4 Katherine

The minute she heard the beeping sound of her phone, Katherine immediately jumped out of bed and directly made her way to the shower. Then, enjoying the feel of the warm water in the chilly weather, she began humming a tune while showering.

A few seconds later, she laughed at herself when she accidentally rubbed shampoo on her skin and she rinsed it off with a smile.

She didn't know why her body felt so light and why her mood became inexplicably better. In fact, she thought she was going to feel groggy from the anxiety attack she had last night, especially since they've been happening quite frequently. But now it seemed like it became the opposite and it was as though her mind simply forgot all her problems.

She continued to hum to herself while she was dressing up in her favorite cream sweater and denim pants. Then, she looked at herself in the mirror, checking her outfit with a small smile.

She looked like an average girl in her twenties now. Not anywhere near the mess that she was last night.

Now, she was all smiles and giggles. She even looked like she was glowing in cheerfulness. Well, the fact that she's a morning person probably contributed much to her sudden shift in mood.

Looking at her smiling, she couldn't help but remember 'Vicky.'

"I can barely remember the last time I saw her smile. In fact, It's been probably two months since I last saw her at all."

Muttering those words, Katherine's smile faded slightly as she looked away from the mirror. The action made tiny droplets of water from her slightly damp hair to drip on her sweater, making her remember that she needed to dry it off.

After doing so, she combed her hair gently and formed it into a bun. Then, feeling satisfied with her work, she went downstairs to make breakfast.

But then, as she opened the dorm house's shared fridge, she saw that there was only a loaf of sliced bread inside it.

Those little a-holes just dined and dashed, huh. They didn't even bother to restock the fridge.

Since there was no other choice, she just grabbed a slice of bread and began to walk towards her university. It was only a few meters away so after a few minutes, she arrived in her same old dirty university.

Students, as usual, were hanging out by their cars. Some were even making out in public but she knew better than to waste her energy grumbling about their displays. After living there for two years, she has grown to ignore the usual disgusting acts of face sucking. In fact, that wasn't the worse of what she's seen and normally, such acts would be prohibited in a well functioning university.

But no, not here. The students here have far too much freedom and that's because it was the cheapest university in the whole state. The owners were probably in dire need of money that they just let people get away with a lot of things. Well, as long as the proper authorities didn't catch them and bring trouble towards the university.

As Katherine grew near her locker, she raised an eyebrow at the redhead leaning on it. The redhead crossed her arms while also raising an eyebrow back at her, trying to look intimidating.

But Katherine found it kinda hard seeing her as intimidating when she's about half a foot smaller than her.

Katherine's height was six feet flat while the redhead was about five feet and four inches. But as much as she was thankful for the abundant height that she had, being tall for her wasn't really all that good.

She's always the one told to get things in the storage room and in the lab since she can reach them easily. She did it so often that she soon became the errand girl of the group. And another thing was, people usually remember her presence easily because of her unusual height. And so, whenever the class would start and she would miss it, they would notice her absence first before anyone else.

Talk about annoying.

And if she's finding suitable jeans to wear, then she has to search the whole thrift shop in order to find jeans that can cover at least most of her shin. She'd be lucky if she could find one that could reach her ankles. After all, most thrift shops in her area were quite... short-friendly. In most instances, she'd have to go to the men's department to find one with the perfect length, but they're not the perfect cut for her.

Also, some guys, especially in her class, would usually remark that they wouldn't date her since they find it embarrassing to be with a taller girl.

'Micros,' that's what she calls them.

But she didn't really feel too strongly about it because she doesn't have the luxury to be in a relationship anyway, given the life she's been living and all. She already accepted that she'll most probably live her life with Vicky as her only companion. Well, not that she's complaining.

So, looking back, she really doesn't understand why normal people want to be so tall. To look intimidating? So that they can look down on others literally and metaphorically?

She just shook her head at that.

Then, remembering the presence of a certain someone on her locker, Katherine tapped her foot impatiently at Rachel, waiting for the little redhead to start speaking instead of staring at her with her freakishly green eyes.

"Before I start nagging at you, I just want to get an honest answer. Why didn't you go with me to Gab's party? I definitely felt like an outsider there!"

Rachel hissed out and her suppressed anger was truly clear in her eyes. But Katherine didn't let it get to her as she replied.

"Well, as I said over and over again, I don't like going to parties at night. So, don't blame me if I didn't go."

Katherine immediately held her hand up to shut Rachel's mouth when she was about to speak, effectively cutting her off.

"But it's--"

"Don't tell me it's different because we got invited to Gab's party."

Rachel flicked the hand on her mouth away as she glared at the 'ditcher' in front of her.

"But it is! I mean, seriously! Gab's parties are, like, the best in this school! He has a mansion! A freaking mansion! And he even has an infinity pool! How cool is that?"

She exclaimed in admiration while Katherine just rolled her eyes.

"Parties are parties. Not a thing I like to go to. And that fact will never change. So, if you're thinking of inviting me again tonight, sorry. I need sleep unlike you who can still stand up straight after having three straight days of no sleep, you monster."

Katherine said as she entered the combination of her locker.

"So, how's Aaron? Is he still courting you? Does he still place pink love letters on the dorm's mailbox?"

Hearing the name, Rachel just rolled her eyes as she leaned on the other locker beside mine. She was about to rant on how annoying the creepy Aaron was when her eyes suddenly widened as if she just remembered something before narrowing her eyes on me.

"And so the nagging returns."

Katherine muttered under her breath knowing that making a diversion by talking about something else was useless when it comes to Rachel. Her mind was always on a schedule. If she plans to nag, then she will nag no matter how many distractions were thrown her way.

"First of all, you are cruel because I was all alone in that party with no one accompanying me. Second, I wore my favorite dress that I wanted you to see and now I have to throw it at the laundry. Third, Gabe talked to me but you weren't there to back me up so I looked like a total wide-eyed fool stuttering at her own words. Fourth, Aaron is the creepiest motherfucker I've ever met in my life. He stopped with the love letters, thank god. But now, he tries to walk me to school by waiting at the door early morning! I usually go out about an hour early to catch my morning dose of Vitamin 'Gabe' but that creep just ruins it for me. I rejected him millions of times but it doesn't seem to go through that thick skull of his that I am not interested in him!"

Rachel huffed as she crossed her arms on her chest in anger.

"Also, fifth, I called you fifteen times but you didn't pick up! Did you know how worried I was?" She pouted and quivered her lip.

Seeing the genuine concern in her eyes, Katherine felt touched. But on the outside, she simply rolled her eyes at her in response. After listening to Rachel's complete her rant, Katherine proceeded to her first period and from this, her daily routine starts.

As a scholar of the university, she must have great grades and she had to admit that that's one thing she was proud of. She's pretty smart so she got straight A+'s and never ever had a grade lower than that. And guess she owes it all to her genetics for blessing her with not only great eyesight but also a great memory.

After answering a lot of annoying pop quizzes, writing notes, and listening to agonizing voices of professors rant about their topic as if it's the most interesting thing in the world, it was finally time for lunch.

Katherine grabbed the empty tray and got her usual meal; a bottle of water, two pieces of fried chicken wings that looked like they were undercooked, and a cup of mashed potatoes with gravy. She normally just eats one proper meal a day, which was the free meal given in the university's cafeteria, but since she moved around too much last night, she opted to eat breakfast to compensate for the energy she used up.

Just to be clear on this, her not eating much was not really because she has an eating disorder but it's just because she gets full fairly easily. In fact, back when she was with Vicky, they were forced to eat a full three meals a day. But they both end up secretly vomiting in their rooms at the end of each meal because they felt unnecessarily full. So, since she's living alone now, she was finally able to follow her appetite.

After getting her meal, she sat at her usual table where she and Rachel usually sat. When she was about to dig in, she was slightly startled when a hand was slammed at the table. She looked up to see bright grey eyes glaring at something. The man's eyes seemed to hold a sense of contempt but his black hair was fairly long that it obscured his eyes.

Nevertheless, Katherine knew that he was beyond pissed right now.

The man slumped himself beside her and slammed his tray harshly. The sound made her slightly flinch but she continued to eat spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. She wanted to focus on finish eating quickly lest Rachel comes in and nags her about the amount she was eating. Meanwhile, the man beside her began shoving the contents of his lunch, which consisted of a three-layered ham sandwich, on his mouth angrily.

"What is it this time, Darren?" She asked, noticing that his mood was darker than usual.

"That fucking Drake," Darren said, his tone clipped.

Just hearing the name made Katherine understand his anger.

Drake and Darren have always been competing against each other. They call one another as rivals because they always compete in everything, even the littlest things.

Their academic position, the highest number of girls that liked them, their girlfriends, their no.of shirts...

Heck, they even competed on who is going inside the school first.

Rachel found it quite amusing while Katherine, on the other hand, found it annoying.

Seeing that Darren's mood isn't getting any lighter as he ate, Katherine simply sighed. She was remembering the time when they competed on who can get the highest score in chemistry.

Darren, seeking to find a tutor, barged into her room in the middle of the night while she just returned from an assignment she had nearby. And let's just say that he might've seen her covered in blood with a knife at hand which scared poor Darren away. But Katherine didn't feel any panic because it was during Halloween night so, she simply said that it was her costume for a party and Darren seemed to buy it since he praised her on how 'realistic' she looked.

That incident truly showed how annoying and dangerous the rivalry they had to Katherine.

Darren started mumbling out curses as he finished half of his sandwich. And looking back, Katherine decided that she really didn't want to get involved with whatever issue they had this time. So, she just continued eating her mashed potatoes instead.

Then suddenly, as her spoon hung in mid-air, she felt some sort of murderous vibes directed at her table. And when she looked up, she saw Rachel coming their way, similarly as pissed off as her cousin.

"What now?" Katherine grumbled.

Why the hell was everyone angry this morning?

Can't they just let her eat in peace?