Chapter 3: Rivals Can't Let Go

Months in high school, and my rivalry with Tasha is getting intense, I would have gotten my name on the front page of the school paper. It would have cooled down if Tasha let it go. It made me question, why can guys let go easily while girls bear grudges like I just killed their mother? Even so, they bear it on the smallest things and make a big deal out of it. Worse, she is always in my way. Kylie on the other hand, kept pestering me nonstop. She would battle me over the smallest things like, chess, academic scores, performance tasks, etc. The sad thing is she always came third. The first and second places would either belong to me or Audrey's. The thing is, they're ruining my day everytime. I would've snapped at them if Audrey wasn't there to calm me down. The only place I can take my anger out is the archery range. I shot three to five arrows at the same time out of anger. It hit the bullseye with the tip of the arrow dug deep to the other side.

"That was impressive." Audrey smiled. I ignored her and went back to our class. I know I was very late right now. Luckily, Ms. Emerson didn't mind because she was busy with paperwork. Second semester's exam had just ended and most of the teachers were busy recording the results. Kylie was busy chitchatting with a transferee I haven't met yet. I minded my own business and scrolled through my phone for something new.

"That's Valerie." I heard Kylie say. The new kid must be curious. There's a new seat beside me and I am moved away from the window. There are four rows and there's three of us at the back. Me and Audrey, then the shy emo-nerdy girl, Chantall. The new kid's sitting at the back beside me and I bet Tasha and Kylie is spreading false rumors about me. It's funny how the whole school didn't believe them and they were still doing it.

"Hey, can you give me your number Charles?" Kylie asked. She is using her sweet tone like she was some sort of a cutie pie. Tasha, on the other hand, was trying to impress him with her 'unique type' of attitude. The bell rang and we grabbed our books to our perspective periods.

Charles Alexander Hamilton, the new kid, we like have the same English, Mathematics, and Science periods. The three of us, are always at the back. Coincidentally, the teacher grouped us together and that was the first time Audrey and I were in separate groups. I looked at Audrey distastefully and she rolled her eyes on me. It's not that we hate each other, it's just how we act like and we're used to it. Don't get the wrong idea.

The activity was to examine a dead body and use chemicals to dissolve it and to preserve it. We are given two types of bodies inside a tightly sealed box. We put on our gear and our science teacher, Mr. Daws advices us to put on a mask on, just in case.

"Uh, hey." Charles smiled.

"Hey." I smiled back.

"Um, Charles, we're in the same class. Valerie, right?" He held out his hand. I shook it gently.

"Yeah, I remembered." I nodded. We opened the two boxes and I almost gagged. Ew, gross! Not the body, but the odor. It's worse than feces. A frog to dissolve and a squirrel to preserve, at least it's not cockroaches, or a centipede. I hate creepy crawlies. One time we were asked to examinecells of an insect, I literally freaked out when I saw cockroaches. Mr. Daws is definitely a weird person. I stared at the bodies distastefully.

"Smells bad." He looked at me. I nodded in agree. It's just a frog and a squirrel, calm down Val.

"How about you take the frog and I'll handle the squirrel." I suggested. I definitely don't want to touch a slimy and decaying smelly, dead frog. The squirrel's not that bad. I mixed some chemicals I could think of. Tasha was complaining poignantly.

"Ew! It's so slimy!" Tasha gagged.

"Quit your whining! Ugh, girls are so coquettish these days!" Kylie grunted. She is a pick-me type of girl, she always acts like some tomboy, pretending to be one of the boys just to get attention. She always say she only wears hoodies and baggy jeans and hates makeup. "Girls who wear makeups are plastics and are ugly." She once had stated, and it triggered Jean's anger towards her. Kylie only made it worse by sticking up with Clark, Jean's boyfriend, saying Clark was a better friend than her. After a few days, Jean dumped him and Clark and his friends began to backstab Kylie for being a sl*t. Everyone knows whenever one of the boys Kylie hangs out with has a girlfriend, she would cling onto that boy whenever they're dating. She only claims she's the third wheel, and make everyone think she was the girlfriend. It would normally piss off the original girlfriend when it comes to that.

"Finished." I exhaled after I effortly dipped the wax mixture I made to the squirrel. Out of instinct, I dove under the table when I heard a sharp 'Pew!'. After a few seconds, I stuck out my head on the table to see what had happened. Charles was almost covered with green goo all over.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I think I messed up." He grinned and took off his mask, goggles, lab suit, and hair cover. He shook his honey blonde hair.

"That's pretty messed up." I studied the box with a pool of green jelly and frog guts floating.

"Yikes." I shrugged, feeling nauseous.

"I know. But it's a good thing yours didn't get any damage. Mine looks like alien soup." He joked. I laughed and helped him clean the table.

After that, there's now three of us. With Charles added to the group. Moving onto ninth grade, we always hanged around. Charles introduced me to his boys and even taught me how to play Fortnite on Drake's Xbox. Drake's one of the big bullies in school. But since I'm fond of him, he never bothered me much. I'm also surprised how Charles was now dating Diane, our class president. She was nice, from what I thought she was a serious type. She turned out to be fine, she even gave me a lucky charm from one of her collections. Along with a ring, a crystal shard and some keychains. I invited her to my house and showed her my collections of snow globes, autographs from famous artists, lucky charms, and glass flowers. She and I have some similarities, so we got along pretty well. Kylie and Tasha was totally against Charles dating Diane, obviously. Tasha was becoming more and more annoying, even though she paused bothering me, she was definitely trying her best to win Charles. Charles is like one of the popular kids, Audrey and I didn't want to join the popular gang, but Charles is still close to us. Kylie, on the other hand, was now clingy to Charles. She would sit with us and talk to Charles nonstop. She wouldn't even give way for others to talk. I'm literally pissed off so I left the cafeteria without anyone noticing. I headed to the rooftop to breathe some air. I hate over dramatic girls.

"I know you're pissed off too." Audrey's voice spoke through the wind.

"I can't hear you!" I yelled over the strong wind. My brunette hair was swept on one side. I closed my eyes and stretched out my arms on the bench.

After Audrey managed to calm me down, I went back to our class. Diane was arguing with Tasha and Kylie. Not that Tasha and Kylie teamed up, the three were having a battle royale in the classroom.

"Says the one who pulled some strings to bewitch a guy." Tasha rolled her eyes.

"Jeez! You girls are so much drama. Why can't you live up and mature." Kylie said aloud.

"Don't you dare mess with me, both of you. It's not my fault why everybody hates you!" Diane was turning red. I slammed my books on the table to get their attention.

"I just wondered why our class was labeled the worst. Turns out two people here are the main cause." I smiled, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, the gold digger wants to join." Tasha giggled.

"The original is already in the party." I singsonged. Tasha turned purple.

"Yeah! You're the one who pulled some strings to get attention!" She snapped.

"Really?" I put a finger to my lips. "I'm not as desperate as you." This added fuel to the fire.

"I am not!" She yelled.

"Yeah, she stole my dream and opportunity to have a better life." I mimicked her. Tasha glared at me with hatred and attacked me. She went for my neck, so I twisted her arm to a lock. She tried to open her mouth.

"Try to scream and I'll break your precious arm. How do you like that?" I whispered, though I wasn't going to break it really. She was whimpering like a puppy. I released her and looked at Diane and Kylie.

"You know, our teacher told me to teach the nuisance in the class a lesson. I'm warning you, if you two still continue, don't blame me." I said.

"I'm not scared of you. You may look cool, but I am one of the boys, so I'm stronger than any girls." She bragged. I knew she would say something like that so I mindlessly grabbed Audrey's cutter and threw it like a knife. It passed her, only an inch apart her pinna. It landed smoothly at the center of the board. Kylie's lower lip shook as she recovered from the shock. She tried to say something but her body is against it. It felt good to scare the wits out of people I hate.

Diane gave the cutter back to Audrey who gave me a what-was-that-for? look.

"That's cool back there." Diane grinned. I smiled, I spent my life practicing things like archery, knife throwing, Martial arts. I don't want to waste my perfect aim, high stamina, and slender looks in my life. Unless I got a chance to have another life.