Cinderellas
5
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Cinderellas Chapter Five (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Foxfeather is still a Goddess and Uberbeta…now, with
more Uber, lol. ;)
Tuesday was
weird. Just plain weird.
matter, but there was lots of whispering and that weird silence whenever one of
us came into a room, even at the Institute.
You know that kind, when people are talking all normal until you walk in
then all of a sudden, they all shut up and pretend not to notice you.
snapping her gum and jingling her bracelet.
I just went on. I would like to say seeing her hanging on Bobby didn’t
bother me, but that would be a lie.
Yeah, I know she was the one who initiated things with me and it was me
who was reluctant, and if anything, she was the least likely of the two of us
to ever be interested in a guy again, but still. Who likes to see the person they care about…love…hanging on
someone else, laughing at their jokes, giving them *those * looks, being pretty
for them? I managed to ignore it until
third period, when she and I had English Lit together.
some girl from Jube’s gymnastic team.
“Hey,
Rahne,” the girl—Sandy Mandy Candy Something ending in –andy, burst out as soon
as I sat down. “Who you going to the
prom with?”
“Ain’t
going.”
Jubilee
looked a little upset for just a fraction of a second.
her usual one, and said, “They don’t have proms like we do where Rahne’s
from. She doesn’t know what she’s
missing.”
Mandy!
grinned and said, “Well, I know someone who wants to ask her…”
I had a bad
feeling about this. I had been mocked
before, cruelly, ineffectually, expertly and childishly.
someone too immature to do it well so they did it often and harshly.
“Todd
Tolensky,” she snickered.
I sighed
again. That was the best she could do,
implying that someone not exactly aesthetically pleasing was interested in
me. “I’m disappointed,” I said lightly.
back. Jubilee kept shooting me
significant looks through the lecture on Marlowe, kicking me once under the table
to get my attention.
“Miss Lee,
do you have something to add?”
“Er…no…”
gaze. “Foot cramp.
“Right… in
that case, please explain to the class the similarities between Marlowe’s “The
Jew of Malta” and Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice…”
Jubilee
stood and began a relatively decent job of comparing and contrasting the
two. St John leaned over and whispered,
“Rahne, want to go with me? I know you
said no first and all, but…”
“Shhh,” I
hissed. “Later…”
like. I slipped my arm around St John’s
and squeezed, making him yelp under his breath and her eyes narrow.
Let her wonder.
The rest of
class was uneasy. I knew something was
up and I could tell Jubilee did, too.
Bobby didn’t let on if he suspected, but St John was oddly quiet, even
when the bell rang and everyone erupted into chatter. “Rahne, c’mere a sec,” he muttered, pulling me away from
Jubilee. She and Bobby kept walking out
into the hall but I saw her look over her shoulder at me, wondering.
morning…”
“And?”
“It wasn’t
good.”
“St John,
cut the cryptic bullshit. What is
it?” We only had five minutes between
classes and my next one was upstairs and at the opposite end of the school.
well skip it.
“I know
about the note in Jubilee’s locker. And
I know someone is going to do something not very good…”
He was
shifty eyed, looking around like he was guilty about something.
I found
Jubilee after school in the gym, as was her usual. Practice hadn’t started yet and she was stretching out, her
forehead on her knee as she sat on the matted floor. “Hey,” I said quietly, sitting down next to her, hoping I didn’t
get kicked out before I could tell her.
“Can you talk a sec?”
“Uh,” she
turned her face to look at me. “Not
really…what’s up?”
“St John
heard some guys talking in the locker room after gym this morning.”
up. “Go away.”
“You’re not
supposed to be in here,” she snitted.
“Gymnastics team only.”
“Practice
hasn’t started yet,” Jubilee pointed out.
“Fuck off.”
Mandy
grinned. “Now, now.
Wouldn’t want Coach Gibbs finding out your little secret, would you?”
I was on my
feet and had her by the upper arms before Jubilee could unbend.
wasn’t even funny. I could feel the
change rippling under my skin and I was sure my voice was rumbly, like it gets
before I shift entirely.
“Let me
go!”
Jubilee
laid her hand on my arm. “Rahne,
c’mon. People are staring.”
“What
secret?”
Mandy
blinked at me. “I don’t know!
“Liar!”
“Rahne,
c’mon,” Jubilee repeated, sounding more urgent. “Plea
Mandy
looked honestly scared. I let her
go. “You best not be sayin’ things you
have no idea about,” I snapped, leaning close enough for her to hear my faint
growl. “You’ll find people don’t like
be threatened…”
Jubilee
followed me out into the hall, glowering.
“What the fuck is your problem?
You can’t go threatening her like that!”
“She
threatened us first!”
“Rahne,
please! I have to be with these people
after school for fifteen hours a week!
I can’t have them thinking I’m insane!”
For some
reason, that rubbed me the wrong way.
“Look, Jubilee. St John heard someone talking about you and me in the
locker room. Saying how they had
pictures. Of us.”
on. “He thinks it was one of the
seniors but he couldn’t tell. He was in the shower and they were at their
locker. But Jubes, someone knows about
us and they’re gonna spread it around.
Think on that while you spend your fifteen hours a week with Mandy!”