My Beloved


Chapter 7

The second day at school wasn't particularly joyful either. Or the next day. Or the day after that. Everything passed in a big blur of loud chatters, laughs and shoves. The hours of lectures, the different handwritings on the boards, and the stack of textbooks and endless notes spreading out on her desk. Alex had received private education from Bill in the past, but coming out into the real world, having to live and act like a normal human being had proved to be extremely taxing. Being at school all day, she was automatically forced not to transform, and her body ached at times, adding to the hazy cloud of stress she was already under. She felt like she was drowning in a quicksand, her heavy head spinning, her body trembling out of control. She just wanted to collapse and fade into oblivion.

It had been a month, and Bill was displeased at her inability to make a single friend. His daughter, AKA her master, had mostly ignored her. She couldn't even sit with Piper in biology anymore. Her seat had been taken by a pretty, blonde girl named, 'Jessica Wedge.'

"You can't sit with us, freak," Jessica had said on the second day.

Polly and Nicky had snickered at her, while Piper had done nothing but look away. Alex had watched her master, puzzled and disappointed by this new side of Piper she had never known.

Freak.

In that moment, it was as though Jessica, a complete stranger, knew her the best. She wasn't Piper's loving pet. She wasn't Bill's greatest invention, or God's random gift. She was just a freak. No matter what Bill had told her, it was exactly how she had begun to feel in the past few years.

Making it easier for everyone, Alex didn't try to approach Piper at school again. Trying to keep up with her study and not failing the tests were hard enough. She barely had time to think about making friends.


Piper hadn't seen the new girl in the cafeteria for weeks now. Sometimes Piper tried to follow her after their biology class, curious where she'd go during lunch break, but Alex was always so fast, disappearing into the crowded hallway every time. They had biology together on Tuesday and Thursday, and then drama club on Friday, but even so, they hardly acknowledged each other's presence. Piper had just got a new, black BMW X4 last week, so their ride to school on the school bus had stopped.

During their drama club, Piper would be rehearsing her role as Juliet Capulet, and Alex would be behind the stage, working as a stagehand. They were complete strangers, and Piper shouldn't be bothered by their lack of interaction. Only the problem was that she was. Perhaps she felt guilty for overreacting at Alex's touches? No, she knew that Alex stepped out of bound for touching her, but she just thought that she could have handled it better.

Piper left the cafeteria before her friends. The excuse was her need to talk to her math teacher for an extra credit work. She rushed through the hallways, peeking into the classrooms for any sign of Alex in building A, and was about to start on building C. No such luck. The bell rang before she could continue her search.


For the first time, Piper woke up to her pet still sleeping. The cougar was even snoring, her front legs wrapping around Piper protectively. Dazed, Piper paused for a moment before a smile crept up her face, which was partially bathed in sunlight shining through the gap of the curtains. She relished how odd and wonderful her journey with her pet had been. No one would have believed it even if they saw them with their own eyes. No one would have allowed this to go on. Even her father sometimes had doubts, and had asked Piper if she had ever witnessed Alex's aggressive behavior. There had been none. She could turn her back on the cougar, and Alex had never harmed even a strand of Piper's hair.

Piper reached up and caressed the cougar's cheek, pinching it. Green eyes fluttered open, and Alex yawned, exposing her long, sharp fangs. Piper softly pushed the cougar's face away.

"Morning breath," Piper muttered through her giggle. It sounded crazy, but her pet actually understood her more than anyone could imagine.

Morning.

Piper's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!"

Both Piper and Alex snapped, and they leapt off the bed in unison. Piper was late for school. She rushed into the bathroom and when she came out of the shower, her pet was nowhere to be seen. She assumed that Alex was probably downstairs, having her breakfast. She didn't see her pet when she left either. Alex had stopped walking her to the front doors for years now, and she had to admit that she had missed it.


Piper was already twenty-five minutes late to school when she drove out of the driveway. To her surprise, she saw the new girl rushing along the pavement. Apparently, Alex was late as well. Piper slowed down her car and lowered her window.

"Want a ride?" Piper asked.

Alex slowed down, turning to see Piper. She was slightly out of breath. Her hair was a little messy, a backpack slung over her slim shoulder. "What?" She glanced around, puzzled.

"We're late. Hop in."

It took Alex a moment to get it. She brushed her nose, and bent lower to talk to Piper through the window. "Thanks, but it's ok. I'm just gonna skip the first class. It's already passed fifteen minutes, so it'll be marked 'tardy' anyway." She waved. "Go ahead, Chapman."

Piper paused for a second.


Piper never jumped out the back of the bus. She never missed a class, or failed a test. She followed her father's instructions, taking his words as the Gospel. Piper just happened to agree with Alex that skipping their first period today made a lot of sense.

Piper drove to the nearest Starbucks. She treated Alex a venti, iced Americano, and she herself had a hot caffe latte of the same size. They left the coffee shop and headed out to the nearest park. They settled next to each other on the black-painted bench.

"Thanks," Alex muttered over her coffee. Her glasses sitting on top of her head, her eyes narrowed in the sun. They appeared greener than usual with the reflection of the deep, vast green of the huge park. They were like the emerald pool in the middle of an isolated, tropical island. A fictional paradise.

"Have you ever skipped school before?" Piper asked.

Alex shook her head. "No, I was homeschooled. Litch High is my first public school."

Piper observed how Alex's full lips clamped around the dark green straw. For a moment, she was lost in her thoughts. Those lips looked very kissable.

"What about you?"

Piper was snapped out of her thoughts. "Wha—what about me?"

"Have you ever skipped school before?"

Piper gave a careless shrug. "All the time." She took another sip of her hot drink. "You were homeschooled? Where are you from?" Piper remembered how uncomfortable Alex was when she asked on their first day at school, but she couldn't resist. She was truly curious about the girl.

Alex cleared her throat. "I used to live close to East Valley."

Piper beamed. "My dad has a ranch in East Valley. He would take our pet there to train her, but—I've been there only once or twice. He usually wouldn't let me tag along."

"Your pet?" Alex muttered with the straw between her teeth.

"A horse. We have a horse."

Alex raised her brows as if in amusement, and Piper frowned in paranoia. "What?"

"Nothing," Alex said.

Piper tucked her hair behind her right ear. She was pleasantly surprised that Alex had opened up to her a little more. "I've been meaning to apologize about that day. What Jessica said was horrible. I should have said something."

Alex stared at Piper, her face expressionless.

Piper bit her bottom lip, glancing down. "I'm sorry."

"But she was right."

Piper frowned. "Don't say that about yourself. You're not a freak. You're just… new. Jessica always treats new kids like that."

"If you think it was horrible, why do you hang out with her?"

Piper paused. "She... she has her bad moments, but she's still my friend. I—I just wanted to apologize on her behalf." She didn't even believe herself. She felt her face growing hot. The truth was that Nicky told Jessica that Alex had occupied her seat the day before, and Jessica considered it as the most offensive act against her. Nobody took Jessica Wedge's seat. No one.

Alex stared. It was the same intense, cold, predatory gaze Piper remembered from the first day they met.

Say something. Anything. Piper felt like she wanted to jump from the bench and hide from the stare.

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault. Besides, I didn't lose sleep over it." Alex's lips curled up into a smile, a faint trace of dimple on her right cheek. "You're kind, Chapman."

"Piper. You can call me Piper."

For a moment, Alex stared at the blonde before gazing out into the distance, lost in her thought. "...Piper." Alex lifted her fingertips to touch her own lips as she whispered Piper's name.

Piper involuntarily shuddered. She reminded herself to breathe, her gaze fixing on those lips once again. It was official; Alex's lips should be kissed regularly.

Alex turned to smile at the blonde. "You seem different today. You talk to me."

Piper thought really fast, and came up with a shrug. "Well, we're partners in crime now."

You're so lame, Piper Chapman.

"I must be a bad influence on you," Piper added, her eyes narrowed in a tease.

Alex chuckled. "I do need a break. I studied for hours last night. My head was going to explode this morning. Thanks for the coffee."

Piper couldn't help but smile when Alex made a big sucking sound from the straw.


Alex stopped just before she would reach the open doors to the cafeteria. Students were flocking in and out, and Alex had to sidestep in the hallway before deciding whether to enter.

Piper had dropped her off an hour ago, and they both entered the campus on their own. Alex had hung out at the gym until the bell rang.

With her backpack slung over her shoulder, Alex straightened herself up, counting one to a hundred. She didn't know what to expect from having lunch in the cafeteria, but having a nice chat with Piper this morning did encourage her to take a step further. Her guardian had expected her to constantly try to make friends.

Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-one...

Alex entered.

Most people paid her no mind, and it relieved her. Alex moved to the furthest table and sat down. A pair of sandwiches and five boxes of milk. Her goal for today was to finish her lunch in a room with more than three people. She should succeed without much hassle, except that a certain blonde had walked past her and made a remark.

"Oh, look who's here. The freak."

Alex looked over her shoulder and saw Jessica standing behind her. Other students leered at her, giggling. Alex had been here for a month already. Basically, she wasn't new anymore. The fact that Jessica still kept calling her a freak meant that there was something wrong with her. How did Jessica know? Did the girl possess some special power to recognize her true form? What did Jessica see? Would Jessica tell anyone about it? Did she already?

Piper. Alex stiffened. Bill had specifically ordered Alex to keep her true identity secret at all cost, that she could not let anyone know, especially Piper, in order to keep his daughter safe.

Alex shot up from her stool and faced Jessica. She was towering over the blonde by several inches. The whole cafeteria erupted into whistles and cheers. What Bill hadn't told Alex was what to do when the secret was out.

Jessica smirked. Her brows arched up in mocking curiosity. "D'aw, you look upset. What are you gonna do, huh? Look, this is not a place for freaks like you. You don't belong here. You smell like a filthy animal."

Alex glanced down at her own old coat. It looked muddy around the edges, but she didn't think it smell. But things turned ugly real fast when Jessica wiped Alex's food and milk off the table. Other kids made loud gasps, and then started to laugh.

Jessica turned and began to walk away, but Alex grasped the girl by the neck, literally pulling the blonde down to her knees, hissing in her ear. "That was my lunch."

Everyone gasped, froze in their seats.

"Hey, that's enough!" Kevin approached Alex from behind, pulling at her arm. He was alarmed that he couldn't seem to move her at all.

Other kids began to stand up, confusion in their eyes, as Jessica failed to lose Alex's grip, her face reddened as she struggled to breathe.

"Alex!" Piper ran to Alex's side, and Alex momentarily stalled. "What's going on? Let her go!"

"Let go off her! She can't breathe!" Kevin punched at Alex's face, causing her to stumble backwards. Alex's glasses fell off by the hit.

"Kevin, don't!" Piper caught the taller girl just in time before she would fall.

Kevin grabbed Jessica by the waist and dragged her away from Alex. He looked confused at the sight of his girlfriend holding Alex's arms, standing by the new girl. "Come here, Piper! She's dangerous—"

"Enough!" A teacher stumbled through the crowd, yelling. He took a look at both sides, and said, "Wedge. Walter. Vause. Principal office, now!"


It was half past seven in the evening when Nicky finally drove Kevin and Jessica to Polly's. Piper had been waiting for her boyfriend to get out of detention. They were going to spend a night at there. Polly's father was away overseas for business meetings, and her mother was on a short vacation with friends in Vegas. Polly had the house all to herself (and her friends).

Piper and Nicky were sitting by the couch. The TV was on, but no one was watching. They were looking at Kevin and Jessica, who were about to start their late dinner. Polly had ordered pizzas for them.

"Didn't mean to worry. The stupid detention was only for today. My dad already talked to the principal," Jessica said, sipping her Diet Coke.

"Wait. Walter didn't get any punishment for hitting a girl? That's fuckup, man." Nicky raised a brow, chuckling in disbelief.

Kevin took the first bite, and spoke with a mouthful, "It was self-defense."

Polly laughed over her champagne, sitting down next to Piper. "That's a good one."

"I'm serious!" Kevin countered, spitting out some chewed pepperoni.

Piper itched to say something, but decided to remain silent. She couldn't quite believe what her boyfriend had just said. He looked at her and sighed.

"I swear, baby, I would never hurt a girl, if I had a choice." Kevin sighed again, and then turned to Nicky. "She was sick, man. She was fucking inhumanly strong. She must have lifted weights, or something. Jiu jitsu? Karate? Boxing? Hell, I don't know, man, but she was fucking strong. Like strong."

"You're a pussy," Nicky scoffed, shaking her head.

Kevin turned to Jessica, gesturing at her scarf. "Take that off. Show them."

It got Piper's attention. She had expected Jessica to be telling stories, antagonizing her opponents, and boasting about her parent's connections and powers like she always did. But Jessica had been rather tamed ever since she got here, ashen-faced, her blue eyes lacking their usual glitter and arrogance. For God's sake, Piper had ever seen Jessica this shaken before.

Jessica slowly pulled off her scarf, revealing deep purple, reddish bruises, where she had been strangled. By one hand. By Alex's hand. It looked much worse than anyone had thought, and Piper could hear Polly and Nicky's gasps.

"What the fuck was that? Did she have claws or something? Did you bleed?" Nicky blurted out.

Jessica quickly wrapped the scarf around her neck again. "No bleeding, but the grip was so tight that I couldn't breathe at all... It was… so tight."

Polly shot up from the couch and walked over to the wounded blonde. "Oh, Jess, we had no idea how bad it was. Have you gone to the hospital?"

"No, I—I'm fine," Jessica replied.

Piper was at a loss for words. She hadn't expected the bruises to be this bad. Alex had grabbed Jessica for only a few moments. What stunned Piper even more was Jessica's reaction. The girl seemed absolutely terrified.

Inwardly sighing, Piper didn't quite understand why she continued to linger to the small hope that Alex was nothing like what Kevin had said. The evidence on Jessica's neck was nothing like how gentle Alex had been with her this morning. It was incredibly frustrating to see the two sides of this stranger in just one day. She just didn't know what to believe.


"I don't want to hear any excuses."

The living room was dark, but Alex still felt the need to hide. "Mr. Chapman—"

"I can't believe that you've been so reckless. You could have seriously injured the girl!"

"I—I don't know. She provoked me—"

"So you ended up attacking her? That was how you solved the problem? What did I teach you all along? You can't let your instincts control you. They would have pressed charges or put you in jail now, if not because her father is an old friend of mine! Now, let's hope that he'll keep 'us' a secret from both his daughter and Piper." Bill groaned, pacing around. "Look at what you've done!"

Alex looked down, her entire world weighed down with guilt. "I'm sorry, Mr. Chapman. It won't happen again."

"You've disappointed me. Maybe you're not ready for human interactions after all."

The words cut deep into Alex's conscience. She heard him grab the doorknob to the wooden, closet door.

"You're not allowed back in the mansion until further notice. Don't approach anyone at school. Keep to yourself as much as you can. And keep away from Piper." With that, the closet door was shut behind Bill.

Alex's heart sank at her guardian's punishment, which was way worse than detention after school. Bill would surely use the ranch as an excuse for the cougar's absence again.

Alex rubbed her face tiredly as she sat down on the old, leather couch. Only the desk lamp was turned on as she felt safer in the dark. She glanced through the small gap between the torn, gray curtains. The small road in front of her tiny house led to the Chapman mansion a good distance away, the mansion's vast backyard between them, a long tunnel connecting the two places. She had frequented the secret passage for years. The cold, stony walls and the damp air underground. Bill would always bring a flashlight with him, but Alex could see very well in the dark.

Bill had begun to introduce her to this small, abandoned, two-story house about seven years ago. He would bring her here for private homeschooling, while giving the rest of the Chapman family an excuse that he had taken her to the ranch.

The ranch.

It had become a distant memory to Alex. She remembered visiting the ranch during the first year when she was still very young. Then, one day, Bill stopped taking her there, and they began to use this abandoned house instead. This place was as old and lonely as it could get. It was excruciating to stay here especially when Piper was so near, yet so far away.

Piper.

The bruise on her cheek stung again. The left lens of her glasses cracked when Kevin's fist met her cheek. Alex's eyesight was perfect, but it was Bill's idea to have her wear them to help veiling the strange green of her eyes. But she was no 'Clark Kent'. She was just a beast.

Suppressing her sigh, Alex lied down on the couch, exhausted. It had been a long day. She didn't have the strength left to wonder anymore tonight, but all she thought about was what Piper would think of her now.

If Piper thought of her at all.


A/N: Thank you for your kind words xoxo!