Cat's POV:
I was stood at my locker getting my books out for first lesson when I first heard it. There were two freshman girls behind me talking and giggling about it. I closed my eyes and slammed my locker door shut, not wanting to think about that. Every lesson I had that morning, I could hear people in the class talking about it. I blocked out what they were all saying and ignored all of the looks that were thrown my way, keeping my head down and focusing on my work. I shrugged off all the whispers and stares in the corridor as I headed towards my locker – I was used to it all by now.
"I presume you've heard the news" I heard André say as I was getting the books for my next class.
"I don't know what you're talking about" I mumbled, avoiding the conversation and not looking at him.
"Cat" he sighed, closing my locker door softly. "Robbie-"
"Robbie is nothing to do with me!" I snapped, glaring at him. "He dumped me and now I couldn't give a damn what he does with his life! I need to get to class."
I stormed down the hall, ignoring the looks from everyone else and getting to class 5 minutes early.
"Hey" Danny said, standing in front of my desk in history. I raised an eyebrow at him to continue, still annoyed from my conversation with André.
"Did you hear about Robbie?"
"I really don't want to talk about it" I said, cutting him off. "Just…I just want to focus on school work. People have been telling me for weeks to ignore Robbie and stop thinking about him and now all they want to do is talk about him. I'm beyond caring about what he does now. And to be honest, that's a good thing in my opinion."
He hesitated for a second, then a small smile graced his lips. "I couldn't agree more".
I smiled and heaved a sigh in relief. "Wanna sit here?" I asked, pointing to the seat next to me. He nodded and sat down, nudging me and making me smile. Some girls came into the class and whispered loudly, obviously staring at me. I rolled my eyes and Danny tried to distract me by talking to me about something which was on TV the night before. I played along, nodding and laughing at his jokes but I couldn't completely ignore the wobbly feeling in my stomach.
The bell rang and me and Danny left the classroom…and walked straight into the smirking face of Jade West. Panic washed over me and a looked around to find a way out but she was quicker than me and grabbed my wrist, dragging me over to some lockers. I stared at Danny for help but he shrugged his shoulders and walked off. Jade and I stopped moving and I huffed, pulling my arm out of her grasp.
"No doubt you've heard Sherwood's latest news?" she said, no emotion in her tone.
"I don't care, I don't wanna talk about it" I said.
"That is bull crap, Cat" she said. I tried to interrupt her but she stopped me with one harsh glare. I bit my tongue and looked at the ground. "Robbie's your ex and there's no way in hell that you don't care that he broke up with Vega."
"Is it true?" I said quietly, looking her in the eye.
She nodded sincerely, giving me a small shrug. "He came into school this morning and just dumped her in the middle of the corridor. He hasn't actually given me a reason though, but I presume it has something to do with you."
"Jade, just don't" I said, giving her a desperate look. "I have spent so long getting over Robbie and I am absolutely not going to suddenly be all interested in him just because he's single again. I just want to get through this week without everyone staring at me and then it will all die down and it'll be fine again." I heard the warning bell and walked away from her with a sad smile.
It had been two days since the drama began and I hadn't been approached by anyone else trying to engage with me in a conversation about Robbie Shapiro. I had overheard from people in the halls that Tori was back to school today, but I hadn't seen her yet. However, luck was not on my side because as I got my books out for third period, I heard a timid voice from behind me.
"Cat?" she said quietly. I tensed up, not turning around. "Cat please, can I just talk to you?" I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and counted to five. Breathing out, I closed my locker door and turned to look at her, raising my eyebrow.
"Cat, I'm so sorry" she said, looking at me sadly.
"What for? Completely disowning me and André or hooking up with my boyfriend?" I replied. She winced at the harshness of the questions and even I was a bit shocked about just how angry I was.
"Cat that's not fair."
"How is it not fair? You haven't even spoken to me and André for weeks!"
She got angry at that statement and turned on me. The Jade inside me was actually happy that I had sparked a reaction.
"You're such a hypocrite!" she said. "When you dated Robbie you turned into a right bitch, you treated us like utter crap!"
"I was new here, Tori and I just wanted to fit in with someone. Besides, I changed and I worked really hard to make sure that I was friends with all of you. I even invited you to the dance with us!"
"You don't think that I don't want to fit in too, Cat?!" she took a deep breath and softened her tone. "I was stupid and just focusing on being popular and not being treated like a doormat for once. I made a bad decision and I'm sorry."
"What about dating Robbie? Was that just a bad decision too?" I asked.
"Cat, he's Robbie Shapiro. Every single girl in this school fancies him, and he caught me by surprise and made me feel like the best girl in the world. He did to me exactly what he did to you and we both fell for it!"
"Tori, I'm not looking at this as just another jealous girl in this school. I'm looking at this as your friend, who told you all about how Robbie made me feel and how much I loved him. And you go from watching me cry over him to making out with him in front of the whole school. I expected him to move on, I really did. But I didn't expect my best friend at this school to make me feel like my heart was breaking all over again" I answered, my voice cracking on the last word. I took a deep breath and rubbed my face with my hands. "This is stupid, I said I wasn't crying anymore" I mumbled to myself.
"Cat, I- I really am so sorry. I treated you really badly and I wish I could go back and change it. But I can't. I just wanted you to know how sorry I was and how much I need my real friends right now."
"Are you serious? You want us to be 'real' friends again?!"
She shrugged and shook her head, bottom lip trembling.
"Did you just expect me to forgive and forget?" I continued, my voice shaking again. "Tori, you betrayed me when I was at my lowest and you just dragged me down further. It hurt to have to look at you and Robbie together every day, and when I was finally getting over it then you come here and ask me to be friends with you as if nothing happened. I don't even know if I can trust you Tori. I am truly sorry that Robbie dumped you because now you know how I was feeling that whole time, and it sucks. But if you go out with a guy who just a couple weeks before, dumped your best friend after taking her virginity, then you're setting yourself up for heartbreak. So I hope that you feel better soon, but don't expect me to be bringing tissues and ice cream to your house anytime soon. Maybe next time, you'll think before you toss your friends under the bus."
I quickly walked away from Tori, a sob escaping from my mouth. I covered it with my hand and rushed to the bathroom, not wanting anybody to see me cry.
It had been a pretty rough morning but I just wanted to get some cheese fries and eat them with the one sane person in my life. I smiled half-heartedly at the lunch lady as I handed her my $3 and went to sit down next to André. However, I was stopped in my tracks because somebody was sitting in my seat.
"You have got to be kidding me" I exclaimed, catching them both by surprise and noticing the guilty looks that appeared on their faces.
"Cat, let me explain-" André began to say but I cut him off.
"Have you forgotten what she did to us André?! What she did to you!" I yelled, pointing at Tori and ignoring the fact that I was making a scene.
"No, of course not Cat, but she's sorry and she really needs her friends right now."
"Maybe she should have thought about that before she betrayed us!"
"She made a mistake, people do it! Would you be this mad if she had ditched us for a guy who you weren't still in love with!" he said, eyes widening immediately as he realised what he said and he tried to go back on it. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to ignore the stares from every single person in the room.
"I can't do this André, I can't be around her right now. Either you have lunch with her or you come outside and have lunch with me."
"Cat, please don't make me choose" he said, pleading with his eyes.
"Tough, you have to make a decision." He made no sound, just staring at me hopelessly whilst Tori looked down at her lunch uncomfortably. "Okay, I get it," I continued. "Last one in, first one out. I hope you enjoy your lunch together."
I threw my cheese fries down on the table and stormed out, rubbing my eyes to try and get rid of the burning sensation.
"Mr Ryland, do you need me to help you set up for your next class?" I asked my chemistry teacher as I entered his class quietly. "I'm having a rubbish day and I just wanted to be away from everyone for a little bit."
"Is there anything you want to talk about, Cat?" He asked, concerned. I shook my head and he looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn't. "I have to do an experiment with my next class, do you think you could get out all the chemicals for that whilst I go and ring my wife?"
I nodded, smiling at him.
"I'm trusting you to do this" he said, looking me in the eye and handing me the key to the supply cupboard. "Don't let me down."
Then he was gone and I was alone in the room. I took a deep breath and started to set up for the next class when I heard Mr Ryland come back into the room.
"I didn't think you'd be that quick" I said, not looking up from the equipment I was putting out on the bench in front of me.
"You know me" a familiar voice said, and my head shot up. "It doesn't take me long to move on".
I turned around and saw Robbie stood by the door, smirking.
"What do you want?" I said, sighing.
"Ooh, Miss Valentine" he winced. "That's no way to greet a golden at this school. Haven't you heard about the hierarchy?" he started to approach me, a glint in his eyes.
I scoffed. "Please, Robbie. The hierarchy is falling apart. You dumped me and I came back stronger and people realised that you aren't actually all that. They aren't scared of you anymore."
"Shut up, Cat" he snapped.
"You're only annoyed because you know it's true!"
"Don't push me!" he yelled, walking towards me and pushing me back into one of the work benches. My breath caught in my throat and a squeak escaped from my mouth. I looked up at him and there was a scared look in his eyes.
"Why did you break up with Tori?" I whispered.
Something flashed in his face for just a second before his eyes turned dark and a harsh smirk came across his mouth. "Got bored. Exactly the same as I did with you" he spat, then pushed away from me and stormed out the room. I took a deep breath and with shaking hands, carried on setting up the class for Mr Ryland.
It was Friday and I was so ready for this week to be over. I hadn't spoken to Tori and André since our argument and hadn't even seen Robbie since the incident in the science room. I had spent most of the week alone since fighting with André and it made me realise that if I'd spent more time making actual friends instead of falling for the first guy who made my heart flutter and then devoting everything to him, then maybe I wouldn't be walking everywhere alone whilst every member of the school body stared and whispered about me. I took small relief in the fact that Jade had obviously warned people to stop talking about Tori and Robbie so much, Rex would give me little smiles when I passed him in the halls and Beck snuck me into a tiny room behind the theatre to have lunch with me when he noticed me eating alone outside. I guess they were my friends, but couldn't really show it because of Robbie. I took a deep breath and counted to 10, closing my locker door. I headed towards the canteen and got my plate of spaghetti and meatballs for lunch, ready to eat it alone, when it happened.
Tori was across the room from me carrying an identical plate when a student out of nowhere flipped her tray up and the spaghetti flew into her face and fell all around her body. I barely had 3 seconds to register what had happened before another student came along and my plate was in my face too. As the sauce burned my eyes and I felt a string of spaghetti slither out of my hair and onto my shoulder, the entire student body began to roar with laughter. I rubbed my eyes and tried to open them, blinking past the pain. I opened them fully and saw Robbie stood up on a table.
"That was just a show of what happens if you try to question my power. I am the most popular guy in school and it's going to stay that way. If you try to stop me, then you're just going to end up like Vega and Valentine, at the bottom of the pile. Trash".
My eyes stung with tears and I tried not to cry as the laughing in the cafeteria got louder. I ran to the nearest bathroom, pushing past students stood by the doors and leant over the sinks, splashing my face with water to try and get rid of the sauce. As I was washing my face, somebody came in and it didn't take very much for me to guess who it was. She wandered over to the sinks hesitantly and leaned over, as we both washed ourselves off as best we could, in complete silence. I stood up and got some loo roll to dry myself off, finally turning and looking at Tori.
"Cat, I know I've said this but I really am sorry. I guess this is karma" she shrugged, wiping some more sauce out of her ear.
"It's okay, I forgive you" I muttered.
"Y-you do?!" she exclaimed, brown eyes wide.
"Yup" I nodded. "You and André are my mates and everybody makes mistakes. And although I can't forget what you did, I can forgive you. Besides, we losers have got to stick together."
She beamed at me and her eyes travelled upwards, before a smirk crossed her face and she began to shriek with laughter. She reached up and pulled a piece of spaghetti that was tangled in my hair and around my ear, and that I completely missed. I started laughing too and we became more hysterical. When we had finally calmed down and had helped each other to properly clean off, she gave me a big smile and opened her arms. I smiled too and walked into her hug, breathing a sigh of relief that we had moved past this and that I had my friend back.
AN: It has been SO long and I am SO sorry but I'm nearly finished with college now and then I'll have more time on my hands. And I hope to get this story finished this summer, and then it's out of the way!
I know you are all going to be mad about Tori but I don't think Cat could hold a grudge for that long. Besides, it's not like Tori hasn't paid for it.
Coming up in this story: A party, a fight, a kiss and somebody has a break-up! I promise the next update will be soon! Thanks everybody who stuck with me and this story, and all my reviewers!
chuckyshmucky -xo