A/N: Thank you all so much for the support. I'm glad you're enjoying this. This was one of my favourite scenes/chapters to write. Let me know what you think!
To House of X: I was unable to find your profile to send a direct response, but thank you! It's not over yet. As for Billy, well, I have plans for him that also don't involve Kate but her story doesn't intersect as much as it seems now. Steve will also slowly become more prominent in time lol. (When I say this is a slow burn, I mean a slow burn).

Chapter 21

No one came up to me for the rest of the day to demand an apology. I didn't know whether to be relieved about it or worried they thought I was insincere.

"Hey, Kate."

I looked over at Jonathan who was in his usual seat next to me. "Yeah?"

"I heard what you did in the cafeteria. That was nice of you."

I turned to him. "Thanks," I said. "Did...did you hear anything about you? Or anyone you know? I'll apologize if wanted."

"No, I mean, maybe but it doesn't matter. You're alright."

"Okay. Regardless, I'm sorry."

He looked down at his project and then nodded. "Thanks." He didn't continue. Thank god. I barely knew the guy and while I was sure that Joyce thought he was great, she was biased considering he was her son. Besides, from what I heard, it sounded like he was mixed up in the monster business and that was the last thing I needed.

I was in the middle of changing clothes for gym class when someone stepped up next to me. Looking up, I was fully ready to give somebody an apology but stopped as soon as I saw it was Ally. She looked upset.

"You think you're so tight, don't you?"

I looked at her, totally confused. What the hell did that mean? "What?"

She glanced down as if expecting me to cower before her simply because I was half-dressed. "Do you really think standing up on a table and embarrassing yourself is going to make people like you again? You think it'll make them all forget what they heard or that you're actually a bitch?"

I stood up and dropped the gym shirt I was holding on the bench. "It's funny you should mention that," I said. "The things they heard. I wonder just who told them?"

"Your adoring public needed to know," she spat.

"Because god forbid people like me." I rolled my eyes. "I don't know what your problem is. Yeah, I was a bitch and I said cruel things about people. But you forget, it wasn't just me talking shit. Now, you're lucky. I was truthful about what I said before, I'm trying to be a better person, so don't worry about me returning the favour." I grabbed the shirt from the bench and put it on as she seemed to scramble for a retort.

"You're a primo bitch!" Ally nearly screamed. "I hope you fall into a hole and die, Tammy!

"The name's Kate," I said. I turned and headed to the door. "By the way, Ally," I used a phrase from one of my favourite shows. "I may be a bitch, but at least I'm still pretty." I gave her the finger as I walked out into the gym.

She never came to class. Neither did Carol.

Marisa and Ms. Callahan, who said I could call her Beth outside of the school, were talking together as I got into class.

"What's this I hear about you causing a commotion at the school?"

"How on earth did you hear about that?"

"It's all over the school," Beth said. "Some staff were there when you apologized to everyone, and told the teachers. We gossip just as much as you kids do."

"That does not surprise me," I said. I settled into some stretches. "There were rumours going around about terrible things I said to an old friend about people. I've been trying to not be that person anymore, and that apparently involved standing on a table and apologizing to the entire school. Well, whoever was present."

"I was told it was amazing to see," Beth said.

I felt myself blush. "It wasn't."

"It might have been," Marisa pointed out. "Not many people who stand up to apologize to a group of people. Most would just leave it and not admit their faults."

I frowned. "It's not a matter of admitting anything. If it was about me, I wouldn't have cared, but it wasn't. It was hurting other people. I couldn't let it just go and not deal with it."

The women looked at each other.

"You're a good girl," Beth said. "I have to say you're a better kid than any of the others I've seen at that place and I have been there a long time."

"Thank you," I gave her a smile.

"Thank you," she said. "Cuts into the ass...the difficulties I deal with each day."

I tried not to laugh at her correcting herself. "No problem," I said. "Anytime you want a break, feel free to call me from class." She gave me a look that made me laugh harder.

I was dragging my feet as I walked to my locker. Deana was not accepting any of my excuses to stay home from school, which meant I was back in the small building that felt like one of the sources of my troubles. There was no amount of coffee in the world that felt like enough for this.

"She's a slut," I heard someone say near me. I looked over to see a couple of girls talking to each other. They were staring at someone across the hall. I looked to see who it was. Jonathan's friend was at her locker and I could see her shoulders slightly raised. She could hear them.

"She went from Steve to that loser Jonathan in two seconds. Of course, she's a slut," they laughed. The girl's shoulders looked like they tightened further. I looked around. There were two teachers just down the hall in clear hearing distance. Granted one of them was Hughs, who was the same one who dragged me into the office over wearing gym clothes, but he was talking to another teacher who was a woman. They looked over at the girls but went back to talking.

"Hey!" I snapped. I was getting sick of this shit. "What the hell?" The girls looked shocked as I stormed up to them. "What is your problem?"

"What?" one of them asked.

"A slut? Really?" I watched their expressions shift slightly, going on guard. "What the fuck does it matter that she broke up with someone and moved on? How is that any of your business?"

"Well, she's here," one of them tried to explain.

"Yeah, all of us are. What are you so upset about?" I crossed my arms. "Is it that she's made up her mind and is dating someone else, that she broke up with someone, or is it that you think she has the audacity to break up with a guy you like? God forbid a girl has some freedom to find a guy she likes without being dragged by others. As women, we should be supporting each other, not tearing each other down just because of jealousy! We have enough problems to face in this world just for being female."

They looked stunned.

"Are you preaching again?"

I tried not to curse as I turned. Carol stood behind me, hip-cocked and chewing gum. A crowd was starting to gather around and I wasn't sure if it had started when I confronted the girls or if it was forming because of Carol. I could see Billy in the back and the girl they had been calling names was still standing by her locker. She was smiling now at least.

"Yup," I said. "Are you in need of a lesson?" I heard someone make an "ohhh" sound.

"I think the only one in need of a lesson here is you, you ooglay skank!"

"We're back to that again, I see. Skank, slut...it's all the same." I looked over at the people around us. "They're all just terms to shame girls into hating each other and hating our bodies because god forbid a girl enjoys herself somehow. You don't see boys getting called sluts for doing the exact same thing and going around sleeping with women. They get praised."

"Hey, I don't got a problem with girls sleeping around," Billy called out. "Can't say shit if I'm doing the same thing. We can get our pleasure together, sweet pea!" He winked at me and I ignored him, turning back to Carol who made some sort of frustrated noise.

"So?" I asked her. "You said you had a lesson."

Carol lunged forward suddenly, screeching something I didn't catch. I moved quickly to dodge her and felt her nails scratch down my arm. Shit. What was she? Part raptor? I pushed her back, trying to keep her away without actually hurting her.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I yelled.

"You!" she screamed back. She reached for me again and as I moved, grabbed my hair. "You're my problem!"

"Fuck!" She pulled, and it hurt way more than I expected it to. I twisted, grabbed the hand that was in my hair and dug my fingers into the pressure point between her thumb and forefinger as hard as I could. She slammed her other hand down on my head and I felt her nails claw down my cheek and neck. I pushed her back, trying to gain some leverage but the girl was like a whirlwind. I finally gained some space and she slapped me as hard as she could on the cheek she had already tried to mutilate. Fuck this. I reared my arm back and punched her.

Her scream sounded like pure fury and despite the bruise on her cheek, she lunged for me again. I stepped back into a stance from class. Carol was stopped by a sudden arm around her waist that hauled her off of her feet. Billy had shoved his way through the crowd and grabbed her. I scrambled back as she kicked out at anything she could reach. She dug her nails into Billy's arm and I heard him swear. He moved his other arm around her shoulders and she somehow bent down and bit him. He dropped her fast.

"You bitch!" he snapped. "Who fucking bites someone? What the fuck?"

She ran for me again. I twisted into the punch this time. She fell down and I watched as blood came pouring out of her nose.

"It's not fucking fair!" she snarled, as well as she could. "Everything just slides off of you! Tripping didn't work, stealing your clothes just made you more popular and all those rumours about things you've said just made you more liked! How? Cutting your hair, fighting, I couldn't even steal that stupid thermos and spike it with Draino, let alone cut your brake line! Why won't you just die?"

"Maybe because I'm not a fucking psycho!" I snapped back. Holy shit. What was wrong with this girl? I needed to check my car before I drove anywhere.

My cheek and neck were burning from the scratches. I needed to clean them. God knows what she had under her fingernails.

"Break it up! Break it up!" I looked over to see Hughs and the other teacher finally making their way through the crowd. "All of you! Office! Now!"

I was dragged in by Mr. Hughs who seemed to think I was going to take off. His other hand was full of Billy. The female faculty was bringing Carol. She had one of her arms around her, like the girl was some fragile thing and not a wildebeest in disguise.

"Let go!" I snapped at Hughs. "I'm not going to run, but you're hurting me!" His grip was harder than it needed to be.

Billy looked around the teacher at me before looking at him. "Better listen, I've seen her take down dudes twice your size."

"Shut up!" Hughs snapped. I scowled at him. What the hell type of teacher was he?

I bit back my response. He already had a warning in his file about me. After everything I had seen so far, he'd be lucky if all he got was fired.

The office seemed to be expecting us. The nurse was already waiting for us with a first aid kit and the principal was at the front desk with Beth.

"I want them expelled!" Hughs said as soon as we got in the door. "They were fighting in the hallways! This one," and here he pushed me forwards and let me go. "Broke the girl's nose!" Carol was brought in and the nurse went to her first. "For no good reason!"

Fury welled up in me. "No good reason?" I snapped. "It wouldn't have come to this if you did your actual job! You were barely ten feet down the hall listening as those girls called someone a slut! You could have done something! When Carol came charging at me like a bull, you could have done something instead of hanging around talking!" I whirled on the principal. "So far all year I have seen and been dealing with bullying. Just because it's coming from girls doesn't mean it's any less harmful! I know you all know what's happening in the school! You have a duty to fucking react to it! To stand up for the kids in your care! You think girls will just be girls, well, I'm telling you it's not fucking right! I shouldn't have to resort to violence just to protect myself because you're doing a shit job!"

"Exactly," a voice behind us said. We all turned to see Sam standing there. "Does someone want to tell me exactly what's going on and what happened to my daughter?"