Chapter 5 05

MONICA 

I locked gazes with Julian the moment Zoey and her crew of low budget mean girls made their way to the table. Zoey’s voice cut through the cafeteria like nails on a chalkboard, but my fingers went stiff around my fork. The entire place went dead silent. You could literally hear someone’s straw slurp their soda across the room. Gabriel froze mid-bite and I watched his brows arch beautifully together.

Zoey was standing there, her usual smug smirk plastered across her face, wearing that short cheer skirt that screamed attention. Damian stood beside her like her personal shadow. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and unexpectedly, his eyes were fixed on me. It was like he was trying to read my mind, or maybe just enjoying my humiliation again. Either way, my posture straightened like Julian had taught me to always keep it whenever I was around Damian or Zoey.

“Why’s Havenstone’s newest golden boy hanging out with these pathetic losers?” Zoey drawled, tossing her hair back. Her friends giggled, obviously backing her up. The entire cafeteria had their gazes on us now. Even the lunch ladies paused to witness the drama. She always had a way of turning a normal lunch into a freaking circus.

Gabriel didn’t answer her. Not just that, he practiclly snubbed her. He just kept cutting into his food like she didn’t exist, like her voice was just background noise. That made it worse. You could see the irritation suddenly on her perfect face.

“Gabriel Anderson,” she tried again, her tone sweet now. “ I know we haven't officially met yet. I'm your cousin's girlfriend, Zoey Wilson, heiress of Wilson shipping dynasty," She drawled in a boastful tone, intentionally staring at me mockingly. Julian gave me a look of shock mixed in disappointment the moment he heard that and I just wanted to sink into the chair and dissolve away. 

"Nice to meet you, Zoey," Gabriel replied curtly. "Oh the pleasure is defintely all yours. Anyways, you don’t have to sit here, you know. There’s space with us.”

"Oh I'm just comfortable here with my new friends. Guess I'm part of the loser group now. Cool." Julian looked like his jaw had animatedly dropped in his head. I understood his shock still because I mirrored it. He was turning her down. So fast. The new guy actually stared Zoey Wilson in the eye and turned her down. 

Julian leaned close to me and whispered, “Am I dreaming or did he just turn her down. Holy freaking cow.”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. Damian was still staring and he was staring at me so intently that I could barely breathe now. I tried not to stare back, but curiosity betrayed me. When our eyes met, it was like time skipped a beat. His expression was unreadable but his cold dark eyes still made my knees buckle. Fuck me. 

“Guess you didn’t hear me, huh?” Zoey took a step closer, her heels clicking against the tile. “I said... You don't have to sit with the losers. Come sit with us?”

Gabriel let out a slow tired sigh. His eyes met hers, and that calm mask slipped just a little. “Look, I don't actually know you well Zoey, but last I checked I don't need your permission to eat lunch with whoever I want to,” he said, his voice smooth but carrying an edge that could cut steel.

A few gasps rippled across the cafeteria. Zoey’s smirk disappeared from her face. She almost looked red from embarrassment and we were both dumbfounded. Damian’s gaze moved from Gabriel to me again, then back to Gabriel like he was waiting for this to turn ugly.

Zoey recovered fast though, fake laugh and all as she wrapped her arms around Damian's. “Oh, come on. I’m just trying to save you from catching something contagious. You don’t know her like we do.”

“Bitch you better not,” Julian hissed, but she ignored him.

Zoey’s gaze zeroed in on me, and I knew what was coming.. “This girl here, our little scholarship princess, should really come with a warning label for our newbies. I mean, She already lost her V-card to my boyfriend in less than a month. But what do you expect from the daughter of a janitor?”

The entire cafeteria erupted in laughter and taunting. "Please don't let the new face fool you. Cover up garbage in a leather bag and put a bow on it, it'll still be garbage. Just with a little more coverage." The laughter exploaded. 

"Okay now you listen-" Julian was about speaking up, when Gabriel’s fork hit the table with a loud clang. The sound made everyone shut up. He stood up slowly, towering over her. His presence made her visibly shrink up but she kept her arrogance. His blue eyes seemed slightly irritated now in a way that made even Damian’s expression darken.

“Are you done?” he asked, with a tone so deep and cold that it made me shiver.

Zoey blinked, clearly not expecting that tone. “Excuse me?”

“I said,” he took a step closer, “are you done?” She laughed awkwardly. “What, you’re defending her now? You don’t even know her, she's—”

“I don’t give a shit,” he snapped. “I’ll hang out with whoever the fuck I want to hang out with and I'd appreciate it if you excused us so we could have lunch.”

The silence after that could’ve killed. Every head in that cafeteria turned toward us, mouths open, eyes wide. Zoey’s jaw literally dropped. Even Damian’s brows drew together slightly, like what the hell just happened?

Julian’s eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth forming a perfect O. “You—what—” Zoey stuttered, color flooding her face. She glanced at Damian for backup, but he didn’t even say a word. He just kept staring at me with his jaw tight.

Gabriel didn’t back down. “If you’re done now, I’d like to finish my lunch.”

It was brutal. And the best part? He wasn't rude. At all. He was polite but in a way that was embarrassing.

Zoey let out an angry scoff before storming off to their table with her minions. Damian turned and left the cafeteria and with his absence, I could finally let out a huge sigh. 

But then, the noise started again, whispers and murmurs flooding every corner of the cafeteria. I could feel every stare drilling into my back causing the hair on my skin to rise.

Gabriel sat back down slowly, exhaling. “Well, that was dramatic,” he muttered under his breath, half to himself.

Julian blinked. “You literally just told Zoey Wilson to fuck off. Do you realize you might’ve just started World War Three?”

Gabriel gave a lazy shrug. “She doesn't seem too nice, she had it coming.”

“You’re my new favorite person.” Julian grinned widely and I suddenly wondered if he hadn't heard the part where Gabriel was Damian's cousin. 

Gabriel’s eyes went back to me though and he whispered in a much nicer tone. “Hey. You okay?”

I couldn’t answer him. Not after what Zoey said. Every pair of eyes in that cafeteria felt like a spotlight on my shame. I grabbed my tray, forcing a small smile. “I should go.”

He frowned. “Monica—” Julian called.

“I'll see you after school. ”

I stood up quickly, keeping my head down, ignoring the dozens of stares, the whispers that started chasing me before I even reached the doors. Julian practically jumped up after me. “Monica, wait—”

But I didn’t stop until we hit the hallway. Julian caught up, panting dramatically.

“Okay,” he started, hands on his knees. “That was… a lot.” I rubbed my forehead, leaning against the wall. “Yeah.”

“Zoey’s gonna twist this into a whole circus, you know that, right?”

“I don’t care,” I lied.

He raised an eyebrow. “You care. I can see it.” I crossed my arms, staring at the floor tiles. “I’m just tired, Jules. I thought the aim of all of this was change. I wanted it to be different. Quiet. Normal.”

“Normal? Oh please, we both know normal doesn’t exist at Havenstone,” he said, straightening up. “But... hear me out, I’ve got an idea.”

I looked up, suspiciously and as expected, he had that glint in his eyes that made every inch of me just want to run. “No.”

“You didn’t even let me say it.” he complained

“Still no.”

He let out a loud and dramatic groan. “Okay, but listen. We could flip this whole thing, Gabriel already did I mean... Did you see Damian's expression?!" 

“No,” I said again, firmer this time.

"Okay but do you even get it? The best way to beat them is indifference, you already did good on that so far but what happens when they think you moved on so fast? Dating Gabriel Anderson." 

"Oh hell NO."

"Moni...."

“Jules, I’m serious. I can’t do it anymore. The drama, the gossip. My dad already got dragged into enough crap because of me last time. I just want to focus on school, keep my scholarship, stay invisible. That’s it.”

He sighed, looking at me with that pity I hated. “I just don't think it's fair that they get to pick on you like that.”

“Maybe not,” I muttered. “But they're not as important as my future.”

He stared at me for a while and then smiled sady with a worried expression. Then he stepped closer and rubbed my elbow lightly. “I understand bestie. But if they ever cause you trouble; you can lean on me, you know that, right?”

I swallowed hard, blinking back the tears about to build up. “Thanks, Jules.”

He smiled softly. “Always. Now go do whatever nerdy thing you were planning before all hell broke loose.”

I snorted. “Library.”

“Of course,” he said, rolling his eyes. “My queen of books.” I gave him a small wave before making my way down the empty hall.

The library was one of my favorite spots at Havenstone, other than the stadium. It was always, quiet, blessedly quiet. Except today, It was not.

The library had never felt this loud before, even though no one was actually talking. It was just the sound of eyes; hundreds of invisible stares that I could feel pressing against my skin, making every step I took heavier than usual. The old air conditioner had never seemed as loud as it did today. 

The reason I even loved being in the library was because it felt- well used to feel like my safe space, where no one cared that my shoes weren’t designer or that my clothes came from discount racks. The place where I could hide between dusty shelves and the faint smell of old paper and wooden tables. But today, it was like I’d stepped into some weird alternate reality.

People were actually looking. Like, looking looking.

I walked past a table of juniors and caught the way their conversation died mid-sentence. One of them, a girl with cherry red braids, nudged her friend and whispered something behind her hand. I didn’t catch it, but I didn’t need to. I could tell by the way her eyes ran down my face and then back up again.

Great. Apparently, foundation, eyeliner, and a little lip gloss had turned me into an exhibit at Havenstone’s version of a zoo.

I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, pretending not to notice the way two guys near the back corner looked up from their laptops as I passed.

They didn’t even try to hide it. One of them literally spun in his seat just to keep watching me walk.

It was insane. I’d been invisible here for years. You could’ve placed me in front of their table naked before, and no one would’ve looked twice. Now, all of a sudden, I was the highlight of their day?

Who am I?