Hurricane Love

Seventeen

My heart was still racing, my palms still sweating and I had bitten away so aggressively at my fingernails, I would not have been surprised if there was nothing left of them. I was mortified.

It was my second class of the day, right after Cassie revealed the video to me and it had became clear that the whole school had seen it too. I was battling between laughing it off like I didn't care, something I would usually do, or going crazy and finding the person responsible so I could punch them right in the face.

Abbie hadn't said much, but her expression had been sympathetic and sad for me; I hated it. It was my own stupid fault for getting drunk and letting a random guy take me upstairs. It was my own fault for letting Ryker get under my skin to the point where I lost all care and sense and it was my own fault for being idiotic enough to remove my top in front of a bunch of boys I had only just met for the first time. I had been even more embarrassed that Ryker had seen me that way but now my whole school had, I did not know what I was going to do about it.

Class had just begun and I kept my head low as Miss. Thomas began, ignoring the frequent glances I was receiving. Cassie was sat in the very front row, looking back at me with a smirk on her face and I was using every bit of strength in me not to pick up a chair and launch it at her.

As usual, Ryker walked in late and took his seat without looking at me. Miss. Thomas simply sighed and shook her head without saying anything; she knew it was pointless with Ryker. This was the second class he and I shared together and if he was ever actually present, we tended to just ignore each other.

I tried to study his face, wondering if he'd seen the video too. He didn't seem like he knew. He had threatened those guys at the party and something told me that he wouldn't be so calm if he knew. It would only be a matter of time before he saw the video and god knows how he'd react.

Keeping my head down, I doodled on my notebook as I tried to get through this lesson, feeling people making glances at me more and more as class went on.

After a little while, I started to hear whispers a few rows back followed by sniggers. It could have been anything, but I knew it was about me.

It had also reached the fifth time that Cassie had turned around and smirked at me, making my blood boil inside but I tried to remain calm. The last thing I needed was to lose my shit, get sent to the Head's office and have Christine called in. She would certainly find out about the video if she was brought into my school about my behaviour.

The quiet chuckles continued and I rolled my eyes as I ignored them. Suddenly, there was a loud raspberry blown at the front of the class as Cassie burst out in laughter, making everybody look up at her as she clasped her hand over her mouth and shook her head, giggling away in her irritating high-pitched tone.

'Something funny, Cassandra?' Miss. Thomas asked.

'I'm so sorry, Miss,' she said, still laughing softly. 'I'm sorry, I just thought of something funny, that's all. It won't happen again.'

'Care to share?' Miss. Thomas asked.

'Oh, it's nothing,' Cassie replied. 'I just remembered a funny video I saw earlier today. It was hilarious and it went like totally viral so I'm sure you'll probably see it appear on your news feed at some point, Miss.'

'Is that so?' Miss. Thomas said, quietly, as she studied the room, which had now filled with the quiet, gentle sounds of people sniggering and trying to hold it back. 'I'm guessing everybody has seen this video then.'

At her words, the whole class burst into laughter and I dropped my head to the desk, covering my face as I debated about whether or not to run out of the room.