seven souls seven sins - Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Natasha's pov:
I'm walking with Xavier to our last class, P.E. After I found the twins on the steps, we had a little chat and then they unsuccessfully tried to force feed me a DISGUSTING starburst from Xavier's pocket. That thing was practically there since 900BC. We then scurried off to our classes.
Not gonna lie, they're actually kinda funny, but I'll never tell them that.
Then lunch came around. I met up with Flynn and I told him EVERYTHING. He didn't witness the fight because apparently he was at the vending machines which was on the other side of the school. He told me that he was kind of bummed that he missed the fight, but he was mainly concerned about me.
He's such a softy when it comes to me.
He assured me about everything and we talked it through. It was weird how I couldn't find Nico or the twins in the cafeteria. Strange. My thoughts transport me back to the present. Xavier and I walking towards the changing rooms. "Hey uh Xavier.." I begin slowly.
"What's up Nat." He encourages me to continue.
I stare at the two changing rooms in front of me. I bite my lip in hesitation. Xavier tilts his body to face me. "What is it Tash?" He looks at me with concern laced within his eyes. I don't want to disturb Xavier any further so I just sigh and mutter "Never mind." I begin to walk towards the female icon above the door, but I feel a veiny hand wrap around my forearm which stops me from moving.
"No Tash, tell me." He urges me with worry laced within his voice.
I pull away and continue to walk through the door. I hear my name being called behind my back but I choose to ignore it. I walk towards a gym locker and begin to unpack my clothes from my gym bag. As soon as I entered, the whole room went quiet. I feel stares behind me. I turn around to face majority of the girls in there looking at me.
Their eyes are laced with agitation.
As soon as I glance at them they continue to do whatever they were doing and act as if they weren't staring at me mere moments ago. Weird. I change into my clothes that I packed earlier which was a pink shirt and white Lululemon shorts. I plop on my shoes and change my socks.
The atmosphere in this room feels off.
I hear faint whispers in the background. I turn around to face most of the girls and I watch their hands over their mouths, whispering into eachother's ears. If they wanted to gossip about me, they might as well say it to my face. They're such cowards for shit taking about me behind my back.
I'm standing right here, ya know?
I sigh in frustration and continue to pack away my uniform into the bag. I should've told Xavier about my hesitation. I had suspicions that this would happen which was purely why I wanted to talk to him earlier, but I didn't want to be a nuisance so I dismissed it.
Maybe I should've mentioned it to him.
I hear something drop to the hard floor and I look over towards the noise. A pandora bracelet had just fallen and the charms had scattered across the floor. I immediately bend down to pick them up and gather them into the middle of my palm. When I get back up to hand it to the girl I see her trembling.
Huh. What's wrong?
"Here you go." I hand the charms and unclasped bracelet to her. Her eyes start to form tears and she looks at me in shock. She looks at me in fear. "N-No it's okay, you ca-can keep it." She silently squirms. I shake my head and start "No these are yo-" "Please don't hurt me!" She interrupts me in fright.
She was scared of me.
She refuses to make eye contact with me. Her hands block her body in terror and I watch her shake in panic. Woah, I didn't know that I had this effect on people. I didn't like it one bit. In the mafia, this so-called effect would be useful to posses but in everyday life, it isn't ideal.
"I'm not going to hurt you." I try to assure her.
I slowly place the charms and bracelet on a nearby bench and back away cautiously. Everyone's eyes are on me, laced with alarm too. Was I really that scary? I know that the last time that I stepped into this changing room wasn't the best version of myself, but I wasn't a monster.
Was I?
Did people really think of me like that? The girls in this school surely did. I can't make a female friend in the school to save my life. I just can't. They all fear me or hate me, sometimes it's both. I hate it. I hate that one feeling where you know that everyone in the room fears you.
It's one of the worst emotions to feel.
It makes me feel like I'm a monster. Probably Medusa. The girls here can't even look me in the eye. They practically turn to stone when I flick a glance at them. Something is wrong with me, and I don't know how to fix it. I need to talk to someone about this. I need to open up to someone.
I need to find Flynn.
I exit the changing room and head towards the P.E hall. I spot Flynn with some footballers and I walk up to him, or at least I try to. Before I can reach him, I feel a familiar palm touch my back. I turn around to find Xavier with a worried look plastered across his face.
His eyebrows are furrowed deeply.
"Oh hi Xavier, I was just going to talk to Flynn." I excuse myself and try to release myself from his grasp. "He can wait." Xavier concludes through clenched teeth. What on earth was going on with him? Xavier sees my puzzled face and speaks up "What did you want to tell me earlier?"
I look down to the ground and begin to fiddle with my fingers.
Should I open up to Xavier about my concerns? He might think I'm overreacting or something. I might be. "It doesn't matter." I close the subject. I'm unable to make eye contact with him. I'm scared that if I do, then I won't be able to look away. He tilts my chin up to meet his gaze.
His piercing blue eyes strike my vision.
"It does matter. Please tell me Tash, I want to help." He pleads with me. I take his hand and I drag him over towards a corner with loads of mats surrounding us. Privacy. Over the corner of my shoulder, I spot Xander glancing at us. "Before I start, I know that I sound like the biggest pick me ever but please hear me out." I begin.
He arches a brow in confusion.
He urges me to go on. "I just feel that every single time that I step foot into the girls changing room, they all are scared of me. They all stare at me and just mere moments ago I tried to pick something up for a girl and she was mortified of me. They all were. They all think I'm some sort of monster."
"Am I a monster?" I rhetorically ask him.
His hands immediately wrap around me and he pulls me into a tight hug. "You're not a monster." He assures me. "They don't know the real you." His warm hands rub up and down my back, soothing me in the process. "They're probably just alarmed after the whole fight thing on Tuesday." He explains to me.
"It feels more than that though. It's as if they're jealous of me or something." I elaborate my feelings to him.
"I don't judge them, you're beautiful Tash, I mean it. I would be jealous too if I was a girl." He kindly compliments me. "Thank you." I gratefully flash him a smile. "And since you're my sister, it means that I'm handsome too." He playfully smirks. "Whatever boosts your ego." I whack him on the arm playfully.
He managed to make me smile too.
"I also wanted to ask you a small favour.." I begin shyly. "Anything for you m'lady." He bows down immaturely. "Can I get dressed in the boys changing room?" I ask loud enough for only him to hear. He pauses and then slowly stands up. His tall shadow casts upon my face.
His mouth lays agape.
"No." He immediately turns down my request. "Please Xav. The girls just stare at me and it creeps me out." I try to persuade him. "And you think that the boys won't do that either?" He backs up his point. "Just stand in front of me or something. Or get Xander and Flynn to block me whilst I change so the others won't see."
He has his thinking face on.
"Still nope." He declares. "Please Xav." I try to plead with him. "They're going to stare at your body Tash!" He elucidated. "They won't if you lot properly cover me." I try to reason with him. He lets out a frustrated sigh. The sigh. That's the type of sigh that someone does before you get something.
I know you know it.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I squeal and throw my hands around him. His chuckles fill the room. Not long after, Xavier and I gather Xander and Flynn and tell them the plan. They too disagree at the start but after a little pleading from me, they agreed. They were hesitant just like Xavier, but with a little persuasion, they agreed.
My charms are undeniably good.
Class soon begins and the teacher separates us into four groups. I'm lucky enough to be paired with Flynn and we're playing a basketball tournament. The teacher hands our group blue bibs, which STINK by the way, I gag at the stench whilst Flynn smiles at my reaction.
I roll my eyes as he finds satisfaction in my reaction.
The teacher blows a whistle and the match against the green bibs commences. Xander is on that team and he's REAL good at sport. What really got me thinking mid-match was, where was Nico? I didn't see him after the fight and he isn't here by the looks of it. I shrug his absence off and continue with the match.
Gotta get my head in the game.
Time Passes:
I hear the faint noise of the bell ringing from the intercom which signals that school is over. Finally, that was a LONG day. My gaze reaches Xavier and he looks back at me. I nod to him as he stands with Xander and Flynn near the entrance to the boys changing room.
I take this as my signal to go.
I rush into the girls room and hurriedly grab all my belongings and make my way back towards them. I received multiple stares and whispers from the girls but I ignored them. I'm used to that by now. I spot the twins and Flynn and wave to them. "Let's just get this over with." I overhear Xander mutter.
What's his deal?
"We'll look away while you change. Do it quickly and as efficient as you can." Flynn briefs. I nod to show my understanding and he pushes open the boys door. The lads turn to look at the twins first, then Flynn, and then their eyes wander to me, not being able to look away.
"If any of you dipshits look at her, my fist will be the last thing you look at." Xander announces with fury in his gaze.
All of their eyes immediately look down and they continue doing whatever they were previously doing. The twins and Flynn ushered in me to a corner and I begin to change back into my uniform. They block my body from the other guys in the changing room.
Their backs are also facing me which is quite respectful of them.
I change as quick as possible and pack up the rest of my gym clothes back into my bag. I gently tap each of their shoulders to signal that I'm done. Xander is the first one to turn around and he mentions that I should wait outside for them to change first. I leave the boys changing rooms and patiently wait for the three lads to finish.
Sometimes I ponder what the actual hell they're doing in there bc they take FOREVER.
I hurriedly go to my locker and grab my school bag and plop it on my left shoulder whilst I carry my gym bag in my hand. After around 10 minutes Flynn comes out with the twins bickering behind him. He comes up to me and kisses my forehead. "I'll see you Sunday mk?" He clarifies in his enchanting voice. "You betcha." I gracefully wink at him. He smirks at me and strolls off into the distance.
My gaze then switches to the twins.
"You got your stuff?" Xavier asks me. "Got it." I show them. "Alright, let's go find Chase." Xander finalises as we walk towards the car park in silence. After the day I had, all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and eat chips, but of course, Chase has something planned.
I don't even know what it is.
I spot Chase's familiar vehicle pull up closer to us. "Get in irmã bonita." Chase softly pats down his hand on the passenger seat. I flick a glance towards Xander and he mouths "It's okay." He also adds a little smile at the end. His smile is nice, he should show it more. I knew that he wanted to sit in the front seat but he let me sit there instead.
I sit down in the front whilst the twins sit in the back.
Being a younger sibling, sitting in the front feels powerful. Chase soon speeds off into the distance as he takes off. "So where are we headed?" I ask him curiously. "Just you wait and see." He teasingly answers. I playfully whack his arm. "Cmon gimme a hint. Is it a good surprise or a bad one?" I try to figure out where he's taking us.
"That's up to you to decide." He winks and continues to drive away onto the horizon.