THE ALPHA WHO HATED ME - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

EVANGELINE POINT OF VIEW
Lunch comes too soon.
I sit in the bathroom stall for an extra ten minutes, hoping the cafeteria will be crowded enough that I can slip in unnoticed. My stomach growls with hunger, but the thought of facing hundreds of staring students makes me sick.
Since Celeste's return this morning, whispers follow me everywhere. In Chemistry, girls pointed and giggled behind their hands. In English, even the teacher looked at me strangely. Like I'm some kind of fascinating disaster everyone wants to watch unfold.
Finally, I can't wait any longer. My next class starts in twenty minutes, and I need food if I'm going to make it through the rest of the day.
The cafeteria buzzes with its usual energy when I walk in. The air smells like overcooked meat and teenage sweat. Students cluster around tables that have been theirs since freshman year. The social order laid out in perfect, predictable patterns.
Alphas near the windows. Betas in the center. Omegas in the back corner where no one has to look at us.
I grab a tray and get in line. The lunch lady gives me a sympathetic smile as she loads my plate with soup and a sandwich. She's always been kind to me. Never asks questions about why I look so tired or why my hands shake sometimes.
"You take care of yourself, honey," she whispers as I reach for my milk.
Her words almost make me cry. In a world full of people who want to hurt me, this stranger's kindness feels like a lifeline.
I balance my tray carefully and walk toward the back of the cafeteria. The plastic is cold and slippery in my sweating palms. Toward the small table in the corner where I always sit. It's not much, but it's mine. The one place in this school where I can eat in peace.
Except today, it's not empty.
Celeste sits at my table.
She's not eating. Just sitting there with perfect posture, her designer uniform looking like it belongs in a magazine. Her friends surround her like a protective barrier. Madison on her right. Sarah on her left. Emma across from her.
My table. My one safe space.
I stand there holding my tray, not sure what to do. Students at nearby tables notice my confusion. They nudge each other and point. Some pull out their phones.
This is deliberate. This is planned.
Celeste looks up at me with innocent blue eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry. Were you sitting here?"
Her voice carries across the cafeteria. Sweet. Concerned. Completely fake.
"I... yes," I manage to whisper.
"Really?" She tilts her head like she's genuinely confused. "But this table was empty when we got here. Wasn't it, girls?"
Madison nods quickly. "Completely empty. We waited to make sure."
"Such a shame," Sarah adds with mock sympathy. "If only someone had been using it."
The words hit like tiny knives. They know this is where I sit. Everyone knows. I've been eating here alone for months.
"Maybe there's been a mistake," Celeste continues, her voice getting louder. Making sure everyone can hear. "I mean, surely someone would have left their things here? Some kind of sign that the table was taken?"
Students at other tables turn to watch. The cafeteria starts to quiet as more people notice what's happening.
"I don't..." I struggle to find words. "I don't usually leave things."
"Oh." Celeste's expression shifts to one of exaggerated understanding. "So you just assumed it would be available? That no one else might want to sit here?"
The way she says it makes me sound selfish. Entitled. Like I'm the one being unreasonable.
"I've been sitting here since..."
"Since when?" Celeste interrupts. "Do you have some kind of reservation? Did you pay for this table?"
Laughter ripples through the nearby tables. Students are openly staring now. Some recording everything on their phones.
My face burns with shame. "No, but..."
"Then I'm afraid it's first come, first served." Celeste's smile is sharp as broken glass. "And we were here first."
Madison giggles. "Maybe she can find somewhere else to sit. I'm sure there's room... somewhere."
But we all know there isn't. Every table in the cafeteria belongs to someone. Has rules and hierarchies that took years to establish. You don't just sit down with random people.
Especially not when you're me.
"I'm sure you understand," Celeste says, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "We wouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable by squeezing in where we don't belong."
The words are carefully chosen. Designed to remind everyone exactly where I fit in the social order. At the bottom. Always at the bottom.
I stand there clutching my tray, feeling hundreds of eyes watching me. Waiting to see what the pathetic omega will do when faced with real power.
My wolf whimpers inside my chest. She wants to fight. Wants to show teeth and claws and make these girls back down.
But I'm not strong enough. Not brave enough. Not anything enough.
"There are some empty seats by the trash cans," Emma suggests helpfully. "Perfect for someone who..."
"That's enough."
The voice cuts through the cafeteria like a blade. Everyone turns to see who dared interrupt the queen's entertainment.
A senior girl I barely know stands up from a nearby table. Jessica, I think her name is. She's a Beta from a respectable family. Not popular enough to challenge Celeste directly, but respected enough that people listen when she speaks.
"This is getting ridiculous," Jessica says firmly. "Everyone knows that's Evangeline's table. She's been sitting there all semester."
Celeste's perfect mask slips for just a moment. Her eyes flash with real anger, and her hands clench into fists so tight her knuckles turn white. For a split second, I see the rage burning beneath her polished surface.
Then the fake sweetness returns, but now it feels sharper. More dangerous.
"I'm sorry, but I don't see anyone's name on it," she says coolly. "Do you?"
"I see basic human decency," Jessica replies. "Something that seems to be in short supply lately."
The cafeteria holds its breath. No one speaks. No one moves.
Then Celeste laughs.
It's not a nice sound. It's cold and sharp and full of promises.
"How sweet," she says. "Someone wants to play hero."
She stands up slowly, her movements graceful and predatory. Madison and Sarah rise with her like synchronized dancers.
"Tell me, Jessica," Celeste continues, stepping closer to the girl who defended me. "Are you sure you want to get involved in this? Are you sure you want to make this your problem?"
Jessica's face pales, but she doesn't back down. "Someone has to stand up for what's right."
"Right?" Celeste's voice drops to a whisper that somehow carries to every corner of the room. "And who decides what's right? You?"
The temperature in the cafeteria seems to drop ten degrees. Students at nearby tables shiver and pull their jackets tighter.
"Because last I checked," Celeste continues, "I'm the Beta's daughter. Future mate to the next Alpha. And you're... what exactly?"
Jessica's mouth opens and closes like a fish. She knows she's outmatched. Knows she can't win this fight.
"That's what I thought," Celeste says with satisfaction. "So perhaps you should sit down. Before you say something you'll regret."
Jessica looks at me with apology in her eyes. Then she sits down and stares at her food.
Later, as I'm walking away, I hear her whisper to her friend: "I tried. God help me, I tried."
Just like that, my one defender is silenced and drowning in guilt.
Celeste turns back to me with that same false smile. "Now then. Where were we?"
I want to run. Want to disappear. Want to be anywhere but here.
But my legs won't move. My voice won't work. I just stand there like a statue, holding my tray and dying inside.
"Oh yes," Celeste says, settling back into her stolen seat. "We were discussing seating arrangements. And I believe we determined that this table is taken."
She picks up her water bottle and takes a delicate sip. Like she doesn't have a care in the world.
"Unless, of course, you'd like to join us?" she adds with mock generosity. "I'm sure we could make room. If you don't mind sitting on the floor."
The suggestion sends another wave of laughter through the watching crowd. The image is too perfect. Too humiliating. The omega kneeling at the feet of her betters.
My hands start shaking so badly that my tray rattles. Soup sloshes over the edge of the bowl and splashes onto my shoes.
More laughter. More pointing. More phones capturing my humiliation for posterity.
"Careful there," Madison says with fake concern. "You're making a mess."
"Maybe she should clean that up," Sarah adds. "Before someone slips."
"I'm sure there are paper towels in the kitchen," Emma suggests. "If she asks nicely, maybe they'll let her borrow some."
They want me to beg. Want me to get down on my hands and knees and clean up spilled soup while they watch and laugh.
The ultimate humiliation.
My wolf snarls inside my mind. The sound reverberates through my bones, not my ears. For a moment, I feel her strength flowing through me. Feel the urge to show these girls what happens when you corner a wild animal.
But then I remember the binding stone around Ronan's neck. Remember how weak I really am. How powerless.
The strength fades as quickly as it came.
I turn and walk away.
Leave my tray on the nearest empty chair. Leave my dignity scattered on the cafeteria floor with the spilled soup.
Leave everything behind except the crushing weight of my shame.
Behind me, Celeste's voice rings out clear and victorious.
"Poor thing," she says loud enough for everyone to hear. "I hope she finds somewhere to sit. It would be such a shame if she had to eat standing up."
The laughter follows me all the way to the exit. Echoes off the walls and brands itself into my memory.
By the time I reach the hallway, tears are streaming down my face.
My table is gone. My safe space destroyed.
And this is only the beginning.
Celeste has made her first move.
I don't know how to fight back yet. But somewhere deep in my chest, beneath the pain and humiliation, something small and fierce whispers that one day I will.
And when that day comes, she'll wish she had never sat at my table.