Before I could even react, whoever had grabbed me was off me. I turned to see Terrance holding Rose’s arms behind her. She looked like she had been crying, her face was red. Behind her pain was fury.
“It’s all your fault, you stupid little bitch!” she screamed at me. “It wasn’t enough that you took Drake from the girl pregnant with his baby. You also got my best friend killed. You did nothing to save him!”
I blinked at her for a moment, surprised at her attack. I winced as I saw the amount of people that believed the lies spewing from her mouth. I could physically feel their disdain and loathing. I bent over in pain.
I hadn’t realized Gavin moved closer to me until his hand was on my lower back. He imitated my empath gift. I could feel the quiet envelope me, and I felt restored. I glanced at him and gave him a crooked little smile.
Drake stepped forward, and I could barely hear the words he hissed at her. “We know the truth. We know the baby may not be mine. I’m sorry for your loss. I know how you feel, but it’s not fair to take it out on Blake, she did everything possible to save Collin. She tried to save him, when…when someone else abandoned him.”
She broke free from Terrance’s loose grasp—to be fair she weighed a whole 100 pounds to his 220, and slapped Drake across his face. “She did all this!” she screeched. “I won’t believe her lies. All of you are so blinded by her and why?!”
“She is my connected,” Drake said with coldness. “I will not tolerate another attack on her. Ever.”
“So, you’re picking her over your own child?!” she screamed maniacally.
“You don’t even know if it’s his,” Noah said in the silence of the hallway.
She flushed white, “Is that what he told you, because he’s lying! He just doesn’t want to take responsibility. He wants to believe he has a connection out there, and he’ll believe anyone that tells him that they’re his. He’s 21 years old. If he hasn’t found his connection before, he never would.”
I calmly turned around and lifted my hair, clearly revealing my mark. Anyone that had ever seen him with his shirt off would recognize it. “Believe him now,” I stated. “Anyone,” I looked around at the crowd, “that knows Drake, knows he would never turn his back on his responsibilities. If it was his.” I took a few menacing steps towards her. “And if I ever hear or see you raise a hand to him again, you will regret it,” I hissed, before I turned my back on her and went to my first class.
The rest of the day went no better. Everywhere I went, people pointed and talked about me. I never felt so alone, even though I was always surrounded by Gavin, Drake, Noah, Terrance, and John. I was ready to go home, but we had training this afternoon at the Knights training facility.
This training included every Knight not on duty. Troy and Remy were putting everyone through the paces, including the instructors. It was up to the instructors to disseminate the information to everyone else.
I changed into a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve t-shirt. As I put my hair up, I noticed my head still smarted from Rose’s attack. I walked back out of the locker room and headed towards the gym. I found a seat on the bleachers. Remy and Troy were already there talking to the instructors.
Troy noticed me first and came over to me. “I heard you had a difficult day,” he said softly.
I grunted, “You could say that. I’m not going back,” I stated resolutely.
I thought about it all day long, and as the day progressed, I recognized the only solution to my problem was to not return. I had already talked to a few of my professors; I was going to do online classes until the rumors died down.
“Do you really think hiding from your problems is the best solution?” Troy said carefully.
I nodded, feeling the tears I had been holding back all day, burning at the back of my eyes. “I can’t think of any other.”
“Maybe you can stick it out for another week,” Jace advised from behind me. “You’ve been through worse, but this time you have us, well most of us, around you.”
I turned and looked at him in his gray muscle tee and black gym shorts. I frowned. “It’s not the same. I didn’t care if I was considered a freak before. Now I am a freak, and people just like me are so much harsher than the ungifted ever were.”
“They are only intimidated by you,” Jaxson stated as he joined in on the conversation. “Once the newest rumor starts, they’ll forget all about you.”
“They think I took Drake from his pregnant girlfriend and I killed Collin,” I mumbled.
Noah came up behind me and threw an arm around my shoulder. “Collin wasn’t the first person I lost,” he said softly. “And I’m sure he won’t be the last. It happens, their number was called, we can’t let it eat us up.”
I sighed knowing they wanted me to pick myself up, brush myself off and walk on with my head up high. I was too tired. I had been strong for too long. I was too tired to continue to allow the water to roll off my back.
Luckily, Remy clapped his hand, calling class in session.
I didn’t realize that Remy and Troy secretly loved torturing us. They had created a mixed martial arts program that was no joke. We were taught individual stances and basic punches and kicks.
Then we were taught how to fall—yes, how to fall. Remy, Troy, and another instructor well versed in martial arts took turns throwing us. After being thrown for the fiftieth or hundredth time, my whole body ached down to my toes.
Jemmy finally stood up and groaned. “Why do we even know this?! We’re gifted!”
“No kidding,” Dawn lamented as she blew a piece of hair out of her face. She even sweated prettily. It was hard to dislike her, the more I got to know her.
“We know she doesn’t need this,” Michael joked as he pointed at me.
I rolled my eyes. I knew he was joking, but after the day I had, I knew I was being sensitive. “Want me to show you how much I don’t need this?” I threatened him.
“Rule number 1, no gifts allowed,” he said smugly.
I turned my back on him, but I smiled maliciously. With a little concentration I had Michael barking. When one of the instructors yelled at him, I had him barking, too. Everyone thought it was funny, accept the instructor that was getting increasingly mad.
“Blake,” Troy chided me in my ear.
“What?” I said with an innocent expression. “How do you know it was me?”
He gave me a pointed look, and I smiled sweetly at him.
Jemmy and Dawn came up to me, still giggling. “I think class just got a whole lot more interesting.”
I nodded. “I think so too.”
Poor Michael was just forced to be the butt of my difficult day. I hadn’t lashed out as I’m sure some of them expected me too, but I had lashed out. It still gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction.
Chapter 19