The Four Beta Brothers

Chapter 17 - Never Without a Cost

JUNIPER

	Despite the rough way the weekend started out, it ended up being better than I had anticipated. I hardly spent any time in my dorm, thanks to Asher. Between studying and eating nearly every meal together, he kept me distracted the entire time. It made me dread Monday, though. 

	He kept me in a small bubble, where I didn’t have to think about the horrible video going around the entire school, but it would be impossible to avoid it today. I had to go to my class. Ditching wasn’t an option, even though part of me wished it was. I just hoped the day wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined it.

	Asher assured me Ethan was working with the school to clear my name, so that was one less thing I had to worry about at least. It didn’t calm my nerves much, though.

	As I was walking to class, a force hit me from behind, knocking me forward. My hands slammed against the ground, and pain shocked my arms. My palms stung from rocks scraping against them, and my knees throbbed from the impact.

	Below me, orange papers were scattered all over the ground. The moment I saw my name, I grabbed the closest paper, looking at every slur written in big black letters. Below my name, my phone number was written. I looked around, and the papers were everywhere. I saw orange plastered to the walls of nearly every building on campus, on top of being scattered all over the floor.

	“Oops, looks like 'clumsy' should be added to that list.”

	Sniggers echoed all around me. Several girls stood around me, laughing. I didn’t recognize most of them, but I did know Ashely. She stood behind me, right where I was shoved from.

	I pushed myself off the ground and brushed off my palms. Turning to face Ashley, I said, “Bully should be added to your list of adjectives.”

	Another shove came from behind me, but this shove was much less powerful, and I was able to keep my balance after stumbling for a moment. I turned my body so I could keep an eye on all of the girls. 

	My wolf growled in my head, and a sense of danger washed over me. I felt like prey being cornered by a bunch of predators.

	“She looks so scared,” one of the girls taunted.

	“If you touch me again, I will report you all to the admin.” I kept my voice steady, but my hands shook. If they decided to actually attack me, I was outnumbered. I gripped my bag, trying to hide the unsteadiness of my hands.

	“Oh boo hoo. You’re lucky Moira hasn’t reported you yet. If you report us, we’ll just claim it was self-defense. No one will believe the truth, not with everyone knowing who you really are,” Ashley said. Her eyes glimmered. She was enjoying this more than she should have. It made me wonder how long she had been waiting to take out her anger on me.

	“You know Moira made up those rumors to spite me. Since you’re her little minion, I’d be surprised if you didn’t know that.” I stared directly at Ashley, but I made sure to keep my eyes on the other girls.

	“Shut up! You’re useless!” Ashley lunged at me, and I put my hands up to protect myself from her.

	She shoved me back, and I hit the wall. I gritted my teeth at the impact, and the other girls cheered her on. “Why keep harassing me? You’ve already taken my place. Just leave me alone already!”

	“For years, I watched you and Moira as besties. For years, she ditched me when you needed her. She finally realized who the right choice was, and I’m not about to let you climb your way back into her good ranks,” Ashley snarled. Her claws started emerging from her fingers, and if she kept this up, she would pierce my skin.

	“I have no interest in being friends with Moira again. You can have her.” I grabbed her hands, trying to peel her off of me. “I just hope she doesn’t turn on you like she turned on me, but maybe you deserve that.”

	“Shut up!” Ashley shoved against me again, slamming me into the wall.

	I needed to get her off of me and get away from her before the situation escalated further. While I hadn’t done anything wrong yet, if the school caught us in a fight, I could end up getting suspended, and it would make everything much worse.

	“There you are, Juniper,” a deep voice said.

	Ashley jumped back at the new voice. She knew she could get suspended if she got caught in this situation, too.

	I looked at the source of the voice, letting my body slump against the wall. “Hey, Nathan.”

	“She knows Nathan?” one of the girls whispered.

	“Oh, hey,” Ashley said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “We were just helping her when she fell down.”

	Nathan looked at Ashley and tilted his head. “Interesting. It looked like you guys were bullying her, which would be an absolute shame. I really hate when my fans turn out to be bullies.”

	“I wasn’t bullying her,” Ashley said. She shot me a warning look, and I had the feeling she didn’t want me to tell Nathan the truth.

	“Right. She was just leaving,” I said in return. I wasn’t about to pretend that Ashley was innocent, but I was ready to get her away from me.

	Her entire body tensed, and the other girls watched her, waiting for some sort of instruction. “Yeah, I should be going, but I’ll see you at the game on Friday. I’ll be cheering you on, Nathan.” Her voice was high pitched and sweet, which sounded completely unnatural.

	Nathan flashed them a smile, but his eyes were intense, changing the vibe completely. “I hope to see friendly faces there.”

	“Of course. Bye!” Ashley took a step backwards, taking a moment longer to look at Nathan.

	When the girls were far enough away, Nathan’s entire demeanor changed. “I hate girls like that. They are fake, and it’s so obvious. It’s like they think I’m too stupid to see through their lies.”

	I shrugged my shoulders. “Some people fall for it, unfortunately.” I was one of those people. I wanted to believe Moira and her friends were good people, but every day, it became clearer and clearer what kind of people they truly were.

	Nathan shook his head, still looking in the direction the girls went in. He turned his attention back to me and took a deep breath. “Are you okay?”

	“No,” I said instantly. “Yes.” I looked at the orange papers plastered everywhere and felt overwhelmed. I had no idea if anyone would believe the words written on the paper, but with how easily everyone believed the rumors and the video, I had little hope that people would see the truth behind this attack as well.

	“Did they hurt you before I got here?” Nathan took a step closer to me, and his eyes looked me up and down.

	“Just a few scrapes and bruises. It’s nothing.” I quickly became aware of the throbbing in my hands and knees again. For a moment, I had been distracted by Ashley’s attack and forgot about it.

	Nathan grabbed my hand and looked at it. He traced his fingers over the few scrapes he saw. Then he lifted my hand to his face and kissed the injuries. “I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

	I knew I should pull my hand away, but I let him hold it a little longer. “It’s okay. They’re just surface injuries. I don’t think anyone will do anything serious against me.”

	Nathan lowered my hand, frowning. “It’s not okay. You should feel safe here, and you’re getting targeted. What I saw… It’s just not acceptable. You should start reporting this bullying. If you don’t, it’ll just get worse.”

	Asher said something similar to me, and I knew they were right. “I will. Immediately after class.”

	“And you should have someone always walking you to class to avoid you getting attacked like that. If you get me your schedule, I would be perfectly happy to be your personal bodyguard.” 

	I pulled my lips tight. “I can’t ask that of you. It’s not fair to have you take that much time out of your life for me.” 

	I could tell Nathan liked me. He liked me the first time we had met, and the way he looked at me when I was staying in their dorm only confirmed my suspicion. Even now, the way he held and kissed my hand, the way he stepped in to protect me, I felt his affection. I appreciated the way he looked at me. It was nice to have another person looking at me fondly in the sea of hatred, but I wasn’t going to lead Nathan on.

	“What’s happening to you isn’t fair. The least I can do is walk you to class to make sure girls like that don’t bother you. I don’t like seeing you hurt, Juny.” Nathan stroked his thumb over my palm, and his touch seemed to ease the pain.

	Juny… Something about that nickname pulled at something at the back of my head, but it felt like reaching into a dark void. The nickname felt familiar, but I didn’t remember anyone who called me that before.

	“You know I’m dating Asher, right?” I said. While Asher and I weren’t official yet, I liked him. He was sweet and caring and was there when I needed him. Nathan was also sweet, which was why I wanted him to know there was something going on with Asher and myself.

	“I know. That’s not going to stop me from caring about you, though. Please, let me walk you to class. If you got hurt by something I could’ve prevented, then I wouldn’t forgive myself.”

	I sucked in my lips. If Nathan knew about Asher and myself and still wanted to help, then I didn’t see anything wrong with that. “Okay, but only for today.”

	“Or anytime you have to walk by yourself,” Nathan insisted.

	“Nathan. You are not going to spend all of that time walking me to class.”

	He smiled and said, “It’s my civic duty to make sure you are safe, so I will do what I need to.”

	I sighed and shook my head, finally taking my hand back. “Let’s go, then.” I started walking towards my next class, wanting to take advantage of the escort. Even though I didn’t want Nathan to walk me to every class, it did make me feel better, knowing I wasn’t alone. 

	Ashley likely wouldn’t do anything else for the rest of the day, but I knew for sure she wouldn’t do anything while Nathan was with me. She was starstruck when she saw him, and she wasn’t going to risk ruining her reputation with Nathan Burrell.

	“And in exchange for me walking you to class, perhaps you can do me a favor,” Nathan said. There was a spring in his step as he walked next to me.

	“I thought you were doing this out of the goodness of your heart,” I laughed, side-eying him.

	“I am, but perhaps out of the goodness of your heart, you’ll come to my game Friday. It’s my debut on the team, and I would love to know you’re in the crowd to cheer me on,” he said.

	I had never been to a wolfball game before. Sports weren’t my thing, and I liked to take advantage of the quiet in the library while everyone was out cheering on our team. However, Nathan was sweet, and going to the game for him couldn’t hurt. I could even ask Asher to go with me on a date.

	“I think I can find it in the goodness of my heart to go to your game,” I agreed.

Chapter 18 - The Four Beta Brothers