The Variations by Jones M (iphone ebook reader TXT) 📕

She turned to confront the person, but when she saw who it was, she didn't even bother to hide her groan. 

"You have got to be kidding me," she said, facing Chris. He looked a bit disoriented, and Kate knew he was a bit drunk.

Or a lot. It was hard to tell because she, too, was drinking.

"We need to talk," he said without wavering.

"I don't want to see you right now," Kate said, going to leave the room. However, a couple of people had flocked around the entrance of the kitchen.

"Um, excuse me? Could you move?" she asked the laughing group of boys, but they either didn't hear or chose to ignore her. It looked as if they were transfixed by something in front of them. Kate continued to call over them, but no one budged. She had no option but to wait in the kitchen where Chris was looking at her.

She gave him a glare.

"I mean it, Kate. We need to talk. It depends on our assigned project."

There was basically no way out of it. The two of them were trapped in the kitchen, so they might as well get done with it.

"Okay," Kate said. "But I doubt we'll be able to hear ourselves in here."

Chris shook his head at her with a sigh before he grabbed her arm. She was startled when he began pulling her away from the room, but she relaxed when they turned to a door that she thought had been locked. It led to a dark hallway. A couple of seconds later, they found themselves in the outside open air where the music wasn't so loud.

The glow from the streetlights was bright enough to illuminate their surroundings. It looked like they were at the back of the mansion.  And surprisingly, there was no one else but the two of them.

"First of all, I would like to apologize for what I said today," Chris started. "Could you forgive me?"

"Wait. First of all?" Marie chose to focus at the beginning of his statement.

"It's just that I don't know how to act around you," he admitted. "I kind of keep expecting the person I used to know when we were still teenagers, but you keep showing me someone else."

Kate understood how he felt. She, too, remembered the girl she used to be when she was in high school. Things had changed since then, and it shocked everyone who knew her.

"It's okay, Chris," she said. "I also feel the same way around you. I don't know what to expect from you now that we are doing the same project."

"Really?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"Seriously?" Marie stated with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," he replied. "I mean, I haven't changed as much as you."

Kate's eyes did a perusal of his form.

"You have, but it's not that."

She combed her hand through her hair as she contemplated on opening herself to him. Then an idea came to her mind.

"How drunk are you?" she questioned.

"Not too drunk to misunderstand what I am saying," Chris replied.

Kate sighed, knowing there was no way out of her situation.

"Okay. Can I be honest with you?"

"Kate, what is it? You're starting to freak me out," he said with a small smile to hide his sudden anxiety.

"It's just that... You know, since high school..." Marie trailed off.

"What?" Chris wondered out loud.

"Chris, you do remember what happened in high school, right?" she managed to say. 

Kate watched as his expression turned into one she couldn't read.

"What about it?" he asked.

Kate sighed before saying, "That's why."

"Huh? That's why what?" 

"That's why I find it hard to be around you."

"Kate, I am not following," Chris persisted, and it was making her infuriated. The memories Kate was trying to push away were flooding her mind, and with the alcohol running through her system, they made her lose the control she had over her emotions.

"Why are you making me do this?" she asked him, clearly pissed off. "Is it some sick game of yours? Do you really want me to spell it out?"

Chris' eyes had widened at her outburst.

"Kate, what--" 

"I know what I did, okay?" she spat. "I know I wasn't the nicest person to be around with. I know I was a stupid bitch."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chris exclaimed.

"I was a bully, Chris. How can you forget that?" she replied, moving towards him. "I made fun of people for their appearances and their actions. I picked on them and insulted them. I dumped people's lunches on their heads."

"Kate--"

"You were also bullied for goodness' sake!" she cut him off. "How can you be around someone like me, especially with the last thing that happened?"

Tears had clogged Kate's vision by then. Her form hunched as gut-wretching sobs escaped her lips. She couldn't bear to see Chris' look, believing to know what she would find. Hate. Anger. Disdain. It was what she deserved after everything that she had done.

After a while, she managed to calm herself.

"You're a walking reminder of everything that I did. I find it hard to look at you or even speak to you. I'm sorry about all of that. I'm so sorry about everything."

"I--" Kate's voice wavered before she took a deep breath. "I understand if you want to do the project on your own. I could even change the option I picked--"

"You got it all wrong, Kate," Chris cut her off. It threw her off for a moment, but it didn't take long for her to figure out what he meant.

She looked up at him in confusion. He looked back at her in surprise.

"You barely did those things," he added, causing her to furrow her eyebrows.

"What? Chris, I--"

"I know," he interrupted her. "But you didn't do it a lot of times."

"I don't think it matters how often I did it," she said.

Chris sighed before saying, "You don't remember it the way I do; the way everyone from school does."

"Chris--"

"Do you remember Darcy?"

Kate's form tensed at the mention of the name. 

"How could I forget?" she replied with a bitter smile.

"Don't you remember how she was?"

"The bitch practically had an iron rule over the school," Kate added. "I thought she was my friend."

"She wasn't, Kate," Chris stated. "She was just using you to do her bidding."

"I know, but Chris--"

"You didn't mistreat everyone a lot like she and her other followers did. Kate, she used you during freshman year to gather followers who would do what she said, and she reduced her dependence on you when we were sophomores."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to remember what Chris was saying. The memories played in her mind, and to her shock, she found out he was right.

"Don't you even remember how clueless you used to be?"

"Yeah," she said with a small smile. "But for some reason, Darcy kept me around." 

"Who knows why? But listen. You are not the person you believe you are. Sure, you did some of the things you mentioned, but you had no idea how things would turn out."

Chris moved forward before grabbing her hands. A warm sensation began spreading through her form when his fingers clenched around hers.

"And you didn't bully me. That was the all on the popular boys."

"But what about what happened with Emma--"

"You didn't see it coming. You had nothing to do with it. It wasn't your fault, and you shouldn't take responsibility for what happened that day."

Kate didn't think as she moved forward to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and Chris tensed at the sudden action. He soon relaxed, welcoming the hug. 

"I cannot believe you've been avoiding me all this time because of this," Chris said, rubbing his hand on her back. "I wish I had known sooner."

"So you don't hate me?" Marie asked, momentarily afraid of his answer.

"Of course not," Chris scoffed, and she smiled. "I never did. We are good, Kate."

For the first time in years, Kate had an actual conversation with Chris. She had not expected them to talk about the tension between them, but she was glad because they managed to clear it. At least they would be able to carry out their group project.

After the emotional talk at the party, Chris offered to escort Marie back to her dorm. She agreed, and they had walked in silence, not saying a word until he bid her goodnight at her door. They had some stuff to think about away from each other, and it revolved around everything they had said to each other.

Marie believed Chris' words. He was right about her rarely taking part in the bullying, but then, a part of her did not agree with him. She was still responsible, no matter what he said. 

When she was a high school student, Kate had been a very different person. She had not been the knowledgeable person she currently was, and so she had done a lot of stupid stuff. One of those things included being in a sort of friendship with a cheerleader named Darcy. The cheerleader had been what people referred to as the queen bee of the school. Kate could not recall how she had caught Darcy's eyes. What she could remember were the awful acts she had done with her that made her feel ashamed. She had helped Darcy during their first year of high school, and that had helped increase the power she had over the school. And together, they had ruled it.

Like dictators.

At first, Kate had not clicked that she had been in a group that bullied everyone whenever they saw fit. She had also not realized that Darcy wanted her to be in the group because she needed some stupid follower she could control. 

It was at the start of the sophomore year that things started to change. Marie felt more aware of what was happening around her, and it had her doubting her 'friendship' with Darcy when more people were targeted. There was also an addition of a duo in the group that did not help with matters; Chris and his friend Alex, who had been scrawny teenagers the year before, had gained muscle over the summer and transformed into hot guys. Kate thought they would form some kind of rebellion against the control Darcy had over the school, but instead, they joined the same group that bullied them.

Around that time, the bullying had gotten worse, and she had wanted out. Kate came to loathe the times Darcy had her present to watch other kids being mistreated, especially when one unfortunate person had become a target a year later. A new girl, Emma, had just joined the school as a junior. She had looked miserable ever since she entered the school doors. It was obvious that something was very wrong in her life. Nevertheless, Darcy did not hesitate to start mistreating her. She took it further than she had with the others because Emma fought back.

Marie would rather not go into the details, especially with the last thing that had happened to the girl. No one had seen it coming. But then, she didn't have enough time to worry about that. The bullied girl came to seek out revenge. She had looked manic on that day, and when Darcy tried to prove she had control over her, things progressed quickly.

It turned awful.

Kate could still remember the loud screams that had echoed in the school cafeteria.