Beauty & the Beast

Ronnie slammed her locker door shut, making sure to spin the dial on her lock. The last thing she needed was someone breaking into her locker. There were things in there that she needed, things that could get her in a lot of trouble. Things that could get her expelled. Yes, drugs, if you haven't already guessed it. To be more specific, weed. You see, Ronnie has this condition that allows her to have a medical marijuana card; she has an irregular heartbeat. If it becomes too fast, she'll go into cardiac arrest. That's where the weed comes in. It helps slow down her heartbeat when it's getting too fast.

Everybody hated Ronnie and she wasn't sure why. She tried not to let it bother her but there was only two other people in the whole school that didn't hate her. That's pretty bad. Ronnie didn't try to understand why so many people wanted her dead or gone. If she tried to understand, she'd just end up pulling her hair out. She ripped open her bag of salt & vinegar chips as she went to go meet up with her friends.

"Ronnie!" Rebecca yelled as soon as Ronnie was standing right in front of her. Ronnie jumped backwards a little bit, frightened. She recovered quickly though, she needed to keep her heart under control.

"Fuck, Becca. You're going to send me into cardiac arrest before this energy drink does!" Ronnie pointed out. Becca grinned sheepishly and adjusted the purse on her shoulders. Becca was the more girl of the group. You could find her at the mall buying the most expensive clothes and purses. Ronnie was more laid back. She was a little bit more on the edgier side and bought her clothes wherever she felt like.

"Have you seen Joel?" Becca asked as they walked down the hall to their first class, which was English. Ronnie shook her head no.

"No, I just got here a few minutes ago. We need to find him though cause class starts soon." As soon as the words left her mouth, someone slammed into her shoulder, on purpose. A searing pain began to spread throughout her shoulder but she refused to say or do anything. It would give them more pleasure.

"Bitch!" The person spat. Ronnie rolled her eyes and tried to roll her shoulder, it just ended up hurting worse.

"Hey man, fuck you! You-"

"No, Becca, just leave it alone. I'm fine." Ronnie was always trying to stop her best friend from saying something. Only a few times did Becca actually get to say something but boy when she did, she made it count.

"Oh my god! There he is!" Ronnie whispered, feeling completely horrified. She darted behind Becca who was very good coverage. Becca practically towered over Ronnie's 5 foot 1 figure. Becca rolled her eyes and pushed Ronnie out from behind her.

"Ronnie, get over this shit. I know, you've liked him ever since freshman year but he's a dick. You deserve so much better than that." Becca was right. Ronnie really needed to stop pining over someone who teased her for 4 years. She needed to learn how to stop staring at his tall, dark, muscular form. She needed to stop getting lost in those brown eyes every time he got close enough to throw an insult her way. Ronnie knew that she shouldn't like Brian so much but she couldn't help it.

"Hey, I'm allowed to look. I never said I was going to act on it."

The girls made it to their English class and found Joel at his desk. Ronnie was really excited for this class, she was getting to write paper about some of the most twisted criminals or psychos. She chose Hannibal Lecter. Something about him intrigued her, even though he was a fictional character. Not that she admired him, she was just impressed that he was able to get away every time.

Ronnie sat down at her desk and flipped through her English folder. She pulled out her paper and got ready to turn it in. Ronnie saw Brian at his desk from the corner of her eye and she felt herself getting a little flustered. Why did she always get so nervous around him? Anytime they were in the same room, he and his friends would call her names, shove her against the lockers, then laugh about it. Becca was right, Ronnie needed to drop the shit.

From that point on, Ronnie wasn't going to even think about Brian Haner Jr. again. But that wasn't going to be easy. He seemed to be everywhere she look-

"Veronica, you're first to present your paper." The teacher called out from her desk at the front of the classroom. Ronnie went wide eyed and licked over her lips. This was going to be bad. She picked the paper up off her desk and stood. The walk to the front seemed to take forever even though it was only a few steps.

Brian chuckled to himself and looked around to his friends who were also laughing. If she wasn't such a dork, he might have liked Ronnie. But since his friends started making fun of her, he felt that he had to as well.

Ronnie focused on her paper and not the many sets of eyes focused on her. The words from the paper seemed to flow out of her mouth seamlessly and she was so focused on not slipping up, she forgot to pay attention to her heart. It began pounding harder and faster in her chest and before she knew it, she was collapsing, unconscious. Ronnie hit the floor, her head slamming against the floor and everybody was in shock.

Brian felt the sudden urge to run over and check on her but then he would look bad in front of his friends. So, he let someone else do it.

Becca ran over to her friend and lifted Ronnie's head up into her lap.

"Ms. Laurie, call an ambulance! She has a heart problem, if we don't get her to the hospital now she may die!" The teacher nodded her head and frantically dialed 911. Brian's stomach dropped. Heart problem? Ronnie had a heart problem? It could kill her?

Within ten minutes, the ambulance had arrived and had taken her to the hospital. The girl Brian knew as Becca was following behind in her car. Suddenly, Brian felt bad for everything that he had ever done to Ronnie. Without a beat, Brian walked quickly to his car before his friends saw him. This needed to be his little secret.