I sat with Janis and Damian, but I was tempted to sit with Gretchen and Karen. I could've sworn Gretchen waved me over, but Karen was still giving me the silent treatment. I was torn.
Cady sat alone in a corner, and Regina sat in the middle of a crowd, trying to blend in. I hoped Cady would get what she deserved.
"Never in my 14 years as an educator have I seen such behavior. And from young ladies!" said Mr. Duvall. He made a whole speech about being proper young ladies and asked us about our "problems."
He gave up, of course. Ms. Norbury took over. She asked us, "I want you to raise your hand if you have ever had a girl say something bad about you behind your back."
With my eyes closed, I raised my hand. When I opened them, I saw that basically everybody else had raised their hand too, including Cady.
"Now, I want you to raise your hand if you have ever said anything bad about a friend behind her back."
I raised my hand again. I wasn't surprised to see Cady's hand raised, along with Regina's.
Ms. Norbury made us talk about our problems, too. Every clique had its own problem. I barely spoke, my eyes on Karen the whole time. Everything was somewhat smooth until Regina blurted out, "Can I just say that we don't have a clique problem at this school? And some of us shouldn't have to take this workshop because some of us are just victims in this situation?"
"That's probably true," Ms. Norbury agreed. "How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by Regina George?"
The only person who raised their hand faster than I did was Cady. With a throb of pain, I noticed Karen and Gretchen both had their hands up. Even the teachers did.
Regina looked pissed. She stole a glance at me, and I smirked at her.
"Cady," said Ms. Norbury. "Do you have anything you wanna own up to?"
She sure does, I thought viciously.
"No," said Cady.
"You never made up a rumor about anybody?"
"No."
"Nothing you wanna apologize for?"
"No."
I swear, I was going to strangle that whore.
Ms. Norbury had us write apologies to people we'd hurt in our lives. Most of the apologies were really funny, but I couldn't laugh. Not when Karen looked sad. If Karen can't be happy, no one can be happy.
I started paying attention only when it was Karen's turn.
"Gretchen," she began. "I'm sorry I laughed at you that time you got diarrhea at Barnes & Nobles. And I'm sorry I told everyone about it. And I'm sorry for repeating it now." She opened her mouth to say more, but she caught my gaze.
Time froze. Her blue-green eyes burned into mine. I tried to communicate my apology to her mentally, but she didn't get the message.
Karen cleared her throat. "That's all." She turned around, ready to fall.
In a moment of faith, I dashed to the front of the crowd, pushing past people. As Karen fell, I caught her in my arms, and a rush of warmth flooded my body. Karen, in my arms, felt so right, a sense of perfection I couldn't explain.
Karen realized who had caught her. She blushed a furious red and hobbled away.
Gretchen had probably the worst apology. Then I rethought that when she added, "And I'm sorry that some people are just so mean." She glanced at Regina, who wore a bored expression. "I don't want to call myself the victims here, but that's really what it feels like."
To my shock, only Karen and I caught Gretchen. Damn, she was heavy. Regina might have been mean, but she certainly wasn't lying about her chubby waist.
Sorry, that was mean.
Karen still wouldn't look at me. I was starting to become frustrated. So I grabbed her shoulders and whispered, "Can I talk to you?"
Karen looked skeptical. "Why should I give you another second of my time?"
"Please," I urged. I led her to the back of the crowd, where Damian was, supposedly invisible in his bright blue sweater.
"Karen," I began. "I am so, so sorry. Regina forced me into it. And I can't say that it's her fault, because it's mine. I could've stopped her. If I did, none of this mess would have ever happened. But I let a simple threat affect me. I let everyone use me. And I'll understand if you never want to see me ever again. Because you don't deserve a dyke like me. No one is good enough for you. You're perfect. You're Karen Smith."
I took a deep breath. "Please forgive me."
At first, Karen stared at me blankly. I was afraid for a moment that she wouldn't forgive me, or worse, she hadn't heard a word I said.
Then her eyes began to fill with tears. "You mean that?" She whispered.
"I do," I choked.
The corners of Karen's mouth curved upwards into a smile. She nodded, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Leaning forward, she closed the gap between our lips. I didn't care that someone could turn around at any moment and spot us. Right now, all I wanted was Karen Smith. And here she was, kissing me passionately.
"I love you, Karen," I moaned.
"I love you too, N/N," she whispered back.
Time stopped. The world stopped turning. It was just me and her, alone together.
My girl. My world.
Karen pulled away, looking suddenly striken. "How could Regina do something like that? I'm going to confront her!"
"Babe, I don't know if that's the best idea," I said nervously.
Suddenly, I heard a loud noise, followed by people shouting, "Janis! Janis! Janis!"
I also saw Regina run out of the gym, looking flustered and upset.
"Regina!" Karen ran after her, and I chased after Karen. Damn, she was fast.
"Regina, how could you do this to Y/N? Force her to do horrible things and threatening to out her?"
"No!" Regina let out a shrill scream. "For the love of God, shut up, Karen! I do what I want!"
Karen caught up to her. "Regina, please! Just talk to me. I'm just trying to understand. Because I never do..."
Regina looked for a second like she was going to say something good for once, but her eyes darted to the right, and she whispered something in her ear.
Karen moved closer. I lingered a few feet away, unsure of what was happening.
Then, at the last second, Regina grabbed Karen's wrist and dragged her, so they switched places in the road. Regina quickly backed up away from her, grinning viciously.
Karen looked confused for a moment. Then a bright yellow blur flew past, and she crumpled to the ground.
CZYTASZ
The Biggest Heart of All (Karen Smith x Female Reader)
RomansHigh school. It's everyone's worst enemy, but especially for you, Y/N Heron, and your cousin Cady. You just moved with her from Africa to a new high school for the first time. Then you meet the Plastics, the girls who run the school. They seem nice...
