Genesis 3- Never Alone

Katherine shook her head with disbelief as she took a seat at one of the outdoor benches at lunch time. Teenagers congregated together in patches of grass, beside trees, along hallways and anywhere else they could be while avoiding the other groups, and her. All day long people avoided her, stared, and passed whispers in the hallways. Whispers that none of them would know that she could hear. Most of them about herself, vicious rumors that she couldn’t even begin to fathom where they would have originated, but some had been about Spikes.
She pulled a book out of her backpack and turned it over in her hand. She stared at the pages while trying to workout some of the rumors she’d overheard in her head. It was only when she heard someone clear their throat that she realized someone was standing over her.
Spikes stared down at her, arms crossed over her chest, “Pretty sure I told you that I never wanted to see you again.”
Katherine set her book down beside her. She squinted through the sun in her eyes to look up at Spikes, “I’m pretty I told you that if you did see me again, that it was your problem not mine. I’m not even in your self proclaimed spot, so why don’t you leave me alone?”
“You know I had my people do some digging on you,” Spikes grinned and sat down beside Katherine. “Word on the street is you’re some kind of hot shot. Living it large in a giant mansion outside the city, and that’s why you’re late every morning.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Katherine’s eyes watched Spikes’s every movement. Strands of her ebony hair fell over her face as her sapphire eyes shifted to slits, “And you’re going to leave me alone before you find yourself in a world of hurt.”
“Look at that, the little kitty kat thinks she’s hot stuff. You’ve got nothing on me,” Spikes scoffed, tossing her short brown hair over her shoulder.
“You really believe that?” Katherine smirked, her own eyes began to glow as she stood from the table, “Cause I heard you're an orphan, that you live in a run down apartment all by yourself because the person taking care of you skipped town.”
Spikes stood up, fists clenched at her sides. Xander moved to step in between the two girls, but Spikes shoved him away.
“I told you, this bitch is mine,” Spikes growled, her left eye beginning to glow.
Katherine smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, “I thought that I had nothing on you?”
“You don’t.”
“Yes, I’m sure I don’t. That’s why you’re not so cocky anymore, right?” Katherine stepped closer to Spikes, “You’re not even worth letting a hair get out of place, Orphan.”
Spikes screamed and lunged at Katherine who easily side stepped her. Spikes turned back around, fists swinging only to have Katherine counter her swings. Spikes screamed again and swung her right arm for Katherine’s face. Katherine leaned back, dodging Spikes’s swing and aiming a kick into the dog’s chest.
Spikes coughed as she fell back, hunched over she gasped for air before Katherine grabbed her by the hair on the back of her neck and slammed Spikes’s face into her knee.
“What do you two think you’re doing?” A woman’s voice called out. Katherine jumped back, eyes wide as they fell on her art teacher’s fiery orange hair. Her brows wrinkled as she looked between the two girls, a soft sigh on her lips, “Carissa, what is this?”
“It’s nothing, Ms.Sinclair. I’m sorry for the trouble,” Spikes stood up straight. She lifted her chin as she met Ms.Sinclair’s crimson eyes.
“Seriously? You’re too proud to get me in trouble because it would mean admitting you lost?” Katherine almost laughed when Ms.Sinclair’s eyes narrowed on her.
“Lost what exactly, Katherine?” She crossed her arms and balanced her weight on her left foot as she waited for one of the girl’s to answer her.
Katherine lowered her eyes to her feet and her lower lip, “She jumped at me with intent to hurt me, so I fought back.”
“Only because you were being a cunt,” Spikes growled, her left eye still held a dull glow.
“I’m sorry, but who was it that approached me in the first place?” Katherine hissed as she took a step back.
“That is enough!” Ms.Sinclair shouted and stepped between to two girls. “I don’t care who started it or how this happened, but you are both receiving detention.”
“What?” Katherine and Spikes groaned in unison.
“I don’t want to hear it from either of you. Carissa, be grateful I’m dealing with this instead of sending you both to the principal’s office. You don’t need another suspension,” The teacher sighed pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I’ll see you both in the art room at 3:30.”
Ms.Sinclair sighed as she walked away. Spike stood from the ground, glare fixed on Katherine, “Don’t think that this is over, Cat.”
“It is over, unless you want your ass kicked again,” Katherine hissed. She turned away from Spikes, picking up her unattended backpack and marched into the school before Spikes could respond.
...

Katherine sat hunched over in her seat, reading a book as she waited for her detention to end. She glanced above Ms.Sinclair’s head to where to the clock. Spikes was nine minutes late.
She flipped to the next page of her books as the door swung open, and Spikes stepped in. Spikes cast a glare in her direction before throwing herself into a seat across the classroom. Katherine rolled her eyes and tried to go back to reading if not for Ms.Sinclair clearing her throat.
“No that you’ve both finally arrived,” She spoke softly while eyeing Spikes, “We can get started. Unlike traditional detention, I don’t believe thirty minutes of silence will help or teach either of you. So instead we are going to take this time to get to know each other a little better.
Katherine’s shoulders fell as she sighed.The small sigh on her lips was slight compared to Spikes’s outburst “Are you kidding me? What do you hope to accomplish? A spoiled brat like her could never understand, let alone get along with me.”
“At least I’m willing to try,” Katherine muttered under her breath
Ms.Sinclair sighed softly once again holding the bridge of her nose between her fingers, “How about you both either cooperate or you have detention twice a week for the rest of the month?”
“That’s hardly fair,” Kitty protested. She stood from her seat and moved closer to where Ms.Sinclair leaned against her desk. “I’m willing to try. Spikes-Carissa, whatever, is the one being difficult right now.”
“Are you girls hungry?” Ms.Sinclair asked. She stood up from her desk, walking to the back corner of the room and pulled a small carton from the fridge. “Don’t tell the principal, but I snuck in a mini-fridge. I get rather peckish throughout the day.”
She held out the open carton filled with strawberries. Katherine grinned and took two. They both looked to Spikes’s seat expectantly. Katherine frowned when she still didn’t move. She grabbed a strawberry from the carton and walked over to Spikes’s desk.
“I’m sorry,” Katherine’s voice was soft as she held out the strawberry, “I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was just some stupid rumors I overheard throughout the day. I didn’t imagine they’d be true.”
Spikes looked up at her, glaring through the bangs that covered her eyes, “Just because I was ready to fight you, doesn’t mean they were true.”
“That doesn’t change that it was wrong,” Katherine set the strawberry down on Spikes’s desk and took a step back. “I’m not asking you to be my friend, but could you at least work with me so we don’t have to keep coming back here?”
Spikes looked up at her and back to the strawberry on her desk. She sighed as she took the strawberry in her hand and stood from her seat “Only because we aren’t friends.”
Katherine grinned and nearly skipped back to Nadine. She popped another strawberry in her mouth as she took a seat on top of a desk near Nadine.
“So you know each other’s names so let’s try something like favorite colors,” Nadine smiled and handed Spikes a strawberry as she took a seat beside Katherine.
“Aqua, or turquoise, or any blue green type of shade really,” Katherine responded almost gleefully.
Spikes crossed her arms over her chest, brows wrinkled as she looked off to the side, “Purple.”
Katherine covered her mouth to keep from laughing, “That’s not a very badass color.”
“Well aqua isn’t exactly a sophisticated color,” Spikes rolled her eyes. Ms.Sinclair’s smile grew as she watched the two girls interact. Their insults became less harsh and more friendly teasing, Katherine reacted less aggressively, and Spikes had even smiled twice.
“Alright girls, it’s time for me to release you,” Ms.Sinclair set the empty carton on her desk behind her before facing the girls again, “But feel free to stop by after school any time for snacks, and for conversation.”
“Thanks,” Spikes scoffed. She quickly jumped from the desk and made her way out of the classroom. Katherine frowned as she watched her exit the room. She turned back to Ms.Sinclair with a smile on her lips, “Thank you. This really felt a lot more productive than a normal detention would have been.”
“Katherine I have always believed that conversation, even if loud, is better than silence,” Nadine explained. She stepped around her desk and sat down in her seat, “Thank you for your effort today, and please do stop by anytime.”
“I will,” Katherine grinned as she picked up her things from the floor. “I’ll see you later!”
Katherine skipped out of the room and down the hall. She inhaled deeply as she opened the school door and stepped into the sunlight. She quickly called for a taxi, surprised when she glanced over and caught sight of Spikes arguing with the guy with a mo-hawk. Katherine opened her mouth to call out to them, but shook her head when she saw Spikes shove his shoulder. She didn’t know them. It was best if she didn’t get involved.