EPISODE 21_ RESOUNDING SLAP.

Catherine couldn't stop thinking about what Vivian said to her.

She was confused and helpless, no matter how hard she work she would never be able to sponsor herself to college all by herself.

Sometimes she even wondered if her uncle was truly her uncle, he treats her like a stranger while Vivian treats her as if she was doing her a favor.

"Vivian, we don't have any beef inside the fridge to make the beef stew." Catherine said to her uncle's wife one Sunday morning.

Vivian glared at her and sighed loudly, "What do you want me to do?"

She opened her mouth to respond but closed it back. She didn't know what to say.

Without saying anymore word she turned around and left the living room.

It seems like she would go hungry since there was no food or she could go around the block to MacDonald and get a burger and a drink for lunch.

She chooses to go to MacDonald, when she got to her room, she changed into a tight blue jeans trouser and a white crop top, she wore a boot on her feet then grabbed her purse from under her bed where she was hiding it and put it inside her backpack then zipped the zipper before walking out of the room.

If anyone ever find out about the little money she had then that will be goodbye to her college tuitions because her uncle won't pay them.

When she got to the living room Vivian was still there but now with uncle Marcus.

"Uncle, I want to quickly go and see my friend, I will be back soon." Catherine said. Her uncle glanced at her then nodded his head. She mentally danced around and didn't waste anytime before rushing out of the house.

Catherine carried her burger and fries in her tiny bag and held her drink in the other hand. She sat down on a lonely bench at the bus stop and started eating.

* * * *

On Monday Catherine went to school, during her first lesson which was English, she sat down at her chair and waited for the teacher to come in.

Kisa and her friends walked in and she sat down beside Catherine.

Catherine glanced at her and dropped her gaze back to her book, she doesn't want trouble and the few times she got to speak with her has always been trouble.

She wished to graduate from RHS with a clean record but the more Kisa keeps taunting her the more it became difficult for her to adhere to her own rules.

"I know that you're a lower class girl and love to grab hold of people bigger than you, let me warn you for the very last time, bitch stop getting close to Ace, he is my fiance." Kisa said and raised her hand to show the engagement ring in her finger. " You won't like what I'd do the next time I notice you with him."

Catherine kept her mouth closed, heads were already turned to their direction other students were watching and waiting for her to react but she wouldn't give them the pleasure so she kept quiet.

"Bitch are you ignoring me?" Kisa asked angrily. Catherine dropped her pen on top of her desk and sighed.

"I am not interested in Ace, I don't want him anywhere me but he was the one coming to me. I don't understand why you're warning me when you should be warning him!" She responded. Kisa scoffed and raised her hand before landing a hot slap on Catherine's face.

The students gasped and Catherine couldn't raise her head up.

"Ace is not interested in you and never will! You're just a lowly girl he enjoys bullying, don't think of it as anything else, at the end of the day you are a nobody."

"Quiet everyone, class starts now." Said their English teacher as she walked inside the classroom.

Kisa's last words cut Catherine deep. It was as if she could tell that she was already in love with Ace.

How can you be in love with your own bully?

It doesn't feel right but nothing about her involvement with Ace was right. She felt as if she had known him for ages. She wasn't the kind of girl to randomly fall in love but with Ace everything happened mysteriously.

She just didn't know what to do.

"Kisa Queens and Catherine Meyers, I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my class, this should be the last time things like this will happen." Their English teacher said.

Catherine was angry, she was furious. Why was nobody talking about how Kisa slapped her? Why was the teacher blaming her when Kisa had been the cause of everything? She couldn't take it. She couldn't just sit back and have the teacher reprimand her when she wasn't at fault.

"Kisa Queens started it all, she slapped me on the face! You should be reprimanding her and not me." She complained.

"I reprimanded you both, Miss Meyers. I didn't take sides, now everyone bring out your homework." Her English teacher said dismissively.

Catherine sighed softly and rubbed her cheek while tears prickled her eyes. She wished so much that Talia was there with her but unfortunately Talia was sick and wasn't in school.

In order for her to survive in RHS, she have to ignore every shits thrown her way and that was what she planned to do. She couldn't jeopardize her future because of some spoiled rich teenagers.

After three classes she had a free period, she left the class and walked inside the girls locker room. She grabbed her small mirror compartment from her locker and raised it up to her face. The place where Kisa slapped her was bright red, she touched it with her finger but quickly removed it; it stings.

She raised the mirror a little higher and this time she wasn't staring at her red cheek but at a calm looking Ace Hampton.

She gasped and quickly turned around to face him. She didn't hear him walk in. How did he get in without any noise? What was he doing in girls locker room and how did he knew she was in there?

Catherine couldn't answer none of the questions in her head.

"Who did that?" He asked coldly. Too coldly that it sent chills down her spin.

What was he going to do? When she couldn't answer him he started walking closer to her slowly and purposefully.

"Who the fuck touched your face? Answer me!" He growled.

"Kisa. Kisa slapped me." Catherine said and closed her eyes.

She didn't know why she just said that to Ace but it felt good to know that he cared enough to ask for who hurt her.

He raised his hand and caressed her cheek then squeezed her jaw. "Never ever allow anyone to hurt you, I am the only one to hurt you, Catherine. I am the only person that can hurt you, the only person to see you fragile, the only one that you cry for, do you understand me?" He asked her.

His declaration was twisted but she nodded anyway.

She was tired of fighting it, tired of fighting him when she knew she wouldn't win.

" I want to hear you say it."

"Yes, Ace."

* * * *

Ace was practicing in the field when he saw Catherine sitting down at the far end of the bench through the corner of his eyes. He glanced around and saw Anitra waving at her.

He was angry, very furious. He glanced at Cat again and saw her staring down at her fingers.

He removed his headgear and started walking towards her when Liam grabbed his arm.

"You're okay dude?" Liam asked.

Ace wasn't the type to get worked up over a girl but ever since he saw Catherine again after four years, he couldn't control his anger and emotions towards her.

She was and still the only girl to ever turn him into an obsessed bully. When he saw her walking inside the girls locker room some hours ago, he could see that her face looked different so he went after her.

When he found out that Kisa did that to her he was even more furious. No one gets to maltreat her,no one gets to slap her in the face, no one gets to tell her what to do or what not to do except him!

Yes, that's right. Because he owns her. She belongs to him.

After class he dragged Kisa to a corner and gave her a piece of his mind, warning her not to cross Catherine ever again. According to him "if you cross her then you've crossed me"

Since when did he get over possessive about Catherine? Maybe since the first day he saw her crying inside the rain or maybe since the first time she smiled at him or maybe since their first kiss when they were just eleven. He couldn't tell.

"You okay?" Liam asked once again.

"Yeah, I'm good." He responded and wore back his headgear, he gave Catherine a one last look before turning back to his team.

T.B.C