About to walk into a class full of people who've spent three years treating me like a pariah.
This should be fun.
The thought is sarcastic.
Obviously.
I take a breath—two counts in, four counts hold, eight counts out—and turn away from the mirror.
The locker room is nearly empty now, most of the other Omegas having already filtered out to the gymnasium. I can hear them in the hallway—voices raised in the particular pitch of gossip, the rapid-fire exchange of information and speculation that serves as social currency in places like this.
I catch fragments as I approach.
"—can youbelieveit?—"
"—the crazy one, the one with the pink hair?—"
"—literally got claimed overnight, like, whodoesthat?—"
"—heard she seduced them, probably drugged them or something?—"
"—no way they actuallywantedher, she's absolutely insane?—"
The words wash over me like familiar rain.
I've been hearing variations of this for years. The whispers. The speculation. The casual cruelty of people who've decided I'm not quite human enough to deserve basic courtesy.
Crazy.
Insane.
Deranged.
The labels used to hurt.
Used to burrow under my skin and fester there, making me question everything I thought I knew about myself. Was I really that bad? That broken? That fundamentallywrongthat no one could stand to be near me?
But somewhere along the way—somewhere between the sixteenth person who called me crazy and the twenty-third one who crossed the street to avoid me—I stopped caring.
Or maybe I just got tired of caring.
Either way, the whispers don't land like they used to.
They're just noise now.
Background static in a life full of louder, more urgent threats.
I step into the hallway.
The gossiping Omegas go quiet immediately—that particular silence that falls when the subject of conversation shows up unexpectedly. Their eyes land on me, tracking my movement with a mixture of curiosity and hostility that I've learned to recognize.
Look at her.
Look at the crazy bitch who somehow got what we all want.
Look at the freak who doesn't deserve any of this.
I smile.
