After her rebirth
Chapter 45

Katniss was totally blindsided when Ruby yanked her wrist like she was trying to rip it off. Instinct kicked in, and she shoved Ruby away hard, making her stumble and almost eat dirt.

Their little scuffle caught everyone's eye.

"What is going on?" Clara asked, looking all confused.

Juniper, seeing Ruby's sketchy reaction, got suspicious too. "Ruby, Clara, did you two mess with my water?"

She'd only had beef with these two before the competition.

Clara's eyes went wide, and she shook her head like crazy. "Juniper, what are you even talking about?"

Ruby's eyes flashed with guilt, but she shot back loudly, "Juniper, what kind of crap are you spewing? You're just trying to mess with Clara's head before the competition!" Ruby's voice was so loud it got everyone whispering, and even some teachers started looking over. Juniper was fuming, ready to throw hands, but Katniss held her back. "Juniper, don't fall for her BS. Let's go find a teacher and check the surveillance footage. The truth will come out," Katniss said.

Without solid proof, they couldn't just accuse Ruby of tampering.

Checking the surveillance footage was their best bet.

Taking advantage of Ruby's distraction, Katniss dragged Juniper towards the surveillance room.

"Stop right there!" Ruby yelled, throwing caution to the wind and chasing after them.

Clara wanted to follow but got held back by someone.

"Simon?" She turned around, surprised to see him.

Simon looked pissed. "Clara, you focus on the competition. I'll handle Katniss for you!"

That Katniss, always causing trouble out of jealousy! Not only did she get him into the police station before, but now she was spreading nasty rumors to mess with Clara's head right before her competition. He must've been blind to think Katniss was honest just because she was quiet!

After getting Clara on stage, Simon stormed off to find Katniss and Juniper, his face dark with anger.

Today, he was gonna settle all scores, old and new!

When Simon reached the small clearing behind the bleachers, he saw Ruby had already caught up with the two.

"Katniss, keep running! Why'd you stop?" Ruby panted, cornering them.

Simon was about to step in when, to his shock, Katniss stepped up and slapped Ruby hard.

The slap echoed, leaving everyone stunned.

It took Ruby a full five seconds to react. She clutched her burning cheek, screaming, "Katniss, how dare you hit me!"

"You dare drug someone, why wouldn't I dare hit you?" Katniss's voice was icy, her gaze even colder. She'd just noticed traces of laxative around Ruby's fingernails, almost confirming Ruby was the culprit. "Stop falsely accusing me! You dare hit me? That's assault, and I'm calling the cops!" Ruby screamed. "Go ahead, call them. I'd love that," Katniss mocked. "I'm afraid you won't."

Ruby's eyes showed more guilt. Drugging someone was serious business. If it got out, she'd definitely be expelled! Damn it, how did they find out? No one saw her!

As the standoff dragged on, Simon couldn't take it anymore. He lunged forward, grabbing Katniss by the collar and yelling, "Katniss, you psycho, come with me to see the teacher!" Katniss fought back, but Simon's strength was too much. She managed to scratch his face, leaving some nasty marks. Juniper jumped in to help.

"Simon, have you lost your mind? Katniss is your sister!" Juniper shouted.

If he kept pulling, Katniss's clothes would be in shreds!

"I don't have a sister this vicious!" Simon yelled, his face stinging from the scratches.

Seeing this, Ruby rushed over, eyes gleaming. She yanked at Katniss's collar, but it just loosened more without tearing. Katniss, even angrier, slapped Ruby twice more.

The four of them were tangled in a chaotic fight, no one gaining the upper hand, when suddenly a furious shout rang out. "What are you students doing!" They turned to see several school leaders glaring at them, freezing them in their tracks.

"Come to my office!" Vice Principal Eli barked. With outside investors present, he couldn't scold them on the spot, so he had to take them to his office first. Unexpectedly, Ruby ran excitedly to someone nearby, her eyes lighting up. "Dad!"

Calvin Hayes then realized one of the fighting students was his daughter. When Ruby got closer, he saw her face was badly swollen.

"Ruby, what happened to your face?"

"Dad, you have to stand up for me!" Ruby cried.

Seeing Ruby's beaten face, the school leaders looked embarrassed.

This was bad. The investor, who had been considering donating a building to the school, was now seeing his daughter beaten up here!

Eli quickly pointed at the other three, ordering, "You three, call your parents immediately! They must come and apologize!"

Ruby glanced triumphantly at Katniss.

'Call her parents? She wouldn't dare. When her parents arrived, they would definitely side with me and Simon!'

'Katniss has no one to back her up, so how does she have the nerve to hit me?"

"Sir, this isn't our fault," Juniper tried to explain, but Eli wouldn't listen, turning to apologize to Calvin.

"Mr. Hayes, I'm very sorry about this. I will make sure you get a satisfactory explanation today," Eli said.

The group was taken to Eli's office. Ruby and Calvin sat on the sofa while the other three stood, getting scolded by the vice principal.

"Look what you've done - you call yourselves students? Bullying is unacceptable! Get on the phone right now and call your parents. They need to hear about this immediately!" Eli scolded.

Juniper shook her head, saying, "That's not what happened. Ruby put laxatives in my water before my competition. We were trying to check the surveillance footage, but she stopped us, leading to the fight. Besides, she was involved in the fight too!"

Eli was taken aback, frowning.

Katniss calmly added, "Check the surveillance footage. This is a serious matter involving drugging."

Ruby jumped up, yelling, "I did not! Stop falsely accusing me! You just wanted to disrupt Clara's competition, and I caught you! Katniss, you dared to slap me three times. My dad won't let you off!"

Katniss sneered, about to speak, when Calvin, who had been listening on the sofa, suddenly stood up in anger, rushing over and slapping Katniss hard.