I felt something warm drip from my eyebrow to my cheek. I ignored it and kept driving. As long as I got back to my room before the headmaster found out I was gone, I would be fine.
I sped into the parking lot and jumped out of my car. I had my head down as I walked back, putting my jacket on. I zipped it up and looked up only to stop in my tracks. The headmaster was there with his arms crossed and Chey, Deidra, and Mark behind him looking thoroughly scolded.
Shit. I put my hands in my pocket, pushing the money in it more so he wouldn't notice.
"Where have you been?" He yelled. He reminded me of my dad when I got in trouble at home. "You do realize that not only was curfew was two hours ago, but you're not allowed to leave the grounds at any time without a guardian's permission. I expect to see you in my office tomorrow morning. Get to the nurse, and then get to your dorm!" He yelled and stocked away. I let out a long breath.
Mark, Chey, and Deidra ran
As soon as the nurse left for me to ice my side for the next fifteen minutes, Mark let go of my hand and went over to take her chair, moving it back to my side. I watched with fascination as the muscles in his arm coiled beneath his skin as he moved the seat before he sat down and took my hand again. The calloused skin on his hand felt nice against my soft palm. I wondered what it would feel like as he cupped my cheek and pulled me in for a kiss, or as he slid his hand under my shirt on my hip and pulled me against his side as we walked down the hallway to class. "I'm happy around you," I whispered, smiling when I saw the corner of his lips pull up. "One of these days, I'm going to make you so confident in us that you'll never let me go." He leaned forward, his fingers fiddling with the wrap around my ribs. I could see how happy those words made him, but there was also a hard resistance in the way his back straightened, and I knew that the damage his ex-girlf
Chey, Deidra, and I spent the entire Sunday, just hanging out and watching movies all day. I learned that Deidra was funny, sarcastic, and crazy loyal. They shared a very interesting story of how she beat up a guy for making fun of the way Chey dressed. Overall, she seemed like a good friend to have, and I was happy that she was my other roommate. We avoided all talk of Mark and Jessie for the entire day, and I was very grateful for that. We all went to bed early that night, so we could get up on time for school, much to our displeasure. I let my hand fall on top of my phone, my fingers tapping at it blindly to turn it off. After a minute, I cracked one eye open and slid the alarm to snooze. I rolled back over and closed my eyes once again. Apparently, Chey and Deidra had other plans. The second I fell back asleep they started to jump on my bed and legs. I groaned and opened my eyes reluctantly. Chey got off and turned on some music. She took a minute
Once again, I was feeling thankful that my situation was as good as I got. It could have been significantly worse. As we finished eating, I watched as Mark came into the room. His eyes fell on me immediately. He held his usual confidence, and people moved out of his way as he strode toward us. If I didn't know him, I wouldn't have noticed the small twitch in his wrist that informed me he was nervous. I nodded my head toward the empty seat next to me, and he sat down but kept his hands to himself. I had hoped that he would have heard me on Saturday. I needed him to know that he could trust me and that I wanted to be with him, but it appeared that he was still guarded. Chey broke the tension by asking to go over my schedule. I placed the piece of paper on the table, narrowly missing the small splash of orange juice on the surface. My schedule: 1st hour - English (by myself) 2nd hour - Math (with Deidra and Mark) 3rd hour - World
Marx's P.O.V. I sat down in the chair across from the headmaster where he sat at his desk. The headmaster just glared at me with hatred. I held back a chuckle of amusement. Julie had walked out of the class before us but never made it to the office. It seemed that she was over today as much as I was. About an hour and a half later, Shane walked in with Jake. I mean Officer Simons and Officer Mathews. It's not who I asked for, but they were still friends who joined the force a couple years ago. What the Hell took them so long? Shane was walking with someone small following behind them with her head cast toward the ground. I looked down at them, and I felt my anger flair when I saw how close he was to her. "You got arrested already? You were gone for an hour!" I shouted in frustration. My hand went up to the top of my head, where my fingers laced themselves in my hair. "I didn't get arrested, but from what I hear, you might be!" She screamed bac
I was placed on the curb outside the shop and asked not to move. A short while later, the man who had tackled him off of me, was bagging the knife as evidence and the other was approaching me. "You've sure had a rough go of it, and it's not even noon." The police officer stated, trying to lighten the mood, but I was still partially in shock. "Try a rough life," I whispered. The cop sighed and took a seat next to me. "I've got a few minutes to kill. Want to talk about it before we head to the station for your statement?" He seemed nice enough, but there was something about him that made me feel comfortable. "I'm sure once you look me up in your system, you'll see a whole book on me. Do you want to start with the accident I was in with my dad that ended up killing him? Me witnessing my best friend bleed to death after getting hit by a truck? My mother getting murdered in our house, and me finding her killer trying to rape my sister and having him stab m
His car grew smaller with every passing second. I waited and watched as drove away, hoping it was a joke. He was my legal guardian and my foster parent, how was he going to just leave me here? Unless, he had decided that he had enough.When the reality of the situation hit me that he wasn’t coming back, my arms found their way around my midsection, and I debated calling Mark to come pick me up. But, if I did that, then he would just get in trouble for leaving campus too.I pulled out my phone, unhappy when I saw that my battery was dying. It wasn’t dead, but I wouldn’t be getting into an Uber with a dying phone. That was an episode of CSI just waiting to happen. Instead, I walked back into the police station to ask if I could use theirs.The fog around me seemed to be getting thicker, and I tried my best to stay level headed and calm. The moisture in my eyes, rebelling against me every step of the way.“What are you doing back, did
All third hour no one would talk to me except Chey and Deidra. They were still asking for details about my little adventure and how I was holding up. I tried not to snap at them, but as the shock faded, tiredness took over.When the bell rang, the three of us jumped out of our seats and walked over to the courtyard waiting for Mark and his roommate, Trey, who wanted to sit with us. We looked around for several minutes until I spotted them standing on the other side. Mark was on the phone, so he didn't notice us walk up to him.When he did see me though, he said a quick goodbye and hung up abnormally fast.Marx's P.O.V.She is really going to hate me for this, but someone had to do it. I hope she can forgive me. She has no idea what is in store for her in about forty-five minutes.Julie's P.O.V.We all walked into the buzzing cafeteria, and it went dead silent as we walked in. The five of us just stood there as eve
"What do you mean? What kind of help?" He smiled a warm smile, and now that I was interested he seemed to relax. He had short brown hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed, with brown eyes and glasses. He was extremely scrawny too. I had to wonder what a kid like him was doing in a school for troubled youths."Well, for the past two years, every day at lunch a group of guys comes in and takes our food. If it isn't to their liking, we get beat up. Bad. I was voted to be the one to come over to your table and ask for your help. There are six of us, but there are also six of the others who beat us up." The kid dropped his arms on the table as he leaned forward. Mark quietly chuckled behind me, causing the guy to lose his smile and roll his shoulders down in defeat."I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch. I should have known that there was no point in coming over here. I'm so sorry." He started to stand, but I placed my hand on his where he was using it to push up fro
"Bye, Julie!" The ten-year-old screamed with laughter as she ran into her bedroom, slamming it behind her to prevent her older brother from getting to her with his can of silly string. A smile stretched across my face at the sight of my family celebrating Bri's birthday. It had been a relaxing day enjoying the barbeque and pool party with all of her friends and family. Ryan and Terry had been present, and while we were civil for the sake of Bri, we tended to avoid each other at these types of events. Ryan held a grudge against me for being such a troublemaker and reflecting negatively on their family name. Meanwhile, I held a grudge against them for trying to put me back into the foster system to find a new family after I was released from the hospital. I knew it would happen eventually, but that didn't make it hurt any less. They never made it that far. I had been able to petition for my independence and emancipation as I was only a few months from turning 18. Luckily for me, this
I woke up as the door slammed open, and the lights came on, peaking in from the edges of my blindfold. I would have tilted my head back and looked over to see who walked in from under the fabric, but I still couldn't move."Please! Why are you doing this? Why can't you just kill me? Don't do this please! Don't do this to her!" Mark's voice would have been calming if it wasn't full of panic and fear.The sound of someone approaching was followed by the blindfold being ripped off my face. I could see three men pulling Mark into the room from the corner of my eye. I wanted to tell him I would be okay, but couldn't. He had to know that I was stronger than anything they threw at me."She had nothing to do with it! If you're going to kill me, just kill me! She wasn't even there! Please, I'm begging you! Don't touch her!" He was slammed down into a chair that another man dragged in behind them, and was quickly tied down to it.A hand wrapped around my ankle, but
Julie's P.O.V.I took a deep breath to relax as I felt the SUV pull to a stop after at least half an hour of driving. I heard doors opening, and I tensed back up. Someone grabbed my legs while another pair of hands reached for my arms.I squirmed and struggled. They had pulled me halfway out of the car, and I started screaming. A cloth was shoved into my mouth, but I kept hitting and fighting with all I had. I felt a sharp pain in my leg. Not even thirty seconds later, my leg went numb, followed by my other leg, abdomen, and everything else as it worked its way up my body until I couldn't move or speak, but somehow felt everything.I collapsed onto the ground with a thump. My limp legs were lifted up off the ground, and I could feel my back and hands scrapping against the hot concrete as they pulled me to our destination. I heard the door open, and I was dragged once again.My back held a searing pain, and if I could, I would have screame
As I made my way to the door of the classroom, my eyes eerily glanced to the parking lot on my right. This building was the closest to it, so I was worried. I picked up my speed a little bit when I heard footsteps quickly following behind me at a faster pace than my own.The logical side of my brain was telling me that someone was just late for class, but the panicked part of my brain told me to run. The footsteps grew louder as the person got closer, and I turned my walk into a brisk jog, my backpack bouncing as I did so. The door to my classroom was only four doors away, and it was open. I just had to make it a little further before breaking down and having my panic attack.The squealing of tires caught my attention and sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight off of my body. My breathing came out in small pants as I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.A large black SUV came into view and slammed on its breaks not more than 50 ya
I backed up towards the door. Unfortunately for me, we didn't keep the cleanest room, and I tripped over a pile of clothes landing right on my butt. When I looked up, Mark was smiling at me, the humor of me falling taking away from the seriousness of the situation…for him at least."Mark? W-what . . . what the fuck is going on?" I stammered as my throat closed up. He stood with the gun still in his hand and walked toward me. I started to shake. He stopped a few feet in front of me and looked down at me with his other hand outstretched in my direction, palm up.When I didn't take it, he narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Julie, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never, ever hurt you." He said as he crouched down next to me. "Why would you think that I would?" He sounded honestly hurt."You just pulled out a fucking g…" He placed his hand over my mouth."Julie, no one can know. Please, just let me explain. Plus, this gun isn't mine. This gun is
His Adam's apple bobbed harshly, and I met his stare as he scanned my face over as if judging how serious I was. Then, he nodded his head to the side and turned to resume walking. I moved with him, knowing that he needed a minute to collect himself. We made our way back to our dorm slowly, but he stopped me before we reached the front doors."I know what you mean. It was so hard…everything we went through, but we did it together. I don't think I'm ready to let you go yet, but I know I have to. I can't keep holding onto you and what we used to have, because that's gone now." He nudged the tip of his shoes against mine, and I looked down just as he pulled his foot back. "You do seem happy with him. I don't want to be in the way of that.""I really am." My voice was soft, as I didn't want anyone to overhear us.Jessie cleared his throat, and I fiddled with the hem of my shirt between my thumb and forefinger. He gave me a sad smile and let out a chuckle while
I flipped through the television, rather violently, much to Deidra's annoyance. After several minutes, she got to her feet, announcing that she was going to go visit her boyfriend (who I had yet to meet), and left me alone with my thoughts.Why would he stand me up?Was this payback for me not forgiving him sooner, or was it because of how poorly the conversation went last night?That petty, son of a bit…The sound of knocking broke me from my thoughts, and I turned off the baking show I had landed on.I got up slowly and walked over to the door. I swung it open."Hello?" I looked up, and I saw Jessie in a clean white t-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans."Are you ready?" He asked with a big grin.I kept a straight face."I'm sorry I'm late. The headmaster called me into his office. I tried to get out sooner, but he just kept babbling." I smiled at him and nodded."It's okay. I'm ready. Let me just grab
I wanted to pull Mark to the side of the hallway and tell him everything involving Jessie from yesterday to today, but with the crowd around us trying to get to class, it didn't seem like the right time.Maybe, I should wait and tell him after I cleared the air with Jessie this evening and everything was settled. If he knew about my meeting with Jessie beforehand, I figured it would make him stressed and frustrated wondering what we were doing, and if I was being faithful, even though we weren't technically together. As far as I was concerned, Mark was mine whether we placed a title on it or not. If another woman tried to make a move on him, she would have to deal with me.The entire second period, I was flooded with guilt that I hadn't talked to Mark yet, that I couldn't even enjoy the feeling of his hand on my thigh throughout the class.I pretty much ran to World History for third period so I could talk to Chey and Deidra and not have to worry about Mark over
I burst through the door to my first hour at the last second with my backpack slung carelessly over my shoulder and my half-finished coffee in my hand."Nice of you to join us, Ms. Sanders." The teacher said with sarcasm.I just sent her an apologetic smile, and she nodded as I sat down in my seat."We're going to be studying the magical work of Romeo and Juliet for the quarter." The males groaned, but I had a huge grin on my face. I was still a nerd at heart. Plus, my old school had already covered this curriculum months ago."Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their death bury their parents' strife.The fearful passage of their death-