Chapter 5: Still curious

Naomi POV 

I woke up in the same position I fell asleep with the book in hand laying across my bed. I scramble for my phone to check what time it was. 

I thanked the gods that I had time to get ready. I rushed to the shower to get washed after that I quickly packed my bag for school and pulled out something simple yet decent to wear. 

I grabbed blue ripped denim, a blue tank top, and a thin white oversized shirt. I then tried my hair into its usual messy bun, I stepped into my new flats and headed downstairs. 

As I enter the kitchen I head straight for the fridge to grab my usual breakfast along with a disposable fork. I check the key rack and I noticed that it was empty. I came to the conclusion that Riley left without me and uncle Dave hasn't come home yet. 

As I step out of the house I see Riley drive past me and it made me feel a huge pang in my chest. 

Instead of dwelling on it, I started my walk down the road to school. I know that I'll be late but I already missed the bus because I overslept. 

"Hey! Wait up!" I hear a familiar voice yell, I wasn't sure if the voice was calling out to me but I decided to take a glance. 

To my surprise it was Hero, he was jogging lazily towards me with a backpack hanging onto his left shoulder for dear life. I stood In the shade provided by a tree as I waited for him to reach me. When he finally caught up to me he stopped a few centimeters away from me and bent over to catch his breath. 

I looked at him and I swear I caught a glance of something black on his shoulder. 

"Is your shoulder okay?" I ask trying to get a better look but he quickly stood up and fixed his shirt and bag so I couldn't see it. 

"It's fine." He says in a monotone before he started walking without another word.

Was he hiding something? Should I ask to see it? 

Don't pry. Look where that got you yesterday. 

My subconscious reminded me of yesterday's event when I asked him about his English. I used my better judgment to stay quiet and walk a few paces behind him. But I couldn't stop my eyes from darting to his shoulder every few seconds. 

"So why are you late?" He suddenly asks. 

"I overslept. You?"

"Same, I stayed up late watching a movie with your cousin." 

"Oh. Then why'd she leave you if it's her fault?" 

"She tried to wake me up this morning but couldn't." He tells me with a light chuckle and a scratch of his head. 

Those were the last words uttered between us as we walked in a comfortable silence until we reached the campus gates. 

"I'll see you around." He says and heads to his first class, I follow his lead and hurry to mine. I felt instant relief when I saw that the teacher wasn't here yet. I got a few weird glances but I avoided them as usual and took my seat.

I could see Mina approaching me from a mile away but I still prayed that she wouldn't come to me. 

No such luck since she stopped in front of my desk with one of her minions close behind her. 

Mina was one of the more popular girls in our school, she was a unique kind of beautiful, a perfect mix of caucasian and Asian. A vision of beauty to all and she knows it so she took advantage of that. 

She was the girl in charge of the clique of Asians in our school, they all looked up to her and seek out her approval for many things since she was very influential in the school. 

"Hi, Naomi." She says with a smile that seems friendly. 

"Hi, Mina." 

"I wanted to talk to you about the new guy, since you are so close to him." I knew it. 

"We're not that close, but about what?" 

"You could just tell him about our club and see if he wants to join us." 

Club? Is that what they're calling it now? 

"Why can't you just do it yourself?" 

"I just think he'll listen if it's coming from someone he's already friends with." She makes a valid point but we aren't friends. 

"He and I aren't actually friends, just neighbors. You should ask Riley she and him are actually friends not me." Her face went sour at the sound of my cousin's name. 

"Did something happen between you two?" I ask her already knowing the answer. 

"We already asked her." Mina's minion spoke up. 

"But?" 

"She turned us down. Very rudely." Mina grits out through clenched teeth. 

That's odd, Riley is normally friendly with all the other popular people, why would she start being rude all of a sudden. 

"So will you do it?" Mina asks pulling me from my train of thought. 

"Sure," I tell her, I just hope he'll listen. 

By now he must have figured out that I'm not one of the popular people and he'll stop associating himself with me. 

It's just a matter of time.

The rest of my day went smoothly except for a few unusual stares I didn't usually get but I didn't let it bother me too much. 

They just probably think I'm caught in the middle of the Mina Riley feud that's going on right now. 

Avoiding all the stares I open my locker to change books for my next class when I'm joined by Hero. 

"Hey." He says I jumped a little as I was caught off guard and startled by the deepness of his voice. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine." 

"If you say so." He says in a weird tone before closing his locker. Some girls close by started gossiping and giggling for some reason. 

"She's so weird" 

"I know."

They said loud enough for me to hear before laughing again. 

"Hey before you go I wanted to ask you something." 

"Can't it wait till later?" He asks in an irritated tone. 

The girls started giggling again and it seemed to be the reason he was irritated. 

"It's just that this girl wanted you to check out their club, plus I think you'd fit right in- 

"No." He flat out rejects the idea without a second thought and stalks away. 

Ouch. 

"What do you think she asked him?" One of them asked. 

"Maybe to sleep with or something, such a slut." 

"I know!" 

They continue their conversation knowing I can hear every word. 

I slam my locker door as hard as I can before hurrying to the bathroom before the tears started to fall. 

I bum into someone and I few tears slip out, I feel myself falling but I couldn't do anything about it. I braced myself for impact with the floor but it never came. 

When I opened my eyes I was inches away from the floor and I felt a stronghold on my left arm, I looked to see who it was and to my surprise it was Hero. He held out his free hand and I grabbed it so he could pull me up. 

He pulled me up swiftly and my bun opened up letting my wild curls fall down like a curtain. 

"Thanks," I mumble before scurrying off again.

I when to the closest bathroom and quickly locked myself in a stall. I felt my heartbeat racing and I tried to calm myself down but it wasn't working, I quickly rummaged through my bag for my pills. When u found the bottle of pills I was searching for I quickly took two and used my saliva to swallow them. 

I could feel them going down slowly and it felt like torcher and I quickly left the stall to drink some water. 

After the pulls went down I looked at my reflection in the mirror and I was disgusted by my own appearance. I looked like something wild like I just came out of the jungle, or someone homeless. Then that's when the realization hit me. 

Everyone in the hall saw me looking like this, including Hero and people I don't even know.

Why do these keep happening to me? 

I was already born messed up, why do bad things keep happening to me?