"... And I expect you to hand in your projects by Friday and make sure you work as a team." Mrs. Jones, our English Literature teacher, says to the class.
Ring...
"Well that's the bell. Now off to lunch. Ms. Thorne, a word please."
I give Thea a questioning look and she gestures for me to go over to Mrs. Jones as she walks out of the class.
"Since you're a new student and I hate having students who are not caught up with the rest of the class, here is a copy of all that I have taught the class this term. That includes all the assignments. Read it, because..."
She pauses and looks around the empty classroom.
"Don't tell anyone but there is a pop quiz coming up this Friday and I don't want my new student failing."
"Thank you ma'am. My lips are sealed." I smile at her.
I place the binder in my bag and walk out of the class and see Thea at the door. We start walking down the hall together.
"What was that all about?"
"Can't we just talk about this when we get home?" Thea groans. "No. Now." "Well I'm sore. We'll talk about this later." "How are you sore? You were literally made out of steel a few seconds ago." I scream. "It's not that easy okay. Now I'm not going to say this again, we'll talk about this later." She gives me her signature glare from the rear-view mirror and I give up. Out of frustration I throw my hands in the air and accidentally hit an unconscious West, causing him to fall on my lap. I turn to ask Joey for help but he’s already out. Looking down at West, I silently studying his facial features. His nose was slightly crooked, purple and swollen. His lips are slightly parted, revealing his pearl white teeth. The scar across his face seems clearer to me now. I still wonder what caused such a huge scar. I slowly run my finger along the scar. Right where the scar stops, I notice the mark I saw yesterday. It’s not a circle, it’s
“You do know how to use a phone right?” Thea asks as we get ready for school. I decide on letting my hair down today, something I rarely ever do considering how hard it is to tame my mane. “I know the basics, it’s not that hard.” I answer as I pull on one of the new shoes Thea got for me. “Good. No one needs another reason to make fun of you.” “Another? There’s already a reason?” I ask but she leaves the room, ignoring the question. I follow her and we both end up in the kitchen. Joey walks up to me with an apron tied around his waist and a plate on pancakes stretched out in one hand. “M’lady.” He does a little bow before leading me to a seat and placing the plate in front of me. I can’t help but laugh. “What’s going on?” I turn to ask him. “You got into a fight that you had nothing to do with on your first day. I think you deserve a treat.” He fills a glass with juice and place it beside the table, not forgetting to bo
Ringgg! Finally, Spanish class has come to an end. That is probably going to be the most boring class I'm in. I even caught Thea sleeping. The teacher, Ms. Lopez, was talking so slow and kept stopping to give me an odd look. Weird lady. Thea and I quickly run out of the class, looking and feeling exhausted. "That was torture. Is that what you go through every time?" I ask Thea as we exit the classroom. "You wouldn't believe." She shakes her head dramatically. “She’s just the substitute though. Our real teacher is actually pretty cool. She’s on maternity leave.” She turns to look at me and her expression suddenly to one I don’t recognize. "Onda, we’ve known each other for less than a week and a lot has happened since we met. I want you to know that I’ll never break my promise. I promised to protect you and I will. Okay?" "Where’s all this coming fr..." "Are you ready?" I jump, startled by the voice ever-so-close
FRIDAY “I’m so happy it’s Friday.” Thea yawns as we exit geometry class. “You successfully succeeded one week of school, how do you feel?” She holds her pen to my mouth like it’s a mic. “I feel drained. How many more weeks of this do I have to go through?” I whine. “You don’t want to know.” She laughs. “What class do you have next?” “I have English literature next and we’re having a quiz, I’m scared. Then I have PE.” “Ok, that means you have PE with Joey. Good luck on your quiz. Later.” She walks off and I run to the vending machine in the girls’ locker room. I’m still trying to get the hang of these machines so it takes me a few minutes to get myself a coke - I need the sugar for this quiz. As I walk out of the locker room, I bump into someone and drop the can. I catch it with my foot as it's about to hit the ground. "I'm sorry." The person bends to help me get the coke but stops when they see it balan
“And then she threw two balls at him. One hit his leg while the other misses him but gets stuck in the wall behind him. The crowd went crazy.” Joey narrates the story for me as I scarf down my lunch. “Wow. Who knew dodgeball could be so exciting?” West laughs. “He deserves it though. I knew something was fishy when he suddenly wanted to be friends with you, asking you to join him for lunch.” Thea says. “And you didn’t say anything? Aren’t you supposed to be ‘protecting’ me?” “Yeah but experience is sometimes the best teacher. We all went through it, so you should too.” She shrugs and bites down on her Deli wrap. I didn’t expect much sympathy from her anyways. “By the way, it says I have Child Development as an elective in the nurse’s office. What’s child development?” I ask as a gulp down the last of my orange juice. The boys turn to Thea with wide eyes. “Why would you give her child development? Literally no one ever picks tha
“Rise and shine.”I roll to Thea’s side of the bed stretching as far as my limbs can go.“It’s almost ten o’clock. We need to go to work. Wake up sleepy head.”I spring up on hearing the time. 10 AM? I’ve never slept in this late before. I grab my phone off the nightstand and race to the bathroom. Thea giggles as I slam the door behind me.“I really shouldn’t be slacking off this much. What’s gotten into me?” I pick up my toothbrush first and squeeze paste on it. As I brush, I pick up my phone and turn it on. As the screen comes on, the first thing I notice is the time.7:39 AM.“Thea!” I scream, sputtering toothpaste everywhere. She lets out an evil laugh from the bedroom.Next thing I notice is the texts from Beckett.“Hey! Are you home yet?” 9:32 PM.“Don’t forget you’re taking little Jack-Jac
SUNDAYThea doesn’t wake me up for our morning run today, I wake her up. The run is quite peaceful, unlike last time. Everyone makes sure I stay clear of the lake as we run past it. We get back to the house about an hour and a half later and we all scatter to get ready for breakfast.“What’s for breakfast today?” I ask Joey as we head downstairs together.“I don’t know either. West said he’d handle it himself today. To be honest, I’m a little scared.” We enter the kitchen to find West running around the kitchen. I’m not going to lie, West looks good when he’s cooking. His hair is stuck to his face just like yesterday and I can’t help but admire him.Joey snaps me out of my trance and pulls me to the table.“Woah someone went all out for today’s breakfast.” The table is covered in all sorts of things.“I’m feeling good today.
“You okay?” West asks Joey as we enter the car, ready to leave for school. I glance at Joey and he looks quite pale. Did I do that? “Yeah I’m alright. Let’s go.” Thea joins us and West starts the car. We reach school just as the first bell rings. “Mr. Parker.” West and I look at each other in horror as we realize that we have Geometry now and Mr. Parker gives detention to anyone who gets to class after him. We sprint down the halls and take the stairs three at a time to reach our class. West opens the door while I rest my hands on my knees in exhaustion. “He isn’t even here yet.” I sigh as we walk over to the only free seats in the class. As I manoeuvre my way through the occupied desks, Brian kicks his leg out just as I’m about to pass him but I’m quicker than he thinks. I skip over his foot with my right leg and step on it with my left heel. West and I high five after seeing Brian clutch his foot as we get to our seats. My choice of
“Onda wake up. You’re not safe.” Mom? I try to look around but it’s too dark to see anything. I don’t even know where I am. I feel the ground and I can tell I’m in a room; the floor is cemented. “Baby you have to be careful.” My mother’s voice moves across the room in a whisper. “Mom where are you? Where am I?” The loud creak of a door echoes through the room, telling me that the room is bigger than I think. The door slams shut and I hear footsteps. I slide back, hoping to hit a wall soon but I never do. The footsteps draw closer and I ready myself for a surprise attack. I still can’t see anything so any attack would be a surprise at this point. “You think you’re safe with them.” A voice whispers behind me. I try to turn around but my body is frozen. I can’t even turn my head. Their hot breath fans my neck and cheek as they breathe down my neck. Rough hair scratches my neck as they move closer.
“Once again it’s Friday, my favourite day of the week.” Thea stretches as we exit Geometry class. “Not me. It’s the one day I have a class where I’m seat partners with Alexa and she tries really hard to piss me off every time.” I slam my locker shut so hard it rattles, threatening to come off its hinges. “Sucks to be you. See you later though. Remember, you can’t hurt her.” Thea gives me a thumbs up as she walks to her next class before the bell even rings. I drag my feet to Literature class and slump in my seat. The bell rings and in walks Alexa and the girl whose punch I will never forget – her name is Tracy. “Ok class we don’t have much to discuss today, we’re going to continue from where we stopped in our books last week and ask questions at the end of the class.” The only sound heard in the room is the sound of flipping pages as Mrs. Jones returns to her desk. “Hey Rhonda.” Here we go again. “It’s Onda, get it right.” “Sorry, it’s
WEDNESDAY “I see you’re feeling better.” “Better than ever.” Joey beams as he plays around with his balls of fire. “So what exactly was the problem?” Thea asks. “I still don’t know but I’m better now, that’s all that matters to me.” I will take my actions to the grave. Telling them is only going to make them trust me less, as if they trust me at all already. “Okay everyone in the car.” West orders as he grabs the keys from the coffee table. With Joey in front of me, leading the way, and Thea and West behind me, we all head for the front door. I stop in my tracks, feeling a sneeze coming. “Oh no.” My loud sneeze is followed by a slight tremor and the house shivers. The sound of plates and utensils hitting the floor in the kitchen takes the lead and the bookshelf by the window is half empty. Everyone turns to me as I flash a nervous smile. “Surprise. It’s back.” ************
“You okay?” West asks Joey as we enter the car, ready to leave for school. I glance at Joey and he looks quite pale. Did I do that? “Yeah I’m alright. Let’s go.” Thea joins us and West starts the car. We reach school just as the first bell rings. “Mr. Parker.” West and I look at each other in horror as we realize that we have Geometry now and Mr. Parker gives detention to anyone who gets to class after him. We sprint down the halls and take the stairs three at a time to reach our class. West opens the door while I rest my hands on my knees in exhaustion. “He isn’t even here yet.” I sigh as we walk over to the only free seats in the class. As I manoeuvre my way through the occupied desks, Brian kicks his leg out just as I’m about to pass him but I’m quicker than he thinks. I skip over his foot with my right leg and step on it with my left heel. West and I high five after seeing Brian clutch his foot as we get to our seats. My choice of
SUNDAYThea doesn’t wake me up for our morning run today, I wake her up. The run is quite peaceful, unlike last time. Everyone makes sure I stay clear of the lake as we run past it. We get back to the house about an hour and a half later and we all scatter to get ready for breakfast.“What’s for breakfast today?” I ask Joey as we head downstairs together.“I don’t know either. West said he’d handle it himself today. To be honest, I’m a little scared.” We enter the kitchen to find West running around the kitchen. I’m not going to lie, West looks good when he’s cooking. His hair is stuck to his face just like yesterday and I can’t help but admire him.Joey snaps me out of my trance and pulls me to the table.“Woah someone went all out for today’s breakfast.” The table is covered in all sorts of things.“I’m feeling good today.
“Rise and shine.”I roll to Thea’s side of the bed stretching as far as my limbs can go.“It’s almost ten o’clock. We need to go to work. Wake up sleepy head.”I spring up on hearing the time. 10 AM? I’ve never slept in this late before. I grab my phone off the nightstand and race to the bathroom. Thea giggles as I slam the door behind me.“I really shouldn’t be slacking off this much. What’s gotten into me?” I pick up my toothbrush first and squeeze paste on it. As I brush, I pick up my phone and turn it on. As the screen comes on, the first thing I notice is the time.7:39 AM.“Thea!” I scream, sputtering toothpaste everywhere. She lets out an evil laugh from the bedroom.Next thing I notice is the texts from Beckett.“Hey! Are you home yet?” 9:32 PM.“Don’t forget you’re taking little Jack-Jac
“And then she threw two balls at him. One hit his leg while the other misses him but gets stuck in the wall behind him. The crowd went crazy.” Joey narrates the story for me as I scarf down my lunch. “Wow. Who knew dodgeball could be so exciting?” West laughs. “He deserves it though. I knew something was fishy when he suddenly wanted to be friends with you, asking you to join him for lunch.” Thea says. “And you didn’t say anything? Aren’t you supposed to be ‘protecting’ me?” “Yeah but experience is sometimes the best teacher. We all went through it, so you should too.” She shrugs and bites down on her Deli wrap. I didn’t expect much sympathy from her anyways. “By the way, it says I have Child Development as an elective in the nurse’s office. What’s child development?” I ask as a gulp down the last of my orange juice. The boys turn to Thea with wide eyes. “Why would you give her child development? Literally no one ever picks tha
FRIDAY “I’m so happy it’s Friday.” Thea yawns as we exit geometry class. “You successfully succeeded one week of school, how do you feel?” She holds her pen to my mouth like it’s a mic. “I feel drained. How many more weeks of this do I have to go through?” I whine. “You don’t want to know.” She laughs. “What class do you have next?” “I have English literature next and we’re having a quiz, I’m scared. Then I have PE.” “Ok, that means you have PE with Joey. Good luck on your quiz. Later.” She walks off and I run to the vending machine in the girls’ locker room. I’m still trying to get the hang of these machines so it takes me a few minutes to get myself a coke - I need the sugar for this quiz. As I walk out of the locker room, I bump into someone and drop the can. I catch it with my foot as it's about to hit the ground. "I'm sorry." The person bends to help me get the coke but stops when they see it balan
Ringgg! Finally, Spanish class has come to an end. That is probably going to be the most boring class I'm in. I even caught Thea sleeping. The teacher, Ms. Lopez, was talking so slow and kept stopping to give me an odd look. Weird lady. Thea and I quickly run out of the class, looking and feeling exhausted. "That was torture. Is that what you go through every time?" I ask Thea as we exit the classroom. "You wouldn't believe." She shakes her head dramatically. “She’s just the substitute though. Our real teacher is actually pretty cool. She’s on maternity leave.” She turns to look at me and her expression suddenly to one I don’t recognize. "Onda, we’ve known each other for less than a week and a lot has happened since we met. I want you to know that I’ll never break my promise. I promised to protect you and I will. Okay?" "Where’s all this coming fr..." "Are you ready?" I jump, startled by the voice ever-so-close