Chapter 3

The next couple of days passed by in a flurry as Dia, Abigail and I prepared for resumption and finally school had begun. I was both nervous and ecstatic - nervous because I was going to see Tyler again today and ecstatic because I was going to see another one of my best friends, Asia. I haven’t yet told her that Dia, Abigail and I were here and that we were going to attend Foxbourne Hills High because I wanted to surprise her and I couldn’t wait to see her reaction.

The reason I came back here was because the university I wanted to attend, Cornell, was here and it was also the same university Asia and Lana wanted to attend. I had met Dia and Abigail in the high school that I attended in London and they had decided to come here to attend Foxbourne Hills High with me because the university they wanted to attend, Columbia, was also here. The both of them didn’t want to attend universities in England because their parents would drop by regularly and they didn’t want that. Their parents could still come here to check on them but it wouldn’t be frequently.

“Why’s everyone staring at you Mary?” Dia said in a sing-song voice while she composed a message to her mum who had been texting her since we left home and I glanced at the people in the hallway as I put my books away.

She was right, people were staring and they weren’t even trying to be discreet about it. A couple of people were also whispering as they did it and I was sure some of the things they were saying was bullshit.

“If only I knew,” I replied and went back to putting my books away.

Abigail’s hands gripped the top of my locker door and she peeked around it. “They’re staring at her because she looks hot and according to the girl six feet away from me, she’s hotter than she was before she moved to London.”

I had no idea what they meant about me looking ‘hotter’ because I looked the same as I always had. I stood at 5’8”, black and gold braids falling to my waist, and dark brown eyes. The only difference was my wardrobe change. Before I moved to London, I wore clothes that wouldn’t draw attention to me because I didn’t want Tyler and his henchmen’s attention on me but after I moved, I started wearing clothes that made me look and feel good.

“The talk will be different after Tyler and his henchmen get to them,” I muttered as I slammed my locker shut and Dia lifted her eyes to mine.

“They can’t un-hot you,” she and Abigail said in unison while I pulled on the hand of my bag. Dia had also found out that Tyler and his friends used to harass me but I had downplayed how bad it had been because I didn’t want her and Abigail plotting on how they would get back at them.

“Yes, he can’t but he can do other things…” I slowly scanned the faces of the people in the hallway and soon I saw Lana standing next to an open locker, looking like she didn’t know if she should approach me or stay away from me, before I returned my attention to Abigail and Dia. “Like spread rumors about me being a slut or something.”

“I’ll fucking end him if he does that,” Abigail said just as a boy talking to a video camera which was being held by another boy walked past us and Abigail’s eyes widened slightly while she stared at him.

“What’s wrong? Do you -” I stopped talking when Dia walked away from us and my eyes followed her till she stopped next to the guy talking to the camera.

“Hey, can you…” the guy holding the camera trailed off as he frantically gestured for Abigail to move out of the way.

“I’m not moving till I get this guy’s number,” she replied and my mouth fell open while the boy next to her was taken aback for a brief moment.

“Jesus Christ,” Dia muttered and kept her phone in her pocket before grabbing my hand. “Let’s head to homeroom.”

“We can’t leave her. She doesn’t know where the class is.”

“That can be arranged,” the boy said to Abigail after a huge smile grew on his face and he held his hand out toward her. “Corey Anderson, at your service. You must be new.”

I didn’t recognize him so he was either new too or he started attending Foxbourne Hills High after I left.

“I am, actually.” Abigail slipped her hand into his but instead of shaking it, she just held it and flashed him one of her charming smiles. “Abigail Finley.”

“Abigail… It fits you. And can I just say, you look absolutely stunning.”

The guy behind the camera poked his head out from behind the camera. “Dude,” he said just as the first bell rang.

“Abigail!” Dia called out and Abigail and Corey glanced at us over their shoulders while the students in the hallway began to disperse.

Abigail gave her a dismissive wave before she and Corey brought out their phones and exchanged numbers. “See you later… Corey,” she said and walked back to us before we quickly headed to homeroom.

After a thirty minute long class of smiles from unexpected people in homeroom, Abigail, Dia and I made our way towards Calculus which was the only class the three of us had together today. I was going to have Physics with Dia after Calculus and Literature with Abigail later.

“You guys are already texting each other?” I said to Abigail as I stared at the messages she and Corey had sent to each other while she replied his recent text and she shrugged.

“No time to waste.”

A squeal suddenly rang out in the hall and just as I turned my head in the direction it had come from, someone slammed into me, making me stumble backwards. “Oof,” I groaned while the person wrapped their arms around me, hugging me with all their might, and I didn’t need to see the girl’s face to know who she was because there was only one person who would be this excited to see me.

“Mary!” Asia screamed a few decibels more than necessary when she finally pulled away from me and her curls bounced as we started jumping up and down excitedly while holding each other’s hands. She was grinning like an idiot and I was sure my own smile matched hers.

She and her mum came to stay with my family in London for a week last month but it still felt like I hadn’t seen her in a very long time.

“You’re here. What are you doing here?” she asked before her eyes fell on Dia and Abigail and her surprise washed over her face. “Oh my God. Dia! Abigail!” She rushed over to them before hugging them like she’d known them forever and when they separated, she said, “Wow, you guys are even hotter in person.”

“Look who’s talking,” Abigail replied as she gave Asia a once over and a goofy smile grew on her face. “Are you single?”

Dia rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath, and I tsked while students walked past us and into the Calculus class.

“Only if you are,” Asia replied after a goofy smile grew on her face too and I shook my head sideways as the bell rang.

“Get your ridiculous asses inside the class.” I ushered Abigail into the class and my breath caught when I saw Tyler in the class. He was laughing at something Noah said and seeing his face… seeing his smile made me forget everything else.

I haven’t seen him since that rainy night when he and Candi were in his room and I couldn't help but remember the time when he and I were best friends. I knew there was a reason why Tyler’s attitude towards me changed drastically and I had wracked my brain a million times trying to figure it out but I couldn’t. Yes, he was cold to a lot of people but I was the only one he had harassed constantly and I couldn’t help but wonder ‘why me?’

I was jolted back to reality when his eyes found mine and the smile on his face instantly disappeared before Shane and Noah who were standing next to him faced me too.

I moved from the spot I had been momentarily rooted to to an empty seat and after I sat on it, Noah and Shane moved towards the empty seats that were in front of me and behind me but Dia and Abigail sat on them before the boys could get to them.

That didn’t stop Noah from walking to the desk though and he placed his hands on it as he fixed his gaze on Dia, smiling at her. “That’s my seat sweetheart.”

“Is your name written on it?” she asked, tilting her head to the side, and his smile grew wider before he pointed at the corner of the table. ‘Noah’ was neatly carved into the metal there and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“Nice try.” he said and Dia leaned back in her seat while Asia sat in the seat next to me.

“Feel free to carry the table then.”

Noah clicked his tongue and his eyes darted from Dia to me then back to Dia before he rapped his knuckles on the table, moving to the seat next to her just as the teacher who was one my mum’s friends walked into the class.

The man, Mr. Mason, flashed me a smile when he saw me. “What a nice surprise so early in the morning,” he said as he placed a textbook on his desk while staring at Dia, Abigail and I. He then cleared his throat and folded his arms across his chest.

“Welcome back students. Trust you had a great summer?” He flipped through the textbook on the table and a chorus of ‘Yes, Mr. Mason’ filled the class. “... Well thanks for asking, I had a great summer too,” he announced and the corners of my mouth quirked up while some people snorted.

“And since it’s the first day of school, I have a surprise for you all,” he said in a sing-song voice and ‘ooh’s filled the class before he suddenly pulled out a stack of papers from under the desk. “Pop quiz!” he announced as he held the stack up and a lot of people groaned. “Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!”

“Mr. Mason,” Abigail suddenly called out and I glanced over my shoulder to see that her eyes were wide. “It’s literally the first day of school.”

“I know right. Perfect time to test everyone’s knowledge,” he replied cheerily as he began to share the test papers and people groaned again. “It’s based on what you learnt last year so it shouldn’t be hard for some of you and if I catch anyone talking during this test, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career.”

“You can’t do that. That’s like… illegal,” someone announced from the back of the class and Mr. Mason snorted.

“Oh, I very well can.” He finished distributing the test papers and went back to the front of the class. “Your time starts now.”