3: Saved By The Bell

I swallowed.

Once then twice.

What had I been thinking? All my plans of being low key on my first day were gone now simply because I didn’t just do as I was told.

Eons seemed to pass as Aiden’s unwavering glare held me captive, making my heart beat loudly in my chest as I tried but failed to appear unbothered.

His jaw twitched slightly, a sign he was now very angry.

“Are you deaf or something?” He asked me in a threatening voice. “I’m in a good mood today, but my patience is running thin. Get out now before I help you get out. I guarantee you won’t like my method.”

I looked around the classroom and each person I looked at either turned away or left warned me to leave while I still could. I didn’t think he would hurt me physically, but I still didn’t want to find out what he meant when he said he would help me get out.

Whatever it was would definitely form my reputation in that school from then on. I planned to stay in this school even if my mother randomly wanted to leave at some point, so I couldn’t afford to just leave and mend my reputation elsewhere again.

On the other hand, being the girl who was intimidated by the ‘jock’ on her first day in school didn’t sound so pleasing either. I had to show people I wasn’t one to be pushed around, not even by the guy who everyone seemed to fear.

I sighed dramatically and rolled my eyes.

Standing up, I flung my bag over my shoulder and stepped away from the chair.

“Fine. Since you’re so attached to this piece of wood that you’ll be willing to stand here and gape at me like a statue all day, then you can have it,” I said and I heard several gasps. His jaw twitched again, but I didn’t react. “This is too childish, especially for someone like you who looks like they redid a few grades.”

Was that too much? Yes it was. Sometimes, I didn’t know how to control my mouth. Words just spilled out without warning, and considering the sorry glances I was receiving from everyone else in class, I believed I had signed my own death sentence.

Aiden dropped his bag on the desk I had just vacated and cracked his knuckles. My breath hitched. Did he want to hit me? He smirked when he saw the fear on my face, smiling even harder when I stepped back when he stepped toward me.

“What is going on this time?” A voice said.

Everyone immediately stopped looking at us and turned to face the teacher who had just walked into the class. I heaved a sigh of relief when Aiden left me and sat down.

“You. Why are you still standing?” The teacher asked. I realized he was talking to me.

“Oh, uhm…”

“She’s new,” the blond girl that had warned me of Aiden said. She stood up and led me to the only other empty seat in the class which was two rows in front of the Aiden’s row.

“Welcome to Summer Valley High,” the teacher said coldly. He was probably not paid enough.

***

The rest of the class went by smoothly. Fortunately, Tricia, the blond girl as I had come to know, shared the next class with me and helped me sort out the rest of my classes. I soon got the hang of it. Fortunately, I didn’t share any more classes with Aiden.

When it was time for lunch, I went to the cafeteria alone and joined the queue.

My stomach made a rumbling sound and a few people turned to me. Ugh. I hadn’t eaten that morning and now my stomach had sensed food, it found it necessary to alert me and everyone else of the fact.

I was surprised when I saw the food. It wasn’t actually bad. There was a variety of choices you could make, and so unlike the food that always looked like someone had just vomited the ingredients that was sold at my old school.

“You’re either really daring or just really stupid,” the girl in front of me said. The girl was several inches shorter than me even with her high black heels that matched her all black outfit. The only color on her was the purple eye shadow she was wearing. She pulled off the emo look, but compared to her, my dressing felt less ridiculous.

“Excuse me?”

She shrugged as if she hadn’t just insulted me. I recognized her. She had been in the class when the thing with Aiden happened and had the same bored expression she had now. Her jaw moved as she chewed and blew her gum, looking at me like she was bored of the conversation she had started.

“You have guts, I’ll give you that,” she said, eyeing me up and down. “No one has stood up to that big headed idiot in a while so seeing the shock on his face was very satisfying to watch. However, what you did has implications. Hate to be you.”

She started to leave after her food was served, but I asked her to wait. She rolled her eyes, but didn’t leave.

“What?” She asked when I was done taking my food.

“What do you mean, implications?” I asked.

“You’ll figure it out soon enough,” she said, before giving me a fake smile and turning around to find a seat.

“No, stop. Can you just tell me what’s going on? What should I expect?”

“Ugh,” she groaned, letting me know how much I was irritating her. “Why on earth did I decide it was a good idea to talk to you?”

I blinked. She was rude, but she had what I needed; information.

“Just tell me, please.”

“Can we at least sit down first?” She asked, before walking away. I followed her. “Aiden is a brooding, walking sociopath, but just because he’s tall or whatever, all the girls at this school think his mental issues make him sexy.”

My stomach rumbled but it wasn’t from hunger this time. In fact, I had lost my appetite.

“He keeps to himself mostly, except when some girl comes into the picture or whatever,” she said without hiding the disgust in her tone. “He’s quiet, but he changes completely if you provoke him. Most people just stay out of his way to avoid trouble. One time, some guy thought it would be a good idea to play a prank on him by putting glitter in his locker, and the boy never showed up again at this school. Rumor has it that he simply vanished. Another girl tried to kiss him in public and the next day, boom her cat died. A teacher once gave him detention and that evening, her tires got slashed.”

“Oh my god,” I gasped in horror, the hairs on my skin standing.

So Aiden was a psychopath for real. What had I gotten myself into?

The girl whose name I still didn’t know yet started to laugh so loudly, she almost fell backward. The noise attracted the attention of everyone in the cafeteria and I had to bend my head because so many people were staring at us.

“None of the things I said are true,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “You should have seen your face. I wish I’d taken a picture.”

I frowned. Something was definitely wrong with this girl. I couldn’t believe I had believed her so easily. I mean, surely if someone could make someone vanish, kill another person’s cat and slash a teachers tires, there was no way they would still remain a student at this school.

“Ha ha, very funny,” I said, regretting my decision to stop and talk to her.

“But he’s really dangerous though,” she said with her mouth filled with food. “And you crossed him. But in case you need help, come to me and I’ll help you with my voodoo magic.”

When she saw the expression on my face, she began to laugh again.

I whipped my head around, trying to find a new spot to sit, my eyes landed on four blonds who had just walked into the cafeteria. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one watching them make a dramatic entrance, which meant no one was looking at me and the weird girl anymore.

My eyes widened when they kept walking toward me.

“Kali, right?” Tricia, who I had come to realize was the leader of the group, asked me with a smile on her face, as if I hadn’t told her my name before.

“Yeah. And you’re Patricia, correct?” I asked her, playing her own game.

The corners of her lips crinkled but she didn’t stop smiling.

“It’s Tricia.”

“Oh.”

“Why don’t you come join us at our table?” She asked me. “You don’t want any dark magic following you around now.”

“You can’t just invite her,” one of the girls said under her breath, but by her glare, I could tell she wanted me to hear her clearly.

“If I say I want her at our table, then she’s coming to our table,” Tricia said sharply and the other girl turned away, giving in.

“Four blonds is not enough. You have to add a fifth?” The weird girl said. “Well too bad, she’s with me.”

I furrowed my brows. She wanted me with her? She had been acting like she couldn’t wait to get rid of me.

“Kali, would you rather hang out with us or spend your first day of school with this wannabe witch? Is that who you want to be affiliated with?” Tricia asked me, completely ignoring the weird girl, whose name I still didn’t know yet.

I swallowed. Tricia had a point. I had already messed up by raising trouble with Aiden. I couldn’t let the rest of my reputation be tarnished by the weird girl.

“Let’s go,” I said, standing up and walking away with the blond girls.

I couldn’t fight the urge to turn back and when I did, I saw the girl looking down at the floor with a hurt look on her face.