Chapter 11

The warm morning air brushed over her skin as her eyes fluttered open. Streams of light came through the slits in the open blinds that no one had bothered to close. Arder rolled over in the bed, hiding her eyes from the brightness. She guessed that school was probably about to start, yet she wasn't in any hurry to get up. When a loud knock sounded throughout the apartment, the redhead moaned in frustration and let her feet find the floor.

"I'm coming," she yelled to whoever it was. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and started towards the front door.

"Lexie?" she mumbled, seeing her friend outside. She wondered how Lexie had known that she would be at Sophie's, and if the girl had gone to Arder's house first. Leaning over the railing, Lexie stood looking down at the roads below. Swinging the door open, Arder wrapped her arms around herself.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she greeted.

Lexie looked over her shoulder and made her way inside without waiting for an invitation. "Sophie called, told me someone had to get you to school," she said.

Shaking her head, Arder walked into the kitchen and flicked the coffee maker on. "How much time do we have to get there?" she asked, watching the obsidian liquid drip down into the pot. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she glanced over at her friend.

"We're already late; it's eight-thirty," Lexie stated bluntly, grabbing a seat at the table. Arder sighed, pulling out the cord of the machine. She had no time to wait for it to finish, so she poured herself a cup of what had been made.

Gulping down the scorching liquid, she pulled an elastic around her unwashed hair. "Give me five minutes to get dressed," she called behind her while running to the guest room.

She pulled open the first drawer of the old dresser, where a few pairs of jeans and a tee had been left behind from her last visit. Grabbing the striped shirt and the darkest pair of pants, she hurried into the bathroom. Without so much as a glance in the mirror, she changed and headed out to where Lexie waited.

"Let's go," Arder prompted, grabbing her coat off the back of a chair. The metal stairs ringing as they stomped down them, Arder smiled and said, "Thanks for coming all the way here."

"Let's just try to get to school on time tomorrow," Lexie laughed, picking up the pace.

Nearing their destination, Lexie went quiet. "Hey, is that him?" she questioned, staring ahead. Arder followed her gaze to the gates, where she had met Grey for the second time. She saw a boy enter the school yard, but it was too quick for her to tell.

"I'm not sure, I couldn't see him," Arder said. She grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her along. "Let's go catch up." They reached the boy's side just as he was pulling the door open. "Grey?" Arder called out. Letting the door fall shut, he turned around to face them.

"I didn't think you were late this often," he joked. Arder shook her head, the side of her mouth turned

up in a smile. She stepped up the few stairs until they were leveled, Lexie trailing after her.

"Yeah, I slept in. You seem to be late more often than I am though," Arder retorted before gesturing towards the other girl. "This is my friend Lexie."

Grey nodded at the blonde. "I think I'm in your English class." Scratching his shoulder, Grey glanced uncomfortably behind him.

Staring at the ground for a moment, Lexie tilted her head in thought. "I remember that, you were late," she teased.

"Maybe I'm not late as often as I thought. That is, compared to you," Arder laughed. Grey smiled sheepishly in return and tucked his hands into his jacket pockets. "What class do you have?" she asked.

"Math, I think," Grey replied, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper with his left hand. "Room 302," he read.

"That's with Ms. Scott, right?" Arder inquired. She hadn't bothered remembering the room numbers; just their locations.

Flipping the paper over, Grey nodded. "Yes, but I haven't been to the class yet."

With the chilly air still surrounding them, Arder reached past him for the door and entered the school. "Okay. I'll see you at lunch, Lexie?" Arder asked her friend, who followed her into the building.

With a smile, Lexie nodded. "Nice meeting you," she said to Grey before taking off down the left corridor.

"Our class is just down this way," Arder said, heading down the hall opposite to Lexie's. Arder stared at him as they walked, confused by his attitude. All the times they had talked before she felt something more uptight about him. Something mysterious. Now he was acting very different, more friendly in a way.

Stopping beside him by the designated classroom, Arder peered through the window on the closed door. She could see Ms. Scott giving a lecture, so she decided to wait until the teacher was done speaking.

"What are you waiting for?" Grey asked. Twisting the knob, he pulled the heavy wood open. Ms. Scott stood behind her desk, watching over the mostly silent class with eyes sharper than a hawk's.

"You're late," she spat. "Take your seats."

Arder mumbled her apology and walked to the first seat at the back of the room. The desks being arranged in rows, Grey sat in the one to the left of her and dropped his bag on the floor. To her right was quiet Natalia, who she usually sat with. Next to Grey was another girl, who Arder didn't know well. She had been seated there for the last few classes and helped Arder every once in a while with her math.

The teacher nodded and picked a binder off of her desk. "Where was I?" she asked herself. "Right, you all can just get started on page 47," she instructed, closing the book. Arder dropped her own bag to the floor and pulled out her textbook. From the corner of her eye, she watched Grey do the same.

The room quickly became noisy after that. While all the students got into groups to work on the math assignment together, Arder just worked alone.

She was good at math, but she could tell Grey was better. He had already finished, and she was still stuck on the last question.

"Do you want some help?" Grey offered, noticing the confused look on her face. Arder nodded as she watched him stand up and lean against both their desks. She didn't turn from her paper, but she could sense his presence behind her. Arder knew how close he was by the way she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Oh, this one's not hard. Just read this." Grey flipped the textbook page. "It explains it better." He then backed away and returned to his seat, as if the near proximity hadn't affected him at all.

Arder took a shaky breath. She didn't understand why she felt like that around him; like a boa constrictor was wrapped around her lungs. "Thanks," she managed to say, gesturing to the textbook.

He smiled and nodded before turning back towards the front of the room. Arder quickly finished her work and patiently waited for the bell to sound. When it did, she put her things in her bag and turned to talk to Grey.

"Wher-" Arder began, before realizing that he had already disappeared.