CHAPTER 3
We were out of breath when we hit the school doors. The kids around us stared at us. "What?" I asked in a very snobby way. No one answered. "That's what I thought," I muttered under my breath. Alice and I stared at the black truck waiting to see if Mystery Man would get out. He didn't. We turned and walked through the big wooden school doors. The secretary, Ms. Lynn, looked up. When she saw us she gave us a wink and went back to work. Ms. Lynn lets us get away with everything because we are on the cheerleading team and she is the coach. She lets us leave campus for lunch, gives us late passes when we need them, and lets us skip class as long as we keep straight As. Alice and I have a 4.0 GPA.
We walked straight to the commons to get our books. We both have first period science and we always went to that class or we'd be marked absent the rest of the day. School rules suck. Our lockers are right next to each other so we quickly got our stuff and dumped them in the science lab. Then we walked to the commons again to mingle.
Nick and his friends were all hanging out by the candy machines as usual. I walked over and gave Nick a peck on the cheek. He smiled and grabbed my waist to pull me into a big bear hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer. The smell of AXE engulfed me. Nick wears it every day. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with him. He smells amazing!
Nick is a little bit taller than me so I rested my heads on his neck. He pulled at me a little tighter and closer to him. Our bodies were completely on top of each other. He "You're on time for once, ladies. Congratulations!" Mr. Nephilipps, our science teacher, told us as we walked in the lab. I shot him my "Im way better than you, so don't talk to me that way bitch" fake smile. Alice shot her "Step down, sucker" stare and he got the hint.
We took our seats in the back. Elisa turned around from the seat in front of us and smiled. "Hey guys, what's up?" Your ugly face I thought. I usually liked Elisa, but she can get kinda of annoying and today I just wasn't in the mood. I smiled and got my binder out of my tote. Elisa turned back around and then the bell rang.
All through science I daydreamed about the Valentine's dance that was coming up in one week. I was so consumed in my thoughts that I didn't hear the bell ring. Alice shook my arm. "Yo, sleeping beauty, wake up! It's time to go to math class." I groaned, "I was not sleeping, I was thinking." "I'm sure you were, babe. That's why your eyes were closed." "Oh shut it." "Whatever, it's time to go love, we're gonna be late." I grabbed my bag and laughed bitterly. "Yes, because I would simply die if I were late to math class…again" Alice cracked up at my remark.
We strolled at a slower pace than everyone around us to our lockers. I spun my combination in, 6-6-6. The lock snapped open. "You're cursed, you know that?" a sinister voice filled my left ear. I'd know that voice anywhere. The horrible voice I had loathed for so long belonged to Holly Fishmen. "Shove off, fish girl." I snapped. "OK, devil child, don't listen to my warning." I wanted to slap her. "What do you know about anything, ha-ugly?" "I know that you're the child of the devil and fate gave you that horrible locker number." Luckily Holly didn't know that my lock combination was the same as my locker number. "Oh, what? Because my locker number has some numbers that creep you out, I'm the devil's child?" Though I admit that when I first got my locker and combo it creeped me out, I now like it a lot. "Uh in case you haven't noticed Isabel-la" she spat "Everyone thinks its creepy" "Who cares what everyone one thinks." I shot back " Its my locker not theirs so get lost." I turned to go to math and bumped straight into Alice. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Holly. "FYI some people may think that Bella's locker is creepy but everyone knows that you are creepy!" She lashed at Holly. Holly's eyes got huge like she was gona cry. "Well you don't have to be mean about it!" She stormed off as the bell rang to her stomping feet.
"Great now we're late!" Alice screamed. That scared me. Alice doesn't scream unless she is really mad or upset. "Alice, calm down sweetheart, its just math. We won't die." I told her slightly annoyed. Her screamed probably damaged my hearing for life. "Uh, this is the 4th time we'll be late for his class! That means a detention!" "Chill babe, we're supposed to have a substitute today." Alice's face washed over with relief.
We walked slowly to math. Well slow and steady won the race didn't she. Or was it slow and steady wins the race? Oh who cares? We walked into Mr. Fergie's classroom. Sitting at the teacher's desk was Mr. Mystery Man. My face whitened and Alice squeaked a muffled yelp. "Hello girls." My heart froze at the sound of his icy voice. I felt Alice go stiff. I grabbed her arm just in case she decided to faint on me. Then out of nowhere I got a huge burst of bravery. I wasn't scared of mystery man, though I probably should have. I looked into his ice blue eyes and gave him the coldest stare I could. "Good morning, ladies." He looked at me expectantly. I said nothing, so he tried again. "My name is Mr. Killaman." I didn't break my gaze. His name scared me. It sounded like kill a man. I squeezed my mouth tight and hardened my glare. This time he didn't try to get me to talk. He stared back. His icy eyes tearing into me. It hurt to look into them. I didn't look away though. The class was dead silent. They stared at us waiting to see who would break first. It wasn't going to be me I knew that for sure.
Finally after what felt like forever he spoke again. "Well then, take your seats and we'll begin," I didn't move. My legs wouldn't let me. His face hardened. "I said sit down!" I jumped. His voice was loud and scary. I dragged Alice to our seats. I was shaking and could barley breath. Mystery Man, I mean Mr. Killaman, handed out worksheets. I stared down at mine. 3xyz+6b-2zxy+10b. Yea right. I put the worksheet in my folder and set my head down. "Ms. Brooks." My head shot up. Mr. Killaman was standing over me. "If you could please resist the urge to sleep in class and do your worksheet." I starred at him. "I wasn't sleeping," I grumbled. "Do your worksheet now before I call the dean down here, to make you do it," He growled. I pulled out the worksheet from my folder and stared down at it. He walked away and sat back down at the teacher's desk. I stared at me coldly. I looked down at the worksheet again. I note fell on my desk. I looked up and Mr. Killaman had his head down reading a file of some kind.
I carefully opened the note. Bella, don't mess with him. This is bad news. Just do your work and lets get our of here. The note was from Alice. Figures she'd be scared of tall, dark and scary. I picked up my green pen and wrote back. Calm down sweet pea. Like I want to mess with the creep, he hangs out with Jeffrey! I folded up the note and threw it back to Alice. She caught it as soon as he looked up. "Isabella Brooks, I hope you aren't talking, cause I would I have give you a detention with me after school." He sneered at me. "Im not talking, I thought you said my name so I looked up." I lied. He clicked his only does this when Luke is around. Luke is my ex-boyfriend. We dated for a year and a half. Nick gets very protective of me when he is around for some reason.
I looked and sure enough Luke was just a couple feet away from us. He just starred. I knew Nick was giving him a dirty look. I smiled and waved. Luke and I are still friends, but Nick doesn't really like that. Luke nodded and walked away.
When Luke disappeared down the hallway, Nick loosened his grip a little bit. I wiggled in his still pretty-tight grip and he laughed and kissed me on the cheek.
The bell rang and Nick let go of me. I kissed him on the cheek and turned to go. He grabbed my hand spun me around and kissed me hard but soft on the lips. He wasn't letting go either. Alice walked over and grabbed me waist and yanked me out of his embrace. Nick smiled shyly, kissed me on the cheek, and walked away. Alice took my hand and dragged me to science class.
teeth and looked back down at what he was reading. Alice didn't write back. I sat there staring at the worksheet for the rest of the class.
Finally, after what felt like ages the bell rang. I ran out of the classroom and straight to my locker, not waiting for Alice to catch up. I had popped my lock by the time Alice reached our lockers. "By god babe, there was no need to run," She panted. I laughed. "Yea, coming from the gal that told me not to mess with him." "Uh you saw him with Jeffrey, he is out to get you, babe." I rolled my eyes. "I know that! Why do you think I high-tailed it out of there." She didn't say anything. She got opened her locker. "See you in English, Bell," She said as she left. "Bye," I said as I turned to leave too.
I headed to the other side of the school, were my homeroom is. Homeroom was the 3rd period of the day, which is really weird when you think about it. I had Ms. Nicole. Nicole was her first name and she always told us to call her that. I walked into class and sat in my seat. My seat was next to Tiffany Barns. Tiffany had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was very petite. She was one of my best friends. The bell rang and the class silenced. The announcements came on and we did the Pledge of Allegiance. When we finished the offbeat pledge we sat down and listen to the rest of announcements.
The bell rang write as the announcements finished. Tiffany and I grabbed our stuff and headed off to English. Ms. Kinsley, our English teacher, always locks the door to go to the bathroom. So Tiffany, Alice, and I waited out side with the rest of the class. We didn't talk. Tiffany and Alice don't really like each other so we usually don't talk. "So what are you doing after school today?" Alice asked me. At that Tiffany turned around and started taking to Whittier. "I have cheerleading practice. What about you?" I replied. "Drama practice. What are you doing after?" I smiled. "I don't know. Do you wanna go to the mall or something?" Her eyes got big! "Ohhhh yes the mall sounds fun! We have to get our dresses anyways!" I hugged her. "OK, it's a date. Should we invite Nick and Edward?" She looked at me with pity. "Of course or are you forgetting they are our boys!" I laughed. Edward came over and wrapped his arms around Alice's waste and kissed her on the cheek. She turned to him. "After drama today you're coming with me, Bella, and Nick to the mall." He looked down at her and kissed her on the forehead. "Whatever you say sweetheart." She giggled like a little girl. Ms. Kinsley came back and unlocked the door and let us in. I took my seat in the middle of the class. Alice sat by the door, Edward sat by the window, and Tiffany sat two seats in front of me.
"OK class take out your skill builders and do the word of the day." She told us in her cherry-coated voice. We did as we were told. The word of the day was cosmopolitan. It meant at home all over the world. I wrote it down in my binder and then did my skill builders. We went over them and then broke up into peer editing groups to edit our "letter to the editor" assignment. Morgan and Edward were in my group. We were the only group of three. We didn't bother editing our work, that's what spell check is for. We talked about the dance till Ms. Kinsley interrupted us. "Does anyone want to take this to Ms. Nicole's room?" I jumped up. "I'll take!" Nick was in that class this period and I was dying to see his face. "OK, but don't take to long." I smiled "Don't worry, I wont."
I skipped down the hall excited to see my beloved. I walked into the classroom. Nick sat in the front row by the teacher desk. I swiped my hand across the desk as I passed. He looked up from the math book and smiled. I handed the paper to Ms. Nicole. I waked back past his desk making sure I knocked his pencil off his desk just so I could stop and pick it back up for him. He laughed because I do it every time I see him in his classes. He sat in the front row of all of his classes, so it was easy for my to do so. I sometimes hated to admit it, but Nick was somewhat of a nerd. He was extremely smart and made straight As every term. I set the pencil on his desk and went to stand up. Before I could so he gave me a peck on the cheek. I smiled and stood up. I waved goodbye and walked out. I touched my cheek where he had kissed me. It tingled. I walked back into English to find Mr. Killaman practically interrogating Ms. Kinsley. She looked like she was about to cry. I made a beeline for Alice and Edward. As soon as I made it to Alice's side she gave the whole story. "As soon as you left he came in and looked around. Then he grabbed Ms. Kinsley's arm and dragged her into that corner and started whisper-yelling things. I couldn't her much but I didn't sound friendly. Iz, I heard your name. He's after you." She stopped when we heard Ms. Kinsley whimper. Mr. Killaman's arm was raised like he was going to hit her. I tensed. If he hit her, some bad stuff was gonna go down. I stood up and he saw me. He lowered is arm and faced me. I felt my face go pale. I braced for what would happen next. He didn't move. The whole class, once again, was staring at us.
He moved. It wasn't sudden and he didn't attack me. He just walked out. My eyes followed him out the door. I was pretty sure the rest of the class's did too. He slammed the door behind him. When he was gone, the whole class turned to look at me. Shamus, a loud mouth nerd, went to say something. Like magic, the bell rang. "Isabella, please stay after class," Ms. Kinsley said so softly I barley heard her. Alice said she'd see me at lunch and left. "Yes?" I asked curiously. "Isabella, I urge you to stay away from that man. Never be alone. Don't go anywhere with out someone else, not even to the bathroom. I will tell the other teachers. If you ever end up alone and you see him run, run to people you don't know, a group of people like a family. He can't hurt you if there are people around." I starred at her. What was she talking about? " That's all Isabella, I'll write you a pass to your next class." She told Steve, a muscular senior, to escort me to my next class. Steve was 6-foot and very muscular. I had no reason to be scared with him escorting me around. I skipped going to my locker and went straight to journalism. I didn't need him making any devil comments. He walked me inside the classroom and stayed to talk to my teacher Ms. Taylor. Apparently, he had her next period. I took my seat next to Tabitha Rose. Tabitha, did cheerleading with me during the JV season. Over the time we had become quite good friends. Tabitha had light brown hair and green-blue eyes. She handed me a newspaper and told me the assignment. I flipped to the editorials and read until Ms. Taylor stopped us and started talking to us about writing editorials. I took out my notebook and started taking notes.
I was getting really hungry, so Tabitha and I shared a bag of chips. Finally, after what seemed like years the fourth lunch bell rang and we went to lunch. Tabitha went off to sit with my "old" lunch table while I waited for Nick. Alice came over and said that her and Edward were going to sit with A.J., Melissa, Zac, and some other people. I told that was fine. Nick walked in and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He took my hand and led me to a table. Corey, Andrew, Luis, Tori, and Chris followed us to the table. Nick sat next to me. He had his arm around my waist and with his free hand he ate his lunch. I waited for the line to go down, before I stood up and got my cheese sticks. Along with my cheese sticks, I got a smoothie and a cookie. I came back slid back in my seat. They were talking about baseball. Nick was the MVP on the schools team. I didn't really understand really what they were talking about even though I go to all of his games. "Look man, I'll just show you at practice today," Nick told Luis. "What ever dude, its impossible." "Nothings impossible." "Your right, I forget you landed a hot cheerleader." I glared at him. Nick gave me a gentle squeeze. "You know I can hear you." I told Luis. He really annoyed my sometimes. I turned to Nick. " So after everyone's practice today, we're gona hit the mall. Is that ok with you?" He gave me a peck on the cheek. "Sure babe, who's going?" " Alice and Edward." "Sounds like a blast." I smiled and kissed him. We finished our lunch right as the bell rang. Nick walked me to my Spanish class. His hand felt perfect in mine. Even though we've been dating for months now we still get stared at.
We stopped outside Sra. Détente's room. He held me close. "I love you," he whispered in my ear. I smiled. "I love you too," I told him. He kissed me. "I'll see you next period, boo." I waved goodbye and went inside.
I was the 5th person in the class. I put my stuff in my seat and went to the back of the class to get a Spanish book. I grabbed a book off the top of the pile and went back to my seat.
I blocked out everything and started going over the Spanish conjugations in my head. My thoughts were interrupted by Sra. Détente. "Ms. Brooks, please tell me the answer to number two." "Uhhhhh" " I see you don't have your book open to page 167, is there a problem." "Um no Sra. I was just spacing out, I'm sorry." "It's ok, don't let it happen again." Unfortunately, for her, it did. I opened my book and tried to concentrate. That didn't work. My mind wondered off and I started thinking about cheerleading practice. My trance was once again broken when the bell rang.
I raced to my locker. I was running so fast, I didn't see Luke. I smacked straight into him. I grabbed my waist, so I wouldn't fall. "Careful speedy, you don't want to get hurt." I laughed. " Thanks." I went to run around him. "Where are you headed so fast?" I looked at him. He had my wrist in his hand. " Locker, I really gotta go, or I'll be late!" I said slightly distracted. "Since when do you care about being late?" He seemed pretty curious. "Since forever." I pulled at my arm, but he didn't let go. "Your in PE this period right?" I didn't respond. "Oh right you have PE with the home wreaker." I scowled. "He is not a home wreaker, he's my boyfriend, now get lost." I tried to wriggle away, but I had forgotten how strong he was. "Remember when I was your boyfriend," He growled at me. "Oh yes, I was trying to forget that," I shot back. His face fell. I probably shouldn't have said that. We had, had a good relationship, but my feelings for him changed when I met Nick.
Luke let go of my arm. I went to turn away. "Bella, just be careful ok." I looked at him. "Please Bella." Then he turned around and walked away. I stared after him. I turned and walked to my locker. After I put my books away I sprinted to the locker rooms to change.
In the locker room I met up with Mackenzie and Hayley. "Hey girlies!" I greeted them. Mackenzie is a tiny skinny girl with brown hair. She was on the competition cheerleading team with me. Hayley is tall muscular and blonde. I played basketball on the school league with her last year. "Hey!" Mackenzie said. "Are you going to run for Queen?" They both looked at me skeptically. "Yeah, I guess so. Why? Are you?" Mackenzie's face lit up. "Yea, I was thinking about it, but I want to be sure that it was ok with you so we won't get in a fight." I smiled. She was so sweet. "Kenzie, you can run, I don't care! I wouldn't get mad at you." She smiled bigger than the Eiffel Tower. "Thanks Bella you're the best!" She ran down the locker room hall way to the back, where her locker was. Hayley waved goodbye and followed her. I turned around the corner to my locker. My locker was in the front. Holly Fishmen's, my archenemy, was right across from mine. "Hello devil girl," She sneered. "Hey ugly," I snapped. She glared at my. I open my PE locker and changed quickly. I walked outside to meet Nick in the PE commons. "Hey sweetheart." He grabbed my waist and hugged me. I giggled and hugged him back. I gave him a peck on the cheek. "Hey cheer brains, no PDA." Coach Dean told us. I looked at him sheepishly. "Yes sir."
Ms. Woodside blew her whistle and we walked into the gym and sat down in our assigned seats. \ I sat down at the three-point line, also known as my seat. Nick sat two rows back. He usually talks to his friends, so I turned to my girls. They formed a circle around me. "So, what kickin', chickens?" I asked them. They all shrugged. "Ok, well Nick, Alice, Edward and I are going to the mall later today after school. If any of yall wanna come, you can," I told them. "Ohhhh, sounds like fun!" Mackenzie said. "Ok we're all meeting at my car after school out by the park." Mackenzie smiled like the guy on the Crest commercial, big and beautiful. I cracked up. "Any other takers?" I asked through my hysterics. The others shook their heads. "Sorry, grounded," Hayley said. "Yeah me too," Elisa added. "Sucks for you guys" I told them. They nodded.
"Okay exercise." Coach Burbe yelled. We all stood up. Nick, one of the stretch models, went to the front of the class and started the stretches. We did ten jumping jacks, ten sit-ups, ten push-ups, and planks to start. Then we did butterflies, nose to toes, quad stretches, arm stretches, and shoulder stretches.
When we finished we all sat on "Turanomo" the Indian, who is the mascot of our school. Once the whole class was seated, the coaches begin talking. "My class will be in the weight room." Coach Woodside said. "As will my class." Coach Dean added
"My class will be in the gym. We are having free choice today." Coach Berube, my coach, told the class. "Yeah!" we cheered. The students in the other classes rolled their eyes and got up and left.
Ms. Burbe blew the whistle and everyone got up to get a ball. Nick got up and ran to get a basketball. Every time we had free choice we play basketball. I waited on the court for him. He dribbled the ball over to me.
"Ready to kill them suckers, hun?" He asked me. I laughed "Course." He turned to the basket and shot it. It swooshed in the basket. I smiled. We were about four feet away from the half court line. His shot was amazing. He was the best at every sport, actually.
Everyone was around us shooting around. Nick got a ball and made a charge to the basket. He effortlessly lopped the ball into the basket.
He got his rebound, and passed it to me. I caught it and smiled. Hayley jumped in front of me and tried to take the ball. I faked left and drove into the basket on the right. I laughed and Hayley came over and gave me a high five. "Your getting better," She told me. I smiled. "Thanks girly." I turned to look at Nick, who was talking to Xavier. I laughed again and everyone looked at me. "What?" The all gave me a weird look and started setting up a game.
I started to feel awkward, like they all knew something I didn't. Maybe, it was because I had randomly laughed. No, that couldn't be it, I always laugh at random moments and they never make me feel like this.
"Bella, your on my team," Nick told me. I brushed off the weird feeling and took my rightful spot next to Nick. He grabbed me hand and squeezed it. Everyone was starring at him. He gave them a knowing smile and I got the weird feeling again. I wanted to whisper to Nick and ask what's up. I decided against it and figured I'd soon find out.
After the teams were picked, there was the usual argument about who would be tucked and who wouldn't. As usual, I put in my little piece to settle the argument. "Uh you guys, my shirt is to short to tuck so I guys the other team will have to be." They all looked at me and rolled their eyes. "To bad Isabella, you always say that, so why don't you just get a longer shirt." Chris, a tall, emo scary kid told me. The rest of their team nodded and my team rolled their eyes.
I was shocked, they had never acted like that before. Usually they just agree and start the game. Something was defiantly up, and it wasn't looking good. I really wanted to ask Nick what was making everyone so mean around me but he was already tucking in his shirt and had the ball in his hands.
Crap that meant I had to tuck in my shirt. I took a hair tie off my wrist and tied the back of my shirt up. There I was "tucked."
Nick started the game by checking it to Robbie. Robbie passed it back and the game began. Nick passed it straight to me. I turned to the basket and shot. It did loops around the basket and landed in. My team cheered.
I must have looked startled because Nick came over. "Are you ok, you look a little shocked. You were open at an easy shot." I looked at him. "Oh, yea, right sorry I wasn't really paying attention." I was just bout to ask him about everyone's weird behavior when I noticed it was really quite. Everyone in the game was starring at us. Nick looked nervous. "OK, well pay attention sweet heart." He gave me a kiss on the cheek and went back to playing the game.
Everyone else went on playing as well, though there was a weird feeling in the air. I was getting really annoyed with it.