THE PAST

Norah knocked on the door before she opened it. The teacher, a woman with wild, red curly hair looked a little disturbed. Not angry – rather like she was a little confused now her routine was interrupted.

Norah cleared her throat. "Hi. I'm sorry I'm late, I got lost."

"Ah, you must be Norah." The woman showed her an understanding smile.

Her shoulders relaxed as she nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Take a seat, please."

Norah looked around and counted three empty seats. Quickly she judged the three people next to the empty spot. One was a very fat guy with sweat stains all over his shirt, the other a girl who was persistently staring at the table top, creating the impression that she wasn't looking forward to company; and finally there was a dark guy who didn't look unfriendly.

She walked towards him and put her bag on the ground.

"Unless you want to become the laughing stock of the school, you better take another chair," he said in a low voice.

Norah frowned; because of his directness and his message. He looked athletic and friendly, it was hard to imagine that he was being bullied.

"I'll be fine," she answered and she sat down next to him. "What's your name?" she asked after taking her books from her bag.

"Darius. And yours? I assume Mrs. Brown introduced you a minute ago, but I wasn't paying attention." He showed her a crooked smile.

"Norah." She glanced at the cornrows in his hair, the sides he had shaved. He actually looked pretty cool. "So... why am I going to be a laughing stock now?" she whispered, meanwhile peeking at his textbook to see on what page they were.

"Because I'm the pariah of this school." His voice was calm, as if he didn't care that much.

"But why? I've seen stranger people around here." She thought of Alvarez.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Long story. Let's say I trusted the wrong person."

Norah looked pensively at him, but understood that he wouldn't share his life story right after they had met. Furthermore it wasn't a bad idea to pay a little attention to the teacher, since she had already missed the first half of class.


The second class she spent next to Darius as well. She actually liked the guy, he was funny, smart and friendly. At lunch, she decided to take her chances.

"You got any friends you can introduce me to?" she asked as she walked close to him after leaving the classroom. "Don't feel like sitting there all alone."

With a sigh he stood still and looked her in the eye. "You're a sweet girl, Norah. For your sake it's better if you stay away from me, especially outside the class room. I mean it. There are some sick bastards walkin' around here."

Nora squared her shoulders. "I'm not the type of girl who turns her head away when someone is bullied. If things are really that bad around here, they aren't going to like me anyway."

He snorted. "What do you think you can do? You aren't exactly the Hulk. You're gonna learn to look the other way very quickly." He held her glance. "You're a pretty girl, Norah. Maybe they'll leave you alone – stay away from them. Please."

He walked away.

Sighing, Norah started to look for her locker. This was just great. Where the hell had she ended up if people treated each other like this?

After she had dumped her books in her locker, she followed the other students to the lunch hall. Her eyes wandered across the hall, although she didn't know for who she was looking – for Darius or Alvarez.

It was Darius who she found at first. Luckily he wasn't alone, he was sitting with some others in a corner. Some were laughing, most however looked around skittishly. Norah lifted her back pack a little higher and walked towards them, finding a spot close to Darius.

The others looked at her with wide eyes. It was a weird mix of people and there was a strange atmosphere, anxious, as if they were only hanging out because they were afraid to be alone.

Darius heaved a sigh when he saw her. "This is Norah. She likes to play Mother Teresa."

"Hi Norah! I'm Ola," a girl said with a strong Russian accent. She had a white skin that was just as pale as her hair. Nora was startled when she saw the red irises of the girl.

"Wow, I didn't know albino's really had red eyes." Red stains crept upwards her neck as soon as she heard her own words. "Shit, sorry," she said quickly. "That eh – that was rude."

Ola showed her a friendly smile. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. I'm not born with it, but..." Her voice trailed off, then she shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter, this is no subject for our first talk. You're new, right?"

"Yeah."

"And I already told her that she should go to the other side of the hall, but she got shit in her ears," Darius grunted.

Ola chuckled softly. "She's a rebel. I can see it in her eyes."

"Well well... freaks," a deep voice sounded. "Who's gettin' us food today?"

Silence. Almost everyone stared at the table top, although Ola and Darius didn't lower their heads. Norah looked to the side. A tall, broad shouldered dark boy placed his hands on the shoulders of a scrawny kid with large glasses.

He looked around and his eyes landed upon her. "Hey, we got a new freak."

Suddenly Norah felt hands on her shoulders as well, squeezing compelling. Pulling away from his grasp, she looked over her shoulder angrily. She was met by the grinning face of a boy who chased shivers down her spine. Creep.

"Norah's a little lost," a familiair voice sounded. Roughly, the boy behind her was pushed to the side. This time fingertips were trailing up and down her neck, his touch very lightly. "This one is mine."

"Excuse me?!" Norah snapped, glaring at Alvarez. A smug grin crossed his lips. He leaned into her and whispered in her ear: "If you wanna like it around here, you better come with me." She shivered as his hot breathing brushed her ear.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" she hissed "Go buy your own food, you tramps."

A deadly silence fell.

Footsteps sounded. People stepped aside, making room for a bony young man. His eyes hollow, his face sunken in, stubble covering his cheeks. He looked older than he had to be.

"Get up."

The voice was just a whisper, but it felt like the whole school could hear it. Everyone had stopped talking.

Her chair was shoved back. The boy who had put his hands on her shoulders first, pulled her on her feet.

"Get your hands off me," Norah grumbled, pulling herself away from him.

The skinny guy stood still across from her. The dark look in his eyes made her cringe. Slowly his glance wandered across her body. He took the hem of her blouse between his fingers and rubbed the fabric. He took a deep breath, as if he was judging her perfume.

"You live large, huh? You feel better than us?"

Norah refused to look away from his cold eyes. "I feel better than anyone extorting others. Whatever the amount of numbers on their bank accounts."

"We're not all blessed with rich daddies who are stuffing us with food. You never learned to share?"

"I don't mind to bring you a peanut butter sandwich tomorrow if you ask nicely."

She had hoped that someone would chuckle about her words so that the mood would feel lighter, but nobody moved a muscle.

He raised his hand and raked his fingers through her hair. When he stepped closer, a spicy fragrance surrounded her. He obviously had his own ways to get himself expensive perfume.

"Is it true? Are you Hernan's sweetheart?"

Her eyes shot to the side, to Alvarez. Apparently his first name was Hernan. He gave her an intrusive look, was clearly trying to persuade her to say yes.

"No."

She heard him sigh.

"You have a boyfriend?"

She turned her attention back to the creepy guy in front of her. "I do."

He lifted the corner of his mouth, as if he knew damn well that she was lying. "Break up with him. I'll send someone to pick you up tonight. Wear something nice."

He turned around and walked away, his disciples quickly following him.

Hernan however kept where he was and looked briefly at her. She raised her eyebrows.

"You have no idea what rat hole you just put your hand in," he said softly. "Trust me, you would have been better off with me."

For a moment he kept her glance, then he shook his head and turned away from her.

A little overwhelmed, Norah sank back on her chair. Everyone avoided her glance, even Darius and Ola.

"Who the hell was that?" she asked.

Nobody answered.