Chapter 3
'Beep, Beep' 'Beep, Beep' 'Beep, Beep' 'Beep, Beep'
I groan from exhaustion and turn to hit the snooze button. I flip over on my back and let out a small stretch. Great, school time.
"Rise and Shine!" Jessica announces from the other side of the door then walks off to Sophie's room next door and does the same.
I get out of bed lazily and stroll over to my closet to pick out my wardrobe for the day. I strip out of my pajamas and change into my jeans and flannel shirt.
I look over at Rockie and see him sprawled across the edge of the bed with his head hanging over the side. I let him sleep and head out to the bathroom to go freshen up. I see the door cracked so I assume nobody's in there but just as I walk in I see Dex wrapping his towel around his waste.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I close the door and begin to blush.
"I know you're blushing." he says with humor in his voice.
"Well maybe I wouldn't have to be if you just lock the door."
"Nah, I'm ok. I don't trust locked doors."
He opens the door and smiles at me, "All yours."
"Ughhh!" I push past him in annoyance then he chuckles. That is so embarrassing and the fact that he finds it humoring makes it worse for me. I freshen up pretty quickly then head downstairs.
"Good morning!" I'm awaited by Sophie who's wearing a cute yellow dress with a white jean jacket and ballet flats, "You're gonna be riding with me." she grabs me by the hand and leads me out the door and takes me to her blue bug. We hop in and she turns on the ignition.
"You ready?" she asks cheerfully
"I'm not gonna have a paparazzi am I?"
"Well..I can't promise you won't."
"Great." I say in a monotone voice. She pulls out of the driveway and heads down the road.
"Don't worry, I'll have your back. Just holler if you feel uncomfortable." she says with a smile.
"Thanks, Soph." I say honestly
"We're sisters. We look out for each other." she turns to me and gives me a wink. We sit in comfortable silence the rest of the twenty minute drive to school. My mind travels on its own as I begin to think about all the hundred new faces I'll be seeing. I really just wanna be that loner in the corner with a book, I hate all the attention.
We finally make it to our destination. We pull into the front of the school and begin to look for a parking spot. The school doesn't look all that big, there's one building labeled gym and the other with Rivewood High School in all bold block letters sitting just on top of the front doors. I pleased to know it's a small school, I feel more confident about finding my classes now.
Sophie finally finds an available spot and parks, "Welcome to Rivewood High!"
We hop out and begin to walk to the entrance. I look around so I can get to know the place a little more, I didn't even notice but just across the street is a track field that looks brand new, I also notice that the entire campass is surrounded by a forest blocked off by a fence, seems pretty private for a public school.
"I'll show you were the office is and after we get your schedule then I can show you to homeroom." Sophie takes me out of my thoughts.
"Sounds good." I respond, sounding a little nervous.
We walk through the double main doors and go to the first door to the right which must be the office.
"Good morning, Sophie!" the lady behind the desk greets with joy. She's an old looking woman and looks quite fragile and soft-hearted. Her grey hair is rolled up into a bun and her glasses are low on her nose. She could look more like a librarian than an office assistant.
"Good morning to you Miss Mayflower." Sophie greets her with the same amount of joy in her voice, "I'm here to pick up Angelique Henson's schedule."
"And you must be her." Miss Mayflower gives me a smile, "We are so happy to have you with us, no worries, you'll fit in quite nicely!" you can never get too much pep talk.
She looks through a couple of papers on her desk until she finally comes across my schedule, "Here you are dear. If you have any questions you are always welcomed to come ask."
"Thank you very much." I give her a quick smile then head out of the office with Sophie by my side.
"So what's your first class?" Sophie asks while looking over my shoulder to get a better look, "Math! Gross. Never been a fan of it. You do have a good teacher though, Mr. Bruce has always been my favorite no matter the subject." she takes me by the hand once more and leads me down the hall and to the first door on the left. "I'll be here after the bell rings to help you with your next class but for now I shall leave you, good luck!" just as she turns the corner from my class the bell rings.
I let out a sigh, good luck, I encourage myself.
I walk into the class and go straight to who must be Mr. Bruce.
"Hello, Mr. Bruce?" I say slyly.
"Ahh, you must be Angelique!" he gives off a warm aura which makes me feel way more confident about being here.
"You can just call me Angel."
"Well Angel, I must first ask, would you like to be introduced?"
"Oh no, thank you, I'm iffy about being stared at."
"That's not a problem at all. You can go ahead and pick whichever seat suits you." he rest his hand on my shoulder as if to make things comforting which strangely worked.
"Thank you."
I turn around and see that eight students have already walked in and has taken their seat. I mosey over to one side of the room and take a seat at the front. I've always been that student who likes the front of the room and if I'm at the side then no one will notice me really.
The bell rings and Mr. Bruce says good morning to the other students. There's a total of ten of us which I'm fairly happy with. I've never really liked big classes.
Mr. Bruce puts a math problem on the board and tells us, "I wanna see how many of you can solve this problem, when you done I want you to put down your pencil and look up please."
As he's writing I hear the door begin to open and look over to see a familiar face walk through.
"Alice, I've asked you nicely to not be late to class, they won't allow this in college you know."
"I'm really sorry Mr. Bruce, but I have an explanation!"
"And do tell." it seems like she's had a lot of explanations from the tone in his voice.
"I was just about to leave my house until I thought 'Hey, why don't I bring my favorite teacher something nice, to show him how much I appreciate his time.' Long story short, here's an apple." she says as she pulls an apple out of her jacket pocket with a big smile on her face.
"I appreciate that you appreciate what I'm doing but it's my job, not volunteer work. Please have a seat."
"Anything for you Mr. B!" she looks around the room and I know exactly who she's looking for, "There you are!" she squeals as she takes a seat next to me, "So what do you think so far?" she asks in a quieter tone.
"Honestly, I like it."
"Great!" she squeals again but in a way for only us to here.
We both look at the board and begin the problem, mentally I was racing her just to see how good she is; just for my own amusement.
I get done in about forty-five seconds and once she notices me put down my pencil she stops and gawks at me.
"What?" I ask with slight amusement.
"You're shitting me right?" she asks, she seems mind-blown. "How did you do that so quickly?"
"My mom was an Accountant." I tell her with a wink.
"Well shit."
"Three more minutes!" Mr. Bruce announces which snaps Alice back into her problem.
She finally finishes up a minute later and turns to frown at me when she discovers she got the wrong answer
"Could you tutor me?" she asks desperately.
"What time are we talking about?"
"After school, I can take you to my place if you want?"
"I know my parents will be fine with that, would yours?" I ask her.
"They won't be home." she says in an odd tone, like it meant something else.
"Then I guess I'll meet you..?"
"Up front, you can't miss me." she says with a matter of fact but her facial features says differently.
The rest of the class time moves by quickly but I can't help but wonder what Alice is so worried about tutoring later. If her parents won't be home than maybe she has siblings that she's not to fond of? I'll need to ask her.
'RIIINNGG'
Time for second period. I now have literature with Ms. Rogers, this should be interesting. As I walk out the door I find Soph leaning against the wall, she's here as promised. She gives me a smile when she sees me.
"So, how was it?" she asks as we begin to walk down the hall.
"It went pretty well." I tell her gladly.
"Who's next?" she asks as I hand her the schedule, "Ms. Rogers, she's a nice teacher but literature, Ehh."
I'm starting to get the feeling that she's not a fan of any of the classes here.
We must of reached our destination because she stops walking but once I look back at her she's staring straight ahead.
I go by her side, "What's the matter?"
"It's Him." she whispers but when I look around I don't really find anyone who stands out.
I look back at her in confusion then she scuffs and turns my head in the correct direction and points, "HIM!" she whispers sternly. There's a dark headed guy leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his head down, he looks tall from this distance and pretty cute.
"That's Daniel." she says nervously.
"And I'm guessing you are either in to him or scared of him."
"Both! He's so hot but so unusual at the same time to where it scares me to talk to him."
"Is he single?" but as I ask I get the face of jealousy.
"I. Have. Dibs." she says with a stone cold face but I can't help but laugh at her maturity level right now.
"Haha, relax Soph. I don't even know the guy." as I say this it tends to calm her down some.
"Let me get you to class." she says in a tone as if she's disappointed at the way she just acted.
Once we get to class I turn to her and say, "Don't beat yourself up Soph. You have dibs." I tell her with a wink and she begins to smile then lunges forward to give me a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" and with that she's off to class skipping down the hall.
Second period went by in a snap and now came gym with Coach Holly. Not needing a guide for this one I begin to make my way there.
I walk through the double metal doors to the gym and find who looks like a teacher, or a coach in this case. I see a buff looking woman with a whistle so I walk up to her.
"You must be Angelique!" the woman says in an abnormal husky tone which makes me stop in my tracks.
"Yes..Ma'am?" I hesitate to call her ma'am because of the voice but she doesn't seem to notice.
"Good! Right on time, I like that. You can now make the teams even! It's dodge ball day." she says with a devilish grin. She then hands me a navy blue T-shirt and grey shorts and tells me to go change.
Once I walk into the changing room I see Alice in the back corner so I go to greet her.
"Hey." I say as I get close enough to her. She looks up as if she's been thinking really hard.
"Hey! Oh my god this is gonna be great!" she says as she grabs my hands into hers.
"Hey skank!" I hear a high pitched voice coming from behind us. I turn around to see a blonde headed girl with three other blonde girls flanking her, "Oh, I didn't even see that the skank has a new buddy." she says as she looks directly into my eyes, "I've never seen you before, you must be that Angel girl I keep hearing about."
I continue to stare at the girl knowing I'm definitely gonna have problems with this chick.
"Cat's got your tongue? You know, it's always the innocent quite one's that are the biggest sluts of all."
"Shut up." Alice speaks up.
"What was that shrimp? Trying to finally stick up for yourself?" she walks over to Alice and grabs a handful of her hair and jerks her head back, "You know you'll never win, how about you just sit on the bleachers like you always do and stay out of the way."
Alice just takes this like she's heard it all before but I try to step in, "Then how about we verse in dodge ball. If we win you stay away from Alice."
"And if I win?" she asks completely up for the challenge.
"What do you want?" she finally lets go of Alice after and asks this and strolls over to me to get in my face.
"You do whatever I tell you to do." I could only imagine what she would possibly tell me to do but I have to get her away from Alice.
"Fine."
"Fine." she repeats with a smile then makes her way out of the locker room door.
"Why do you take that?" I ask Alice the second I hear the door close.
"What can I do about it?" she asks looking defeated.
"You can help me win that's what you can do."
She shakes her head, "I can't play."
"Why not?" I ask her in concern.
"I just can't."
"Let's go ladies!" I hear Coach Holly shout from the outside the door.
I try to ignore what has just been said and try to focus on beating that girl's ass.
I walk out the door with Alice behind me and I join the other girls along the wall for team picking.
I finally get called on after being the last girl there but the only bad thing is is that the bitch is on my team.
"Coach I need to switch!" she calls out.
"No switching!"
"But Coach-"
"Bethany, shut up!" and with that she blows the whistle for us to get on our sides and begin the game.
"You're lucky this time." Bethany says as she walks past me.
I look over to see Alice sitting on the stands with her head resting on her knees, she catches me looking and gives me a small wave but I just look at her with concern.
The game finishes off quickly with our team winning and we go back to the locker room to change back into our original clothing.
The bell rings and I walk out of the metal doors but get caught by someone behind me.
"Hey." Alice says calmly, "Wanna join me for lunch?"
"Sure." I respond with a soft grin.
We walk to the cafeteria in silence and get our meals. Alice looks at the crowd as I come up next to her until suddenly her eyes stop on a far away table near a corner with a few guys sitting there. They turn their heads in our direction the same exact time as if they new we were looking. I look over at Alice and she stands still, continuing to stare as they do the same. Finally after a few moments of waiting for the next move she snaps out of her trance and asks if I would like to go sit outside.
Once we're on the side of the building next to a big oak tree she sits down and starts to feast.
"So what was that about?" I ask unable to hold it in any longer.
"What do you mean?" she asks oblivious to what just happened.
"You and the guys at that table? It was like y'all were having a stare down."
"Ha. I guess you could call it that. That was my brother's table, I was trying to tell from their body language if it was ok to sit with them." she says while taking a bite from her apple.
"Do you usually sit with them?"
She looks up from her apple and stops chewing, "It's not you if that's what you're getting at."
"I just don't wanna interfere is all."
"You're not." but after those words came out I can tell she wasn't so sure.
We finished off lunch then head to our next class. We have fourth period together as well; History with Ms. Kane, my least favorite subject.
The class time goes by fast but what worried me was how silent Alice was, it had to be something with her brother but I dare not to ask.
For my last class of the day I have Art with Ms. Ryan, this is more like it. I walk into class and notice that I have that Daniel boy and one of guys from Alice's brother's table here too. This should be good.
I pick a seat which is just a small table, chair, and a pedestal next to it. There's a least a five foot radius to my neighbors with the same set up as me, I like the elbow room.
"Alright students, today I want everyone to be creative, surprise me with your talents." says Ms. Ryan as she puts on her apron.
I go into my book bag and pull out a pencil and paper and let my mind roam. As my hand makes contact with my paper I get interrupted from the tapping on my table.
"Do you happen to have a pencil I can borrow?" an unfamiliar husky voice ask.
I look up to see Daniel leaning down on my desk with a slight smile. My breath stops immediately after looking into his eyes; such beautiful eyes. I've never seen this color before; darkest of blue which could pass as a dark grey. I try to say something or at least move but my mind feels as if it has shut down until finally I get saved.
"I have an extra one." the girl next to me says which switches my brain back on, "You can keep that one too." she says with a wink.
He takes in pencil without satisfaction then turns to me again before walking back to his seat.
Once he sits down I take a deep breath as if I've been under water for so long. What the hell was that about? What was he doing to me?
The rest of the class time all I think about is what happened. I pack up my things knowing the bell is about to ring then look up to find one of the guy's from that table staring at me. I feel as if I'm being judged but I can't tell if it's in a good way or bad way.
'RIIINNGG'
I get my things and walk out the door awaited by Sophie.
"Hey! Ready to go?" she asks while staring at Daniel walking down the hall away from us.
"Actually I have a tutoring session with Alice, I was gonna ride with her."
"Alice Flore? I'd watch out for her Angel. No one knows anything about her, except for her little goth group in the corner." Sophie says with a little sass as the end.
"She's a nice girl Soph."
"If you say so, I'm just warning you." and with that she walks off and I begin to head for the main entrance to look for Alice.
She was right about 'you can't miss me'. I find her parked at the front in her black jeep.
"Hop in!" she screeches once she spots me. I'm guessing she's okay now from lunch.
We start the drive and I try to keep tabs in case I need to get here myself.
It had to be almost an hour before we finally arrived. We pull into the driveway next to a red Hummer which I'm guessing is her brother's. We hop out and head inside, she has a small two story house yet it doesn't feel crowded. We head up the stair and to her room. I'm welcomed to a sunset orange on the walls assisted with black and white furniture. We go over to her bed and pull out our books and begin our tutor session.
We last for a couple of hours. Now it's dinner time.
"I guess I should be heading home."
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay for dinner?" Alice asks.
"Ya. I'm sure my step mom is cooking dinner herself."
"Well okay. I'll drop you off."
We go out to her car and drive to my house. Just as I relax in the seat I start to realize how tired I am. I look out the window and begin to zone off from the forest scenery.
"Psst...Pssst...Pssstt!"
I wake up to Alice shaking my shoulder and we're at my house?
"How'd you know where I lived?"
"Your school profile." she says with a bashful smile.
I shake my head but can't help to smile.
"Thank you by the way for being my tutor."
"It was no problem, you're getting the hang of it." I tell her with a smile.
She gives me a smile back showing her teeth. I get out of the car and head for my house but before I entered I give her a wave and she honks in return.
"About time! I thought she killed you!" I turn around to Sophie yelling at me. She grabs me in a bear hug and strokes my hair, "Next time young lady you call me every ten minutes!"
I laugh at her, "Relax Soph."
I was right about Jess cooking, she was just about done actually.
When dinner was ready we all sat around the table eating fish and asking about everyone's day. I finish up pretty quickly then head to bed after my shower.
I get under the cool covers and Rockie comes in to bed with me as usual. I close my eyes and just when I'm about to sleep I imagine those bright golden eyes watching me from behind the trees.