Crushing Gravity
Chapter 3
A soft knock has me sitting up fast in bed, thumb wrenching from my mouth, and heart racing.
"Sam?" A voice calls through the door and I remember with relief that I locked it. "You should start getting ready for school, we have a half hour before we need to leave."
"Okay!" I call, swiping the drool off my cheek and hand as I climb out of the bed.
I quickly snag a pair of black jeans, black long sleeve T, and my large navy blue hoodie. I habitually peak my head out into the hall before I slip into the bathroom slightly down it.
I'm finished showering and changed within ten minutes
In the mirror, I can see my busted lip and a healing bruise yellowing my jaw. Emerald green eyes look back at me in a glare asking, 'why do you let this happen?'
You know you don't let it, the soft voice in my head answers.
"Shut up Lyla," I mutter back to her.
There is a knock on the door, and I swing it open before whoever on the other side can speak.
Brady blinks at me. "Hey, breakfast is on the table."
I nod and stride right past him in the direction of the kitchen. I'm starving.
Brady seems impressed as I wolf down six pancakes and a plate of bacon.
"Hey what happened to your hands?" He notices as I reach for the juice. Mrs. Fuller turns away from the sink to listen curiously, too.
"Got into a fight," I lie.
Brady smiles, Mrs. Fuller frowns.
"You two should head off to school," she says. "Brady, go get Sam her school things."
He crosses into the living room and comes back with a brand new book bag, already filled.
"I can carry it for you if you want?" He offers nicely.
And have to give something in return? No thanks.
"I got it!" I snap, ripping it from his arms and angrily pushing out the front door.
My anger only grows when I realize that I have to wait for him to show me the way to school. It would look really stupid of me to start walking the wrong direction.
He hurries out after and I follow three feet behind.
It doesn't seem to bug him that I'm not walking next to him; he just flips around and walks backward.
"You know, you're kind of mean," he comments casually, his feet easily finding the way in the path.
"Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair before long."
He frowns. "You don't like it hear?"
Here it is again, the casual conversation.
"Doesn't matter if I like it, people don't like me."
He grins. "Because your mean," he states. A snort escapes before I can stop it.
The walk to school is shorter than I realized, only fifteen minutes, and Brady is leaving me at the entrance, jogging over to his friend that was at the house yesterday.
Being touched, in school, is inevitable. There are so many people that bodies brush each other, feet trip you, and book bags smack you in the face when someone turns around.
So I shove people out of the way, sending a few to the ground or into lockers.
I find mine from the class schedule Brady told me was in the pouch on the side of my bag.
My first class is easily found and I make my way to the back of the room, ignoring all the curious stares.
I'm used to this, to being the new kid in the middle of the year. I've been to more schools than I can count and the teachings are all over the place. Either I've done it, or I skipped five chapters and am completely lost.
My leg bounces impatiently as I wait for the bell to ring.
Finally, class starts. The boy, Collin, smiles when he sees me and strides forward to sit at the empty desk next to me.
"So, Sam, right?"
I scoff and cross my arms to ignore him. He tries again.
"I'm Collin, Brady's friend."
I stare out the window. It's raining again, just a small drizzle that fogs the glass.
"So how do you like the reservation so far?"
The teacher finally starts to talk and Collin is forced to pay attention.
Lunch rolls around so very slowly, that it's painful. Really, my head is starting to hurt and I'm hungry again.
In the lunch line, I grab whatever I could get, pizza, some sort of soup, bowl of fruit, slice of cake, and start walking to an empty table I see by the doors.
From the corner of my eye, I see Brady and Collin eating lunch with a few girls and a bunch of guys bigger than they are.
Even the girl that is leaning over the table arguing is very tall, and lean muscles show on her exposed arms.
I roll my eyes, making sure not to look at them as I pass their table.
I don't want Collin or Brady inviting me over if I looked lost. I just want to sit alone and eat a nice lunch by myself-
The girl shoves away from the table angrily, right as I'm passing, and I suddenly find myself falling.
My bruised butt smacks the ground first, then my hands to break the fall, and then my entire lunch. Hot soup burns the front of my pants.
I blink, stunned, as chocolate frosting drips off my brow. How is it, that not a speck landed on the floor?
"Shit," the girl curses above me, drawing my attention, and growing anger, back to her.
The frustration in her face melts, eyes widening, the moment she sees my glare.
"What the hell?" I spit, jumping to my feet. Half my lunch clings to me as the other half finally hits the ground.
Why is she still staring at me like that?
I scowl, shaking my arms to fling more gunk to the floor, and she finally seems to shake out of her thoughts.
"Shit," she repeats, lunging forward to try and get stuff out of my hair.
"Don't touch me!" I snap, shoving her hands away.
"I'm sorry," she stammers, reaching to the table behind her and snatching up as many napkins as she can. "Here," she offers them to me.
"Fuck off!" I growl, shoving past her to get to the doors and find a bathroom.
It's only a few doors down and I spend all of lunch, the next period, and the period after that in front of a sink.
Still, I'm twenty minutes late to my last class with damp clothes and in an even fouler mood.
Of course, the teacher asks me to stay after class, and I really don't have the patience for that talk. Regardless, I take extra time to pack up my bag. By the time I'm dragging my feet to the front of the class, the last kid had left five minutes ago.
I pause at the desk and wait.
Mr. Bummer, or whatever his name is, stands up to close the door.
My back stiffens and I become more alert as he comes back to the desk and leans against it.
"Samantha, are you alright?"
I blink and tighten my hold on my bag. I roll my eyes and start toward the door.
"I don't have time for this,"
He reaches out to stop me. "Samantha, do not walk out of here." What is it with people always wanting to touch me?
I jerk away, but don't shout at him. He's a teacher.
So I reluctantly turn and fold my arms across my chest so he can't grab me again.
"What?" I demand.
"Why were you late today?" He asks patiently, like I'm a child throwing a tantrum.
"None of your damn business."
He sighs. "Samantha, do not curse in my classroom."
I roll my eyes and turn to leave again. "We are not done here."
"Well I am!" I reach for the knob of the door when it suddenly twists on its own. I snatch my hand back but I'm not quick enough to jump out of the way. "Fuck!"
I hop up and down in a circle, clutching my head in pain. Who ever did that must be really angry right now.
I look up to glare at the door slammer, only to recognize her. It's the girl that dumped all my lunch on me.
Her eyes widen and I can see the 'sorry' on the tip of her tongue again.
"What the fuck?!" I ask, because, really, this can't be coincidence.
"Samantha!" My teacher shouts and I glare at him over my shoulder.
"Go to hell!" I shout at him before once again shoving past the girl way taller than me.
I'm only halfway down the hall when fast footsteps hurry to catch up.
"Hey, wait!" She slows to walk next to me. "I'm really sorry about the cafeteria and the door."
"Whatever."
"Are you okay? I hit you pretty hard..."
"I will be when you leave me the fuck alone."
Hurt flashes across her face, and she stops. I don't know why she would be hurt, I'm the one with the throbbing skull.
It was an accident, Sammy. She didn't mean to.
With a sigh, I stop and turn to face her.
"I'm Sam," I offer instead of apologizing.
She blinks, and then scowls. "Of course you are." I'm momentarily taken aback.
I raise an eyebrow in question.
"My ex boyfriend's name is Sam," she offers as explanation and starts walking again with me. "I'm Leah."
"Cool," I say, and nothing else. What else is there to say, nice to meet you? It wasn't; she dumped a lunch on me and then hit me with a door. Why again am I being somewhat nice to her, when I just really want to start a fight?
You shouldn't start a fight just because you're having a bad day, Sammy.
Right, that's why. My conscience.
"So you're living with Brady?" She asks, and then grimaces as if she realized she said something dumb.
"For now," I say and finally stop at my locker, throwing my entire bag in. I don't need it. "Bye," I say, because really, why were we still talking?
She waves and watches as I walk away. Freak.
I find the gym locker room I was in earlier that day, and change into the sweatpants and shirt they provide, leaving the hoodie off since no one is going to hang around after school except those with detention.
After a short stretch, I take off along the track focusing on getting faster, always faster, so that maybe it won't ever happen again.
A/N: Yay, someone reviewed! :3 Thank you so much, and I'm so glad you like it. Please keep reading!