Chapter 2: Remains

I will go rolling fast
Arms out in the rain
Feel momentum building 'til
I lift off ground like an airplane
Love ties you down to the pain
A billion eyes are watching, fossilized
They see what remains
Remains

Amanda's POV:

Amanda opened her locker successfully on the third try, finally getting the combination to work for her. The locker was bare and clean just as she'd expected, she only had a few notebooks to shove in the space, before she slammed her locker shut and sighed.

After she'd been welcomed home, her mother had informed her that she'd been unable to pick her up from the airport because she'd gotten her enrolled in school, a very nice school- she had no idea how her mother paid the tuition for both her and Kim, but it did take some of the pain away about being ditched. Her mother had been sweet when Amanda had first arrived, telling her she could take the couch, and offering her dinner, but this morning was a whole different story. She'd been woken up with a cup of cold water splashed over her, she'd had her bag of clothes thrown at her head by her obviously drunken mother, and she'd been dragged out of the house by Kim who was eager to get to school- where she had friends.

Her mother was just using her for a child support check and Kim was just happy she'd finally beaten her sister at something. Kim had actually gone out of her way to point her out to her friends during lunch, and then they had turned away laughing. Amanda didn't really mind, she'd never had many friends and she didn't mind being on her own, when they'd still been in Atlanta, she'd always preferred to snuggle into the couch and watch some cheesy romantic comedy. She would miss those nights.

All the classes had gone pretty much the same, in some she'd been asked to stand up and introduce herself- and in others she hadn't been really noticed. Amanda never liked giving the awkward hello speech, she wasn't shy by any means, but she preferred to just keep quiet and watch the people around her. Looking down at the slip of people that had her schedule scrawled on it- Seniors Advanced English with Olivia Benson room 308, nodding to herself she headed to her last class of the day. She'd heard things about Ms. Benson in the cafeteria and while she navigated the halls, apparently she was a real bitch, and nobody really liked her. Amanda was going to do her best to stay out of the way, so she would never have to find out if Ms. Benson's bitchy status was true. She wasn't here to make trouble.

Her grandma had always told her that one day her feisty nature would get her into big trouble, it certainly had gotten her in plenty of trouble in Atlanta, and she was determined to lay low here in New York. So far she'd not been bothered much, except the occasional whispers in the hall or her sisters friends cracking stupid jokes when they thought she wasn't paying attention, but Amanda could take that. She wasn't worried about any trouble here.

She only had two more doors till 308, Amanda was determined to get there slightly early, so she could claim a seat in the back row. As she entered room 308, she was slightly shocked, Ms. Benson didn't seem to have arrived yet, but people had obviously had the same idea as her, half the seats in the back row were taken, so she hurriedly snagged one of the last seats in the back- situated right beside the window. How bad was Benson if kids showed up early to get a seat as far away from the front as possible? She shrunk back against the seat, and pulled the hood of her hoodie up, slipping her ear buds into her ears as she waited for the rest of her classmates to enter the room.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder, and she removed an ear bud as she turned to look at the person next to her.

"Hey, sorry, but I've never seen you around here before, just wanted to give you fair warning about Benson, I wouldn't let her catch you with those earphones in."

The guy next to her was really handsome, African American, and he had a really kind smile, so Amanda nodded and put her earphones away.

"Thanks, I'm Amanda by the way. You were right I am new, is it that obvious?"

He extended his hand to her and his smile grew even bigger, "Nah, don't worry bout it, I'm Odafin- Fin for short. It's nice to meet you, baby girl."

She took his hand and gave it a slight shake. "So, what's the deal with Benson? I've heard a lot about her today."

Fin shook his head, and scooted his desk a bit closer, "She's a real piece of work, real strict if you know what I'm saying, people round here call her a bitch-and if I wasn't raised to respect my elders, I'd agree."

Amanda only nodded, and as she went to say something else but she was interrupted by a low voice. "Good Afternoon, it's good to see everybody back. I hope you all had a nice weekend, I hope you enjoyed yourselves, because today we have that test that we've been talking about." She noticed Fin scoot his desk back out of the corner of her eye, and she had yet to look up, still trying to follow her policy of not being noticed.

It was like nobody made a sound, all she could hear was the clicking of heels on the tile floor, focusing her attention out the window, hoping when Ms. Benson got to her that by some miracle she would be overlooked. Something about her made Amanda extremely nervous. When she finally looked up, her breath caught in her throat and her mouth went dry. Her teacher was beautiful- and extremely hot. Like dirty, sexual, crazy hot. Ms. Benson was dressed in a black pantsuit with a flowing white blouse underneath, the pants hugged the woman in all the right places- and the shirt showed a hint of cleavage that had Amanda's mouth watering.

"You'll have most of the class to complete the test, I expect it done, I need to figure out what curriculum I need to start focusing on in here."

Amanda only swallowed and looked back down at her desk, playing with a strand of her blonde hair, flipping open her notebook and trying to look productive. Then a paper was slid on to her desk, over her notebook, and the heels turned around and walked back up the isle. She smiled and flipped her paper over, she'd always been fairly decent at English, so she understood the questions- and in turn the answers came quickly to her. The test was only about 20 questions long, and the reading passages took up a page or so, Amanda had also always read faster than her peers, so she was done in under ten minutes.

She flipped the packet over, and placed her notebook on top of it, using her free time to draw random things. Amanda had never been particularly talented at art, but she enjoyed drawing, even though they always turned out crappy.

She'd had a small bag of Skittles during her lunch break, so she took the time to sketch out a single skittle, making it perfectly round and evenly proportioned. She spent the next 30 minutes of class perfecting the 'S' in the middle of her circle.

"Alright, hand in your assignments on your way out, have a good afternoon."

The bell rang not even a minute later, and she looked over at Fin who shot her a wink and wave, as he prepared to leave. She grabbed her notebook and packet, keeping her head down as she made her way to the front, she was one of the last ones in line to turn in the assignment, but Amanda didn't mind waiting. She had nothing else to do. When it was her turn to turn her work in, she didn't even look up, instead holding the paper out for the woman to take, the paper was taken from her, and she sighed with relief as she made to walk out.

"Wait, I'd like you to stay a moment, please." Damn, that voice, Amanda was torn between making a bolt and waiting, she decided to wait.

She turned around and looked up, Ms. Benson was right in front of her. "Can I ask what you were drawing back there?"

Amanda only nodded dumbly, "I drew a Skittle."

Ms. Benson only tilted her head and her brow furrowed in a way Amanda thought was absolutely adorable.

"You know the candy, fruity, taste the rainbow?" Amanda tried to explain.

"Yes, I know what Skittles are, why did you choose to draw one?"

"I still had some time before the bell, so why not?" Amanda shrugged, trying her hardest not to look the older woman in the eye, but then her gaze would wander down to the woman's chest, so she settled for looking past her.

"You're new."

Amanda sighed, and transferred her notebook to her other hand, "I was really hoping you wouldn't notice."

She heard Ms. Benson chuckle, and she offered a light smile in return.

"Well since I have noticed, I'm Olivia Benson, Miss Benson."

"Amanda- Amanda Rollins."

AN: Should I continue?