Chapter 10:

Hey y'all, I'm SO sorry for the late update. Because school is coming to an end it means PROCRASTINATION as well as tons of studying. I had a band event this weekend, which was A BLAST, but I'm back now, and I hope to have this published by Thursday afternoon. (I guess we'll see whenever I post it on the website.)

By the way, thank you to all that commented and gave me critiques; it motivates me to write more. Because I don't have many followers or favorites, I love it when I am left a review.

I hope y'all enjoy this chapter; I think the next few chapters will be better because I finally have somewhat of a storyline thought up before writing.

As I walk through the glass doors, I can hear Spencer's tires squeaking out of the parking lot. I can feel my heart hammering through my chest, as if I'm about to have a heart attack. With all the stress I'm under, I'm surprised I haven't had one by now…

My purple vans squeak on the blue, scattered carpet as I hear someone call my name. I circle around to see someone facing me and displaying their hearty, smiling face—the principal maybe?

"Ahh—you must be Bella," he announced. I reach out to shake his hand and give it a firm shake, but I still feel as if my hands are dripping with water. "I've heard your grades are excellent, which is impressive considering your situation. He portrays his snaggle-toothed smile as he starts walking in the direction of my class room. How come he knows about my situation? Ugh, I'll have to talk to Spence later about this. He turns his head over his shoulder as we approach my English classroom. "I'm Royce Greenburg, head principal, by the way. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any issues." I glance back to make eye contact as soon as his short, stocky figure disappears from my sight. Hm...He doesn't seem half bad. But then again, it's the kids I usually have to worry about.

I peek through the slim, glass window on the door, and in response, view the teacher staring back at me. I guess there's no turning back now. I gulp as I enter the room and push up my black-framed glasses. My shoulders slouch and my purple and blue tiled backpack slides halfway down my back.

I walk up to the teacher's desk. She looks to be a young, Indian woman, who is about 27 years old. She welcomes me as well as introduces me to the class, although everyone in the class either snickers or doesn't give me the time of day to make an impression. Jeeze. Judgmental kids. I miss hanging out with FBI agents all day. They make life so much simpler...

I choose a seat at one of the back tables and throw my backpack down on the ground as I pull out my chair. Everyone stares at me. Great, now they think I have temper issues too. Just great!

The teacher gives us a reading and annotating assignment—which is one of my gifts in English—so I finish earlier than most of the class. My impressive speed-reading comes in handy in English class, although I can't read as fast as my brother. I zip open my backpack, revealing a handful of books including Fahrenheit 451, Water for Elephants, and In Cold Blood. I take Water for Elephants out of my backpack and open it to page 54, where I had placed my bookmark. I originally decided to read the book because of the movie's ratings; and because I have wanted to see the movie, I thought I should start reading the book as soon as possible.

In the middle of reading my book, I hear sarcastic and snooty tones drifting into my eardrums, so I cautiously look up, not yet realizing they're talking about me. As my head pops up, the room goes silent. I swear I could hear a pin drop.

I notice the smirks on their faces. Oh how I wish I could go kick their asses…But I'm too shy and courteous to do that, like my mama used to say.

I can feel old memories surfacing as my eyes fill up with tears, but I keep them from overflowing, knowing it would be social suicide if I cried in public.

As the bell rings, I snatch my binders and backpack while I scamper out of my English classroom. While I'm speed-walking to my next class, I get jammed into a locker by a tall, white kid, who is probably a senior. My books go flying everywhere, as well as my papers spilling out of my backpack.

"—Oops…" He snickers, laughing with his friends as I try to tower all of my books in my right palm. Just to my luck, the books fall again. My clumsiness strikes again as I panic and try to throw my books back into my bag. I can feel tears clawing the inside of my eyelids. Come on Bella, calm down, you can do this.

I am late to my next class, as well as to my other two classes today. The campus has a lot of twists and turns and can be quite confusing for a Pennsylvania native to read—considering how complex the city of Quantico is.

As I'm about to call Spencer to pick me up and cry softly in the back of his car, I see a familiar face out of the corner of my eye.

Could it be—Nate?

I speedily start walking to avoid an awkward conversation, but of course my attempt to escape fails me. "Bella, is that you?" I turn around, pretending as if I'm just now seeing him for the first time today. "Oh, hey Nate," I speak shyly, as a blush creeps up into my cheekbones. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Oh, I'm switching to private school, homeschool was too boring. Because my mom has such a high position in the government, we have enough money for homeschooling with a tutor. The bad part about it is that I don't have many friends, due to the fact that most kids go to public or private school."

"Oh," I whisper, my voice getting dry and scratchy from being around him, due to feelings that are developing—probably a crush, which is exactly what I need. "Today's my first day."

"How was it?" he asks, hanging onto my every word.

It takes me a while to respond, due to the fact that I'm lost in his blue eyes. They look like the night sky; a dark blue, wisdom shining through as well as kindness and generosity.

"..Not so great. Considering I don't know anyone... The statistics aren't exactly in my favor."

"Hey," his voices rises, "maybe we'll have a class together!"

As his mom walks out of the front office, she turns to see us talking. She approaches us. "Oh Bella, this is my mom, Erin Strauss."

She gives me a weak smile, and I give one in return. "We've met," she says indifferently. I bet the profilers can't even read her personality; she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve, that's for sure.

We strike up conversation before I leave, with subjects such as school and hobbies—though I don't spill much about myself. I'm happy to hear that we have all of our classes together. Nate's mother warms up as we progressively talk, and we discuss multiple matters until I get a text from Spencer that tells me he has arrived.

"I have to go," I rush, trying to grab all of my possessions. "It was nice seeing you guys." I smile as we all nod our heads. As I'm leaving the room, I feel a grin swipe across my face as I tell Nate goodbye. "See you tomorrow!"

As I'm walking out the door, I realize I've developed a huge crush—on Spencer's bosses' son. Well, I guess we'll see how this turns out.

One thing I do not know until a few weeks later is that I will become best friends with Nate, and I will tell him about my entire life, discussing things I've never told anyone before. And I usually have reasons for having boundaries. Let's just hope Nate is the one exception to them.

Hope you guys liked this, I can't wait to write the next few chapters. Reviews are appreciated. You never know, I may read one of your stories and return the favor (;

Have a good day everyone!