Audrey
Deciding to go in search of my locker, I hoisted my bag onto my back and checked my locker number. I followed the hall and located it at the very end.
After dumping my bag and taking out the books I needed for the morning, I headed back to Bailey’s room. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from Brody.
Brody: Just checking in.
I typed out a response, smiling the whole time.
Audrey: I’m here and have Bailey first up.
Brody: That’s good. Made any friends?
Me: There’s no one here yet.
Brody: Well, I just wanted to wish you luck.
Me: Like you did this morning?
I smiled at my phone and waited for his response. I was so focused on my phone that I didn’t see where I was walking until it was too late. I walked straight into a wall.
A soft, yet firm wall. A wall that groaned and grabbed hold of me before I stumbled backwards.
“Shit. Watch where you’re walking,” the wall said.
I ducked my head, not wanting to look him in the eye. The guy was tall, broad. No wonder I thought he was a wall. “Sorry,” I muttered to my feet.
“Eyes are up here.” The guy grasped my chin and tilted my face up. Who the hell just touched someone like that when they didn’t know them? I flinched from his touch and refused to look at him. I didn’t want to see the horror in his eyes when he saw what I looked like. I stepped back, keeping my head ducked so my hair fell in my face. The perfect cover.
“Do I know you?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“You sure? I feel like there’s something familiar about you.”
I shook my head again, too afraid to open my mouth and speak for fear of throwing up all over his Chucks.
“Do you speak?” he asked slowly as if I were stupid. I scoffed and pushed past him.
“Sorry I walked into you. I’m going to be late,” I called back over my shoulder when I was further away.
“Ah, she speaks. Late for what? School doesn’t start for an hour,” he yelled back, but I chose to ignore him and hurried back to Bailey’s classroom. His laughter echoed down the hall.
Who was that guy?
I sat in Bailey’s classroom until the halls started filling with students, then I hid in the corner. My chest tightened, and it hurt to breathe. My palms were sweaty, and my legs shook. Where was Brody when I needed him? I wasn’t ready for this many people.
The door to the classroom opened and closed. I peered over to Bailey’s desk from where I was crouched on the floor and noticed a guy. He was tall. Really tall. Or maybe that was because I was sitting on the floor. His black t-shirt was tight and complemented the tattoo on his arm perfectly, since it was all black too. His golden-brown hair hung in waves below his ears. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, taking a deep breath. I knew him. Everything about him was familiar. The guy from the shop last week.
“I can feel you staring,” he said quietly.
I didn’t move. He couldn’t possibly know I was there.
“Audrey, right?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. How did he know that? We’d exchanged a few words last week, and I’d never told him my name. I pulled myself up and squared my shoulders. Confident.
“How’d you know?”
“Perks of being the principal’s son. You get the gossip on the hot new girls.”
Hot new girls. Did he mean me? No, he couldn’t have. I wasn’t hot. I was disfigured.
“But you’re new too. So, doesn’t that make everyone at the school new to you?”
“How do you know I’m new?”
“Perks of knowing the English teacher. You get warned about shit before you walk into it,” I said, hoping that statement wouldn’t get Bailey in any trouble. Surely she wasn’t allowed to share that sort of information, but then again, I figured the principal shouldn’t either.
He laughed. “Touché.”
I stared awkwardly at him. I didn’t know what to do or say. I didn’t know him.
“Wanna tell me why you’re hiding under the desk?”
“Why are you sneaking around classrooms?” I countered, shifting out from behind the desk.
“Because I don’t want to be here.”
“Same.”
“Want to skip class with me?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
What was it about this guy that made me feel at ease? It was the same last week when I was in the shop and he helped me.
“What? No!”
“You’re no fun. Come on. We’ll go to the beach or something.” He walked further into the room, closing the distance between us.
“Don’t you think your father is going to notice you missing from the school?”
“He wouldn’t care. I doubt he’d care if I dropped dead tomorrow. All he’s concerned about is his reputation.”
I frowned and swallowed thickly, folding my arms over my chest. I collapsed onto Bailey’s desk. How could someone be so blasé about death? I was sure his father would be heartbroken.
“Whoa, hey. What’s wrong?” The guy—the principal’s son, I didn’t even know his name—rushed over to me. “Why are you crying?”
I was crying? I didn’t even realise. I reached up and wiped the tears from my face. “You shouldn’t talk about death like that.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I just…” He took a deep breath and sighed. “All I’m trying to say is my father doesn’t pay me any attention. We never talk, never see each other. I’m only here because it looks bad on him if the principal’s son gets expelled from another school.”
“I’m sorry your family life is that way,” I tell him honestly, wondering why he was expelled from his last school but not curious enough to ask.
He shrugged and sat on the desk beside me. “Tell me about your family.”
I looked up at him because he was still so much taller than I was, even when he sat. His shoulders were even broader than Linc’s lifeguard shoulders. His blue eyes were like a stormy ocean sparkling back at me.
“They’re dead.” I stood and grabbed my bag, ready to leave.
“Hey, wait. Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” He reached for me, but I flinched and moved my arm from his grasp. If he noticed my reaction, he didn’t say.
“You weren’t to know.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Homeroom.”
“Can I walk you?”
“Only if you tell me your name,” I said and opened the classroom door.
“Bennett. Bennett Sawyer.” He smiled and held out his hand for me to shake. “Nice to meet you, Audrey. I think we’re going to be the best of friends.” And then he threw his arm over my shoulder and walked me the extra eight steps to the class across the hall.
“Thanks for walking me, bestie.” I laughed, not sure where the confidence was coming from, but Bennett Sawyer instantly put me at ease.