Crushin' On U (gxg romance)

~ 11 - The new girl ~

Our car pulled up in front of the school gates, and I was already five minutes late. I took a deep breath, and prepared myself. My mum climbed out of the drivers seat and got my wretched crutches out the back. I struggled to swing my bag onto my back and then opened door as mum handed me the crutches. Steadying myself, I hoisted my crippled body out of the car.
"Good luck today." My mum said, kissing my bed.
"Get off!" I pushed her away.
"I'll see you later!" She called after me as I hobbled into school and towards the building.

By the time I reached my form room, I was over ten minutes late. Everyone was chatting loudly behind the door, but as I opened it, the room fell quiet. As soon as I stepped inside, I felt thirty pairs of eyes staring straight at me. Among all the faces, I spotted Lola at the back of the room. I attempted a wave, and she smiled awkwardly, then her eyes darted away. Suddenly I wished I'd made more of an effort to get a day off school.
"Kai," it was my teacher, Mr Harris, "Why are you late?" My throat went dry, and I was unable to make any words come out of my mouth. I gulped, and signalled towards my crutches, as if it were some sort of indicator as to why I was so late. Mr Harris nodded, though, and simply said, "Sit down."

I looked around the classroom for a place to sit. My usual seat, beside Lola, was taken, but I wouldn't have sat next to her anyway. The awrkward smile told me everything, she knew how I felt.

The only empty seat was right at the front, next to a girl I didn't recognize. I assumed she was new. I hobbled over to the seat and, with some effort, sat down, with everyone watching me.
"Hey." The girl said, and I managed to force a smile in response. "I'm new here, my name is Chloe." She continued.
"I'm Kai." I replied dryly.
"Nice to meet you!" She clearly wasn't taking the hint that I didn't want to talk to her. I nodded and turned to the front.

♥︎♡︎♥︎

I avoided Lola all morning, which was a lot easier than I thought. I was pretty sure Josh had told her, though I didn't know for sure, but to be honest I didn't want confirmation. Not right now anyway. I was too scared as to how the conversation would go, and I just wasn't ready to face Lola right now if she did know. And from the look she'd given me earlier, I was assuming she did.

Everyone seemed very interested in my leg, and had a lot of questions.
"How did you break it?"
"Can I sign your cast?"
"Can I have a go on your crutches?"
"Did you go in an ambulance?"
I was sick of all the questions, the shouting. I wished everyone would just go away.

When break-time finally came, I was hoping to find somewhere to hide and be alone, away from everyone else. But apparently that wasn't going to happen.
"Hey!" Chloe bounded up to me as I left class. I tried to ignore her, I just didn't have the energy to talk to people right now. "How are you?" I shrugged. Why was she still talking to me? I just wanted to be alone.
"Can you leave me alone?" I asked. She looked hurt. "Please?" I added.
"Oh. Okay." She said quietly, and walked away.

♥︎♡︎♥︎

By lunch, I was absolutely shattered, and my arms and legs were aching like crazy. I somehow managed to carry a cheese sandwich whilst lugging along my crutches as well, but I wasn't hungry anyway. I looked around the dining hall, not knowing where to sit. Lola was at a table with a few other girls, and I didn't dare sit down with them. Everyone else was sitting in their own groups, except for Chloe. She was sitting on her own, in the corner of the canteen.

I wondered if I should sit down next to her. She was probably still mad at me for bushing her off so bluntly earlier, but there was nowhere else to sit, unless I wanted to face sitting with Lola's group. I sighed and approached Chloe's table. She smiled and waved me over. Surprised, I pulled out a chair, with some effort, and sat down.
"Hey!"
"Hey." I said. "Sorry about earlier..."
"Don't worry about it! You needed space. I get that."
"Thanks." I tore the sandwhich out of it's box and took a bite. The cheese was chewy, and the bread tasted even worse than hospital food. I put the rest of the sandwhich back down.

I watched Chloe as she made her way through her own meal. She seemed friendly, maybe even a friend. Hopefully. I needed a friend, after Wyatt betraying me, and most likely losing Lola because of that.

♥︎♡︎♥︎

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