We Were Strangers| Completed

part 5

I was eager to get the weekend over with when Saturday arrived. I could feel the tension in the house every time I left my room. And because of that, I only left my room to eat or go to the bathroom. Aside from that, I avoided everyone and kept my conversations to a minimum.

Dan didn't say much, and I didn't say much either. Wendy had been aware of what had unfolded last night and sent me a pained smile.

Sunday was no different, and I couldn't wait for Monday to get here. That way, I would have something to do and wouldn't be locked in my room.

Wendy, like she always did, dropped me off at school. I attended all of my boring classes, and the only thing keeping me going was the 30-minute lunch I had with Enzo and Tory.

After my English class, I went to the cafeteria. As soon as I walked inside, I noticed Tory was seated. The table appeared to be more bare than normal; Jade's seat, as well as Enzo's, were both empty.

To my surprise, Nico was there.

I took a seat next to Tory.

"Is Enzo not here?" Tory shook her head no, and I turned my attention to Nico.

"Hey, where's your brother?" I asked with a smile. He looked up from his phone and sighed, followed by a shrug.

"I don't know," he remarked, and that was all he said before dismissing me and returning his gaze to his phone.

Nico had done a complete 180 and had returned to his rude self. I guess I was stupid to expect that after the nice gesture of driving me home, he'd continue to be nice, but I was wrong.

I texted Enzo, asking why he wasn't at school. While I waited for an answer, I talked with Tory, and she showed me her camera roll of all the pictures she took at the party.

She also recounted the small details she did recall, such as hearing the sirens and somehow ending up in Enzo's car with Mason and Amara.

"Where did you go?" She asked me as she leaned her tray forward and pointed at her French fries. I grabbed one before telling her what had happened to me.

"I just hid and walked home." I lied. I wasn't sure why I hadn't told her the truth. Maybe it was the fact that Nico was listening, and I didn't want to give him any credit for "saving" me from the party.

Tory's mouth dropped open. "That's a long walk." I shook my head in agreement.

"I know, I walked fast." I lied again.

The bell rang, and I said a quick goodbye to Tory and hurried across the other end of the building to my class. Finally, I made it to Home Economics and sat in my seat.

Like the previous days, I expected Nico to skip, but when I looked up, I saw him. Nico stood near the doorframe, walking in my direction with a longing stare that never left me until he sat beside me.

From the corners of my eyes, I could feel him glance my way. His stare was fixed on me. Oh, just what I didn't miss.

Once the room filled up, Ms. Harold took attendance. When she was done, the remaining time was to work on our projects.

I reached into my black backpack and drew out the packet, which I placed in the center of the combined desks.

Nico arched an eyebrow as he grabbed the packet and flipped through the pages. My guess was he expected to see it done, but the thing was, I hadn't even started anything.

I watched as he rummaged through his backpack for a pencil, and when he finally found one, he started writing on the front of the sheet. He handed it back to me, and I noticed he had written "stubborn" at the very top in big, bold letters.