Hard Boy ✔️

9

- boy x; Tate McRae - 
- Everybody Wants You; Johnny Orlando -
- Crush Culture; Conan Gray - 

Aurora Holland

If you were to ask me what it would be like on my first day of public school, I would never know how to answer that. The people were staring, which was odd considering I wasn't used to people giving me any type of attention.

Sure, I'd get glances here and there because I was with Paige, but that was about the extent. And sure, I had some attention at the party, but surely it was because they felt bad and were trying to make me feel included.

It was like I was this little pity friend. I was only considered a 'friend' because they do it out of pity. They talk to me out of pity. They want to be friends with Paige, which means to be friends with her you have to be friends with me. Nobody usually wants to, they just do it because they have to.

Not to mention I had to go through the first day jitters with the weight of the conversation with my mother and father hanging over my head. Things would be so much easier if I were just Jason -- the perfect little angel child. The one who does nothing wrong despite doing everything, and the one who never gets the blame.

"Rora! Paige!" A familiar voice exclaimed from behind Paige and me.

Paige was the first to turn, a bright smile covering her features as she saw the person who called after us. I turned as well, seeing Logan lightly jogging toward us. He wore a letterman jacket, one with a giant R on the front. His name was on the other side of it, stitched in with perfect cursive letters.

He wore a blank T-shirt underneath, the material very form-fitting on his skin. His backpack hung off one shoulder, almost looking too small for him due to how tall he was.

Logan stopped right between the two of us, glancing between me and my cousin. "I see you finally made it."

"Had to stop and get our energy for the day." Paige waved her frappuccino lightly before taking a sip, her smile never leaving. "Haven't talked to you since the party, everything good?"

"Yeah. Had a major hangover and took me forever to clean up," Logan answered her.

As usual, I felt like I was just there. People were looking, probably for multiple reasons. One, I was with Paige and she gets attention everywhere she goes. Another is if Logan is as popular as Paige tells me, he gets looks just as well. Then the very last was that I'm the new girl at Riverway High, and so people were probably interested in me and wondering what I'm doing with two of the most popular students at the school.

I took a sip of my coffee as I walked, twirling a ring around my finger. My eyes bounced to my right hand, where scratch marks were welted up from the fight this morning. Nobody had seen the marks, and I was really hoping they wouldn't as it'd be an awkward answer.

I don't have a cat and although most people don't know that, Paige knows. She'd shut that down and there was no point in lying to the other people if Paige will find out.

She always finds out.

Hiding is the best option, as then there'll be no questions asked.

"So, Rora," Logan's voice caught my attention again. My hand shot down to my side to prevent him from noticing it, and I looked up at him.

"What's up?"

"What classes are you taking?" He asked.

"She's taking a bunch of art classes and shit," Paige answered for me. "Because she was so ahead of all of her classes at the old school she didn't need very many more mandatory classes here, so she's really just taking them for extra credits."