Blood Bound (Permanently ON-HOLD)

CHAPTER NINE; Medical Mishaps, Divine Mistakes and Superior Races.

CHAPTER NINE

It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
- Confucius.

Juliette

I walk through the halls of school the next day like a zombie. After Zak's return, I was immediately herded up to my room, Dad ordering Perry and I to sleep and leave Zak alone. I slept in, which added to my panic as I rushed to school, no chance in speaking with my recovering brother.

As I stomp down the hallways, passing classes and pushing my way through the bustle, I know I look a mess. My hair is a blonde and tangled heap on top of my head, and there are circles under my eyes that are deep and dark purple.

"Hey there."

Being so tired, I'm slow to react to the voice. I clutch my bag to my side and look to my right, weaving my way through the crowds. I give the boy a weary smile, not even working up the energy to try and seduce Josh, or Hoodie Boy, as I still like to call him.

"Hi." I mumble, counting down the minutes until lunch. One more class, and then I can hide in that dirty bathroom again, possibly get in a good half hour of sleep.

"I'm Josh, remember? Josh Tracey?" He says, awkwardly and gives me a bashful grin.

I don't remember, actually, as he never gave me his surname last time. But I know who he is. He stands out among the crowds with his green Letterman jacket.

I nod, smiling. "Cool." Is all I can muster. To be honest, I'm not into this guy and his sparkling conversational skills right now.

He clears his throat, grappling for anything to add to this doomed conversation.

"I called you over to my table yesterday," I internally wince. "How come you didn't sit with us?" Then, he quickly adds; "Colt was pretty bummed out."

Colt, not Cody. Where did I get Cody from?

I scratch my head, offering him a weak smile. "I don't know if you've guessed it already, but Hayes and I don't..." I purse my lips, trying to figure out an easy way to sum up my relationship with Heath. "Don't get along."

Josh does something I don't expect. His eyebrows shoot up and he starts laughing. He properly guffaws as we walk down the hallway, so much so that people turn and stare at him, giving me weird and accusatory looks as they do.

"What's so funny?" I stare at him as he clutches his stomach, face red with laughter.

He turns to look at me, his laughter cutting off as he wipes his eyes. "What's so funny? Everybody loves Heath, especially girls." He shakes his head in amazement. "Nobody doesn't get along with him, it's like, a law that you have to get along with him. He's Heath Hayes."

I shrug and stare straight ahead, my mood becoming darker with the thoughts of that boy. "I guess I'm special."

Josh gives me a small, genuine smile, sending me a sideways glance. "I guess you are."

Luckily, we hit a crossroads in the school, and Josh has to turn down a different hallway, leaving me alone as he rushes off with red cheeks. I shake my head as he leaves, wondering why that guy has made my mood a little lighter.

Spanish passes by uneventfully, Perry mesmerizing our Spanish teacher with his eloquent Spanish pronunciation, while I stumble over even the most simple of words. You can tell that my idiocy pisses her off, her anger growing more and more as I fumble over the verbs we had for homework.