The Safe Place

Chapter Four

As the bell rang, all of the students surged for the door. I fell behind the group, not a fan of the chaos and noise.

Surprisingly, Tall Dark and Scary was one of the last people to join everyone at the door, despite him being seated closest. He sent me a cursory glance as I sidled up next to him, waiting to leave, but his attention was caught on the blond boy in front of me.

The thief, sensing Tall Dark and Scary's gaze, turned, warm eyes widening as he noticed who was staring. He looked nervous.

Being a nosy person as Sean often called me(I preferred curious), I was really tempted to stick around and observe the two, but the students had cleared from the doorway. I had to leave if I didn't want to be late to my next class.

Things went surprisingly smoothly for the next few classes. Teachers handed out basic assignments and outlined the information they'd be teaching us, but otherwise there was no work to do. Just listening and scribbling answers on pretests. The only real assignment I received was to write a poem for English class.

Upon recounting the events of homeroom to Mr. Blackbourne in 'violin class,' I was told to keep an eye on the thief, and if I was comfortable with it, to keep tabs on the creep that was stolen from.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was feeling fairly confident. No one had bothered me, or even made an effort to talk to me. Really, school was everything people said it would be. Crowded and noisy, but rather predictable.

What I hadn't predicted, however, was the overcrowded cafeteria and crazy long lunch-line that managed to stretch into the hall. The lunch room was clearly not meant to accommodate two thousand plus students.

With no hope of getting lunch before the end of the period just standing in line, I made my way to the vending machine in the front hall. It too had a ridiculously long line, but in the end I only wasted a little under half the period waiting.

By the time I returned, most of the tables were completely full. The people who sat at those who weren't didn't seem fond of the idea of me joining them. I considered sitting out in the hallways like some of the other students I had seen, but the sunny courtyard beckoned me.

Compared to the crowded school, the courtyard was peaceful. Groups of students sat on their backpacks on the grass, chattering amongst themselves. Others sat on concrete benches. I spotted the thief from homeroom among a group of boys in one of the corners. In the corner opposite to them, Tall Dark and Scary sat with an equally tall (maybe even taller), equally scary friend.

I contemplated my options. After a moment's deliberation, I found a quiet spot just within earshot of the thief's groups and sat, munching on a bag of chips. I recognized my neighbor, his green eyes smiling out from behind black-rimmed glasses at a familiar looking red-head. I had seen him around at Cody(?)'s house, I was sure.

Most of the boys looked familiar, actually. Now that I thought about it, I might've seen the thief around my neighborhood too...

The boys' playful banter made me curious as to where the conversation had started, and how it had arrived here.

"But what about his door?"

The blond thief snorted, smiling proudly. "The entire thing was coated with syrup!" The entire group laughed. "He was livid. I'm surprised I escaped with my life." His smile fell away.

Tucking a bleached strip of hair behind his ear, one of the boys nudged his blond friend. "Who needs that fucker? He seems like a douche-bag."

"Gabe," another boy warned. His eyes were a startling amber- almost fiery.

"Fuck, sorry," Gabe said. "But it's true! He's such a dick!"

I bit my lip. Maybe this conversation wasn't any of my business.

"No, you're right. North just isn't worth it," the blond boy sighed. There was a moment of silence before he perked up. "Gabe, I grabbed something for you!"

Gabe- who seemed to be a very foul-mouthed person- groaned. "Holy fucking shit. You didn't. Tell me you didn't!"

"I did!"

The blond stood, grabbing his backpack off of a bench and rummaging through. With his back to me, he pulled something out and presented it to Gabe.

Fire-eyes scowled. "I could've gotten him that."

Glasses didn't seem very happy either.

"Come on, man. It's Greg's, so it's not like he didn't deserve it. He was totally creeping on some freshman girl."

What was he talking about? Who was Greg? I was curious to see what he was giving to his friend.

The bell rang, drowning out any answers I might have gotten. Reluctantly, I stood, crossing the courtyard to throw my trash away and return to class. And, as per usual, ran smack into trouble.