Target To Save

Chapter 1 Part 3

Scottsburrow narrowed his eyes, but his smile didn't waver. "Anything for you." It was cheeky, and Ivalin's blood boiled.

He turned and gestured for Ivalin to follow. She looked back at the receptionist, but Ms. Jacklyn was already sucked into the computer. Taking a deep breath, Ivalin followed the boy into the crowd. He waved, greeting the other students that shuffled through the halls, not once looking at Ivalin, nor introducing her to any of them. They followed his league, ignoring her, and so Ivalin trailed behind him, a ghost in a sea of people. But Scottsburrow also didn't pay any more attention to any one peer than he had to. He smiled at the mass and laughed at the right times, but his gaze didn't land on anyone for more than a second.

The two of them walked through the deafening crowd in silence. Ivalin faked a dazzling smile, but Scottsburrow didn't seem to look back. He lazily stopped walking, and sighed. He didn't look at her, and it took a second to register the question. "What's your first class?"

Ivalin glanced at the schedule in her hands that crinkled under the force of her fingers. The chatter was driving her up the walls, and she struggled not to rub the headache away. She took a deep breath, and fell onto her training. "English."

But Scottsburrow wasn't listening. He called out an, "Alex." and pushed his way into the crowd, slinging his arm around a beautiful dark-brown-eyed girl with porcelain skin in a cheerleading outfit with a very short skirt that made Ivalin quickly avert her gaze. Tentatively, she followed.

The girl shot Ivalin a small smile. Ivalin's fingers twitched. Her mind raced. The voices were too loud.

"Where's Lyia, babe?"

The girl, Alex, flexed her fingers. "Don't know." She dismissed his question, flipping her hair over her shoulder and then crossing her arms. Scottsburrow raised an eyebrow, and Alex looked away rolling her eyes. "Probably humoring Jack. He wants to ask her to prom."

"Don't get mad." Scottsburrow played with her fine black hair that dangled in the ponytail, "You know how she likes attention."

Alex's nose scrunched up, and she tucked her hands into the sleeves of her jacket. "That's the third boy this week."

Scottsburrow sighed and kissed Alex's cheek, "Are you jealous? You want more boys to hang off your shoulders? Am I not enough?"

"I was the second person you asked after Lyia rejected you." She accused, her cheeks red. Ivalin looked at the floor, her chest hurt. Isolation slowly closed the walls around her.

"And?" He rolled his eyes when Alex brushed off his touch. He turned to Ivalin, sweeping his arms wide open. "Congratulations, you made it. This is the English room."

It was a clear dismissal. Ivalin bit the inside of her cheek, pushing past the two of them. Her eyes fluttered to Alex who stood in Scottsburrow's shadow. "Nice meeting you, Alex."

Alex smiled and gave a quick wave, her fingers peeking out of her sweatshirt. "Nice meeting you, too."

Scottsburrow raised an eyebrow, looking between the two of them, "What? Did I suddenly disappear?"

Ivalin's small smile sharpened, and she pushed open the door, gracefully entering the classroom.

The room was bare. A dull beige covered the walls. Shrugging her backpack off, Ivalin sank into a lonely desk. Her eyes absentmindedly stared through the window, watching the dirty clouds pass. She wanted to get out, to shed the loud yells of naivety, the smell of ignorance and dirty jerseys.

A part of her longed for Jaizya and a cup of their homemade warm Ofide that was always a little too sweet for Ivalin's taste. A deeper darker part longed for her mother.