The Reborn (The Reborn trilogy book 1)

Chapter 8

Blast from the past

"Right class, face the front." Mrs Dodd calls.

Lola and I were so busy laughing I didn't even hear her enter the room. Still smiling we both twist in our seats to face the front. We'd been together for a few days now. At first, we tried to keep it quiet but Matty saw straight through us. Within minutes he was calling us out in true Matty style.

All we did was sit next to each other at lunch, like we do every day, but Matty took one look between the two of us and cheered. "You two finally hooked up, I thought I was going to die with all the sexual tension you two have been given off." The two of us simultaneously threw a fry at him.

It was Tuesday night we shared our first kiss, one that turned into an hour long make-out session. The past two nights we'd spent doing more of the same. We stopped occasionally to talk but mainly we kissed like two crazy teens. She was a really good kisser.

The times we did stop to talk we're sweet as well. I'd never had a relationship like this before. In my first life I'd dated a few times but I hadn't really been into it. The guy would want to kiss, often trying to take things too far, when I'd say no, the date tended to be over. But with Lola it had only been three nights and it felt like the most real relationship I'd ever had. We just hung out and that was remarkable in itself.

Last night we had the talk about what we were doing?

I was quite happy when I went to bed last night knowing I'd got myself my first girlfriend. After Matty called us out so quickly we decided there was no point trying to hide it. Sandra and Lola's parents were both happy for us; although when Sandra went into teen mode, I did start to regret telling her. We didn't really care who knew though, we were too crazy about each other to care about anyone else. Loving that when Lola took her seat next to me, she gave me a peck on the lips.

Mine we're still tingling as Mrs Dodd's took control of the class.

"Today I've brought a visitor to the class." Mrs Dodd continues. Meanwhile I sneak a look at Lola, earning me a secret smile. "This is Mrs Carmichael." I had a teacher by that name in my old school. "My grandmother. She also used to be a teacher and today will be helping us with first-hand knowledge of the topic."

Colour me intrigued. "Shit." Lola looks at me inquisitively but I don't respond, I'm trying hard to face the front but not be seen.

"What's wrong?" Lola says out the side of her mouth.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Why did I have to mumble too loud? Now I have Lola on my case because she won't let this go now. At least she will leave it until after class, now I just need to make it through the lesson without Mrs Dodd's grandmother seeing me. Because of course Mrs Carmichael was the same Mrs Carmichael that taught me. She may be older now, like a lot older, but I still recognise her. I just pray she doesn't recognise me.

All through the lecture part I remain quiet and focused, which of course makes Lola more suspicious. With us split into our partners for the worksheet Lola takes a moment to turn on me. So much for having until the end of class.

"What is going on with you? And don't you tell me nothing, missy, you've been acting fishy since the start of the lesson."

"It's nothing honestly, I'm fine. Can we focus on the worksheet please?"

"I've got my eye on you." She says with an attempted glare.

"I would be worried if you had your eyes on someone else." I raise an eyebrow playfully, an attempt at a seductive smirk on my lips.

She snorts a laugh. "As if." Her hand finding mine under the table, a gentle squeeze of reassurance. I fight hard to contain the smile wanting to burst out on my face.

We work on the worksheet for about ten minutes uninterrupted. I relax slightly and do my best to distract Lola from my issues by getting her laughing. Just when I think it's working the worst happens.

"How are we doing here girls?" A voice from my past asks.

I stiffen in my seat. "Yeah, we're good, thanks." Lola answers.

Turning slightly, I give Mrs Carmichael a brief smile.

The pleasant smile instantly drops from her face. "Oh, dear lord."

Mrs Dodd is quick to her grandmother's side. "Everything okay over here?"

"I'm looking at a ghost." Mrs Carmichael can't take her eyes off me. I risk a quick look at Lola who looks thoroughly confused. My heart is practically bouncing out my chest. Oh this is not good.

"Gran?"

"Sorry. Please excuse me. You look the spitting double of a previous student of mine."

"Really?" I say with a higher tone than normal. Please don't say my name, please don't say my name.

"Yes. I'll never forget her face. Sweet girl, sharp as a tack as well. Then one day she went missing. Her parents were besides themselves, did everything they could to find her, even after the police closed the case as a runaway. Pfft. Runaway. There is no way that girl ran away from home. No, anyone who knew her knows something happened to her." She says vehemently. "They never did find a body though." I'm surprised to hear how much pain she carries in her voice when she talks about my disappearance. Goes to show you can never know how much you impact other people's lives. "This all happened over fifty years ago now. Your parents probably weren't born at that time." She laughs lightly, seeming to come out of her melancholy.

I force a smile.

"Oh, ignore me. Go back to your work, I'm just distracting you both." With that she floats off, Mrs Dodd following close behind.

Phew. All the tension leaves my body in one massive exhale.

"Well, that was strange." Lola says with a slight awkward chuckle.

"Yeah, maybe there is something to the whole reincarnation theory." I joke. Shit that was a really close call. Thank God, she never mentioned my name.

"Funny. What do you think happened to that girl?"

I pause before giving her a straight answer. "I think she was taken by some horrible people. She eventually escaped them but, by that point she wasn't the same person who was taken. Feeling like her parents were better off thinking she was dead she kept her distance."

"That's sad."

Nodding in agreement I continue. "Yeah but, things are turning around. You see she's met someone, someone whose taken her completely by surprize. Someone who her parents probably wouldn't have thought their daughter would end up with." As my feelings develop for Lola that has been paying on my mind a lot lately. Would they accept me for liking a girl? And would I have realised back then that I like women?

I remember a show about homosexuality being aired only a few months before I was taken. It focused on gay men and had a few so-called professionals that talked about how being gay was a sickness, a mental illness. The men were portrayed as unhappy and only after a string of one-night stands. It's crazy to think about now but back then it was normal. A lot less people were out during that time. I certainly don't remember anyone being out from my town, that sort of thing only happened in San Francisco. Like the golden gate bridge was a queer conduit.

My dad only watched about half the show before turning it off, a gruff, "Enough of that rubbish." Was all he said. But which side of the argument he thought was rubbish, I never found out.

"Oh, this is getting juicy. Would this someone be of the LGBTQ persuasion?" A gleam forming in her eyes.

"They would." A smile forming on my lips.

"You're so full of shit but I love it."

"I'm insulted." I say with mock indignation.

"Oh, shut up." She says whacking me on the shoulder. "Let's finish this work."