Feckless

Chapter 2

~James~

We sat in the dark in silence. Very faintly and distantly, the murmur of voices could be heard as classes went on without us. We were completely and utterly trapped.

"I can text Emma to tell a teacher we're in here," Blaire offered up into the silence.

I shook my head before realizing she couldn't even see me. "No. Before you know it the whole school will know you're in here with me."

"So?" She asked.

I cringed. Blaire was so innocent, and too good to be remotely associated with me.

"Well...the last two people who were discovered in a closet on campus were not just sitting here like we are right now."

"...what were they doing?"

"Let's just say they were a couple and when they were found, they didn't have all of their clothes on."

"Oh..." Blaire sighed and fidgeted beside me, her elbow bumping against mine. "Can't we just explain it?"

"People always assume the worst, especially in a school like ours which thrives on gossip. No matter how much you explain, your reputation will remain stained."

I could feel she wanted to argue with me. She had that stupid, stubborn idea that everyone in the world was at least a little bit good. But thankfully she remained silent.

If it were any other girl I was trapped with, I wouldn't have cared. I would have called the front office and got a teacher to come let us out immediately. But this was Blaire who was trapped in here. She was Carter's sister, and most importantly, she was the little angel of Blackwell High. If she associated with me, her perfect image would be ruined.

There were a lot of popular girls at school. I thought again of Lindsay, and her long dark hair, and a pang of hurt hit my chest. Most popular girls knew of their popularity, and worked hard to keep themselves on a pedestal. It was the same for the popular guys. But with Blaire, I got the distinct sense that she had know idea how much she was adored and revered, as well as taken care of by every student in the school. Even the teachers adored her. She was like a little ball of sunshine that they wanted to protect.

"So..." Blaire interrupted my train of thought. "Why were you looking at Lindsay like that? Of course, you don't have to answer!"

"...it's not a big deal. We had a thing going over the summer. We were texting a lot. We even went on a few dates."

"Really?" Even Blaire sounded shocked by the pairing. I didn't blame her.

"Yeah, but Lindsay wanted to keep it a secret. And I guess...I guess with the new school year starting she wanted to start over with someone more...suitable for her." The hurt was creeping into my voice.

It wasn't like I was particularly in love with Lindsay. She was gorgeous, and could be kind when she wanted to. But she was very self serving, and I knew that. I should have known better. And now I was betrayed.

A small warm hand suddenly clasped my forearm, and I jumped. "I'm sorry, James. That wasn't fair. She could have been decent about it and at least broken up with you first."

I cleared my throat, suddenly having the urge to roughly shake her hand off. This affection was unnatural to me. But her grip was strong, like she was expecting and almost daring me to shoo her away. I relaxed back against the wall.

"It's fine." The words came out more bitterly than I meant them to. "I'm used to this kinda stuff happening. By tomorrow it will be forgotten."

Blaire sighed and retracted her hand. I could tell she wanted to ask more. She was always curiously pestering me for things. But I ignored her.