Fallen

Chapter 2 "Breathe"

The sweltering heat glazed over my body as rays blasted me in the face just as I opened the door.

Texas—go figure?

"Your father will be picking you up as soon as he gets off of work, sweetie," said Elizabeth, embarrassing me with a conspicuous wave like mothers do best.

I smiled and moved on. It was bad enough that my parents had to take me to school; it wasn't necessary to drag this farewell out any longer than need be.

I'm pretty sure I had fish written all over my face. I could just see it on their faces the further I distanced myself from my mother. She just had to swing up to the front to drop me off too—embarrassing.

With all these strangers gawking at me, I paid no mind and made my way to the glass door, leading into this behemoth of bricks.

Just like I had anticipated, Wood Middle School paled in comparison to Madison—It was everything us eighth graders talked about upon graduation. Now, it was a reality. I finally made it here! I had a few friends back in Wood beside Tabitha, but they were just like me, scrambling to get to their next class on time. I understood the meaning of fish now because the hallways were like a river and our busy bodies the fish. Unlike the seniors, though, we stood out with our schedules tightly gripped in the palms of our hands as eager eyes totally enthralled by the sheer vastness of Madison.

"Whew! Finally," I whispered under my breath, making sure the numbers matched.

Yup, this is mine.

Startled by a quick slam against the locker to my right, I lost track of my combination.

"Damn it!" I snapped.

"Relax, Lydia, you're going to have a heart attack!" scoffed Tabitha, gazing directly at me with those misty blues.

Well, she's settled in—but who helped her?

"Lydia, meet John," said Tabitha.

Of course, the meat head that slammed into the locker, scaring the heck out of me. Judging by appearances, he must be a jock. Judging by his size, he had to be at least a Junior or Senior—My guess a Junior.

How did you pull that?

I wasn't jealous, but come on; the rest of Wood-immigrants were scrambling around like chickens with our heads cut off and Tabitha just waltzes in with a star jock by her side? Totally not fair!

"I met John at a party during the summer," said Tabitha.

Party—What party? And, why wasn't I invited?

"Oh—hi," I responded, reluctantly shaking John's hand. I never once gave him the satisfaction of sharing eye contact, though. He hadn't earned that privilege just yet.

"John was second string middle linebacker last year; this year he'll be starting and defensive captain," said Tabitha, gleaming like a two-year-old.

Seriously—a freshman already dating the star jock?

"Nice to meet you, Lydia—I gotta head out," said John.

They hadn't broken eye contact since they were mooching while I was fiddling with my lock.

Yes, she cast her spell on you.

After the jock had departed from our view, he caught up with the rest of the mindless brutes—except for one. Like an angel plummeting to earth, there was a dreamy hunk in the midst of that barbaric hoard.

"Lydia—are you ready to go," said a voice.

I couldn't pull my gaze from that god of a man, though.