Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 3

Focus, I can do this.

But of course, I couldn't actually do it. Because ten minutes later, I found myself right back at the front office, still just as clueless as before. I checked over my schedule again, then the map grandma had printed out for me this morning. But these little lines didn't make sense, where were these hallways leading?

And which one of these freaking tunnels was the green hallway?

"Hey, I know you." A voice sounded from behind me. Thinking that the deep, bold voice couldn't possibly be speaking to me, I remained still with my head bent towards the paper. A second later, I felt a hand fall on my shoulder.

Oh boy.

My eyes lifted from the crinkling paper in my grasp, and oh boy was definitely right. It was in fact a boy, the boy from the market place to be exact. Sandy blonde hair, light brown eyes, broad shoulders and a body to die for? Yep, it was definitely him.

He smiled, "It is you, I thought I recognized that dark hair and clumsy walk. How are you doing?"

Words boiled in my throat, begging to be released, but my tongue dried and stuck to the roof of my mouth. Why was this such a difficult concept for my body to accept? When someone spoke to me, the appropriate thing to do would be to say something in return.

Getting angrier with myself by the minute, I swallowed what little saliva was in my mouth and forced out, "I'm fine."

Ah ha, I'd done it!

The boy chuckled lightly, "Well I'm glad to hear it. You're new here, right?"

Motions came easier than speaking so I nodded. At least my muscles didn't hate me the way my words did.

"Need help finding the classes? I know it's a small school and all but things can be difficult in a new place." The boy offered, reaching out for the paper in my clutches.

Yes, finally I could get to my locker!

The boy took my schedule from me, looked it over quickly, then nodded, "Green hallway huh? Right this way, my locker is over there too." He started off in the direction I had just come from. Of course, I had probably walked right past it several times. The boy handed the paper back to me, "I'm Creston by the way, Creston Lorinson."

"Genevieve." I replied, softly.

Creston smiled again, "What a lovely name. Where did you move from, Genevieve?"

"Colorado."

My mouth seemed to be working better than usual. At least I was answering his questions. Creston seemed like a nice guy, nice enough to show me to my locker. He led me through the school and then to a set of double doors which shut off part of the school from the rest, connected only by a small ramp.

"The green hallway is for seniors only. They added an addition to the school a few years ago for some extra classrooms and since the new part was kind of separated from the rest of the school, they made it the senior hall." Creston explained, stopping in front of a locker with the number seventy-seven branded across the top. I half expected the lockers to be green but they were a beige color, quite an ugly color if I do say so myself.

But the wall area above the lockers was a dark hunter green. It ran along both sides of the hallway above the lockers, following the lockers all the way down. Guess that's why they called it the green hallway.

Creston stepped across the hall to where his own locker was, spinning the dial on his locker to open it. I checked my paper again, following the combination to my lock so I could open the metal door. Once it opened, I saw that the locker was empty besides a crumpled piece of paper that must have been left in there from the previous owner.