Unbroken

Chapter 7: Skipping Class

Emma:

We stepped out of the bathroom. I nearly stepped into someone. "Sorry," I sniffled, still trying to control my emotions.

Rook let out a breath. "I thought I told you to head to your next class." Movement caught my eye. My eyes darted around to find that I'd bumped into Nix.

Nix's hands flew so fast in response, that I had a hard time following everything he was saying. I tried. "We weren't going to leave you. Besides, you needed a lookout. We stopped a couple of girls from coming in."

Rook rolled his eyes, signing a thank you as he draped an arm over my shoulders. We walked down the deserted hallway. Our next classes had already started. Rook led us down another empty hallway and down a set of stairs. Once at the bottom, he gently pulled me down to sit on the stairs with him. Kace and Nix sank down as well as if they'd done this before.

"What are we doing?" I asked, remembering to sign the words as I said them this time.

Rook leaned back against the wall so that he was facing me. "Skipping class."

"Won't we get in trouble?" I'd signed the words as well, but Nix reached up and repositioned my hands so that they were facing him better.

"I can't see everything you're signing when you're facing Rook. He can hear you, I can't." He wore a smirk and his eyes were lit with humor. I was glad to see that he wasn't upset with me.

Rook tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "To answer your question, we'd get in just as much trouble if we walked into class late, so there's no real reason to show up for half of a class." I frowned when I realized that he wasn't signing anything. Did he not care that Nix couldn't hear him? I turned to Nix, who was sitting on a step a couple above me and gave him a quizzical look.

He must have understood the look because he spoke up. "He knows if I want a translation, I'll ask. I can read lips, but it isn't overly accurate since a lot of words can look similar. It's harder to read in the dim lighting down here, but I assumed he was answering your question. I already knew the answer." I noticed his accent was a bit stronger. I absently wondered why.

Kace had pulled out his drumsticks again, whirling them through the air. I wanted to ask why he constantly spun the sticks in his fingers, but I didn't want to appear rude.

The bell rang. Rook stood up, reaching down to help me up as well. "What's your next class?"

"Biology." I hated science, but at least it was better than debate.

Kacen stood up, heading up the steps. "We'll w-walk you t-t-to c-class."

"Oh. No, you don't have to-" I started to shake my head. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, and just walking through the hallways with them would do that.

"We don't mind," Rook insisted. He draped an arm over my shoulders, leading me up the stairs.

Once we got to the crowded hallway, people backed away from our group to gawk at us. I felt like I was in one of those movie scenes where an explosion goes off in the background and all the main characters walk away from it in slow motion. The guys dropped me off at my class. I waved before moving into the room to sit in my usual seat.

Biology was, once again, boring but uneventful. I slowly made my way to debate class. Even though I was happy to have the class with Rook, that didn't mean I was looking forward to it.

I sat in my usual seat, pulling out a mechanical pencil and my notebook and slouching in my chair. The tip of my pencil tapped out a rhythm against the blank page in front of me. Before too long, Rook strode into the room. His step faltered and he paused, his brows flying up in surprise. He glanced back at the doorway he'd just walked through before moving across the room, to stand in front of my desk. "Emma?"

"Yes?" Why was it so surprising that I was in class, where I was supposed to be?

"I swear you were just out in the hall."

How should I respond to that? The most logical explanation was that he'd seen my twin in the hall, but a selfish part of me didn't want to share the guys with my sister. "I've been here for a couple of minutes," I replied, blinking innocently.

He rubbed his chin as he dropped into the chair next to me. "I could have sworn..." his voice trailed off as he got his things out of his bag.

Should I tell him? It seemed like I was keeping secrets from him if I didn't. Friends don't keep secrets, do they? Did that rule even apply to us since we'd only been friends for less than a day? I guess the secret couldn't really hurt. Ari had cheerleading after school, so she wouldn't even be walking home with me. Being a grade behind me meant that I didn't see her much during the school day, and we had separate lunch times.

I kept my eyes on the paper in front of me that was now covered with little lead marks. Was it a lie to simply omit the truth? Would he be upset if he figured out the truth later? I mean, it wasn't a horrible secret or anything.

I sighed, knowing what I was going to do. "It was probably my sister." I kept my voice low. It was only a matter of time before they decided that they liked her better. All of my friends eventually found that she was easier to be around.

His brows went up in surprise, but he stayed silent as he grabbed a couple of skittles and sat them on his notebook. He held the package out to me, effectively changing the subject.

"No, thank you." I mouthed as Mrs. Spencer started speaking.

Rook shrugged a shoulder, turning back to the front of the room. He ate a couple of skittles before pulling his glucose meter out to check it. He glanced up at me, smiling slightly before sliding the meter back into its pouch on his belt.

The rest of the class seemed to drag on. I was glad when the torture was finally over, allowing us to head to our next class.