The Girl With Green In Her Hair

Chapter 8 - They Never Give Up

They stalk over and lean against the lockers near us. Freya and Megan are practically frozen in fear, eyes wide and faces seemingly paler than normal. The boys smirk, almost evilly at them, before turning to me.

"Hey Shortcake, don't you think we should be going?" Miles smiles at me, almost too innocently. I furrow my brow in confusion.

When did I agree to that?

I open my mouth to reply but am cut off by Sam. "Yeah, come on Thumbelina, we wouldn't want you to get in trouble for being late, now would we?" He says mockingly, almost tauntingly.

"La...Late for w...what?"

The boys knew I always just ate when I was hungry, mostly after homework, so I didn't need to be home for food. Mum hadn't told me anything and I hadn't told them she had anyways. What else could there be?

"My dad invited you and your mum over to eat with us, since you're our new neighbours and all." Mason explains rather rudely, he doesn't even look at me, he looks at the two girls behind me, or rather glares at them. I huff in annoyance whilst rolling my eyes, then turn around to face the girls.
"Guess I h...have to g..o." I reluctantly say to them. They nod their heads in understanding, focusing their attention on me, rather than the three boys towering over us. They walk away from me smiling and talking quietly to each other.

"Good riddance." Mason mutters, not meaning for me to hear.

He needs to learn to talk quietly.

I whirl round and glare at him, suddenly angrier with him than I was before. He becomes nervous and rubs the back of his neck.

" You..uh...you heard that, huh?" He asks sheepishly. I just keep glaring at him silently and he takes a small step away from me. Sam starts laughing quietly next to him.
"Who knew Mason could be so scared of cute, little...." His sentence trails off as I turn my icy glare on him too. From the corner of my eye, I can see Miles glancing between us before taking a deep breath.
"Look Shortcake, we're your only ride home now. They've left and you said your mum works late on Wednesdays?" He reasons, I look over at him in surprise, I've only mentioned that to them once briefly in passing. I nod my head to him.

What about going to Masons then? It must've been a lie since he obviously didn't want Megan and Freya here.

***

We're in the car and the mood is tense, the only sound that can be heard is the soft hum of the engine.
"So, how're Megan and Freya these days?" Sam asks me, trying to lighten the mood, I smile, at least he's trying.
"Y...You know them?" I question.

They'd seem so scared of the guys before.

"Yeah," Miles smiles at me, "we know everyone. They used to go around on their own, whispering things to each other, it was a bit weird to be honest. Then they tried talking to us but... anyways, they gave up and went back to being a little duo." Miles explains.

Now that I think about it, I think I'd be more surprised if they didn't know someone.

"Yeah, we got bored of them trying to hang out with us so got them to go away, now they're talking to you to try get to us again Cupcake. Why else would they talk to you?" Mason says bitterly, it felt like a hit to the stomach.

Did he really think that low of me?

"Mason!" Miles growls at him, I can see his grip on the wheel tighten in anger.
"You shouldn't say that." Sam says.
"You both thought so too! You even said so earlier!" Mason argues with them. I felt numb.
"Is th..that tru...ue?" I mumble.
"Shortcake..." Mason starts.
"Is..s. It. Tr..ue?" I grind out through clenched teeth. They nod their heads in silence. I feel anger and betrayal course through me. The journey continues in silence till Miles slows at a red light, his eyes flickering between me and the road in front. Suddenly, I can't stand to be around them any longer, so open the door, grab my bag and jump out, closing it behind me again.

"Wait! Paige!" Sam and Miles shout me through the open window, Mason must not care. I don't look back, but instead turn down a shortcut that the car can't follow me down. As I walk, rain starts to pour, and I regret not learning to drive when I was given the chance. I pull my hood up and quicken my pace. In mere moments, rain is pouring out of the sky so heavily, the water bounces off the concrete up as high as my knees. I run towards my house and sigh in relief when I'm only a few houses away.

I'm soaked to the bone and can already feel my nose blocking with the cold I'm sure to get from walking home in the rain.

Mum is going to kill me.

As I approach the door I see Miles' car waiting outside Masons house, but my hands are so cold I can't unlock the door quick enough. All three of them spot me and I hurry to jam my key in the lock and turn it. I slam the door shout just as they were running up my pathway and hurriedly lock it again. I ignore the pounding knocks on the door and jog upstairs to change.

I don't need to get any sicker than I'm already going to be.

I jump in the shower and let the hot water sooth my cold, reddened skin. I change into some black pyjamas with the saying 'come to the dark side, we have cookies' on them. I don't bother drying my hair and instead tie it up into a messy bun, before settling down in my bed and putting on Netflix.

As the fourth film of the night ends, I look around my bed. My mum had come home around an hour after I'd started watching movies, she could tell that something was up and rather than push it, brought up all the junk food we have. All around me lay scattered food wrappers from chocolate bars, empty ice-cream tubs, crisp packets and plates that had once contained brownies and cookies.

God, I eat too much.

I sigh, stretch and start to dump everything into my bin. I take the bag of rubbish and the plates downstairs as quietly as I can.

As much as I love my mum, I don't want to have to explain everything to her, especially since there's nothing going on between me and Mason, we're just friends. Well, sometimes.

I walk softly back upstairs and turn on my lamp instead of the main light. I settle back on my bed and look for a series to start, when an unexpected noise startles me. It had come from out on the balcony, I look over at it warily and slide off my bed, assessing my options.

Well, that was definitely a person, not an animal. I can either
A) Ignore it and hope they go away
B) Go tell my mum that I think someone's out there.
Or
C) Open the curtains and see who's out there.

A would most likely just lead go more noise or the person coming into my room since I hadn't locked the balcony doors yet.
B would mean leaving and by then they could've left meaning my mum would think I'm going crazy or they could sneak into my room and hide which is even worse.
C it is. Even though it's the set up for every horror movie ever.

I walk slowly and silently towards the curtains. I move the material just enough for me to peer through. As I looked at them, they looked back.