Damaged

Chapter One

"Come on Marce the year's almost over and then you'll be off to college and I'll be stuck here without you," Rodney practically whines.

"No Rodney. I told you already, I don't date younger guys, it's a rule." She takes the one rose she kept in her hand and wraps the extra long stem around her wrist, the thorns biting into her skin causing blood to trail down her arm. The same thing she does everyday, little circular scars marking her wrist from two years of daily penetration.

"Rodney," I smile, "Why don't you find a nice girl who actually wants you?"

"No offense Alexis, but nobody asked you of your opinion," Rodney hisses at me.

"Well excuse me, all I'm saying is that Marceline's been turning you down for two years now. You haven't had a girlfriend and you're seventeen and still a virgin," I grunt. "Time to give up chase bro."

"Well unlike you, Alexis, I'm not a quiter or a whore and i'll keep chasing 'til the end." He smiles a not so friendly smile at me.

I glare at him and start to tell him where he can shove it but Marshy cuts me off.

"Well have fun with that because that's all you're gonna be doing, chasing" Marshy scoffs grabbing my wrist. "NO RODNEY! Get that through that thick skull of yours." She pulls me off down the hall toward the staircase.

The ten minute bell rings just as soon as we walk through the door of our homeroom. Inside every girl was huddled up in groups whispering furiously. The combined hush conversations drift through the room like a thick fog. I quickly pick up on the overall buzz of the classroom. The new kid.

Apparently one of the girls and her friend saw the new boy in the office picking up his schedule and he was beyond sexy, he was supermodel gorgeous, or 'bootiful' as Marshy would say. Also it seems that one of her friends offered to show him around for the day and discovered that he was joining our homeroom and that he was pretty much in every advanced class in the school.

"Jeebs, these girls are vultures," Marshy grunts sitting down in our normal spot in her back of the class.

I sit down next to her. "I know it's ridiculous most of these girls have boyfriends, half of them are in the room with them. They're acting all crazy over what?"

"Fresh meat," Marshy grunts.

I laugh and suddenly the room goes quiet leaving nothing but my laughter bouncing off the walls. I look up and see the most beautiful boy in the world staring at me wide eyed; I nearly choke on my breath. His shaggy jet black hair hung just below his ears and fell in front of his piercing icy blue eyes which were shadowed by thick eyelashes. His jaw line was hard but his face was gentle with soft cheek bones and thin pink lips against his olive skin. He towers over the girl who I assume is his escort (which is freaking crazy 'cause she has a good five inches on me), his shoulders broad, his muscles rippling out of his shirt. I'm swooning, and so are most of the girls in the room.

On top of all of that he had a shimmering shroud that extended the length on his back and curled around his like it was too long to extend the length of the room. I tilt my head curiously staring at it as if one more minute of staring would make it more clear. Its different, beyond this world even. Its not supernatural but more of divine and I want to touch it, to run my fingers along it . To really see it.

"You guys are getting creepy," Marceline mumbles.

"Huh?" I rip my eyes away from him and turn to Marshy.

"You two have been staring at each other for a good two minutes," she mumbles nudging her head in a very obvious way toward the boy.

I turn back and see he was still staring at me in a trance, shock, hurt, and anger splashed all over his face. He was staring at me but not really seeing me and I was staring back, trying to read his eyes. Then it became obvious that everyone was watching this encounter as if they were on a safari watching us like we were wild animals. Then he just blinked and sat down in the empty seat in front of him, his back turned to me, his shroud growing darker.