Corrupted

Chapter Eleven

"Please be strong, be strong for me."

It’s been three days since my friends left. Everything is back to normal. School, work, Adam ignoring me. He’s only said a few words to me since our fight. Gemma hasn’t been over and Sydney claims to be staying out of it. It’s not fair that Gemma can’t even see her friends because Adam is overly dramatic.

But today is different; I can feel it. Whispers flood the lunchroom of my high school. Eyes dart around, lingering on me when they think I don’t see. The vibe is hesitant, but I don’t know why.

“They said at lunch,” someone whispers.

“Are you sure?”

“When?”

“…Payback.”

My eyes narrow at all the voices as I make my way to my lunch table. Gemma gives me a nervous glance, but I ignore her, reaching over to grab Adam’s jacket. He gives an annoyed look, but raises an eyebrow at me.

“Yes?” he asks.

I dip my head down, leaning closer. “Look around.”

His eyes scan the room. It takes him a moment, but he notices all the stares and how oddly quiet the lunchroom is today. He looks back at me. “What’s going on?”

“Payback, apparently,” I reply with a bored tone.

“From Trevor? I thought he wasn’t allowed to speak to you.”

“He’s not. I guess he doesn’t care.”

His eyes scan the room again quickly. “I got your back.”

I nod in agreement, but nothing ever happened. Not at lunch, not in the hall. The hours drug by with me in complete awareness of what was going on around me. My guard has been up all day in case someone wants to try to hit me first. I don’t know what’s going on, and the wait is beginning to kill me.

Its last period and the bell rings in ten minutes, so if someone is going to do something, it’s going to be right now. My eyes scan the room. A quiet blonde sits in the corner, filing her nails. Two boy’s sit in front of her, doing their algebra homework. A small group of girls huddle around a cell phone, watching something. And one boy in the back sits by the window with his hood up. His eyes bore into mine when they meet and I freeze for a moment. He looks tired and lonely, a little hungry. His clothes are dirty and I know that look, because that was me.

I stand up and trip over to him, being as chill as I can about this. His dark eyes look up at me with questions lingering in them. He sits up straight, narrowing his glare in on me. “What?” he asks his voice deep and husky. His brown hair is kind of short and fluffy, meeting the tips of his ears that hold black tunnels.

“Uh, I like your tunnels,” I comment.

“Thanks.” He glances away, staring back at his piece of paper that he’s been doodling on. I don’t know why I want to talk to this guy so much. I guess it’s because I was in his place once and I know what it feels like. I want to save him, like Stella saved me.

I stare at his drawing and my eyebrows shoot up. “Do you know what that means?” I ask.

“What I’m drawing? Of course I know what it means.”

“Oh, really? Then explain it.” I smirk and plop down in the seat next to him.

He rolls his head over to me lazily, returning my smirk. My eyes widen at how attractive he actually is up close. His eyes are blue like Derek’s, just not quite as icy looking. They’re pale and empty. “It’s the Harry Potter symbol, obviously.”