Weres (Sample)

2. Him

Mrs. Sherman had decided to drop Marley for her first day of school. Marley was nervous as she was going to be the new girl, and she wasn't used to that. In her hometown, she spent her life being surrounded by people she knew and was comfortable with. This was going to be hard.

"You are going to be fine. People here are friendly," Mrs. Sherman said, sensing her tensed state.

"I guess I'm not used to this whole moving to 'new school' thing." Marley tried to give her a cheerful smile.

"You'll get hang of it."

With a nod and a thank you for the ride, she got out of the car.

Marley looked at the building standing in front of her and a board on it that said Marshville high. She took a deep breath and walked inside with her head down. She could feel the stares as she walked down the hallways. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and she quickly wiped them with the back of her hand. She asked one of the students for the direction to the receptionist desk, got her timetable, and managed to find her classroom. Somehow, the simple tasks left her a perspiring mess.

Marley was sitting at a desk placed at the back, when a girl approached her. She took in her appearance. The girl had long wavy blonde hair falling to the sides of her freckled cheeks, her blue eyes stood out due to her small face, and her figure was what you'd call small and petite.

"You're new," girl said, her lips quirking up in a smirk.

"Yeah."

"Hi, I'm Kiara. We don't get new people here often, so I thought I say hi to our new lamb."

"Ahh.." Marley spluttered, a bit confused wondering if she was being nice or mean. "I-I am Marley."

"We got a shy bean." Kiara beamed, finding Marley cute. "I like it."

"Thanks. I guess." Marley blushed. She wasn't good with interacting with new people, her crippling shyness always won.

Seeing her flustered, Kiara patted her shoulder. "I hope I'm not scaring you."

"I didn't see you here before," a guy joined them, and stood in front of her desk. Marley looked up and found a sturdy, tall guy with ginger hair looking down at her curiously. His aura and large body reminding her of some people back in her town, who she always avoided. He had those same vibes, and Marley knew she had to stay clear of him. It was a hunch, she and meek people like her always followed.

"Good, it'll be better if you don't see her at all." Kiara glared at the guy. Not that Marley was fan of unneeded hostility, she didn't mind Kiara because she also didn't want to mingle with him. In fact, on some level she admired her boldness against a guy like him who could crush her within a second.

"I'm Mark," he introduced himself, completely ignoring Kiara.

"Marley Seyfried." She muttered, avoiding looking into his eyes.

"Seyfried?" Mark's brows knitted in confusion, before recognition flashed in his eyes. "Mrs. Sherman's new tenant?" He asked suddenly.

Marley nodded, surprised and afraid.

"Don't worry, I'm not a creep. We know Mrs. Sherman. She's a family friend, so we already knew you were coming." Mark reassured her. He then glanced at Kiara, and Marley noticed his demeanor softening slightly. "I guess I'll be leaving you ladies."

"Please." Kiara rolled her eyes, and he left without another word. "Asshole," she said, when he was out of earshot. "One word of advice: stay away from him and his circle of jerks."

"You don't like him, do you? Did he do something?" Marley asked, but she was already planning on following her advice nevertheless.

"Let's not discuss that jerk." Kiara was back to smiling. "Where are-" Their teacher entered the class, cutting her off. Kiara gave a pout. "I'll see you at lunch." With that she left to sit at her desk in the middle row of classroom.

******

Sitting in the cafeteria, Marley looked around, studying the new atmosphere and munched on her apple. The room was filled with jocks, popular girls and geeks all segregated by different tables. She considered herself to be one of the nerds.

'"Hey, mind if I join?" She heard a familiar voice from behind. She turned back and found Kiara with another girl. Her frame was similar to that of Kiara but she had brown hair and hazel eyes in contrast to her friend's features.

"Yeah sure." Marley didn't really expect Kiara to sit at her table, however, she felt grateful. It was better than being a loner.

Soon, the chit-chat at table ensued. Other girl was Rachel, she and Kiara had been friends since middle school. Both interrogated Marley at first before their talks steered to celebrities, hot gossips of the school, clothes, and mostly other 'girly' stuff. It was Kiara and Rachel who were having the conversation, Marley still too shy to give her inputs, so she only listened and nodded occasionally. Somewhere between their random talk, Kiara advised Marley to dress better to which she shrugged. She admired Kiara's bluntness but was caught off guard with a sudden remark.

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed throughout the cafeteria. Every face turned to the source of sound. A boy was lying on the floor, his nose dripping blood. He was surrounded by two other boys, staring down at him. Marley could only see their backs. They had big built and muscular frame. One of them had black hair while the other one was blond. Her eyes shifted to the table beside them. There sat three more guys and two girls. All of them were seeming to enjoy the show that was put on by their friends. Everyone at that table looked like the peak of human beauty, including the guys who were hovering above their poor prey . She recognized one of them sitting there as Mark, and Marley knew her hunch was right.

Her eyes caught the guy sitting beside Mark. He was looking at the victim with blank expression. On seeing him, her heart skipped a beat. She could stare at him all day. Even from far, Marley could see his face had sharp features, complimented by those short spiked black hair, which she somehow knew were smooth. He was wearing a simple t-shirt, which did a great job at highlighting his muscular arms and lean torso. He looked unaffected by his surrounding, and that made him even more dashing.

Suddenly, the guy caught her staring at him. Marley turned around quickly, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment. She mentally cursed herself. She was supposed to stay invisible to those people, not gawk at them. But looking at that handsome boy gave her a warm fuzzy feeling inside her chest that she never felt before. It was weird.

"Don't have anything better to do." The blond guy shouted looking around the cafeteria, pulling Marley out of her thoughts.

Everyone turned their heads away from the scene and looked down. Not a voice was heard for a whole minute.

"Remember what I said," Kiara whispered softly, shaking her head in annoyance. Marley nodded, but barely resisted herself to look at that boy again.

Kiara caught him staring at Marley. She narrowed her eyes at him. The guy shrugged and looked away but had a strange smirk on his face.

******