Rock, Paper, Scissors

2: Camouflage

Just as planned I picked up Noah before school. He was stressed, I could see that. I was stressed – no one messes up with Nick and Tyler – they have the respect and admiration of almost all students. 

Saying they are popular would be an understatement, and yet they were rarely spotted mingling with others, hence all those rumors about them.

The trip to the school was silent and once I parked the car at my usual spot, we both took a deep breath in synchrony before stepping out. I always thought I had courage but right then I felt like a scaredy-cat. It's embarrassing really, especially when I was the one who convinced Noah to spy on them and caused this whole situation.

We shared a look and walked to our designed classes following our plan to camouflage ourselves among other students. We got to Noah's classroom without crossing any of our predators. I still had to walk through a couple of corridors alone to get to my first class and found myself having a religious side by praying to not stumble on them.

The number of people around me was getting dangerously low. Anxiety crept over me, as I realized that blending in was going to be harder than we thought. Some sort of instinct made me glance over my shoulder and spot three boys walking in my direction. A shiver ran down my spine as Nick's eyes locked on mine. 

I quickly turned around and hurried my pace. I just needed to keep the distance long enough to get to the safety of the classroom, not that Mr. Simms would notice if one of his students was being tormented by others. I swear that man lives in his own little bubble, oblivious of the world around him.

Relief filled me as I reached the designed door. I entered the room without looking back at my stalkers. I paused for a moment to breathe before getting to my sit.

This is going to be a long day.

I had a hard time concentrate during class which is a bummer as I love chemistry – no sarcasm here. I kept thinking about what they would do if I crossed them, playing all the possible scenarios I could think of. I was sure that Micah wouldn't do anything that could physically hurt me. But the others? If the rumors were true, they knew how to fight and did it a lot.

I was so absorbed in my imminent death that I hadn't even realized the class was over until Rachel brought me back to the real world.

"Are you okay Julie?" she asks.

"Yes, just stressed about my math test."

She tried to reassure me with words and a smile. If only she knew. I packed up my things and I said goodbye to Rachel hurrying to my next class. That might have been our last exchange.

After the dangerous situation before, the first half of the day went surprisingly well, without any more hitches. I found myself relaxing a bit during lunch with Noah as there was no sign of Micah, Tyler, or Nick.

"Maybe they won't come for us after all," I speculated. "I mean now that I think about it why would they? We didn't hear or see anything compromising, right? We're good."

"Maybe they're just planning the perfect crime. Remember Rob Michaels? One day he just stopped coming to school and everyone was wondering what happened. Even his friends didn't hear anything from him, and the last time they saw him he was with them."

"You watch too many movies and criminal shows and take the rumors way too seriously. If something bad had happened, it would be all over the town's newspaper and everyone would be talking about it."

"Or maybe not. They say Nick's father has a lot of money; he could've paid to keep everyone silent."

"I know you love conspiracy theories, but please, just stop, I was finally able to relax so don't ruin it."