[A/N] Thank you for the unbelievable amount of support behind Homeroom. I'm so happy that you all read my story. I LOVE YOU ALL :)
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"Hey, Callie, wait up!" Aaron yells down the hallway, fighting his way through the crowd to reach me. I slow down just enough to let him catch up. Once he does, I feel his arm snake around my waist. I don't slap it away like I probably should. I allow him to keep it their, accepting it as a form of comfort. "Hi," he greets, smiling.
"Hi," I reply as I push through the swarms of students to get to the back doors of the school.
"Want me to drive you home? It's cold outside, I don't want you to freeze," he asks, pulling me closer to him.
I shrug off his suggestion. "No, it's okay. It's only a short walk home."
"I'm not taking no as an answer, Russe," he teases, grabbing my hand and pulling me outside towards the student parking lot. My finger cast is finally off, so it's easier for him to slip his fingers between mine.
"Hey, my coat isn't even zippered yet, let me go!" I complain as the harsh winds blow cold air all around me and whips my hair all around. It is unusually cold for October today.
"Then we'll run!" he yells over the wind, pulling me along.
"How is this going to help anything?!" I ask as we approach his car after almost getting hit by that stupid red Fiat.
"I don't know!" he replies, laughing as he unlocks his car. I hop in, thankful to be escaping the cold. He starts up the engine and out comes heat from the little vents on the dashboard.
"Is it flurrying?" I ask, baffled by the amount of snowflakes falling from the gray sky. I groan as I watch it hit the windshield.
"Yup," Aaron smiles, eyes filled with amazement. "Gosh, it's so pretty."
My eyes widen in realization. "Wait, really? Does it snow where you're from?"
"Oh, it snows from time-to-time in Tennessee, but I can already tell that winters here are going to be amazingly beautiful."
"Oh that's interesting."
Our conversation ceases for a few seconds as we thaw in the car.
"So, are you doing to tell me what's bothering you?" he asks, turning away from the snow to focus on me.
I sigh, preparing myself to retell what happened at lunch yesterday. Hopefully he takes it well, but I'll only know if I spill the beans right now.
"He wants a rematch?" Aaron laughs, shaking his head after I finish the entire story. I angrily smack him on the arm, annoyed with his reaction. I was worried sick about this for two whole days, and he's laughing as if this is all nothing .
"Aren't you at least a little bit worried?" I ask, exasperated and overly frustrated.
He shrugs. "No, not really. I could easily beat him in a fight. Already did, anyway."
I slap him harder on the arm, "You fought him? When? And why didn't you tell me?"
He grabs my hand and kisses it, stroking my skin with his thumb. "It's not that big of a deal, you have nothing to worry about," he soothingly says.
The gesture is sweet, but it's the last thing on my mind. "I don't want you to get hurt," I admit, looking straight into his hazel-greenish eyes.
"I won't, and you won't either. Callie, he's not a super human. Honestly, his threats are pretty hollow." He lets go of my hand and put the car in drive, speeding out of the parking lot as the snow sticks to the windshield.
I grumble, pulling my hand away from his so I can freely cross my arms. All this worrying was for nothing, I guess.
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I arrive at school the next day a little earlier than I originally planned. It's not big deal, it just means that I have extra time to organize my locker. It's pretty messy in there, anyway.
I unlock my locker and start pulling out the loose papers from between my textbooks and notebooks. So that's where my first quarter report card when; it was smushed between my Chemistry and History book. I wonder if my dad wants to see it or not. I shrug to myself and shove it into my bag. "Boo!" a voice yells. I jump, all the papers in my hand gracefully falling to the ground.
"What the hell," I scold, turning around to be face-to-face with Zander Edwards. I automatically slam my locker shut and quickly pick up the papers as fast as I can. I don't care what Aaron says, I don't trust the dude.
"Why are you running away so fast? I thought you were a fighter," he teases, keeping up with me as I speed walk down the hall. Safest place to be is the cafeteria, where everyone waits until the bell rings.
"Come on, fight back," he says more forcefully, shoving me into the lockers with a shove. My back hits the metal,and the loud bang echoes in the empty hall. Zander in my face, pining my hands together with one of his and pounding the other on the locker right next to my head. I jump, glaring at him.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You scared?" he laughs, blowing a breathe of warm air on my neck. I shiver, goosebumps forming on my pale skin. "Just the reaction I wanted," he muses.
"Get off me, you jerk!" I yell, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. I knee him where I know it'll hurt, feeling his grasp slip from around my wrists as he withers in pain.
"Don't you dare touch me ever again, freak," I seethe, enjoying his pain. "Pick on someone your own size, moron."
I walk away, knowing that I proved to him how much of a fighter really I am. I mean, I knew that fact all along. He's just stupid enough to pick his battles against women who can outmaneuver and outsmart him.
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[A/N] Short chapter, sorry 🙈 Hope you all like it, though. Things are going to get good with the Battle of the Bands coming up.