Loud banging on my door, a heavy man's voice roars on the other side of the door yelling that I have to get up and turn off my alarm, but I'm not listening, roll over and push my head further into the mattress.
"Jay if I have to come in, you're grounded for a week and you can forget about baseball training." I shoot up. Baseball, my only salvation.
"I'm already getting up."
"Good, I don't want you to be late for your new school, again." I roll my eyes, I can't help it that everyone in my previous 2 schools already knew who I was. Hillside high is the only school that I have a little bit of faith in that they don't know who I am, but I don't think I'm lucky, there are only 830 people living here, news is going fast.
"Dad," I mumble, rolling out of bed.
'Yes?' He tries to open my door, but the lock blocks him to do so. "Take that damn lock off."
With a sigh I do what he says. He opens the door so hard that I immediately take a few steps back, trying to see if he's angry. Is he in a good mood? I hold my arm protectively in front of my face, which he immediately pulls down.
"Raven, Jayden Miller, are you out of your mind!" He blows out angrily and looks around my room. "And tidy up your room, it's like a pigsty."
I can't breathe until he's gone, forgot my whole baseball question. I close my eyes for a moment and slowly start moving. I quickly change into black shorts that stop just above my knees and an black oversized shirt with some figures and things on it.
When my sleep shirt falls to the floor and I put on a sports bra, I stare at my upper body in the mirror, bruises around my ribs and stomach, all because my dad doesn't know what to do without the alcohol. I release a sigh, in a few years I'll be out of here on a scholarship.
Mentally, I make another note not to screw up this school, this is my last shot at a baseball scholarship and for that I need to get a spot on a boys' team. Yes I can forget that.
"Jayden, hurry up, you've got half an hour." I curse inwardly at my father. He never cares and now first day at Hillside and he cares and don't say it's because grandpa went to this school.
I throw my backpack over my shoulders, put the handle of my baseball bag over my right shoulder, grab some wax for my hair not to be going everywhere and shape my shaggy mullet while walking. I cut my hair this summer. My father disagreed, which ended in another bruise. But when I saw myself in the mirror, a weight fell off my shoulders, one step closer to myself, even though I know I'm never going to be that person completely here in Hillside.
"No jacket?" My father asks while he doesn't lift his eyes from the newspaper.
I ignore him until I grab my breakfast from the table. "No, it won't be that cold." Around 80 degrees to be exact. I take a bite of my bagel. "And I don't have to cycle far."
Dad mumbles an answer. "Okay then."
I glance at the clock and put my airpods in my ears, I have to cycle really hard if I still want to be at school on time. "I'm going."
"Mm-hm," Dad mumbles again. "I'll be late tonight, don't wait for dinner." I don't listen anymore and have already walked to the front door. "And behave in—" The front door locks, interrupts his last sentence, and I don't care. Finally I can get away for a while.
I nod to a Fletcher song and jump on my bike. Fletcher always manages to calm me down.
The cold wind reminds me that I should have put on a jacket after all, but to give my dad that satisfaction, I don't want that. Where is the sun when you need it?
I don't know how it happened, but my dad and I have grown apart quite a bit and I know it's because of the alcohol, that's why I don't touch a drop, but I also know it's up to him. Dad has had problems in the past, I know, was with the wrong people, but when Mom came into his life he became a different person, because of her and now that he no longer has her...
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Within seconds I am in front of the school building, it is a large stone building, I swallow. Just keep your cool, no one knows who you are and if they do don't let them show that is hurts.
My legs move forward, I look back again to where I left my bike and feel in my pocket whether I have my bike key. Got you.
Now just go to the office to let them know I'm here and get my schedule. I walk inside a bit tougher than I actually am. I get some staring, but that's probably because everyone sees I'm new. Some look more at my hair, I know most girls, well, all girls don't have short hair here.
I roll my eyes and make my way further into the building, push open a few doors and step up to the desk where I am greeted by a friendly woman. I relax at the sight of her smile and force myself to breathe.
"You must be Raven."
I smile before I answer. "Jayden, but yes, I am."
The woman behind the counter, Jessica, I read from her card has a hard time looking at her computer. "Ah the middle name, I see it here." She smiles friendly at me again. "I've got your schedule here, would you like me to call someone to show you around?"
I smile when I take my schedule from her. "I think I can handle it myself."
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Or not. I've been looking for the right classroom for 20 minutes and I still have 7 minutes to get there. Great, just great. May also come a bit because I put my second bag in my locker first.
I stare thoughtfully at the paper in front of me, what is this? Chinese. This day is already going to be hell.
"Are you lost?" I hear someone say behind me. When I turn around I see 3 guys standing behind me. My eyes scan them quickly and I know within 2 seconds that they belong to the baseball team, how? The jackets they wear. They are tall, 2 of them have brown hair and one had blond wavy hair and the middle one has the widest shoulders. Shit.
They look at each other briefly. "Should we help you?" They act innocent but I can see the looks in their eyes. Predators.
"We are happy to help." I feel an arm being put around me. "You smell nice."
I smile uncomfortably. "T-the history l-local."
"Oh, second door on the 2nd floor," the middle one replies casually. "Not that difficult."
"Or... are you a bit crazy?" My face is unemotional. They already know. My free hand turns into a tight fist.
"They say you should stay away from the crazy ones, but you're actually quite nice." I bite my tongue when one of them touches my hair.
"What is it? Have you lost your tongue?" His grin is so big, I want to knock it off him.
And then I get pushed against the lockers, I gasp. For a moment I don't know what to do anymore. I can't breath.
"Ahh, look, she's going to cry." No! I bite hard on the inside of my cheek, not in front of these losers.
I look at the boy with the blond hair, who has been quiet the whole time and is staring at his feet. Do something! I say with my eyes, I try to signal to him, but he's pretending to be stupid, that he doesn't see me.
"Look at us, freak." My shirt is grabbed and I am face to face with the boy that stood in the middle. If I liked guys I'd say he was handsome, but I know guys like him. He's poison, he's the worst of them all.
"You're new, so I understand you don't know the rules yet," he barks in my face, I cringe when some spit hits my cheek. Gross.
A muffled scream escapes from my mouth as a fist bangs against the lockers next to my head. Whoever did it laughs. "A crazy coward."
"Shut up, Tyler," the one holding me growls at him. "You need to learn who is in charge here." His head gets scary close and I turn my head to the side so our noses don't touch. "Who to listen to," he whispers in my ear. My legs are really going to give way, I can feel the panic creeping up, panic that I wanted to get rid of.
His head moves towards my neck and he takes a deep breath. "Sweat," he grins. "It's good that you're scared, just be scared." He caresses my cheek, no matter how hard I try, a sob rolls over my lips.
The boys laugh again. "You bitch." And there I go again. I am pulled towards the person in front of me with a hefty force and just when I think they are going to let go of me, he pushes me back with even more force. I gasp as my back becomes one with the lockers behind me. For a moment it turns black before my eyes and a fierce pain travels through my body.
"Dress like a boy, you're treated like a boy," he roars at me. I can just see his fist go back. I just want it to be over.
"Walker!" I hear a girl's voice, it sounds demanding and I already know that she has these guys in her grip. "Logan Walker, get your paws off her." I finally dare to look up and am immediately blinded. Everything is in slow motion, how she walks around the corner, her brown wavy hair swings back and forth with every step she takes, the angry frown on her forehead and her lips in a straight line. She looks badass. My eyes slide over her body. She is a little tinted, like she just came back from a sunny vacation, she's tall, a head taller than I am and she has beautiful curves.
I slowly look up again, accidentally looking at her breasts and quickly lift up my gaze. Shit, too soon. I'm staring straight into her blue eyes. I forget how to breathe and to my regret I choke. Coughing, I turn my head away from the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.
"Walker don't let me say it again!" Her voice is sharp and very close. "Now Walker." With a little sniff, he lets me go and steps back.
"Whatever you want," he grumbles. "She's yours." He actually says the last bit too softly to be heard.
I see her eyes narrow. "What did you say there?"
"Nothing Charlie."
"That's what I thought."
"You won't win this," Walker mumbles, I think his name was Walker, before walking away.
"We'll see that on the field, if you can ever catch me." I see a hint of a grin on her lips when we hear him hit a locker. "You too." She stares at the other two boys in front of her.
"Okay boss, it was just a joke." One salutes and then walks in the direction where Walker disappeared.
"Tyler," she calls after him. "One more time and you can run 10 laps around the field." He salutes again. "Go Carter."
The blond-haired boy looks at me with guilt in his eyes, nods and then walks away. "Sorry," I can still hear him mutter very softly. When he is gone, the girl in front of me turns around, she looks at me. Fuck.
"Sorry about the boys, they are horribly annoying and bullies." She smooths her shirt almost as if she just had a fight, I wouldn't be surprised. "Are you ok?" I stare at her for a moment, didn't expect her to ask.
"I-I..." I tighten my lips for a moment, force myself to sound normal, don't show you're on the verge of crying. "I'm alright."
She bites her lip and nods. "Okay, do you know where to go?" I swallow as she grabs my schedule off the ground. I can finally breathe now that her eyes are not on me. "History huh," she says. "Follow me."
"Aren't you going to be late for your own class?" It is the only thing that passed my lips.
"Nah." I know it's a lie, we've only got a few minutes left and I know the bell will ring when we get to my classroom. I see a grin appear on her face. "You play baseball?" I follow her eyes to my handwriting. I wrote down the tryout times.
"Uhm yeah I do." I swallow when she looks at me.
"I hope you make it, rookie." She hands me my schedule and stops next to an open door. "Here it is, your next class is across the hallway, 4th classroom."
"Okay thanks."
"No problem..." She gives me a questioning look.
Oh. "Jay... Jayden Miller."
"Jay." I lose my breath, my name has never been said like that, I bite my lip. "I might see you at the tryouts." She runs away before I can ask for her name.
I shake my head and walk into the classroom. What was that? I smile in my head. What's wrong with me I'm really confused. The teacher allows me to just sit down and only points to me when the starts class. Yes, I don't have to introduce myself, great.
The whole lesson only one question keeps playing in my head. Who is she and why did she help me? Who is she? Who is she? After a while I can't take it anymore and I turn to a girl I now know as Shelby, she's nice.
"What?" She grins when she looks at me.
"Do you know who I'm talking about when I say, brown hair, blue eyes, tall." Shelby frowns for a moment.
"You know you're describing half the school, right?"
I chuckle. "It's a girl, she knew the names Walker, Logan and uhm... Carter." Shelby's eyes widen at the name of the boys.
"That's Charlie, the only girl on our baseball team." What...
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Authors Note:
Hi guys, changed the chapter a bit, removed some mistakes and inserted an image. Tried to create the vibe of how Jay woke up in the beginning of the chapter.
Song on the side is Undrunk from Fletcher, 1 it's a great song, second Jay listens to Fletcher on her bike.
Hope you liked the chapter and enjoy reading for the ones who haven't read the whole story yet ;)).
Loves...
-L