The school's front yard filled with the hollering and cheering of the students on the bus returning from what I could only assume was a soccer game. Their loud and excited voices were cutting through the silence from recess, making my earlier relaxed stance, with my back and head against the smooth surface of a Red Maple tree, tense up. I reluctantly opened my eyes as irritation steadily rose, overpowering the moment of peace I felt only a moment ago. I had a clear view of the steady stream of annoyingly excited soccer players and cheerleaders unloading from the bus.
Why, oh why did they have to return so soon?
I snorted at myself. Why did they have to return at all?
During the time they had been gone that morning, school had seemed more manageable. I didn't know if it was their never-ending loud voices, or maybe even just their obnoxious presence: whatever it was, it never seemed to allow me to completely get through school as smoothly as I liked.
Especially now that two people knew.
That's two people too many knowing my secret. Well, part of it.
A feminine figure separated from the crowd of students and made her way toward where I sat. Her blue cheerleader outfit fit her snugly around the waist and the skirt reached her mid thigh, as did all the others. Her short, pixie hair was styled away from her face with the help of several hairpins, and what I could only assume was a buck load of hairspray and glitter. It was ridiculous.
Before I could look away, I noticed another figure appear in my peripheral vision. He emerged a couple of feet away from my tree and headed in the direction of the pixie-haired girl. I had met her in the hallway not too many weeks before, I realized as the boy gestured excitedly to her outfit. This was the same duo that had approached and asked me to join them for lunch.
An offer I had of course declined.
I could hear their excited voices. However, because of the music blasting through my earplugs, I couldn't make out what they were saying.
I changed the song to one with a heavier bass and more drums, also turning up the volume to tune their voices out completely.
Looking down at the Chemistry book on my lap, I sighed. Of course, I had postponed studying to the day before the Chemistry test. Although I somewhat liked math; chemistry, more often than not, always seemed to confuse me. Even now, after going through every chapter we'd focused on in class since I had gotten here, I had trouble remembering what I read just a couple of pages before.
I took a deep breath as I felt the steady rise of frustration bubble up inside me. When my mind wasn't occupied trying to figure out the reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, it automatically drifted over to Celine. Was she safe? Was she making friends, or was she still getting pushed around by that Sam kid.
I shook my head, ridding myself of the paranoid thoughts and wonderings. This overly protective mom instinct has gotten out of control after the motorcycle trip to the end of the city yesterday -- when Celine had claimed someone was watching her. However, as we rode back home, driving over the ridiculously low speed limits, I saw no signs of vessels anywhere near the forest path we had taken.
"Mind if we sit here?"
I looked up at the pair; the pixie-haired cheerleader and the green-eyed boy I remembered from math -- the one who had made me bump my already bruised abdomen into my desk after class a week or so ago.
I wasn't in any hurry to let them join me under the Red Maple tree, nor did I want their presence to disturb my already distracted mind. However, the schoolyard was a free place; I had no right to decline.
That didn't mean I had to stay.
Damn, good luck trying to find another peaceful place to study, Cass.
I looked up at the unnaturally blazing sun directly above the schoolyard.
One with shade, too.
"Hey, you don't have to leave. We won't talk too loud so it shouldn't interrupt your... studying." The boy held out his hands as he saw me push from the tree, gesturing to the books in my hands.
After taking a quick sweep of the schoolyard, I found it was already filled with the 'champion' students from the soccer game. Deciding that it didn't matter as long as they only talked with each other, I relaxed back into my sitting position. My legs were crossed with my chemistry book in the middle. I was practically sweating under the black tights I stupidly put on this morning. This sun was no joke and it was a relief I had found a spot in the shade.
I had decided to not dwell too much on what Celine had seen the day before on that hilltop. For all I knew, it could have been an animal; maybe even just the rustle of leaves and her own shadow.
"What are you studying over there?" The girl leaned a little toward me from where she sat with the boy. Weren't they supposed to not interrupt my studying?
The boy, having seen my sharp look back at his friend, directed her back to him, as if I was an animal he was afraid would bite. However, his face remained passive and easy as he spoke.
"C'mon Sasha, I just told her we weren't supposed to interrupt her." She turned halfway around, but only slightly. She looked like she wanted to say something.
I returned my attention to the pages in front of me, determined to finish up the last chapter before recess was over.
After reading the page down, the boy's voice sounded in front of me.
"You won't be getting any questions from that last chapter. It's not in the syllabus."
Looking up, I saw him eyeing the pages in front of me. His friend, Sasha, nodded; again turning her attention to me as if it was the most natural thing to do.
And maybe it was. After all, I had no experience handling the life of being social outside of my family.
"Yeah, I had that test yesterday. You will only need to read the first two chapters. They always tell us to read all three, but that's bullshit," she said offhand, shifting her sitting position so that she was also sitting cross-legged, facing me.
Was there a sign on me saying; come talk to me, please?
Even though the warning was a nice gesture, I was hesitant to believe them. For all I knew, they could have only said it to make me get a bad grade by not studying all three chapters. Nevertheless, my desire to finish studying was stronger than ever.
I made sure to mask my hesitation, nod my head and even give what may have seemed like a smile. Just as they smiled back, the bell rang, signaling the start of the two last classes for the day.
I made sure to read the third chapter in math class.
****
"Alright, the test is over. Time to hand it in with your name in the upper right corner of the paper."
I finished my doodle; sketched where I now knew the name was supposed to go. I settled with writing my name in the upper left corner before getting up and handing the chemistry test to the teacher, the bags under his eyes showing better than ever. His dull and tired voice called out the few who still sat with their tests, frantically writing their last answers.
Since the last few of the questions were answered by wild guesses, I'd finished the test a good ten minutes before we were allowed to hand them in; resulting in me listening to music and drawing all over the blank spaces of the test paper.
As I made my way back to my desk, the green-eyed boy from my math class caught my eye.
I had noticed that we had not been given any questions from chapter three on the chemistry test.
He looked back, his small grin seeming to give off a clear 'I told you, didn't I? ' Apparently, his pixie-haired friend had the test a couple of days before, as she wasn't going to attend school on the day of the official test.
I felt my phone vibrate in my leather jacket pocket, dimming the music in my ears. Sitting down in my seat, I noticed Anthony from the bar had sent me a message. Since we had a roof over our heads thanks to him, I had given him my number so he could contact me in case something happened at the bar, making him the second contact on my phone.
No, not second; third.
I noticed the unfamiliar number in my contact list. Julian's name with a heart behind was written just above the number.
I quickly deleted his number, feeling weirdly uncomfortable knowing that he had put himself in my phone, as if he knew that I would say no had he asked.
****
Anthony had written a location in the message.
It was as usual; he would hear around the bar if there were any low-key, cheap apartments available anywhere, and if he got something he would send me the location to check it out. I hadn't thought of how big of a help he would become when I accepted his invitation to sleep in the storage room of the bar. Although the room was small, it had an unusually soft sofa, a couple of pillows and a small desk.
For this apartment, I would have to drive twenty minutes east of the bar. An apartment that was a little too far away from my second home, in my opinion. Nevertheless, I would check it out when I picked Celine up from school.
A group of students stood crowded a little too close to my motorcycle in the parking lot. Judging from the school logo written in big letters on their jackets, they were part of the school's soccer team. Their voices got louder as their conversation clearly grew more exciting.
My observing gaze landed on a face I recognized in the small crowd of soccer players and cheerleaders. His eyes were shining as he smirked with mischief to the rest of the crowd. He said something and all his soccer buddies laughed. Some of the girls looked torn between laughing or looking offended. Others were laughing way too hard, making it seem ridiculously fake. Either way, my former tutee looked to be in his element, his whole body posture relaxed and comfortable.
Making my way down the front steps of the school, I changed the song. My steps never faltering as I made my way through the outer side of the crowd. Close enough to hear what Kingston said, but not close enough for him to take notice of my presence.
I stopped in front of my bike, hooking my bag to the back of the motorcycle. Although the weather was gradually turning bleaker, the sun had still shone in my eyes when I had driven home from school yesterday. Autumn would soon be changing to winter, and so the sun went down a little earlier than usual; landing directly in a position that always blinded me on the road.
Retrieving my helmet, I sent a cold stare to the person closest to my bike. A soccer player, a couple of inches taller than me. He backed up a little, throwing a quick glance at a couple of his classmates. I sat down on the motorcycle and noticed Kingston look at me with an unreadable expression. Although their conversation was still going on, it felt like it had dimmed a little. Ignoring the curiosity of what his expression was a mixture of; I brought down the helmet screen, effectively dimming the light from the evening sun.
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A song for while you're reading: Alt-J - Bloodflood