Candice could quite happily say that she'd gone all seventeen years of her life not even being a blip on the radar of the male population. To be honest, she wasn't noticeable to the female half either. For what had to be the hundredth time, she assured herself that everything would be back to normal first thing in the morning. She moved through the halls, relying mostly on memory, until she came to the vicinity of her locker. Squinting at the numbers, it took her a few minutes to find the right one and then she bent low over the lock, frowning as she struggled to twist the right combination.
A hand knocked hers out of the way and she was shuffled to the side. "What's the combination?"
"I really don't−"
"Just give it to me."
Unable to help herself, her gaze darted down the hallway, trying to make out any person-sized blobs. She'd had enough attention to last her a lifetime. "It's 15-36-3...thank you." She didn't look up at Cooper as he twisted the combination, and when he opened it and stepped back, she traded out her history book for math and English, zipped up her bag, and closed the locker gently before turning away from Cooper and starting back down the hall without another word. His hand curled around her elbow and pulled her out of the way of a trash bin as he began to lead her down the hall. "You don't have to guide me," she said a bit sharply. "I keep telling you I'm fine."
"Matt asked me to take you home."
That surprised her and she finally looked over at him with raised brows. "Why would he do that?"
"Might've had something to do with you not being able to see," he replied dryly.
"You bitch!"
Candice flinched, pulling away from Cooper. She didn't have to see the face of the red-haired blur coming towards them to know who it was. When Seraphina got close enough for Candice to make out her face, it was murderous. "First you steal my boyfriend and now him?" Seraphina raised her hand as if to strike, but before she could Cooper's hand wrapped around her wrist and her gaze flew to his. "You're defending her? When you wouldn't even defend me?"
This had to be a nightmare. Candice pulled her arm from Cooper's grip. "I just want things to go back to normal," she muttered, mainly to herself as she backed away from both of them. "I don't want your boyfriend. I don't want him. I just want my normal life."
Pulling her backpack up onto her shoulder, she turned her back on both of them and practically ran down the hall, hand running the length of the lockers in an attempt to avoid obstacles. When she reached the school's main entrance, she found Faith, Hope, and Cyn sitting on the steps and breathed a sigh of relief. All three girls stood up as she exited, Cyn removing an earbud from her left ear as she did. Faith was the first to speak. "Where are your glasses?"
Not wanting to get into it, she let Cyn and Hope hook their arms through hers on either side, casually guiding her toward the parking lot. "They broke."
There was no doubt in her mind that Faith knew there was more to the story, but her friend remained silent as the four of them headed for Cyn's car. "We figured you could use a pick-me-up so Hope already called your mom to tell her you were stuck tutoring Billy Mason, but that you'd asked her to call since your phone died and say you'd be home a little late."
"You shouldn't have lied to her."
"We're teenagers," Cyn said with a shrug. "It's our job to lie."
Feeling more at ease surrounded by friends, ones who had waited outside of the school building for over an hour to make sure she was okay after detention, Candice smiled a little and slid into the back with Faith. "Thanks guys."
"Yeah, well this is all Jay's stupid friend's fault anyway. He should keep a leash on his girlfriend. We're going to grab some ice cream and then you need to go home because you really stink."
She laughed at Faith's comment and leaned into her friend. "You guys are the best."
***
Candice stepped off the bus the next day feeling like everything would be back to normal− aside from her string of detentions to come and the fact that today she wore the contacts she so rarely touched. Her mom had been angry to see her broken glasses the night before and informed Candice that now was as good a time as any to get used to contacts because she had a year's supply that she still hadn't bothered to use and Molly Fitz had no intention of spending money on a pair of new glasses.
Contacts certainly had their advantages, but Candice felt naked without her glasses. Three times already, she'd lifted a hand up to push them back up her nose only to remember that there was nothing there to adjust. It would be much more difficult for anyone to blind her now unless they attempted to stick their fingers in her eye. Walking into the school, she felt the looks from several of her classmates, no doubt whispering about yesterday's events, but she assured herself it would be forgotten before the day was out. No one was interested in remembering her.
Once she'd reached her locker and taken out what she needed, Candice made her way to the courtyard to find her friends in their usual spot. Hope was already there, her dark curly hair shining with a hint of red under the sunlight, though it could nearly pass as a dark brown. Hope's head rested in the crook of her arms, but her blue eyes popped open at Candice's approach and she sat up and smiled. "Good morning! Feeling better today?"
Sliding onto the picnic bench beside Hope, Candice nodded. "I've decided to look at detention as an extra study hall, and the walk home is only five miles. It won't be too bad." The average person walked a mile in twenty minutes. If she walked quickly, Candice believed she could get home in just under an hour and a half. Maybe it wasn't ideal, but it was doable.
Hope raised a brow at her friend's determined positive spin on the situation. Her gaze flicked behind Candice and she smiled again. "Here come Faith and Cyn...and Jay. That's weird."
Surprised, Candice twisted around to verify that Jay was indeed headed their way. Faith's brother had his sister's hazel eyes, but his hair was a dirty blonde compared to Faith's dark brown. He treated all four girls like annoying little sisters in the few instances he decided to grace them with his presence. He rarely acknowledged them during school and Candice had a sinking feeling his appearance had something to do with the day before. She frowned at him as the three reached the table in unison.
"Hey Candy, I've been looking for you," Jay said without preamble. Faith walked around her brother and lifted herself onto the picnic table with a muttered greeting to her two friends. She'd never been much of a morning person.
"Why?"
"About yesterday, do you have a minute?"
Her frown deepened and she scowled at him. He was the only boy she'd ever felt comfortable around. "I don't want to talk about yesterday," she informed him flatly, turning back around towards her friends.
Undeterred by her shortness, Jay came around the table back into her line of sight and ignored her glare. "Look, Matt feels real bad about how Sera acted with you. He broke up with her after practice last night and told her to stay away." Faith snorted at that and Jay shot her a look. "If she gives you any more trouble, I want you to let me know, alright? I'll take care of it."
"It's just like a guy to overestimate his ability to take care of something," Cyn drawled. Her eyes were closed and she only seemed to be half listening as her ever-present earbud was in place and she was tapping her fingers to an unheard rhythm against the table. "You don't honestly think Seraphina can be reeled in by the likes of you and your little posse, do you?"
"I'm sure Candy appreciates the gesture," Hope cut in, shooting both Cyn and Faith a quelling look before smiling at Jay. "Thanks, Jay."
Candice felt her good mood dissipating and stood. "Thank you, but I'm sure it won't be necessary. I need to get to class."
As she walked away, she heard Hope's angry whisper to the rest of the table, "See what you did? Now she's going to be worried about that for the rest of the day."
Walking down the hall, she saw Seraphina heading towards her with a gleam in her eyes. She spun on her heels and headed in the opposite direction. Ducking her head, she attempted to get lost in the crowd until she got to the end of the science hall and decided to duck out the side exit where she could circle back to the main doors and come back in. The events of the day before had been exhausting and it seemed like her hope that everything would go back to normal would be short-lived. Shutting the door behind her, she moved to press herself to the wall behind it in case Seraphina attempted to look out. Just before the door opened again, her eyes locked with Cooper's as he crushed a cigarette beneath his heel.
The door stopped opening about halfway and she heard the unmistakable voice of Seraphina. There was a whining pout to her tone. "Coop, you're not still mad about yesterday, are you? I was just looking for Carla to apologize."
Candice stared helplessly at Cooper. His eyes were on Seraphina and his expression gave nothing away. "I'm not your boyfriend Sera. I don't care what you do."
"But yesterday−"
"Yesterday was fun. If you've got a problem with Candy, take it up with her."
"Coop−" she started to whine again, and Candice heard the click of her heel as she took another step out of the building.
"Sera, what are you doing out there? Missy just got us tickets to that concert Saturday night!" Without another word to Cooper, Seraphina stepped back into the building toward her friend.
Candice stayed where she was for another few seconds, breathing a sigh of relief. Cooper's gaze was locked on her, his face unreadable. She didn't like it. "Thank you."
He shrugged and started towards her. "You look good without the glasses."
Her face grew hot and she slid back towards the door handle. "I need to get to class. Thanks again."
"You're not afraid of me, are you?" He was suddenly standing nearly toe to toe with her and she froze, looking up at him. He had about six inches on her.
"No."
"Then why are you always rushing off?" He pushed the door back closed as he leaned in and she felt short of breath.
"Because I always have somewhere to be." His head seemed to be getting closer. On a sudden panicked breath, Candice ducked underneath his arm and was rushing off back to the main entrance. "We should really get to class," she called back to him as she disappeared around the corner.
***
Coop watched her retreat and couldn't stop a laugh from escaping. It wasn't often a girl ran from him. Of course, he'd never been much for the nerdy goody-two-shoes before either. He wondered if they had any classes together. Since he typically skipped class, he doubted he would've noticed her before yesterday. He heard the warning bell ring from inside and decided he'd just have to find out.
The first class he found her in was his third-period English. She sat in the third row closest to the windows and her attention was currently fixed on a green-eyed blonde girl who sat in the seat in front of her. Whatever the blonde said, Candy's mouth turned up into a smile− the first one he'd seen her wear− and she shook her head in response. Coop moved in their direction and was rewarded with a sharp inhale of breath as her gaze shot up to his face in surprise and the smile disappeared. He smirked and slid into the seat behind her.
Her blonde friend watched him with a frown of her own and no small amount of distrust. He met her friend's gaze evenly as he sat back in his seat. Candy didn't turn around. Her friend's eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips in disapproval before turning her gaze back toward Candy and smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Candy; Faith talked to Jay and told him since it was Matt's fault you're in this mess, Jay was either going to have to leave practice early or let her use the car to take you home after detention today, tomorrow and next week. It'll all blow over soon."
So she had detention for the next week. No doubt it had something to do with her little tiff with Sera. He leaned forward until his mouth was only an inch from her right ear. "I can give you a ride." He saw her involuntarily shiver and smirked. The teacher walked in before she could respond, and class began.
She was off like a shot right after class ended, and he realized that while he may not have paid attention to which classes they shared, she most definitely did. In a move he suspected was not typical for her, she showed up just before the bell rang, grabbing a seat on the opposite side of the room from him. So it was going to be like that. Well, Coop considered himself up for the challenge. Candy didn't so much as glance in his direction for the entire class period, and then she took off as soon as the bell rang. Fortunately, he was prepared this time and before she'd made it more than thirty feet down the hall, he was pushing her into a janitor's closet.