I woke up to the sound of Hazel in the shower. I glanced at the clock and read six pm. Cade was gone, I wasn't going to ask where. I got dressed into regular clothes and placed my blades in the regular spots: two in boots, one in my waist and another in my pocket. I figured I wouldn't need my bow or arrows, considering tomorrow was my first normal day of school in a while.
"Sami, is that you?" Hazel calls from the now silent shower.
"Yeah, if you hurry we can still catch dinner." I call to her pulling my brown, curly hair into a pony tail.
"Alright give me five minutes." She calls back.
I reluctantly lift up my shirt, and remove the bandages. The scars are thin, but there. They add to my collection. I slip on a jacket and wait patiently for Hazel. Once she's ready we stroll out into the cafeteria. Once we enter, the room dims down for a couple seconds before picking back up. I could feel the stares on me like bugs crawling all over my skin. It was uncomfortable and made me want to run and hide.
"Hey." Ash says blankly to Hazel and I as we sit down.
"Hey, Sam! How are you feeling?" Ivy asks from a table over.
"I'm great, thanks." I lie slightly.
The pain was mostly gone, but I could still feel the guilt of freezing in a combat zone eating away at me.
"What's wrong?" Cade asks appearing at the table eyeing my carefully.
I shake my head, indicating nothing.
"Sam, please don't do this again." Hazel pleads.
"Do what?" I ask innocently although I know the answer.
"Shut yourself away. What's bothering you?" Hazel asks.
I pause for a moment before locking eye contact with Cade. He raises his eyebrows in expectation. I look back at Hazel and realize the table was waiting for my response.
"Fine." I give in.
"Well?" Ash says once I don't continue.
"I..I froze." I whisper to them.
"What do you mean?" Cade asks.
"I mean I froze. When they pulled out the gun, it wasn't something I expected. I froze and just took the hits rather than trying to dodge or even reverse the gun." I explain quietly.
"Nobody thinks about it like that though." An unfamiliar voice says from behind me.
"Who are you?" Hazel questions turning around and looking the person up and down.
"Jacob." He introduces himself as I turn to face him.
He was much taller than I realized at about 6'1". He had brown hair with daring green eyes. His tall figure didn't make him lean at all. In fact, he was well built, with well defined facial features.
"Again, who are you?" Cade asks in an annoyed tone.
"I'm replacing Tanner in Top Class. I kind of assisted Sam last week." Jacob says.
"Yeah I meant to thank you for that-wait last week?!" I raise my voice a little too loud.
"Oh my god, were you in a coma for a week?" Jacob asked.
I eye Cade carefully as he darts his eyes down to his food.
"Apparently." I say ripping my eyes off of Cade.
"Anyways, you're welcome. Sorta. See you around." He says turning and walking away.
Cade's relieved look gives me an idea.
"Wait, Jacob." I call back.
"Yeah?" He asks as I eye Cade.
"Why don't you eat with us?" I offer politely.
"Seriously?" He asks in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, we'd love to have you." Hazel said with a grin that was slightly too wide.
Jacob takes the seat next to me. I couldn't believe Cade wouldn't mention that I was out for a week. That must be why he looked so awful when I woke up.
"So, Jacob." Ash says trying to break the awkward silence his presence brought to the table.
"So, what do you guys normally do?" He asks.
"Eat, sleep, fight, repeat. It's honestly super boring." Cade said blankly.
I liked seeing him like this.
"And Sam, really, don't feel bad about what happened. Everyone freezes, it's a natural instinct. That's okay to have, as long as you have someone there to break you out of it." Jacob said honestly, slightly comforting my feelings.
"Yeah." I murmur.
Suddenly, Jacob's hand is brushing against mine, a gesture that did not go unnoticed to Cade.
"No, I mean it. Everyone here thinks you're super courageous to charge them like that." Jacob says.
"Not really." Cade seconds not breaking the stare on his plate.
"What?" Jacob asks.
"Well she was willing to turn herself over just because she couldn't come up with a plan. It was stupid." He says fiddling with his fork.
"And where were you?" I demand angrily.
"Doing research on a possible threat. I'm sorry I can't be there to save you every time." Cade snaps in a low growl.
That comment snapped me. I broke the plastic fork I was holding into two pieces.
"You save me?!" I demand, and then repeat to make sure I heard it right, "you..save me? Who do you think you are?" I ask angrily.
"Sam, I-" but I cut him off.
"I'm not hungry anymore." I snap at him getting up and storming away.
"You might wanna add yelling into the list of Top Class activities." Jacob shrugs as I walk away.
I get to about halfway between me and the dorms before Cade's hands grab my shoulders and he pulls me backwards.
"Listen, I didn't mean that." He says apologetically.
"Oh really? Well I did. What the hell was that?" I demand shoving him off of me.
"I don't like that guy." He snaps folding his arms.
"Well he saved my life, so I'm sorry if I want to invite him to eat with us." I say defensively.
"He didn't save your life. You don't owe him anything." Cade said raising his voice slightly.
"Yes, I do. He got me out of a situation that I could've been killed in. I owe him my life." I snap at Cade.
"Stop talking like that!" Cade yelled angrily.
"Like what? You're the one who didn't tell me I was in a coma for a week." I scream back.
"Well why don't you go complain to your new best friend." Cade was now screaming louder than me.
"At least I have friends!" I yell at him.
"At least I know how to stay moving in a fight!" He shrieks back.
His comment sends rage through me. I try to open up to him and the first thing that I tell him about, he uses against me. I don't even bother getting the last word. I storm furiously to my dorm and hear Cade stomp off to some unknown hiding spot. The training room was empty at the moment. I think it's time to let off some steam.
I make my way to the training room after changing quickly into shorts and a sports bra. I decided to skip the clothing process involving the shirt, and grabbed my bow. I stuck my earbuds in angrily and stormed through the door. Before I could even get onto the mat, I chucked my bow on the ground. The force made me wince as my prized possession made contact with the ground. I couldn't help myself, Cade drives me crazy. He has a grip on me and no matter what I can't control my emotions around him. I attack the punching bag furiously, making me feel slightly better. I move onto the swords. I take a blade and practice on a dummy, swinging back and forth in almost a rhythm. Suddenly, a hand is on my shoulder. I grip the hand and twist it into a lock before shoving the person on the ground. I recognize Jacob.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." I say helping him to his feet.
"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." He says kindly.
I am very grateful for such a nice person to be around after having to deal with Cade.
"So listen." Jacob says rather awkwardly.
"Yeah?" I ask setting the sword down.
He picks it back up before continuing, "your balance while holding this is bothering me a little bit."
"Excuse me?" I ask with a surprised smile.
"Well, I don't want to offend you, but sword fighting is different than shooting a bow. Sword fighting is all about agility so you're supposed to constantly remain on your toes. Also, your hips should be facing at about a forty five degree angle instead of thirty." He explains placing the sword in my hand.
I follow his directions closely, but get confused after a while. He directs my body with words, but we get nowhere. His hands are placed on my hips and I stop and look up at him. He glances over at the window, but then stares at me. For a couple seconds, we don't break eye contact, but I eventually pull away.
"Sorry, I-" he begins but I stop him.
"No. It's fine." I say but stop suddenly when footsteps running away invade my hearing.
"Who was that?" I ask opening the door and glancing out.
"I don't know." He says beginning to rock back and forth on his feet.
He's not a good liar.
"Alright well, thanks for the tips." I say gathering my stuff quickly before leaving and accidentally slamming the door behind me.
What just happened?
"Sam?" Ash asks appearing in the hall.
"What?" I ask still trying to shake off my experience.
"What was that?" He asks gesturing towards the training room.
"Oh it was you. I'm not sure, he just kind of. I don't know to be honest." I scramble trying to put the pieces together in my brain.
"No, it was Cade. He's pissed, and I think he's going off somewhere." Ash says nervously, indicating for me to do something about it.
I get the hint, but I'm still kind of mad at him for his comment. Although he is my friend, well, more than friend and I should probably go see if he's okay. I search the hallways, his dorm, the entire dorm, the cafeteria, the pond and even the cliffs, but there is no sign of Cade. I begin to feel guilty, even though nothing happened. I stopped in the west wing to recollect myself and think of other ways to find him. Suddenly, a loud sound fills the hall coming from the Janitor's office. I make my way there, and hear the sound of someone fumbling around in there. Instinctively, I open the door and turn on the light. My heart sinks to my stomach. There I see Cade and Jay all over each other. Cade's body is almost completely bare, and all she has is a bra. I couldn't believe my eyes. My heart sank and my stomach dropped down to my toes. There was no way Cade could do this, but he turned and made eye contact with me. I saw nothing but regret and sadness in them. Suddenly I felt mine begin to water. I did the only thing I thought I could, I ran.