Everyone was walking slower than usual in the hallways. A lot of them walked slower in the first place but now it was like dragging a concrete block through black tar slow. Groans came out of their mouths and even some girls were actually crying because they were back in school. I couldn't help but think 'same' when watching the tears roll down their sun-deprived faces.
Not me, I was wide awake. At the crack of dawn, I was doing crunches while wishing for a miracle would happen that would flatten my stomach.
Why did I do that?
Because I hung up the good ole t-shirt and went for a tight long sleeved shirt that had somewhat a low neckline. Actually, the t-shirts weren't hanged, more liked rolled up into balls on my floor because I didn't have time to wash them the day before school started. The whole 'getting stuck in a car with Thorin and Mel' shook me up to the point where I remained in my room for the rest of Christmas break. I didn't want any rolls to poke through one of the few things that were clean enough to wear.
Plus, caffeine pills can make you do crazy things before the sun even thinks about rising.
Terry, if you can't remember, is Jace's idiot friend who was barely math and was standing in front of my locker. Somehow my locker had become this cesspool for guys who wore high black socks, athletic shorts and had 'asshole' written all over them. Not everyone who wears those things are an asshole but when you add in the whole 'oh, let's cover some girl's locker with our bodies', I consider you an asshole.
I tried to squeeze by as the boys, including Jace, bounced around while talking to each other. Leave it to the universe to make sure that Terry had the last name Gerard and had a locker next to mine. Again, thank the universe for having him being friends with Jace who looked like he hadn't slept in years. The underneath of his eyes was darker than usual with lines that carved themselves into the thin flesh.
Was I concerned? A little bit, but I was mostly concerned about my body weaving through the boys to my cool locker. My lungs burned while the tiny grasp of air that I took in, remained in the sacs as I tried to enter the correct numbers so I could put my shit away. It wasn't really necessary to bring anything to Mr. Louis's class because that man has just given much already.
My fingers were shaking while placing the only book I truly used. The scent of boy was lingering in the air and was probably the source of my shaking. Not because I was scared (which I kind of was) but because the fumes were so strong that they could have killed a skunk. Expensive colognes shot themselves off from the expensive clothes that they used to call home and into my nostrils, making me almost want to puke.
Nothing was better than the sound of the locker shutting. I began to walk away with nothing in my shaky hands. Which they should have been calmer because again, my ass was invisible.
"Lookin' good, Flora." Jace called out. The multiple voices stopped along with my body that began to walk away.
I had to be clever, which I was all the time....except for whenever I somehow agree to let Thorin into my house. "Feeling good." The words came out with confidence.
"She's got a nice ass." One of the guys mumbled. Thankfully, I was walking away so I couldn't see who said it and they wouldn't be able to see the redness all over my face.
"She's mine." I heard Jace say.
Breathing was becoming harder and harder after each step away from the boys. One would think it would be easier except I still felt the burning sensation of their eyes on the back of my head. Their staring caused my heart to beat faster in my chest yet I kind of welcomed it. The caffeine pills were kicking in and I could feel it effects course through my veins and made me want to explode.
Thorin was walking in the opposite direction than me. The boy raked his black hair back while staring me down with his black eyes. I watched as his eyes flickered to the boys behind me down to my own body. "Hey, buddy." Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, I wanted his eyes on me and not the boys. One near death experience was enough for this school.
"What's up?" His attention kept wavering from the boys to me. Warmth took over my shoulder the moment he placed his hand on it. As a reflex, my body seized up into one huge tight ball. Relaxing was becoming hard underneath Thorin's touch but I was going to have to bear with it.
"Just getting an early start to our next class, maybe you should too?" I tugged at his wrist.
Slowly with some resistance, he began to move. His long legs turned to the direction I was originally going and away from the little hive of boys that he was eyeing. I kept my hand on his wrist not because I wanted to touch it but to make sure that he didn't suddenly decide to see what was going on with the gang.
"Flora..." He said while moving even slower than he was before. "Did those guys say anything to you?"
It took me a moment to think of my response and make sure it sounded believable. "Thorin, I'm invisible. Of course not."
"You're not invisible though." He sighed, continuing down the hallway with me.
I laughed, well more of a snort, though a laugh is more attractive. My hand was still around his wrist, not moving a single inch further down. A sparse amount of kids passed us who's eyes went directly down to our hands. People walked by, talking as silence settled between the two of us.
"And what makes you say that?" My eyes somewhat narrowed when they looked up at him. The ass didn't look back at me. He wasn't willing to meet with my eyes and formed this little bubble of anger inside of me.
"They were staring at your arse." His voice came out weird.
I blinked a couple times at him. The words swirled in my mind like a foreign entity that was trying to wrap itself into my thinking process. He looked down at me, showing no emotions except for a simple huff. His lips parted as if they were about to say something else but nothing came out but more air.
Honestly, I didn't understand his feelings towards the guys if they were even actually looking at my butt. Hell, I didn't even know what his feelings were. Anger? Not quite, he wasn't fuming and kept his cheeks the same color instead of burning coal. Sadness? Tears didn't roll down his cheeks nor did his voice quiver.
"Are you jealous?" Never in a million years would I think those words form in the back of my mouth and leave the tip of my tongue when it came to another human being.
He licked his lips while turning his head away. I tugged at his wrist to force him to look at me. "And if I am?"
A small nervous laugh came from me. "Then you're stupid, I'm positive that people check you out." I slapped his shoulder that a reach for me.
Two of Thorin's fingers went to the bridge of his nose to pinch the flesh that covered it. Just as I thought he was done sighing and pushing any existing air out of his body, he proved me wrong and once again sighed. "Flora." He said shortly.
My hand left his wrist to go into my pockets. "Sup?"
"That's not what I meant." His black eyes rolled.
With furrowed brows, I stared at Thorin who was still pinching the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean?" I tried to laugh again to lessen the tension in the air. "Is it that you don't like them staring at me or something?"
"That's exactly what I meant."
Jealousy was right. It was written all over his face once he was done scrunching it up. With rosy cheeks, he raked his hair back in an attempt to regain his cool.
"Thorin, maybe they were looking at something else."
"I saw them looking at you like a piece of meat." His voice lowered.
My shoulders shrugged. "They can stare all they want. They're not the one who's always sleeping in my bed." A smirk took control of my lips.
Thorin's did the same. "That is true." I felt his hand slide onto the side of my body. "You do look good today. I mean, you look good every day but I like this shirt on you."
Thank the lord for caffeine pills for somehow warping my mind into this vixen who actually wants to get closer with Thorin. It didn't help he was wearing a deep purple v neck that was tight around all the right areas of his body.
I turned my head to the side in an attempt to leave the situation before something bad happened. Sai, the new kid was actually walking near us.
"Sai!" I called out to him. The giant heard me yet didn't try to stop whatsoever. "Sai! Come meet Thorin!"
*****
I gulped as fiery red curls bounced while in their own sweat. Grunts followed the bounces as a pale hand went to the worn leather in front of it and acted as if it was an enemy. It groaned in silenced agony as the motion of the hand was repeated constantly, each time the pressure of the hand increased.
"Hey there, Melody." Right off the bat, the conversation was already awkward. Mel looked at me with narrowed eyes before continuing to punch the punching bag.
It was bad enough that she didn't say hi to me when she first came into the gym and she made sure to skip a treadmill away from me. It's not that I wanted to talk to her in the first place but it still hurt. I knew she was still mad about me lying about Thorin not sneaking but it wasn't her business in the first place.
"Mel, can I talk to you?" I tried again with the angry wanna-be killer.
She huffed like her cousin did. Her forearm swiped across her forehead, taking off any sweat and hair that laid across it. "What do you want?"
Yeah, she was still mad at me.
I played with my thumbs that were intertwined with each other and the rest of my fingers that hung in front of me. "What's up?"
Wrong answer.
Her neck cracked loudly before she continued to punch the bag once again.
"Okay, listen." I broke the lock my fingers were in to brush back the hairs that were flying in my face. "I'm sorry."
She snorted. "Oh, you're sorry for lying and not telling me the truth?"
Well, I still haven't really said the full truth.
"And could have saved me from worrying about my cousin who I knew was sneaking out?" Melody continued. "Oh and could have saved the jeans that I ruined from sitting in mud because you agreed to do a stake out with me but no, you had to lie?" Her head shook back and forth with her heavy breathing. "Is that why you're apologizing?"
I lifted my index finger at her. "Hey, I didn't agree to the stake out at all. You pushed me into it and second of all, yeah I am sorry. Thorin had to talk and I was willing to lend an ear."
"That's my responsibility, Flora. That's my turf. I'm the one he can go to because I'm his cousin."
"Hey, I'm sure he talks to you about different things as he does with m-"
"No, he doesn't." Her words came out sharply. "He never talks to me. I practically force the asshole to say 'hi' to me let alone anyone else."
It was then it hit me. Mel didn't have any friends. The tall, athletic build girl with the hair of fire and eyes of the emerald city didn't hang out with anyone. Only God knew who she actually sat with lunch. Never once did I see her walking with anyone else except for herself and maybe me or her cousin.
"Mel, I'm sorry. I truly am." My hand went to the center of my chest, covering my heart. "I feel so bad for not telling you." I actually did feel bad. "Thorin has been sneaking over to my house but so can you, you're always welcomed."
She looked at me with watery eyes. "Are you sure?" Though she could easily kick my ass, she sniffled. "Because I don't want to impose."
"Nah, you can even use the front door. But not Thorin, he has to work to get into my house."
We laughed, hugged it out and continued to work out in the gym.
I was actually doing some sick bicep curls to work out my chubby arms plus the caffeine pills still had an effect on me. After the second rep and the cry of my muscles, I looked around to see what else could be of use to my time and energy. One machine would have been great if I hadn't seen my mom's girlfriend on it.
That's another person that I somewhat knew about that went to my gym.
Ayyee! Thanks for reading! Thinks are starting to move a little faster between Thorin and Flora, thank god. Maybe next chapter... things will move even faster? Hmmmmmmmmmm. You'll only know if you read the next chapter ;D Anyway! Remember:
Comment; comment like how the boys commented on Flora's butt lmao.
Vote; vote if you think Flora is Thorin's and not Jace's.
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Thanks for reading! Also special thanks to @LanniMorrison for the beautiful cover!