L I L Y
I smile up at him shyly and nod in agreement.
He steps away and holds out his hand for me to grab. I look at it curiously and he raises an eyebrow. When he sees I don't plan on grabbing it, he does it himself and laces our fingers together.
I immediately feel sparks.
No, more like a big explosion going on in my tummy.
I blush as he leads me back into the school and down the hallway, where it's more crowded now with all the students roaming around.
As we walk by, I notice most of them look at us as if we were animals in a zoo. Confusion is written over all of their faces as they whisper to one another.
I scoot closer to Mason's side, feeling slightly intimidated by their stares. He must've noticed too because I feel him tense up and he suddenly stops walking.
"Don't you all have a class to get to? Fuck off."
He sounds scary when he talks like that.
The students must think the same because they all immediately look away as the hallway becomes silent.
Mason is still tense so on instinct, I squeeze his hand to try and calm him down. It's something i've noticed my mother do to my father when he's stressed or angry. He looks down at me and I see his eyes soften.
He leans down right next to my ear. "Sorry sweetheart, didn't mean to scare you." His close proximity makes my cheeks turn bright red, and he chuckles at this.
I just met him and he's already holding my hand and getting this close to me? Maybe it's normal?
I look down and play with the end of my skirt. "It's okay."
He squeezes my hand, like I did just seconds ago, and resumes walking, forcing me to follow. We walk in a comfortable silence, though this time we ignore the students staring.
After about a minute we stop in front of a classroom, the words 'Art' printed in colorful letters at the top of the door.
I turn and grin up at Mason. "Thank you for helping me."
He returns a small smile, and somehow I can just tell it's not something he does much. "No problem." I'm confused when his facial expression suddenly becomes serious. "After the bell rings, I want you to wait right here for me, okay? I'll bring you to your next class."
I nod at his instructions, grateful that I won't have to stress about finding my next classroom, and remove my hand from his. "Bye Mason." I hold in my excitement as I walk backwards into the room.
His soft smile returns. "I'll see you soon."
I take a deep breath and finally turn around, now that i'm inside. I look around and see two empty seats.
One next to a blonde girl, and one next to a guy wearing the same jacket as the mean guys from earlier. I decide to sit next to the girl, just in case that guy is like the others.
I don't want a repeat of what just happened.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" I ask her quietly.
The girl glances at me with her eyebrows furrowed. She scoffs when she sees me, but I ignore it. "Sure, whatever." She goes back to looking at her phone.
I take a seat and place my bag beside me.
The girl suddenly turns and looks me up and down, her eyes flashing with recognition. "You're the slut who was walking with Mason just now."
I frown and tilt my head. I know what a slut is but i've never been called one before. It's not a nice word. "I-I'm not a slut, i've never had a boyfriend before."
She rolls her eyes at my reply. "And you're dumb too." She sighs and her glare returns. "Look, Mason is mine, he always has been and everybody knows that. So back off."
My eyes widen. "I didn't know he had a girlfriend."
The girl gasps and I frown again. "Don't talk to me like that bitch, unless you want to get slapped." She says through gritted teeth.
I quickly shake my head. "No, I-I really didn't know he was in a relationship."
She scoffs and raises her hand, but just as it's about to reach my face, another larger hand stops it.
"Quit being such a bitch, Nicole." An unfamiliar voice says.
Nicole's eyes widen. She moves her glare to the person who stopped her and snatches her hand away. "Whatever, just remember what I said." The warning is clearly directed at me.
I nod, slightly confused at what just happened. When I look to see who stopped her from hitting me, I notice it's the same guy in the jacket, which i've now realized is for football.
I guess I shouldn't have judged him so quickly.
I smile shyly. "Hi."
He chuckles. "Why don't you come sit by me?"
I quickly nod, desperate to get away from the girl next to me, and collect my stuff up before following him to his seat. I sit in the empty one next to him.
"Sorry about her, she can be a bit of a bitch sometimes." He explains.
That's another mean word.
I slowly nod, unsure of what to say. I'm new to this whole conversing thing.
"So, what's your name?" He leans back in his chair.
"Lily Rose." I say with a grin. "What's yours?"
"Jackson, but you can call me Jack."
The teacher begins the lesson before I can answer. But Jackson and I get to make small talk while doing our assigned classwork.
He's really nice.
And he's alsoA the second friend that i've made today.
The bell rings, and since i'm still not used to it, I jump a little. Jackson laughs at my jumpiness as I collect all my stuff and stand up. I've decided I like his full name better.
As we walk out, I notice Nicole glaring at me once again, but I make sure to avoid her stare at all costs.
Why doesn't she like me? Is it because of Mason?
"Just ignore her, she's all bark but no bite." He tells me with a teasing grin.
I've never heard anyone say it like that, so I just giggle because it sounds funny.
"Lily." I hear a familiar voice say from right behind me. I turn around and smile up at Mason. "Hi." I notice that he's sending Jackson a glare, which confuses me. Do they know each other?
I glance at him to see that he looks slightly nervous. Mason doesn't seem to like him, so to avoid this becoming awkward, I say goodbye to Jackson.
"Bye bye Jackson, thanks for helping with Nicole." I give him a quick hug.
He deserves one for being a good friend.
Plus, I like hugs.
He clears his throat, and I don't feel him return the embrace. "See you later." And then he's gone as soon as I pull away.
I spin around to face Mason again, only to bump into his hard chest. Warm hands grip my hips, helping me keep my balance.
I giggle up at him nervously. "Sorry."
"Who was that?" He asks, ignoring my apology, but I just grin.
"That's my new friend, Jackson."
He glares in the direction that Jackson went, even though he's nowhere to be seen. "I don't think you should talk to him."
My smile falls and instead a frown appears. "But he's nice to me."
Mason shakes his head and looks down at me. He sighs and closes his eyes for a second after seeing my upset expression. "Okay, just...you shouldn't hug him." He opens his eyes to glance at me again. "And if he does something you don't like, let me know. I'll handle it."
I nod happily, though i'm a little confused.
Why shouldn't I hug him?
"What's next?" He grabs my hand, just like earlier.
"AP Calculus." I tell him, not needing to check my schedule since I already memorized it.
I actually love math. I'm pretty good at it too.
He raises his eyebrows. "Same. Let's go."
We make our way towards another classroom. I start to swing our hands that are laced together out of boredom, a habit I have from whenever I hold my mothers hand.
"Fucking adorable." I hear Mason mumble, making me blush and stop the movement back and forth.
I look down to hide how red my cheeks are.
They might as well just stay like this.
When we enter the classroom, I notice there are no two empty seats next to each other. That means Mason and I will have to split up. I stay close to his tall figure as he leads us to an empty seat in the back.
"M-Mason, there's only one seat back here." I inform him, just in case he didn't realize.
Without answering me, he turns towards the scary guy with piercings sitting in the seat next to the empty one. "Move." His voice is blank, yet somehow threatening.
The guy quickly gets up and finds another place to sit.
I look at Mason with wide eyes, mumbling, "You didn't have to do that."
"I know." He motions for me to take a seat and once I do he follows, sitting down next to me.
The teacher walks in just as the bell rings. "Everybody take out your textbooks and turn to page 247."
I slowly raise my hand.
She looks towards me. "Yes?"
"I-I don't have a textbook." I play with my fingers in my lap nervously.
"A-And I c-can't talk without s-stuttering." A voice mocks quietly.
I blush and look down at their teasing.
Hands suddenly slam down on the table, making my eyes snap up as I jump, along with everyone else in the room.
Mason is standing with his hands on the desk, glaring at the boy who teased me. "Say that again, asshole." He growls.
The boys eyes widen and he immediately looks away. "M-My bad." He mumbles.
Mason scoffs and shakes his head, slowly taking a seat. "Dumbass."
The teacher clears her throat, ignoring what just happened, and smiles at me. "Don't worry dear, i've got an extra one for you."
I nod and return my usual shy smile.
I look over at Mason to see him still glaring at the kid, his jaw clenched and fists tightly closed.
I reach over and place my hand on his. He glances back at me and it seems as if his whole body immediately relaxes. I mouth a 'thank you' and he sends me a single nod.
The tables are separated into pairs of two, which is why Mason is able to grab my chair and pull me closer to his.
I gasp in surprise, while he chuckles.
A textbook is suddenly placed onto my desk. "Here you go, sweetie."
~
Mason and I are walking towards the cafeteria, since it's now lunch time.
"What's your favorite color?" I ask randomly.
"Probably gray." He looks at me curiously. "What's yours?" He pokes my side, making me giggle.
"Pink." I answer right away.
He chuckles. "Of course it is, princess."
"What's your favorite...animal?" I ask, after thinking for a second.
"A deer." Mason smirks. "It reminds me of you." His reasoning behind his answer makes me blush.
I giggle quietly. "Like Bambi?"
"Exactly."
As we enter the cafeteria, I answer the question. "Mine's a lion!"
He lets out another chuckle at my excitement. "You're cute."
"No, i'm scary! Like a lion." I cross my arms over my chest and pout, while he shakes his head.
I look around and that's when I see all the stares.
Instead of crossing my arms, I wrap them around myself for comfort.
They're looking at us as if we grew two heads. But thankfully most of their attention seems to be on Mason.
People whisper, trying to be discreet, but I definitely notice. I play with the end of my skirt nervously as I start to overhear some of the things they're saying.
"Why is Mason talking to...her?"
"Did he actually just laugh at something? Wow, didn't know he had it in him."
"Who is she?"
"They would totally be cute together."
The last one makes me blush.
Mason mumbles something I can't understand, though I can tell it wasn't anything nice from the glare he's sending all the students. He takes my hand and gently pulls me towards an empty table in the back.
As we take a seat, I pull out my lunch that momma made for me. She said that school lunches weren't good and decided to pack me one.
And looking at the trays the other students had, I could tell she was right.
Mason quietly observes me as he leans back against his chair.
I finish chewing and hold out half of my sandwich when I see he isn't eating anything. He must not like the food here either.
He smiles and shakes his head.
I frown and place it on the napkin in front of me before sliding it towards him. "Please?"
He raises an eyebrow but doesn't speak as he picks it up and takes a bite. I smile and go back to eating my half of the sandwich.
I hope every day here is like this.
Well, except for the part where those guys almost hurt me.