Banner to the right is made by TwilaJames! Aren't the three guys hot!? <3
***
I was surprise no one was giving him weird looks, or paying attention to his outburst. It was almost like they were used to his daily presence, and instead of looking at him, they choose to ignore him instead. I frowned. No wonder why he didn’t have many friends. No one seems to even cares about this guy, let alone go out of their way to even talk to him.
But as I look back at him, the big smile on his face never wavered, in fact it got even bigger—if that was even possible. I was slightly confused as to why he was so happy, when no one even said, “Hi” to him as he bypassed his fellow classmates, but when he got closer to me, I was nearly knocked over.
“Hi! I’m Ian,” he said overly hyper, his hug almost overbearing. I awkwardly stood there as he squeezed the daylights out of me. When he let go, his light eyes searched my face. For what? I wasn’t sure. “You must be Avery!”
“Ah . . .”
His eyes dimmed a bit when he saw the look on my face. “Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” My heart practically melted when he said that. Even though I could see the hurt in his eyes, the smile never faded from his face. It was at this point, that I knew he was just looking for a friend. Someone that didn’t know him. That didn’t judge him, for being him.
“I-I’ll leave you alone.”
My hand automatically shot out, grabbing his wrist. “Wait! There’s no need to leave. You only surprised me.” I offered him a small smile. “That’s all.”
“Really?” he asked, his full on hyper-active mood back on. “Does that mean I didn’t ruin a potential friendship?”
My heart swelled when I heard the hopefulness in his voice. This guy . . . all he wanted was a friend?
“Of course not.”
Instead of answering me, he attacked me with a big bear hug. “You won’t regret this! I’ll be a great friend. I promise.” I could practically hear the happiness oozing out of him.
I patted his back, chuckling at his behavior. “I believe you.”
“Great!” he exclaimed his child-like eyes big and round. “Your piercings are awesome by the way!”
“Huh?”
“Your lip piercings.” His finger glazed the metal on my lip, making me blush a deep red. “They’re—”
“Get your fucking hands off of her!” I was suddenly yanked away from Ian’s touch, and was soon engulfed in a tight hug. The smell of cologne mixed with a hint of gingerbread invaded my nostrils, making my head spin from the delicious scent. But that image was soon destroyed when I realized the person hugging me right now.
Struggling against his hold, I finally managed to free myself when he realized I was anything but comfortable in his arms.
“What the hell Hunter?”
The corners of his lips lifted up into a smirk. “So, you know my name.”
I blinked, replying my earlier encounter with him. Crap. He never told me his name! No wonder why he has that stupid smirk on his face now. He probably thought I was so interested in him, that I had to ask someone his name. Which by the way, isn’t true at all. I already knew his name before I came to this school, but of course I can’t tell him that.
“I know what you’re thinking, and I’m going to shoot down that little ego of yours, and tell you right now that it’s not true.”
“Oh yeah?” He cocked a brow. “And how else would you know my name? I know for a fact that I didn’t tell you earlier, little Kitty.”
“Would you please shut up with that nickname!” I screeched at him, causing the surrounding students to look my way. I cut my eyes at them, telling them to mind their own business before they quickly went back to their lunch.
“Why? It fits you.” He grinned, ignoring my current anger. “And nice try, but you’re not going to change the subject that easily. I mean, unless you admit I’m right, of course.” He crossed his arms smugly.
“I’m not changing the topic, you are!” I barked back, jabbing him in the chest.
“And how am I doing that, huh?”
“You’re the one who freaking came over here and just started screaming randomly.”
“Oh that.” His eyes shifted behind me. “Well it’s not my fault this weirdo was all over you!”
“Excuse me?” I bawled, cutting my eyes. “His name is Ian, and he’s my friend, so leave him alone!” I heard a gasp behind me, and suddenly, I was pulled backwards. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, as I suddenly felt his warm breath fanning my face.
“T-that’s the first time anyone has ever defended me,” he choked out, “T-thank you.”
I touched his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “That’s what friends do.”
“Uh.” I heard a growl. “I hate to break up this moment, but I don’t care if he’s your friend, he’s still a freak, and he touched you.”
I shot him a look, silencing him. “How many times do I have to tell you? He’s not a freak. Okay!” I shouted, drawing the eyes’ of our classmates once again. No wonder why the whole cafeteria suddenly just got quiet. Everyone dropped everything they were doing just to watch their ‘God’. “And plus,” I started, a bit quieter. “Why does it even matter if he does? I’m not your property.”
“But—”
“Let’s go, Ian.” I grabbed his wrist, and started pulling him away from Hunter. “Come on Megan. We’re leaving.”
“Um…okay,” Megan said meekly. I heard the rustling of food, and before I knew it, she was by my side carrying her tray and my food on hers. Even though I was just in a heated argument, I couldn’t help but laugh. Leave it to Megan to remember our food.
I vaguely heard Hunter telling me to stop before the doors to the cafeteria closed.
“Is he always like that?” I asked Ian when we were far away from Hunter and our student body.
He nodded. “Pretty much. But I tend to just ignore it.”
“Why?”
“Yeah why do you?” Megan spoke up, standing on the other side of Ian. “I mean, I see you all the time, but I never seen you talk talk.”
He shrugged. “It’s better if I just ignore the bad. I mean what’s the point of keeping that bad energy around you? I don’t know about you but I like being happy.” He winked. “And to tell you the truth, Megan.” He faced her, the smile on his face still present. “There wasn’t ever a need to. Everyone practically stayed clear of me, so I choose not to have any friends. But it gets lonely sometimes, so when I heard there was a new student, I thought, “Hey why not try to be normal for once, and befriend her?””
I chuckled, smiling at him. “And that was you being normal? Man, I can’t wait to see you on a normal day.”
“Oh, don’t worry Avery.” He grinned. “You’ll love my uniqueness.”
“I bet I will.” I giggled. Sometime tells me Ian, and I will be great friends. There’s no way he can be the killer my cousins were talking about. “So, care to join us for lunch? Well, the rest of it.” I pointed to Megan and I. “We don’t have to go back there. I’m sure we can go in the back and eat or something, right?” I turned to Megan, hoping she’ll see yes.
“There is actually. My friends and I go in the back garden to eat lunch sometimes. I’m pretty sure they're there already.”
“Great!” I cheered. “So what do you say, want to come?”
“Um . . .” he started off nervously. “Are you sure? I mean I know your circle of friends. And I’m not exactly sure if they’ll like me.”
“Nonsense!” Megan objected quickly. “I know we never made the effort to ever be friends with you before, but that was only because I thought you were just some weird kid.” Ian’s eyes dropped at this. “But!” Megan quickly said once she saw this, “I was wrong. And when they talk to you, they’ll know you’re just an unique person.”
“Thanks,” Ian said the sadness gone from his face.
“I should be saying thanks to you for not hating me,” Megan said, “Come on. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang.” She beckoned us to follow her, and I nodded my head, following along with Ian skipping happily right behind us.
***
The garden Megan brought us to was surreal. It was right behind the school, located right next to the track. Even though it was late fall, there was still a few fishes swimming around the small pond. A small Japanese statue was placed in the center of the garden, surrounded by rocks, and exotic looking plants. Even though most of the plants’ leaves were already long gone, it didn’t lose it’s beauty.
Two of Megan’s friends were sitting on ground, enjoying the peacefulness before they heard our approaching footsteps. One of them I recognized as Annemarie.
“Hey guys! I brought company!” They both looked up, hearing Megan’s voice.
“Avery!” Annemarie shouted, when she saw me.
“Annemarie!” I copied her excited tone.
“Wait.” Megan paused in front of us. “You guys already met?”
We both nodded, as I pointed between us. “We have English together.”
“Well okay, that’s one less person I have to introduce then.” Megan laughed. “Alright, so that’s Annemarie, as you already know, and this is Asher.” She pointed to a guy with bleached silver hair, and bright green eyes. He waved shyly when he saw me looking at him.
“And this is my cousin Avery, and our new friend, Ian,” Megan said pointing to us respectively. “You probably already know him.”
“Hi!” Ian chirped.
Annemarie giggled. “You’re just as happy as the rumors says.”
“Oh.” He arched a brow. “And what else have you heard about me?” Ian asked, plopping down across from them. Megan and I did the same, taking the seat next to Ian. She then gave me the sandwich I grabbed earlier. I mouthed a small thanks, taking a small bite out of the turkey sandwich.
“Just that you’re always happy and that you’re really loud, and crazy,” Annemarie spoke honestly.
He laughed. “Well, I guess that’s true. But I can be normal when I want to.”
“I see that,” she said. “You’re also surprisingly really nice.”
“Thanks!” He smiled at Annemarie. “You too!” he complimented her. “And dude,” he said facing the new guy, Asher. “Your silver hair rocks!”
Asher blushed, shying away. “T-thanks.”
“No problem dude!” Ian, said, oblivious to Asher quick liking toward him. I couldn’t help but giggle at that. But then again, who could blame Asher? Ian was pretty cute with his light blonde hair, cute smile, and his natural charm. Soon, his light pools caught mine staring at him. His grin widened when I felt the blush I knew was on my face.
Bashfully turning away, I started to nibble on my sandwich, as the rest of the group talked amongst themselves, trying to get to know one another. I was about to join in when I felt the eyes of someone burnings holes in the back of my head.
When I cranked my neck to look behind me, I saw the retreating figure of none other than Bradlee.
***
A lot of you think Annemarie and Avery are targets since their names starts with the letter 'A' but don't forget, the targets also have to have the same birthday with each other, and their birth time must be around midnight! Otherwise there would've been a lot more killings than two per month!