"She's from a criminal family, dude!" Sage whisper yelled, his textbook laying open on the table where we sat in the library. "Can't you tell? That rough appearance, that tough personality. Her dad is probably lifting weights on a prison yard right now!"
I sighed in annoyance. "No dude, she's not from a criminal family, and her dad lives with her at home. She's just not used to all of this yet, and she's taking it in."
Kai smirked. "Aren't you the psychiatric professional today?"
"I'm just saying that it's not easy being the new kid." I put my head back down and focused more on the open book. We had a test in trig at the end of the week, so we have to soak in as much as possible.
Sage continued. "How do you explain those scars? She has to have been-"
"Fights." A rough voice answered from behind me. I felt two hands on my shoulders and knew that instant who it was. "Battle scars, I like to call em."
Sage's eyes flew wide open, as if he weren't expecting her to overhear. "I-uh..." was all he could get out.
She laughed and came to my side. She took off her leather jacket, revealing the tank top she was wearing underneath, her tan skin almost so perfect. Almost.
Her arms had scars of cuts, holes and other deformed areas that looked sort of like burns. She pointed at each one.
"This cut is where this one guy pulled a knife on me." She pointed towards the hole and laughed. "This one is where she had her dog attack me."
Sage wasn't sure what to say or do. He just stared in pure awe, as if he weren't expecting her to be so cool with telling us about the scars. I won't lie, I really was shocked myself. I was even more shocked that she had survived being this tough. Especially with the other scars she had and the stories behind them.
She put her jacket on the table and cocked her head left, then right, until we heard the pops that made even Kai cringe in discomfort. She noticed our reactions and laughed a little. "Wimps." She said.
"Excuse me." The old lady, Mrs. Bradford, the librarian, came up behind her, her short body having her stare up to Tera. "I know you're new here, but it's not very polite to talk nor strip in the library. Please take a seat or leave."
Tera's smile faded into a small but evil grin. "Yes ma'am. As you wish." She picked up her jacket and slid it on, then came up beside me where there was an empty seat. Terry hadn't come to school today, so I thought she'd take the seat. That was until Tera noticed Mrs. Bradford still staring a hole through her.
Tera chuckled a final laugh, and in a whisper. "As you wish." Flop. I was truly and utterly not sure what to do, because I hadn't ever had this happen before. She was sitting in my lap. What was she thinking? Was she out of her mind or just wanted to spite Mrs. Bradford and get in trouble? She turned with that same smile and leaned further back. "Oh come on, my love, wrap your arms around me like you always do." She grabbed my arms and wrapped them around her waist. I felt the hard stomach that she kept that probably was from exercise.
Mrs. Bradford's eyes were wide and angry. "How dare you!" She said in that old English accent she had kept. "Go straight to the principle's office, now!" She demanded in a semi-loud voice.
Tera shrugged and stood up. She stood and waited for Mrs. Bradford. But Mrs. Bradford had something else in mind. "BOTH of you." She glared down at me.
I felt my eyes widen and I stood abruptly with confusion. "What?!" I almost yelled out. "Are you serious?"
"Now!" She demanded once more, sending us both out through the door without so much as even allowing us to grab our bags.
.........
We made our way through the hall silently, me feeling unhappy while she, well, I didn't know what she was feeling. She kept a normal face, but I could see in her yellow eyes that she was entertained.
"Why would you do that?" I asked, finally breaking the silence. "I never get in trouble here."
She smiled and shook her head. "I didn't know she'd get you too ya goody two shoes." She responded. "Besides," she looked at me with hunger. "I think you look cool with me on top of you." She winked, and I felt my face heat up and blush. She laughed a little before we finally reached the front office door.
I opened it and held it open for her. She put a hand on my face. "What a gentleman." She whispered in a seductive tone, enough to almost hypnotize me. She's going too far with the teasing! I thought.
The attendance lady was sitting at her computer, typing away. She looked up and adjusted her glasses. "Ah, you must be here for the trouble in the library." She said, then she looked at me and looked surprised. "Mr. Carson, I'm surprised to see you here." I looked down, not meeting her eyes. She looked over at Tera. "You must be the new young lady. Might I say you're lovely." The most beautiful I'd ever met I thought. "Well, the principle is waiting for you. Off you go." She dismissed us, pointing at the door beside her desk. The sign above read Principle Harris.
Tera was the first one to open the door, and I trailed behind her. She seemed to not have any fear of getting in trouble. I shut the door softly and faced a desk that had Principle Harris's name engraved in the wood.
Principle Harris sat at his desk in the black rolling chair he always spun in. He was always a very bored person. He always socialized though, unlike a lot of other principles at schools. He actually listened to most of his students and staff. If Cassidy wasn't the most encouraging person here, it certainly was Principle Harris.
He stopped spinning in his chair and set his eyes on us, and grinned. "Ah, it's nice to see you again, Miss Colter." He must've met her when she first changed to this school. "I see you're already in trouble." He looked over at me and his smile faded a little. "A little disappointed to see you here though, James. Mr. Cassidy always brags about you. You never got in trouble here any time of these past three years." Principle Harris was transferred here during our freshman year from Pennsylvania. He's never had any problems with me.
I hung my head down. I was disappointed too. I always tried to stay out of trouble. But I guess trouble found me this time. Literally. "Actually, he didn't do anything." I turned towards Tera. "Lady told me to stop 'stripping' when clearly I just took my jacket off for a sec. She told me to have a seat and I got a little annoyed that she was thinking that wearing this," she took her jacket off and revealed her tank top again. "is considered to mean I'm a stripper. I got offended and I decided to strike a nerve and sit on his lap and wrap his arms around me before he had time to protest."
Principle Harris sat with his hands supporting his head and listened very carefully. Finally he came to a decision and a smile. "Look, I'll be honest with you, tank tops are against dress code. I'll take her side on that. But I don't consider it being 'stripper clothing', because trust me, I know what strippers wear." Tera laughed and I couldn't help but crack a smile. "However, I also can't have you disrespecting a staff member of mine. I want all of my students and staff members to get along with each other. I'll have a talk with her on how she could've handled the situation better. So, no more tank tops or clothing that reveal too much than the dress code allows." He stood up and walked around his desk to open the door. "Now, off to class, both of you. I'll cut you some slack Miss Colter." We walked out, passing him. "Oh, and it's against policy to allow PDA. You two keep it out of the school." He smiled. "Or keep it better hidden." We're not together! I thought. He winked and shut his door.
We walked back towards class in silence. I looked over at her from time to time, expecting to see her with no worry and a normal, careless expression. But she didn't meet my gaze, instead just staring silently in thought, which kind of made me curious and nervous.
My next class was on the way, so I had to stop at the door and hadn't knocked yet before Tera stopped too, not turning to look at me.
"I fucked up." She said staring down the empty hallway. It smelled of cleaner that the janitor used on the floors. It smelled like lemon. "I only meant to have fun, but not get you in trouble. I'm sorry about that."
My heart started slowing. I hadn't known someone to sound so sincere. Hell I barely had anyone ever apologize to me like this. But hearing it from her, from her lips, it melted me. I had a sudden urge to put an arm over her shoulder and tell her it's alright, and that there was no need to apologize.
She laughed a meaningless laugh. "You should stay away from me. I'll only get you in trouble." She started walking again, still not looking at me.
I took a step forward, not knowing why. "What if I don't want to stay away?" I asked.
She stopped. "What?" I heard her mumble.
"You heard me." I told her. Her saying I should stay away kind of angered me, considering not many people stayed for me. "I want you to stay."
She turned, allowing me to see her cheek and her eye looking down. "Why should I?"
"Because we've..." I couldn't find what to say. I didn't have a reason. I just wanted her to stay, but couldn't find a way to tell her. I know it's only been a few days, but I feel as if I can't get through the rest of everything without her.
She turned fully, finally meeting my eyes with her yellow ones. It was like a trance being like this. In her presence, in her eyes. She took a slow step towards me. "You're making a mistake."
I took a step towards her. "It'll be a mistake I'll be willing to make." We stared for a few more seconds, which felt like hours, before I finally broke the silence. "We should get to our classes."
She smiled and sighed. "Ughhh you're such a nerd." She said, punching me in the shoulder.
I laughed a little. "We need all the education we can get."
She turned back towards the empty hallway. "I'm already regretting this." She said in a sassy, sarcastic tone.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Go to class, Terror Colter."
She turned with the intensity of an animal. "Oh trust me Sweetie, I'm only a terror if you make me into one. For instance, I'm very territorial over what's mine. And when someone takes what's mine, aka, the ones I claim, then I turn VERY much into a terror." She licked her lips. "I already have a claim." She winked and turned back to walk.
My cheeks heated up. I wasn't sure what she meant by 'claim' but I for some reason didn't mind it. It made me feel honored and made my heart race. I knocked on the locked door and entered to try to get my mind off of this whole thing and back on track.
But that was pretty difficult. Only thing that was on my mind was her.