The sun was still burning bright outside when Chelsea's free period was over. The students were allowed to spend their time how they wanted after classes -- hang out in the rec hall, attend extracurriculars -- as long as they stayed on school grounds. After the frustrating encounter with mystery girl, Chelsea decided to grab her board and skate around to clear her head.
She changed out of her uniform into her usual t-shirt and ripped jeans before heading back out. Of course, Carlie was still nowhere to be found, so that meant Manny and Stephanie were either hanging out with her, or doing their own thing. She was starting to feel left out.
There was a winding path right outside her dorm building that wiggled and curved all the way back around the school grounds in one big circle, hitting all of the main buildings on the way. She decided to take the long way around the school; she plugged in her earbuds and started rolling.
She kept her head down and out of other students' directions as much as she could. The point of going on this ride was to clock out and forget the stress of school, so she didn't feel like giving anyone her attention and mistaking it as an invitation to talk.
She was rounding the library when she saw a flash from the corner of her eye. She stopped and turned, taking an earbud out of one ear.
Carlie was standing before the front doors, one of the doors slowly closing behind her. She was fiddling with one of the buttons on her shirt, trying to balance the books in her arms while doing so. She moved the wrong way and all of her books fell to the ground, and she made an exasperated face as she bent down to retrieve them.
As much as Chelsea wanted her solitude, she'd already stopped and was watching. She figured she might as well help, and maybe get an answer as to where the hell she's been the whole week.
"Chelsea?" asked Carlie, surprised, like she would never expect her to be walking around campus.
"Yeah? I was skating by and saw you drop your stuff." Chelsea handed one of the books to her.
Suddenly, her face blanched, her black eyeliner in contrast with her pale skin. "You walked by just now?"
"Yeah... what's up? Why are you at the library?"
"Nothing... nothing. I was getting lessons from Mr. Rowley."
Chelsea looked down the path; ahead of them, walking towards the admin building, was Mr. Rowley, one of the Economics teachers. He was one of the younger teachers at the school; Carlie had told her he was a TA just last year, but managed to land a position at the academy right away. It also might have helped that he was eye candy to the girls here -- and to some of the other teachers, too.
"Don't tell the girls I was getting lessons, though," she said dismissively. She'd sounded paranoid, but her tone lifted. "I'd never hear the end of it. They'd make fun of me for being stupid. I'm having a panic attack right now just thinking about it." She fanned herself in a mocking way, and Chelsea noticed the sweat building on her forehead and shaky hands.
"I won't tell them, but are you feeling alright? You look like you're about to vom."
"I think it was something I ate earlier, really tearing up my stomach. Anyway." Carlie derailed the train of thought, reaching into her shirt and pulling out a carton of cigarettes. She handed about three or four to Chelsea. "I meant to give you a couple. I had some extras."
Distantly, Chelsea took them. Since when do people hand out free cigs? "Thanks, I guess."
Carlie smiled. "Cool." Then turned, walking up the path in the same direction Mr. Rowley took. "For real, though, don't tell the girls. See ya later!"
Confused, Chelsea stood in her spot, watching Carlie walk away to wherever she was heading next. It didn't seem like a big deal getting help from a teacher, but she remembered Manny was in the equation, and it suddenly made sense.
She made her way, cigs hidden in her hand, to the cafeteria, hoping nobody would be up in the belltower. Getting in and to the supply closet was easy enough -- it was almost dinnertime -- but all hope deflated when she opened the closet and reached for the hatch rope, and realized it was locked. There was a latch on the trapdoor that kept it in place, not that Chelsea could even try to unlatch it. The only ladder in the closet was the one leading to the belltower, not even a step stool was nearby to help her reach the latch.
Of course... only with my luck.
She stomped her way back downstairs, outside and on her board, trying to scout a good place to sit and smoke. She ended up at her dorm building again, and -- without a better place for secrecy and seclusion -- rounded around to the side of the dorms.
Next to the dorms was a large cedarwood tree, blocking the back from the rest of the academy -- including the security cameras -- and with branches that wandered over the edge of the fence separating the school from the woods. Carlie had told her that was an easy method of sneaking off campus; just climb a couple branches and flip yourself onto the other side.
Sitting behind the dorms was like sitting in a vacuum -- the noise and chatter in the courtyard was distant, almost a whisper when the wind whipped through the tree and raddled the branches. There was enough shade to cool the grass; a shiver ran up Chelsea's spine as she leaned against the bark of the tree, taking her time sucking down her cigarette.
Chelsea suddenly noticed someone approaching her. She quickly snuffed the cigarette in the grass and sat up, heart pounding in her chest. The person got closer, and she realized it was Paige, the girl that gave her number earlier. She was out of her uniform, now in shorts and a crop top.
"Hey, Chelsea," said Paige as she walked closer, a friendly grin on her face. Chelsea was still sitting against the back of the building, and she joined, sitting cross-legged next to Chelsea.
"Hey," Chelsea greeted. She was hoping for some alone time, to clear her head and decompress, but she guessed that wasn't happening now. "What's up?"
She shrugged. "Nothing much. Just thought I would stop by, see why you haven't texted me yet."
All of a sudden the piece of paper she left on her desk was heavy in her lap, like it was still in her pocket. She'd completely forgotten about it after her second run-in with mystery girl.
"Oh, sorry. I really wanted to go skate and forgot all about it."
Paige smirked. "Oh, I see how it is. You got time for Boston but not me."
"Well, yeah, I was helping her out. She's my roommate."
"That's all?"
"Are you flirting with me?" Chelsea came out and asked. She was wondering the whole time, since they had talked for the first time this morning, if she was flirting. At first it was harmless, but now she was getting on Chelsea's nerves. If she had more confidence and was completely out of the closet, she would have flat-out said no in History class.
Paige didn't take the hint. The smirk grew into something more daring, more promiscuous. "You can interpret it however you want." Her eyes darted to the cigarette on the ground. "Can I take a hit?"
Chelsea handed it to her. "You can just take it, I was about to put it away anyway."
Paige rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly; all you did was snuff it, not crush it. I'll give it back in a sec."
She took out a lighter from her own pocket and lit it back up. Chelsea watched as she took a big breath, and let out a cloud dense enough that she couldn't see her face for a moment. She took one more hit, then handed it back to Chelsea.
"How did you find me?" asked Chelsea. It wasn't like she could be seen from the front of the dorm building; that was the whole point of smoking there was to be out of sight.
"It wasn't really find more than I saw you wander back here and wanted to say "hi.""
Sure, that's what it was. "Well, now we're sharing a cig. What did you want to text about?"
"Just to get to know you. I haven't seen your face before." She motioned for Chelsea to hand the cigarette back; she did, but she doubted that was the real reason why she wanted to talk. There were a lot of girls like her back at her old school. She was just humoring Paige at this point. "Do you know how to shotgun?"
"Like, with a cigarette?"
Paige nodded.
Chelsea shook her head. "I know how, I don't like it much, though."
Paige gave another wicked grin. "Let me see if I can change that."
She sucked down a big, burning portion of the cigarette and faced Chelsea, scooting closer to her, then she wrapped her legs in her lap, straddling Chelsea against the wall where she was leaning. She closed the distance by circling her arms around Chelsea's neck, their lips gently touching, the touch of a butterfly, as Paige blew the smoke into Chelsea's mouth. She was very aware that their parts were aligned with another -- their lips, their eyes, their chests.
She would have most likely said "no," again, if Paige actually asked for permission, but now that Chelsea was in this position, she didn't have time to reject her. It wasn't the worst thing she could have done; it was annoying more than anything.
Oh, well. Fuck it.
She moved forward slightly, just enough to apply the smallest amount of pressure to Paige's lips, trying to tell her, "go ahead and kiss me." She picked up on the signal, and soon they were caught in a heavy makeout session in the back of the dorm building.
She was really good at kissing.
So good, that Chelsea forgot that Paige was annoying and totally indulged in the moment. She had a firm grasp on her thighs, massaging them and squeezing her hips, then moving to her butt and giving that some tough love. Paige's arms stayed around Chelsea's shoulders, but she was starting to grind and it felt... really good.
It'd been a minute since Chelsea had a good, relaxed time with another girl -- multiple weeks, possibly months, before she was shipped to the academy. She was probably more pent up than she realized once Pagie's hopped on her lap.
Things were escalating, and while Chelsea was seriously considering inviting Paige to her bedroom, there was shouting in their direction, and they broke free, heavily breathing.
Running at them was a security officer, and he did not look entertained. He stomped his way over as Paige began standing up. Chelsea was getting up, too, when Paige pushed her down gently: don't get up.
"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded. The wrinkles on his forehead stood out from all his frowning.
Paige shrugged. "Just having some fun. We got our homework done already."
His eyes stabbed into Paige's. "Don't get snarky with me, Jackovich."
He knows her by last name? Chelsea glanced up at Paige as she argued with the guard.
The security officer whipped his head to Chelsea, pointing accusingly at Paige. "What's your name? Do you know her?"
"Uh," stammered Chelsea. "My name's Chelsea. And --"
"She doesn't know me, not really." Paige disclosed. "You know how I am. I just jumped on her."
The officer stared at Chelsea for another minute before rearing back to Paige. "Come with me." He started walking off without checking to see that she was following.
Chelsea -- unmoved, still on the ground -- finally stood up, and was about to speak when Paige spoke.
"Just owe me one," she said with a smile, and with a wink, she walked off with the guard, and with the rest of Chelsea's cigarette in her hand.
./.
Thanks for all the reads. :)