River woke up on the couch with her mother gently shacking her.
"River you need to get ready for school." River groaned but lifted herself from the couch and headed for the bathroom. She took a quick 5 minute shower shutting the water off when she didn't need it.
Don't waste anything was her mother's motto. When she was done she quickly dried herself with a scratchy towel and got dressed.
She picked a faded and ripped at both knees jeans because it was all that was clean she would have to go to the dry cleaners today. She also put on a too small black tank top that showed off her stomach. River didn't want to wear this but it was all she had.
River didn't remember the last time she had gone shopping for clothes. She went to put on her tiny jacket and realized the shoulder was ripped open.
She groaned and dropped it. Guess she was going without.
Today was going to be cold even if she made sure the sun was out. She grabbed her patched up backpack and grabbed the homework she had barely done. It would be enough to get her a C and that was okay with River.
River wasn't super smart but she was smart enough she kept her over all grades at B's and A's. River pulled on her boots. It was her mom's gift for River's 18th birthday last month. The boots were everything River could have asked for. They were shitkickers to the extreme with steel toes and everything. When she had asked her mom why, she had said any woman without shitkickers in her closet wasn't a real woman at all.
It had been a touching moment and River adored her boots even if she had to carry her dirty tennis shoes in her backpack for gym class.
When River got down the stairs her mother was waiting for her.
Mom?" River asked cautiously. Her mother had her arms behind her back and was swaying front to back a little. River automatically went on guard. Her mother had done something.
"I got you something." she said River gasped.
"Mom you know we don't have the money." She said and walked up to her.
"Well its a necessity." she said and River sighed.
"What is it mom?" River asked. She pulled an old box from behind her back.
River opened it carefully and when she saw the nice clean black material in the box she gasped. River pulled out the oversized hoodie. "Mom?" She asked weakly.
"Your jacket got ripped and it was too small anyway." she said and pulled it out of River's hands. It was simple it zipped up in the front and had a huge hood that would hang over the forehead covering the eyes maybe more just as River loved. There were decent enough pockets and it was made with simple black material no fancy designs that could catch unwanted attention.
"Ohh Mom!" she felt tears prick her eyes and she threw her arms around her.
"I love you River." she said giving River a tight squeeze before letting her go. "Now you need to hurry or you will be late."
"Love you too mom!" River yelled as she ran out the door pulling on the amazing hoodie as she went. River grabbed her rusty bike and chain lock.
She didn't have a helmet that would be unnecessary money to spend. Even a two dollar helmet could buy her lunch at school instead of something that would just catch her brains if she crashed.
River pedaled hard when she reached the damn steep hill she had to go up every morning. It was torture but it was so fun to ride down in the afternoon.
When River cleared the hill she rode her bike down a short cut she always took but this time River nearly choked.
It was the same ally she had gone down the night before. The one River had almost been gang banged in.
River gagged on the vomit that came up her throat and she parked her bike and dry heaved.
River hadn't eaten since yesterday morning which was normal but still not fun to barf up.
When she was done and her throat ached but she got back on her bike anyway. By the time she got to school the bell had ready rung.
River tied her hair in a bun at the base of her skull and flipped the hood up to cover her face.
River hurried to lock her bike up and ran inside. She put her stuff on the counter as the security guard waved her through the metal detector.
He never really checked the bags. If you put something at the bottom under gym clothes he would never know, which is what River had done with her gun.
When the security guard gave her back her bag she thanked him and rushed down the hall to her class. She entered her class with her head low letting the hood cover her face and slipped to the back of corner of the room where her assigned seat was.
"Miss McKaren thank you for finally showing up." Mr. Apollo her teacher said. She nodded and pulled out her ratty binder she had since 6th grade. "Do the drill and then pull out your homework."
River nodded and did as she was asked. He passed her homework forward and nearly froze when she glanced across the classroom and remembered that Darius was in her class most of them actually.
He hadn't seen her but River still slumped in her seat and quickly did her drill. The teacher collected them then started class.
"Now that everyone is here," he pointy looked at River; she ducked her head more when everyone turned to look at her, even Darius.
When the teacher started to speak again Darius didn't look away as the rest of the class did. He kept his dark gaze on her even from across the classroom with a confused look on his handsome face.
River hid her head so he couldn't see her.
"Today is going to be simple your all going to write a plan for a timeline on Civil War then team up with a partner to make a large colorful one, next class." Everyone groan or at least most. The nerds grinned and River just hid, staying quiet.
She hated group work, she didn't have any friends at all and she liked it that way. So when partner work came she usually worked by herself.
River pulled out a piece of scratch paper and drew out a simple time line and was done in minutes as the rest of the class was. They still had half an hour of class left which left River to doing nothing.
River put her elbow on her desk and her chin on her elbow and started out the window getting lost in thought.
It wasn't long before someone was pocking her arm. She glanced at short nerdy boy. He was adorable in a way with his baby blues and his bright flame orange hair.
"Will you be my partner for next class?" he asked timidly and River sighed. She didn't want to be mean to the poor kid.
"Sure--" she was cut off by a deep rusty voice.
"No she can't." River looked up and up and up. And when she finally met melted chocolate brown eyes she squeaked and ducked her head again.
"W-why?" asked the ginger next to her.
"Because she is my partner," He granted and Ricer gasped in surprise but didn't look up. "Now buzz of Ginger." he snapped and the kid took off.
A lead weight settled in River's stomach when she realized she was left alone with Darius. River kept silent as he sat next to her.
She heard the squeak of the chair as it accepted his muscular body. It wasn't a surprise he weighed so much. With all those muscles and the fact the muscles weighed more than fat.
Heat flooded River's body with the thought of all Darius' muscles. She's had a sudden thought of his dark skin rubbing her pale skin, their bodies rubbing together perfectly. His dark muscular body holding her down as he settled his heavy weight on her and it wasn't unpleasant, it was good.
River jerked when her hood was pulled off roughly. She gasped and yanked it on as her cheeks flooded with color.
"What are you doing?" she snapped. River looked him dead in the eye to pissed off to remember she didn't want him knowing who she was.
"You’re the girl I saved last night aren't you?" he said. His words were clipped but not in an angry way but in an I-want-my-answer-now way. River thought about lying and she knew she could get away with it if she really wanted to but decided against it. She really needed to thank him.
"Yeah." She said softly. She looked into his gentle eyes. "I'm Jane." River smiled a little as the sarcasm slipped out.
"So I was right on your name." River let out a little laugh but cut it off fast. She didn't want him thinking she was flirting with him.
"Not even close." she said and he smiled, his plush lips pulling away from his extremely white teeth showing them off. Maybe it was his dark skin that made then so white but River ducked her head and didn't smile back.
Her teeth weren't bad but not good either. They were straight enough and whitish... in other words not as white as his.
"Then what is your name?" he asked pulling at her hood again. River smacked his hand away and he chuckled a deep throaty sound.
River shivered, blushing. She had looked up at his chocolate eyes again before she realized she was looking. She ducked her head.
"Well it defiantly not Jane." she said.
"Jane's not a bad name." he said and she smiled under her hood.
"True but it's not mine." she said trying not to laugh.
"Which is?" he asked again.
"Oh you want to know my name?" she asked. River was flirting even if she didn't mean to or really want to.
"It would be nice." he said laughing. I looked up at him. "I'm Darius Zane." he said with a smile and River's smile died.
"I know."
"You do?" he said
"You're not exactly unknown." She said and the bell rang. River put her stuff away. "And we've been in the same classes for the past 10 years." she said calmly.
"Oh I didn't know." she shrugged as if it meant nothing but it did sting... a little. She got up and left. She didn't realize for some time that he was following her. She jerked away when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She knew it was Darius from the heat and massive size of his hand. She whipped around her hood falling.
"What the hell are you doing?" She snapped at him.