The Spanish class ended quickly, and I rushed out with my things. Mrs. Hopkins was eager to release us so she could Skype her husband as she has been doing for the past two days.
Putting my books and taking the ones I needed for my next class, I locked my locker and headed to the cafeteria.
Unlike the others, I didn't have to queue to get my lunch. Once, Patricia, the head lunch lady spotted me, she waved me over to the front and gave me my usual lunch. I thanked her with a smile and left for my table, leaving the remaining student body groaning in frustration.
"There she is," Melanie remarked when she saw me approaching. I looked questionably at her as I settled down and made myself comfortable.
"I was just asking about you," Layla answered my unasked question. That explained things. I smiled in appreciation and she returned it with a shy smile of her own.
"Hey Mona, didn't you and Brian attend the BlockFester's party? How come I only saw Brian?" Mel asked.
Oh no! I had totally forgotten that Melanie and Jarod were regulars at the BlockFester's party. I think we all know why Layla's name was excluded. The poor girl would faint from all the attention and people. I had to come up with a plausible lie, fast.
"Umm.....yeah..... I came down with a massive headache?" I more like asked rather than stated. Luckily for me, Melanie didn't give my excuse any more thought and so believed me. She moved to silently sip her diet coke while I beat myself up mentally for my terrible excuse.
"No way!" Jarod suddenly exclaimed, almost spilling Melanie's diet coke on her dress. I was not the only one who noticed this; hence the death glare that was following an oblivious Jarod's every movement. Before Melanie could get any ideas on how to murder Jarod, I inquired about the cause of his sudden outburst.
"We have a new transfer student, a guy, and from what I've heard, he's is smoking hot," he stated wiggling his eyebrows at us.
"Really?" Melanie asked, immediately perking up. I guess I didn't need to convince her not to kill Jarod anymore; he had saved himself. "How hot?" she pestered.
"What?" I was surprised. I was the head of the welcome committee of the school so any arrival of new students wouldn't have passed my notice.
"That's not possible. It's probably just a rumor, I would have been informed."
Right on cue, the principal's voice boomed through the cafeteria speakers. "Miss Monalisa Del Lana, Miss Monalisa Del Lana, please report to the principal's office. I repeat, Miss Monalisa Del Lana, please report to the principal's office."
"I think you are about to be informed right now," Melanie mumbled downing her drink as I packed my things and headed to the principal's office. I gave a short knock before entering. He was sitting at his usual seat, the office themed arrangement with black uncomfortable seats but I think that was the concept he was going for.
However, he wasn't alone.
At the other end of the table, sat a guy, a face I was seeing for the first time. I'm not going to lie, the guy was beautiful. His curly brown hair was trimmed short and well combed and his beautiful milky chocolate skin was glistening in the early sun.
What got me enthralled, however, was the color of his eyes. His eyes were light honey brown, lightening up with every movement and in total contrast to the darkness of his skin. As I said earlier, he was gorgeous. I was, however, sharply interrupted by the principal clearing his throat.
"Miss Del Lana, have a seat." he indicated to the seat right next to gorgeous over there. It's was no biggie; I just had to remind myself that staring at beautiful people is rude and kind of creepy. As I said before, no biggie.
"This is Mr. Blacke. As you can obviously see, he is new. Now, as the head of the welcoming committee, you have been tasked to giving our new transfer student a warm welcome to Bloomville High and a full tour of the school.
You don't have to worry about missing your classes and messing up your perfect attendance score, I have talked with your remaining lessons for the day teachers and they have agreed to mark you present.
As that is settled, head to Mrs. Bracket's office for your file and school timetable, Mr. Blacke. Have a lovely day and welcome to Bloomville High." and with that unceremoniously, rushed briefing, we were both kicked out of his office.
The first thing I heard after coming in terms with the fact that the principal was in so much hurry to kick us out, was a soft chuckle and it was coming from beside me. Confused, I turned to look at him.
"Well, you don't see that every day," he noted. Someone, please catch me, I'm swooning. His voice was the hottest thing I had ever heard from a human being's mouth. It had a velvety but rough tone, the exact kind that would make you look like me at the moment, a gaping fool.
He must have taken my humiliating sight to be as a result of confusion as he quickly clarified he was talking about the principal. When I, for some reason beyond me, refused to compose myself, he introduced himself.
"Hi, I'm Dwayne, Dwayne Blacke."
That, thank God, knocked me back into my senses. I quickly straightened my posture, falling into an easy smile, and took his outstretched arm.
"Monalisa Del Lana. You can call me Mona, everyone does." I added with a shrug. For a while, his eyebrows furrowed in thought before he looked up and smiled at me.
"Nah, I'm going to call you Lisa. You said it yourself, everyone calls you Mona, and as far as I know, I'm not everybody."
I inwardly winced at the new nickname Dwayne had given me. He used to call me Lisa. I could still hear his voice teasing me with that nickname. It reminded me of him, I hated it.
"Umm... can you not call me that? Mona is fine." I quickly interjected. Dwayne rose an eyebrow and looked at me. It was almost as if he was smoldering, I think it comes with the name. He finally broke it with an easy smile when it was getting a lot more intense than I expected, at least on my part.
"No problem...Lisa," he added the last part in a whisper only that I heard him. He whistled and began to walk ahead, leaving me behind in a boiling rage.
"Hey!" I called, running a little to catch up with his long strides. "I heard that."
"I know." was his infuriating reply.
Not more than 10 minutes and he had already begun to get on my nerves. I stopped in my strides and counted to ten in my head. I am calm, I am composed, and I will not let this new beautiful specimen get under my skin.
By the time I opened my eyes, I felt a hundred times better and was able to focus on the task at hand; making beautiful douchebag here, feel awfully welcome.
"Wait! Your file and timetable?" we had passed Mrs. Bracket's office without receiving the items the principal had told us to get.
Dwayne lifted up his right hand and in them; I saw something covered in the school's logo and all. I guess someone picked up his things earlier.
Groaning at the sudden change in my day's plan, I ran to meet up with Dwayne. Why did I apply for this post again?
=================
"And this is the locker," I said dryly, ending the forty-five minutes tour.
It was never supposed to be that long, at most, twenty minutes, but Dwayne decided to ask for a detailed history of Bloomville from Mrs. Miller, the History teacher who had a strong sense of patriotism towards this town. I knew we should have taken the other hallway.
Dwayne nodded and winked at the passing girls which led to my eye-rolling. News of a new hot guy in school traveled faster than last year's news of Mrs. Miller getting married. Why? You ask? Because our dear old Mrs. Miller is a middle-aged spinster we all thought would forever live a life of singularity.
In the course of my eyes moving all 360 degrees, I caught Brian approaching me. Sighing and straightening my posture, I turned to his direction. I guess it was time to get the show started.
I was surprised when Brian suddenly yanked me to his side and started kissing me roughly. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. I was seriously trying to convince myself not to lose control and beat the hell out of him. He only stopped when he noticed my lack of response and a very intense, if I may add, glare.
Brian seemed to have lost a few brain cells as he ignored me and turned to Dwayne, his eyes narrowed and his hands pressing me to his body tighter than ever.
"You're the new kid, right? I'm Brian, Mona's boyfriend," he declared, emphasizing on the boyfriend part. Talk about a possessive idiotic dog.
"Let go of me, Brian," I whispered, my smile now strained. Brian chose to ignore me, only squeezing me tighter and showcasing a smug smile at Dwayne.
Dwayne on the other hand was busy staring at us like he was trying to figure something out. Occasionally, his light eyes would fleet from my face to Brian's ever squeezing hand on my waist. I was getting curious as to what he was thinking.
"Yeah." He finally said. Thank God, I was starting to get uncomfortable under his intense stare. Turning on his charming smile showcasing the deep dimples I recently found out he possessed, he turned to me.
"See you later, Lisa. Thanks for the tour." and with that, Dwayne left, disappearing along with the ever-increasing crowd in the hallway. The moment he left, I grabbed Brian into an empty classroom. Making sure the door was closed; I intensified my glare at him. I was stunned when I saw he had almost the same glare on his face directed at me, but I didn't let that stop me.
"What was that?" I asked, not caring if my voice was too loud. We were alone and any passing person wouldn't hear enough to consider it as a serious fight, just usual lovers' quarrel.
Brian shot me an incredulous look before pacing round. "What was that? What was that?" he repeated his march not for once slowing down.
"You were flirting with that new guy, weren't you? You couldn't even keep it in you for long, such a whore!" he spat.
My mind was blank and before I could register what was happening, I had slapped him on his face.
"How dare you? In case you've forgotten, this isn't a real relationship and you were being such an ass. Who do you think you are? You were acting like a possessed caveman even after I clearly told you to let me go. You could have blown my cover" I snarled without a thought.
That stopped his pacing really quickly. He turned to me, his eyes livid like that of a mad man but I didn't care, if he was mad, at this moment, I was the madness dancing around his head.
"Who do I think I am? I'm your boyfriend, Mona, your f**king boyfriend."
I scoffed before laughing. I laughed so hard, my eye became watery. Thank God all my makeup products are waterproof.
"Fake boyfriend, Brian. Don't let the title get in your head. We-" I indicated to both of us "are nothing more than a big show to help with my act and your father's business. So if you know what is good for you, act the part of the perfect caring boyfriend only with an audience. Seeing you every day is more than enough for me." I sighed and made a move to get out of the classroom. Staying in there with him for long was that sickening.
Brian, however, was faster than me. He grabbed my hand effectively stopping my getaway and jerked me towards him.
"You are my girlfriend!" he spat. I rolled my eyes. This was what I liked about Brian; he gave you enough reasons to hate him every minute.
"What's your deal? I mean, you don't even like me. If your unaffectionate behavior towards me is not enough proof then sleeping around with other girls without for once thinking about how I would feel about that is." I cried in frustration.
"You are my girlfriend. You are MY girlfriend, mine and I can as well tell you when I don't want other guys coming around you," he yelled in my face.
I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head.
"Get over yourself!" I said and snatched my arm from his hand. Not looking back, I slammed the door and took a moment to get myself together.
Thankfully, no one was on that side of the hallway. I took a deep breath and fixed a smile on my face, falling back with the rest of the school's population at the main hallway.
"Yo!" a voice startled me. I whirled to see it was Jarod. The girls must be near. True enough, they appeared seconds later; Melanie on her phone and Layla timidly avoiding eye contact with the male population. He stared at me for a minute, his eyes studying my face. "What's wrong? You look a bit flustered."
At Jarod's words, Layla moved in quickly to take a look. Noticing her close proximity with my face, she quickly stepped back, the red on her cheeks spreading like a bad case of flu.
"Oh, I know why," Melanie announced before I could say anything. I could care less what she said but there was a certain amount of smugness in her tone that made me nervous. Had she heard me and Brian's fight? What was I thinking? Was she going to blow my act? I prayed with all my might that I was wrong as I waited in anticipation for whatever she wanted to say.
Melanie loved the attention she was receiving and so delayed giving a further reason to her earlier statement. Giving it a dramatic effect or suspense, she called it. More like prolonging the attention, she was receiving because everyone was awaiting her response.
"Optra saw her coming out of an empty class with Brian in tow. I think we can all figure out what happened in there."
It took a while but when they finally realized what Mel was trying to imply, it showed on their faces. Layla turned even redder than before, I wonder how, and Jarod had his mouth shaped in an 'o' position.
"Damn girl." he whistled. I smiled awkwardly at his remark. I would let them think that. It was way much better than them knowing about the fight between me and Brian.
"How did your school tour with the new guy go?" Layla asked, her pale freckled skin starting to show, now free from the clutches of the vicious blush.
At the mention of Dwayne, I involuntarily let out an annoyed groan which they all heard.
"Wow! I don't think I've ever heard you groan at the mention of anyone, not even Jasmine or Viola. Is he that bad?" Mel asked. That's not good. Melanie was right.
No matter how annoying a person was or how badly I felt like strangling them at that moment, I had never groaned or reacted exactly how I felt towards them. I was always with a smile, everything came with a smile, and it now felt automatic. Something I could switch on or off. Dwayne was already making a dent on my armor. I hated it. Quickly smiling, I replied Melanie.
"His name is Dwayne Blacke and he is going to share almost every class with us so get prepared. He is...annoying." I concluded.
"Well, I can't wait to meet him" Layla stated and I looked at her in surprise. Whatever.
"Yeah, me too. Hey Mona? How about we hang out at your house today. It's Friday." Jarod suggested putting his arm around my shoulder.
"Oh! I don't think that's possible Jarod. Mother's hosting her club meeting at home and she wants me there." I lied. Jarod and Layla pouted while Mel just peered at me
"Come to think of it, we have never been to your house. We don't even know your home address." Melanie observed. She wasn't lying. For the past four years, I had been friends with them, they had never seen even the gates, not to talk of my actual house. I couldn't let them.
Putting up a pretense in school and anywhere else is one thing but putting up that front in my house, it was different. It was personal. I'm wasn't worried about mother being all drunken and abusive or father showing up with a new week conquest like he'd show up at all. In fact, I was sure mother would play the role of caring and loving mother very perfectly.
I wouldn't be able to take them up to my room. Why? My room was basically a reflection of what I felt inside, empty. It was filled to the brim with the latest models of furniture and clothing, but all those vanities still couldn't provide the room a warm feeling.
The feeling that a person slept there, and not a corpse. There was not a single picture of me or any of my interests like other teenage girl rooms hanged on my wall. They were bare, cold, and empty. For a girl with everything in life, wouldn't that just be a f**king irony?
I shrugged, not really feeling like answering her. Melanie might not act it, but the girl was actually observant. I bade them goodbye and walked to my car, driving away from school.
Not feeling like heading home and facing mother, I turned the car to an old road I hadn't used in a long time. It was one of the shady parts of Bloomville town. Driving through the rough road brought back memories I wasn't sure I wanted to revive.
Ten minutes later, I stopped at my destination. It was an old apartment complex that had certainly seen much better days. I packed the car near the garbage dump by the side of the complex and shut the engine, reaching under the car seat to grab a car cover. It was dark green, blending well with the garbage tank.
Taking all my valuables, I made way to the complex. On getting inside, I wasn't surprised by the sight and smell that greeted me.
The whole place smelt of weed and vomit, the owners of the latter still in their blissful high. I ignored them and climbed the staircase to the apartment number I was looking for. I finally found it, room 05.
Not giving myself room for hesitation, I knocked on the door repeatedly till it was opened forcefully.
"What?" the occupant of the room spat. I did a once over at the person glaring at me. She was wearing a black tank top and black ripped trousers. She still had her left nose piercing and her tattoo on her right shoulder seemed permanent now. It was a detailed drawing of a willow tree with blood dripping from its branches instead of leaves.
Her hair was now dyed in a foggy white and roughly reaching her chin. The last time I had seen her, it was dyed bubblegum pink and much shorter than now. Her gothic-themed makeup was still the same; sharply drawn eyeliner and 'soul dark' as she once called it, black lip-gloss. She reeked of pain, anger, and cigarettes.
Willow, a sweet girl who looked like she should be filled with all sunshine, sugar, rainbows, and everything nice was thrown into a very harsh reality from a young age making her the woman she is today, a meticulous drug dealer. I guess that's what Ezra liked about her. She was a survivor.
"Hey Will." I waved hesitantly. A look of recognition crossed her face before it hardened once more. She started to close the door, but I was quick to hold on to it. Willow glared at me, her grey eyes seeming to take on the sharpness of her eyeliner.
"I want to buy some." I cried, pushing my weight on holding the door. She narrowed her eyes at me and spat.
"No!"
With a strength I didn't think she was capable of, she slammed the door at my face. It took a while for me to realize what happened, but once I did, I continued my pleadings. "Please. I need it!" I cried once more, banging on the door.
"Go away, kid. I'm not going to be the one to ruin your life. One is already a big number." I heard her shout from inside. Knowing Willow to an extent, I knew she wasn't going to listen to me and so I sighed.
If she wasn't going to help me, then I would just have to find another person and from where I was standing, there were so many others willing.