“Life?”
“Er, yeah, I meant…in the context of getting from A to B.” He rubbed a hand across his mouth. “That was kind of awkward, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, yeah.” I let the laughter out with a breath. He had foot-in-mouth-disease almost as bad as me. “You know, Emily warned me about you.”
“She did?” He turned and looked forward as we started walking, his natural cool spreading calm out over my awkwardness.
I hugged my books tightly to my chest to stop from flinging my arms around his waist. “Yeah, she said you had a tendency to snatch up lost lambs.”
“Did she tell you why she thought that?” He stopped then, and took my math book from me, tucking it under his arm—beside his books.
I watched it for a second. “Not really. I came to my own conclusions, though.”
“And what might they be?”
“Well, it’s not the lost lamb thing you’re into. It’s fresh meat.”
“Fresh meat?” He laughed, looking away.
“Yeah. You know? A new toy—something different to play with than all the old ones.”
David stayed quiet for a moment, and I watched the other students file past us in a hurry. “You don’t think of me like that, do you? That I am only talking to you because I want something more interesting to play with?”
I shook my head. “I did. But, I actually think you might be a very genuinely nice guy.” I tried not to let the surprise seep out in my tone; it did anyway. “I mean, I’ve never had a guy carry my books.”
We both looked at the books.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever carried a girl’s books. Not at this school, anyway.”
“Oh, you didn’t grow up here?”
He swallowed. “No.”
“Are you new, too?”
He turned and started walking. “No.”
Hm, king of elaboration. “Have you...been here long?”
“No.”
I ran my tongue along the ridges of my back tooth. “Longer than a year—less than a year?”
“About two years. Almost.”
“And, um...so, you don’t really talk to many of the girls?”
“No.”
“Because you don't really like them.”
“Correct.”
“Why?” We came to a stop, and David scratched his ear as I leaned on the wall. “Tell me why?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?”
“Because you evade so many answers.”
His lip tugged on one corner, his eyes smiling. “Yes, I suppose I do.”
“So...” I twirled my hair around my finger, vaguely noticing a few girls giggle as they rushed in through the door beside us. “Are you going to tell me why don’t you like the girls here?”
“Guess I’ve just never really been interested in any of them, until—”
I smiled at the way he smiled. “Until what?”
He stepped into me, showing no respect for my territorial bubble; the length of his entire body hovered barely a centimetre away from mine, forcing my gaze to roll upward just to meet his lovely green eyes. “Until today.”
My mouth opened, but only a soft breath came from the very back of my throat, stopping on the sweet scent of his vibrant, chocolaty cologne. All I could do was squeak.
David nodded to the door beside us. “Did you need to go?”
Go? I forced myself to look right.
“The bathroom,” he added.
“Ur, yes, I kinda did.” Oh, God, awkward meter off the Richter scale.
“I’ll mind your bag.”
“Okay, I’ll just be a sec.” I passed it to David, then pushed the door open to a nose-burning bleach smell, mingling with other rancid scents in the heat of the only non-air-conditioned room in this school. And as the door shut quietly behind me, a voice rose above the putrid smell with familiar content.
“The girl in the yellow dress?” it said.
I stopped dead, remaining in the concealment of the dividing wall.
“Yeah, the new girl,” another replied.
I cringed; this was that moment where you decide to either walk in there and act like you didn’t hear, or stop and listen, hoping they wouldn't discover you. I should’ve read up on this in the How to be a New Student Without Looking Like an Idiot guide.
“What’d you think of her?” she continued.
“Well, she’s pretty, I guess.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I mean, did you see how blue her eyes are? Like, so wasted on her face, hey?”
Ouch.
“Yeah, totally. You want some?” the other girl said.
“What scent is it?”
“Sunlight Breeze.”
“Yeah.” A long hiss of a spray can sounded before the sharp, choking fumes of deodorant filled the tiny bathroom. I covered my mouth, silently coughing into my hand.
“And did you hear? She’s already got her claws into David Knight?”
My heart jumped to alert. Claws?
“Yep. Typical. He doesn’t like her, I heard. He’s just interested in her because she’s wearing a dress and it’s, like, easy access.”
My eyes all but jumped out of my head, but as soon as the echo of her voice retreated, I felt my heart break a little.
“That must be it, I mean, come on. He’s way out of her league.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what she thinks he wants with her. Did you see her outside just now?”
“Yeah, oh my God!” The other laughed. “She has so never had a boyfriend before.”
“Yeah. Probably still a virgin.”
I swallowed, becoming a little smaller.
“Mm. I give it a week before he loses interest.”
“A week? That’s generous. Maria said the girl has, like, scars on her face.”
My breath froze halfway through a gasp, the walls closing in around me.
“True? No way? That’s so gross. I wonder if he’s noticed them.”
“How can he not? Apparently they’re—” A face appeared right in front of mine and everyone took a breath.
While I stood frozen in humiliated stillness, a blonde girl just looked me over—focusing on my scars, then threw her hair back and opened the door, dragging a dark-haired girl behind her. I hid myself in the corner as bright light from the corridor filled the room, disappearing with their sudden high-pitched cackles.
A layer of my soul slowly peeled away like an unfurling blossom, petal by petal. I blinked the tears free, unable to move or think or breathe, focusing only on the impression of my nails digging into my palms.