“I’m going to be late if I don’t go. I fed him an hour ago, and he has on a clean diaper. He is asleep in my room.” I stopped there and forced myself not to give her any directions on taking care of her child.
She yawned and stretched. “All right, thanks, Sadie. I know I have needed you a lot lately. I just can’t seem to get it together.” She sounded almost wounded.
I nodded and left her there. I didn’t know what to say to her, because what I wanted to say was “Grow up! You have a baby!” and I knew I couldn’t, so I just left.
My bike ride to school was short, and I was there and in the building in plenty of time to find my new locker and my first period class. People watched me, and a few whispered, but I ignored them and focused on my task at hand. I received a top locker this year in the middle of the hall. Apparently, the seniors were given the better locker location.
“Hey stranger,” a familiar voice said behind me, and I turned to see Amanda.
I hadn’t spent much time with her because she didn’t hang out with her brother and his friends. “Hey Amanda, how are you?”
She smiled and shrugged. “Great! Finally a senior!”
I smiled and wished I cared. “Yep, finally seniors,” I said, feigning excitement.
Her eyes seemed sympathetic. “I’m sorry about everything that happened and all. Marcus told me some of it before he left because he wants me to watch out for you and call him if you need him.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her words. “Your brother is a very good friend whom I do not deserve,” I admitted and turned to put the rest of my books in my locker before I ran late for class.
She chuckled. “Yeah, well, that would be because he wishes you cared about him like you do Jax Stone.” She froze and bit her lip when she saw me wince. “I’m so sorry, I... Marcus told me not to talk about Jax….”
I shook my head. “No, that’s fine. People are going to talk about him, and I am going to learn to deal with it.”
She nodded, but she didn’t seem too sure. “Well, I had better get to class. I’ll see you around later, maybe. We might have some classes together.”
I smiled and nodded. “That would be nice.”
She grinned and turned to walk away, but stopped and looked back at me. “I, well, is um...okay I don’t know if this is off limits to talk about, but is ‘Don’t Cry’ about you?”
My throat tightened as I remembered the song I had listened to countless times, curled into a ball as I let the memories wash over me. Lately, I had stopped listening to it because it put me in a mood I could hardly escape. Sam needed me, and I couldn’t do that to him. I wanted to believe the song was for me but I didn’t know for sure. I knew the chords I had heard him working on them when we were together. But I wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with me.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”
She gave a sad sigh and walked away. I took a moment to compose myself as the words filled my head. I had to get a grip and get to class. After several deep breaths, I turned and went to room 223. I started my day off this year with trigonometry. How exciting.
After two classes of people asking me questions about Jax that I didn’t want to answer, the thought of going to a cafeteria where I was going to be the main source for Jax Stone info made me cringe. I stood at my locker longer than necessary, and then went to the library instead. I could eat when I got home. I would begin on my homework. I slipped over to the tables and got out my trigonometry book and began working. My eyes, however, had a hard time staying focused, and I had to fight to keep them from closing.
“Sadie! Wake up! Sadie!” I lifted my head to see Amanda frowning down at me.
“Are you all right?” she asked, reminding me of her older brother.
I rubbed my eyes and nodded. “Yes, I guess I need to get more sleep.” I knew I needed to get more sleep. But I wasn’t going to until I got Sam to sleep during the night.
“Well, come on you’re late for literature, and Mr. Harris almost didn’t let me come get you. I told him you thought your next class was Spanish, and he agreed to let me come find you.”
I smiled at her imagination. “Thanks.”
She picked up my books and tugged on my arm. “Don’t thank me now. We may both be in trouble if you don’t hurry. And get rid of the ‘you just woke up’ stare. It will blow my cover.”
I rubbed my face and nodded.
We had to go to my locker first and switch out my books.
“Why were you in the library anyway?” she asked as I grabbed the correct books.
“Because I didn’t want to face lunch and everyone’s questions,” I mumbled
She nodded. “Well, you were missed. The only reason you were not bombarded in the library was because by the time everyone figured out where you were, lunch was over.”
I sighed and shut my locker door. “I want to go back to being invisible,” I grumbled and fell in step with Amanda.
Amanda frowned and shook her head. “It isn’t going to happen. You need to prepare yourself. The homecoming dance is next month, and you are going to be hit big time with requests to take you.”
That wasn’t even an option. I wasn’t going to date anyone. I refused to go to any dance.
“Well, help me get the word around that I don’t dance,” I muttered as she opened the door to the classroom, and we went inside. Luckily, Mr. Harris only gave me a stern glare, but said nothing. I slipped into the only free desk, behind a tall, dark haired guy whose head blocked my view of the board. I’d leaned over to write the page numbers we were supposed to read for homework when the tall guy in front of me turned around.
“You’re Sadie White, aren’t you?” he asked grinning.
I nodded wishing I could just lie and tell him NO. He cleared his throat. “I’m Dameon Wallace.” I gave him a small polite smile and searched for the page we were supposed to be reading.
“Do you speak, or do you have something against me?”
I sighed and glanced up. He must’ve been unleashing what he assumed was a charming smile. It wasn’t bad really. He was attractive enough. His blue eyes lacked the intensity of Jax’s steel blue eyes. His smile didn’t look really sincere. More sure of himself and cocky, maybe.
“I’m just late for class, and I’m trying to get caught up.”
He flashed me a crooked grin he also apparently thought was cute. “No worries you didn’t miss much. So, you single again?”