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CHAPTER TWO

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It’s been a couple days and I still have not found my pesky electronic device. I know it didn’t just magically sprout legs and walk away. So, then where has it gone? Ugh, this is way too time consuming.
Lucky for me it was Friday. Thank the heavens! Literally, I am beyond happy that the weekend is finally approaching my boring high school life. Yes, indeed I did say boring. I mean, unless you love calculus and chemistry a hell of a lot, I don’t see who would honestly find high school a “fun” place to be. You just get random pop quizzes, midterms, finals, all types of projects, and a truckload of homework every single week along with the reoccurring tests every week that you have to study your arse off for if you want a decent grade.
So far I haven’t really run into that group of boys since my first day at Wilmslow. The only time I’m forced to be near Harry is in homeroom, which only lasts for twenty minutes, so it’s not too much of a torturous event. Only thing is that he looks at me in a funny way. I’m not even quite sure how to begin to describe it. It’s almost like he knows something about me that I myself don’t know.
The way he looks right through me is like he knows all of my secrets, every single lie I ever told, all the truth behind any expression on my face. It was almost like he seemed to know me better than I knew myself.
Now, how strange is that? It’s overly creepy, right? I know; that’s precisely why I have been avoiding him at all costs. He seems to find it rather amusing, however. Just a teenage boy thing, I guess. I wouldn’t know anyway, even if I had guessed.
“Jade, hurry before you’re late again!” my father yelled up the staircase.
“I’m coming!” I reassured him at an equal volume of voice so that he could hear me clearly.
I quickly re-brushed my hair for the third time that morning and spritzed myself with Pink Chiffon perfume. Oh, it never seizes to smell absolutely amazing. Seriously, if Heaven has a smell, I hope its Pink Chiffon.
After stuffing last minute school supplies in my bag, I headed down the steps. I hurriedly left a quick peck on my dad’s cheek and mumbled a “Good morning” before racing out the door to my awaiting car. My door was swiftly shut as I placed the key in the ignition and turned the car on. Wilmslow High, here I come.
Once I got to the parking lot, I found an incredible parking space that was never ever vacant until this morning. Some pink Volks Wagon convertible bug always occupied that spot. I zoomed into the space with my black Camaro and shuffled my bag out of the passenger side seat whilst I climbed out.
I hustled to the front, stopping for no one, not even my newly-made friends who had gestured for me to join them. It is Friday, for Pete’s sake, and I still don’t have any clue where my flipping locker is! Today I decided to rush myself in the morning with my very well put together outfit [picture on the side] , if I may say so myself, so that I’d have time to find this metal enclosure made to hold my textbooks.
After turns and turns around multiple corners and walking down numerous hallways, I came to locker section S. Finally after a full week of carrying all of my textbooks with me, I’ll actually be able to put them somewhere and not have an extra forty pounds on my shoulder. Once I found locker 26, my assigned locker, I was relieved. I pulled on the latch, but it wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard I tugged at the lever, it just didn’t move. This is so typical.
“Need some help there little lady?” a familiar voice asked. Harry.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I replied back with a hint of a grunt as I pulled harder on the latch.
Stupid damn locker. Everything just wants to give me problems, doesn’t it?
“Let me help, I had that locker last year. It’s a piece of shit.”
I sighed, letting my shoulders slouch, and stepped back. As I gestured toward the locker as if to say “go ahead”, Harry winked at me. There was a click and the door swung open.
“It’s simple once you get the hang of it.”
“Yeah, thanks for the tip,” I replied rolling my eyes.
“Would you stop being such a selfish bitch? Dammit, you can figure it out yourself.”
Wow. I don’t even know what to – just wow. What did I do? I mean, I can get annoying sometimes. But no one’s ever called me selfish. I’m like the complete opposite of selfish, he just pisses me off. Truthfully, I am a very sweet girl, and I’m not trying to sound self-centred, it’s just what people always tell me. I got voted nicest person in the class in primary school for crying out loud. I am not selfish.
The thing is that I just don’t fancy lads like him too terribly much. They think they know everything and act like the world revolves around them and their lives. I just want to smack them in the face with a nice, fresh reality sandwich.
I went up to my new-found locker and huffed. How in the hell am I supposed to figure this out?
“You know, Styles isn’t the only one who can figure out a locker,” an unmistakably familiar voice said.
I turned to my right and saw someone who literally just made my day by simply being there and having seen him.
“Mikey!” I squealed and ran up to him. I jumped up into his outstretched arms and into the tight embrace.
Mikey is my best friend and has been since our first year at primary. We used to do everything together all the time. We were like two peas in a pod, inseparable. Then Mikey moved and I knew there was rumours that he would be going to Wilmslow for intermediate, but we kind of lost touch so I never knew if they were true. But here he is right in front of me with his strong arms wrapped round my small body in the hallway at Wilmslow. It was almost exactly like the old days, except this time puberty had taken play and he was way stronger than what I remembered.
“How’ve you been, angel?” he asked smiling at me as he released me from our embrace.
“Good, you?”
“Same. Do you like it here?”
“Yeah… Well, besides that kid and his posy.”
“Are they giving you trouble?” Mikey’s facial expression seemed to harden.
“Uh…”
“Jade, are they? You can just say the word and I’ll-“
“Mikey, no. What happened to you?”
“A lot of things, Jade. I grew up and I do things you wouldn’t be proud of. I’m not little Mikey Taylor from primary anymore.”
“What are you talking about? What do you do?”
“That’s none of your business. If it ever becomes your business then, I swear, I’ll kill whoever brought you into it.”
“Mikey, stop it! You’re scaring me.”
“Do you want help getting into your locker or not?”
I slowly nodded my head and stepped aside, letting him pass me and get to my locker. What the hell is he talking about? And why is he saying he’ll kill someone?
He’s not the Mikey I know. The Mikey I know would have never said that. The Mikey I know loved everyone and was extremely caring and considerate. What happened to my best friend? If that Harry lad has anything to do with it… Oh, I’ll be livid.
“There,” Mikey said whilst he stepped aside.
“Thanks,” I replied quietly at the sight of the opened locker door.
He nodded and stalked off in the other direction away from me. I began shuffling through my bag and putting textbooks that I don’t need currently onto the shelf in the open metal confinement.
* * *
Lunch time rolled around rather quickly. Even the teachers were lazy on Friday’s in this school. They didn’t seem to care what we did and a substantial amount of students didn’t even show up for the classes. It’s like “skip day” or something in this school on Friday’s.
Whilst I waited in line to purchase my lunch (a chicken salad and iced tea) I looked round the lunchroom for a place to sit. You, of course, have your jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, geeks, goth’s, bad boys, gangs, middle crowd, and then you have those five lads that I’m not sure how to categorise. They seem like bad boys, but they also seem almost like gang material. I don’t know… Whatever.
After I paid for my food, I went to the middle of the lunchroom as I scoped it out for my friends. Before I could even find them, someone tugged me away from where I stood. I looked over to see Mikey yanking my arm toward the direction of a different table.
The lads at this table resembled a lot of what the other five lads looked like. Dark clothing, black ski hats, an uncountable amount of tattoos, and even more piercings. One lad had knuckle rings on and a gold tooth. This isn’t weird at all…
Mikey sat me down beside him and another lad whom I learned was called Jason. These guys seemed even scarier than the one’s Harry surrounded himself with. What was my best friend doing with these stoners? I don’t even know him anymore.
“I’m sorry, I can’t sit with you guys,” I said hurriedly as I gathered my tray and started to walk away.
Before I could get hardly any distance from them a rough grip held my wrist and tugged me back. My tray clattered on the floor, bits of food flying everywhere.
“Let me go!” I demanded as I tried to pry my wrist out of his hand.
I elbowed him in the gut and he let go of my wrist instantly. Just as I thought I was free from him, he pulled me back again. This time he spun me round to face him. His hard fist collided with my face and I stumbled backward, holding my hand to my mouth in the process.
As he grabbed my wrist again to pull me straight back to him, something or someone, rather, intervened. I heard another fist collide with a jaw in a snapping sound, but I didn’t dare to look up.
The entire lunchroom was silent as a soft hand gently, but forcefully, grabbed my wrist and drug me out. It wasn’t long before the ground beneath me changed to an off-white linoleum colour.
I still hadn’t looked up when I was sat down on a cot. It was apparent to me now that I had been taken to the nurse’s room. But why; she wasn’t even here today? It must have been Mikey who saved me from his friend. I didn’t know he could punch like that, though.
“Look at me,” a husky voice said.
There was no way that belonged to Mikey. It was too different from everyone else’s. It was almost special in that way; the fact that it was unmistakable for anyone’s besides his.
Timidly, I looked up into the bright green eyes of my saviour. His eyes fled mine and went to look for the wound on my lip which I had shielded with my hand. It was throbbing so much that I almost thought my heart was in my lip.
He carefully removed my hand from my face and examined it quickly. He then took a bottle of peroxide and emptied some onto a dry cotton ball. The cotton ball was softly swept across the split in my lip. The chemicals from the peroxide stung, causing me to wince.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
Luckily my lip had stopped bleeding when we got there. Harry gave me some more cotton balls to use to clean off the blood from my face. I went into the restroom in the nurse’s office and wet some of them under the faucet.
Whilst I was cleaning off the remnants of dried blood from my cheek and chin, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that Mikey, my so-called best friend, just sat there and let one of his friends punch me. He didn’t try to stop them or even say anything in protest. Instead Harry had come to my rescue. What kind of twisted scenario was that?
After I finished cleaning off my face, I placed the used cotton balls in the rubbish bin. I came back into the main part of the nurse’s office and sat back down on the cot. Harry took the extra cotton balls and put them away before coming back and sitting next to me, but not too close.
He made sure to keep his distance for some odd reason. It was like he thought I’d snap on him or something even though he just saved me from something that could’ve ended very badly. I mean, that guy didn’t look like he was going to plan on stopping his savage actions at any point.
I looked over to Harry who was, surprisingly, staring at me intently. He looked away when he saw that I’d noticed. Okay, awkward…
“Thank you,” I said shyly.
“No problem,” he said quietly.
Harry’s eyes seemed to be fixated on my lips. It made me kind of nervous. Was there something else wrong with them?
My question was quickly answered when he started to lean forward. I held my breath. This is not happening. What do I do?
Before I had time to answer the question I felt myself subconsciously moving closer. In no time our lips connected. The cool metal of his lip ring against my lips was indescribable. The whole kiss was indescribable. Harry slipped his tongue out and swept it across my lips as if they were still perfect even though they were swollen and cut. I allowed him entrance, not sure of what else to do. Our lips moved in synch despite my lack of experience. Yes, this right here is my first kiss. It’s pathetic, I know, since I’m in my last year before Uni. But hey, I like to wait.
Then the realisation hit me like a ton of bricks. What the hell am I doing? I just ruined my lip virginity! Okay, that sounds dumb, but it means something to me, and now I just wasted it on some guy that probably plays with every girl’s heart.
I hastily pulled away and stood up. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t my intention for this to even happen, it just did.
“I’m sorry,” I apologised before sprinting out of the room and down the hall.
Tears stung at my eyes from being so overwhelmed. I decided to just go home and call it quits for the day. I’ve already humiliated myself enough. First my locker, then I got punched in the face, and lastly I kissed someone that I have no feelings toward whatsoever except for disgust. This is just… ugh!