The Party - Chapter two
I growled sleepily at the people in the hallway. I knew it wasn't really their fault it was morning, but I couldn't help the desire to punch someone. They were all talking so loudly about the most trivial things.
I glared at a girl flipping her hair as she babbled about some boy. Ian caught me moments before I was going to yell at her. My face was probably red because he stifled a laugh.
He probably saved me a lot of trouble by showing up, but I was too irritated to notice. I turned around sharply, recognizing his messy mane of brown hair immediately. "What?" I barked at him.
"Still a morning person, I see," he said through a grin.
I yawned widely. "That much didn't change in the month I was gone."
Ian shrugged, his smile wearing off. "What you did last night..." he began, then stopped.
"What?" I asked defensively. "You can't say he didn't have it coming." Despite my words, I was feeling a bit queasy inside. I didn't really like having to yell at the two of them, but I just had to.
"It wasn't... nice of you." His grey eyes avoided my green ones.
I nodded, eyes on the ground. "I know, I don't need you to tell me that," I whispered. "I just... had to." I didn't care if he didn't understand, I understood and that was enough. "I - I couldn't just leave it alone. A year – that bastard -"
Ian cut me off with a friendly smile. "Amy, you've got to chill. I said it wasn't nice, not that I didn't like it."
I breathed deeply. One of the group was by my side now. "Thanks," I said mildly.
Ian rubbed his nose awkwardly. "You just got to respect that kind of courage."
I hummed in response, wondering where he was going with this. He just stood there, not really saying anything. If he wasn't there for a purpose he could have just let me sleep while standing for a few more minutes. I felt the annoyance building inside me. Oh, God, why couldn't everyone just shut up on mornings?!
I slammed the locker shut. "Need anything?" I asked shortly, starting to walk to my class. My dark hair was messy today and it kept slipping in my eyes. I pushed it back with frustration. I managed to brush it a few times before leaving this morning but it was definitely one of my bad hair days. Needless to say, this did not help my mood.
Ian grinned as he followed behind me. "Yeah," he said as he took a white envelope out of his pocket.
I glanced at it behind my shoulder. "I don't suppose that's a love letter," I sniggered.
Ian let out a short laugh. "It actually might be. Laney wanted me to pass this note to Freddy." He raised both eyebrows in an indicating way.
I giggled. "Can do." I took it from him. After a moment of consideration, I added, "I don't know what Freddy did to deserve such a cute little girl."
Ian turned around, raising his hand behind his back, walking towards class. I thought I heard him sneer, "Cute, yeah right."
I grinned to myself. That was so like Ian to think.
The class jogged me up some; maybe it had to do with the other students falling asleep. It was strange to be in class again. What a month in Greek can do to a person… well, at least I got a good tan out of it. The teacher didn't seem to notice me in class, so it all passed smoothly enough.
I found Alex waiting for me next to my locker. "We have science together, right?" she asked as held her books.
I nodded slowly, remembering the schedule. I groaned. "I hate that subject," I said under my breath.
"Completely, I just fall asleep most times," Alex agreed enthusiastically.
The people passing in the hallways whispered something while looking at us. There were the rare ones that just passed on by, but the majority was definitely staring. My left eyebrow twitched as I understood. It was because of Alex and her guy clothes.
I turned to glance at her. She held up her hands and shook her head. "Sorry," she whispered apologetically. "I can just go away if you like." Her kind blue eyes were full of embarrassment.
My heart ached at the sight of her. Like hell was I going to let her keep feeling bad. The aching was replaced with fury. I turned towards the hallway swiftly. "Hey!" I said loudly. "All of you, this is a school, not a zoo!"
This time people actually stopped to ogle at me. Alex blushed by my side. She tugged at my sleeve. "Amy, what are you doing?" she said in a low voice.
I ignored her, raising an eyebrow at the people that stopped. I continued without missing a beat. "And yeah, I know we're awesome and you all want to waste your time looking at us, but we are not the main exhibit!" I turned around towards Alex again. She stood limply by my locker. "There," I said quietly, taking my books out. "I don't think they'll mess with us anymore." Alex's mouth hung open. I giggled at the sight of it. "Someone had to tell them off," I concluded, grabbing her hand and heading towards science.
Alex's big blue eyes looked near tears. "Thanks," she mouthed, apparently out of breath.
I smiled back. She looked better now. "Sure."
It turned out that not everyone heard me, because people still stared. Someone even booed at us as we walked through.
The science teacher noted my name down and said an extremely forced "welcome back". I'm sure he enjoyed not marking any F's for the time I was gone. But I was back now. Payback time. I grinned as I sat down. Alex placed her books next to mine.
Someone threw a paper ball at the back of her head as she sat. She rubbed the back of her head, smiled at me once, and then looked forward. I turned around angrily, but couldn't find the culprit. "Has it always been like this?" I whispered to Alex after class.
She nodded shortly. "Yep." Her voice told me she didn't want to elaborate. I waited for her to continue speaking. "So," she said after a few minutes, "lunch." She changed the subject so quickly I could hardly follow. She continued speaking, so I just listened. "I assume you don't want to sit with Davy anymore."
I grimaced, nodding. "Can't be helped. You'll sit with everyone, right?" I already anticipated this. She was making her loyalties clear in the battle ground between me and Davy, and after all, she'd been friends with that lot for over two years now. I joined in only after Davy and I started going out, when I first moved into town. So now I was table-less. Was that even a word? I frowned, thinking about lunch in the library. Just great.
"Nah." Alex casually ran a hand through her hair. "I'm going to sit with you."
I startled, then said, "You sure?"
She nodded fiercely. "We only have till end of year in this dump and then it's off to college. I want to hang out with you." She continued to walk as if this was the most normal conversation in the world.
Wow, that was more than I could have expected. Not only was she sitting with me at lunch, but she was talking about lasting friendship. I felt warmer inside and less stiff now that I knew that. I had the feeling she could be a good friend. Let's find out, shall we? I grinned back."I'd like that."
Ian caught up to us from behind. "Booh!" he said next to my ear.
I could feel his breath on my neck. I jumped back, completely flushed. "D-don't do that!"
Ian howled with laughter. After he calmed down, her turned to Alex as if remembering something. "Alex, the literature teacher called you, she wants you assignment about some old fart that's long dead."
Alex snapped her fingers. "Damn it, I forgot!" She waved behind her back as she sped towards the teacher's room.
"As for you, my friend…" Ian leaned in closer, his grey eyes suddenly serious. "Anne didn't come today. She called in sick." Ian inspected me grimly. "Now, me, I like to believe you have a heart."
I opened my mouth to say, "what's it got to do with me", but I only got through the "wha-" before a familiar voice cut me off. I felt chills run up my arms. Good chills.
Ian turned around, a wide smile suddenly plastered across his face. Whoa, scarier than Mrs. Felly.
"Fix it," he muttered at me, before running up to Davy, pretending to strangle him. I saw Davy's dark hair fall onto his eyes and his mouth stretch up in a smile.
My heart beat faster and it ached in my chest. Suddenly I was just the new girl who didn't fit anywhere again. No, this was worst. Davy wasn't there this time to be kind and friendly, and Anne wasn't here with her usual delicate smile. It was probably my fault. I cast my eyes low and walked quickly to my next class, wishing I was already home, away from all this.
I completely agree with Canislupis - you really need to explain a lot of what you talk about, you have to remember that the reader can't just automatically understand things, you have to provide a kind of background for them - even if it's small in size, it should just be enough to make the reader feel more involved with the story and your MC.
. Like I said, I do like this story and the way you write is really refreshing - all this piece needs is just a bit of tweaking. start to take on board the great reviews that you have and I'm sure this story will be really good.