1

Something was different. I could feel it as soon as I got through the front door. It wasn't a bad different though. Instead of going to class or the office, I went to the bathroom. There were 10ish minutes left until the bell rang. Might as well hang in there. I leaned against the wall, pulled out my phone, and just played on it.

     I wasn't in there too long when I heard someone coming down the hall, with a hushed voice. Two girls walked in, whichever one was talking quieted down as soon as they entered the bathroom. They were obviously related. Blonde curly hair, same height. They shared green eyes and freckles. They stopped dead and stared at me.

     I cleared my throat, put my phone in my pocket, went to the sink to wash my hands. My movement got them to realize what they were doing.

"Oh gosh, we're sorry!" One said. She had the same southern drawl I had.     

"Yeah, you look so much like someone we know." Said the other. If I hadn't known there were two of them, I would've thought there was only one other girl. Playing it off I just shrugged continuing to wash my hands.

"It's alright. I have one of those faces, I suppose." I tried to sound light-hearted. They still haven't looked away. I looked at them in the mirror, turning off the water. They were new! A jolt of realization went through me. It must have shown on my face, the two girls looked away from me and at each other. I went to the paper towel dispenser unsure if I should say something else. No. I better not. I have no idea what I would say. I looked at them over my shoulder, nodded once, and walked out.

"That's her, Jo! Could you feel it?" Said one as soon as I was out of sight. I froze against the wall, straining to hear anything that might explain what was just said.

"Hush Jackie! We can't be heard! We don't know who is here!" The one called Jo said. She dropped her voice and I couldn't tell if she said anything else. What did I just hear? Feel what? Who's here? What?

     Suddenly I had an overpowering gut feeling to move. I didn't question where the feeling came from at that time. I just moved. Keep your head down. I told myself. I wandered for a few minutes. My locker would be a good spot to go. When I got to my locker the bell rang and I got lost in the crowd going to class.

     My next two classes were mostly normal. I sat in the middle of the furthest row from the door, my normal spot in all my classes. There were several other kids talking about a bunch of new kids that had started. Was I the only one to think that anyone changing schools so late in the year was weird? I mean, hell, it was April 1st! I sighed. Just some basic girl talk I had no interest in. Letting the gossip flow around me, I put my nose in the book and did my work.

     Finally, the bell rang for lunch. As perusal, I was one of the last kids to leave the class. Unlike everyone else here, I didn't have anyone to rush to. To talk to. I was definitely a loner, but that really didn't matter. Just 3 more months. I told myself again. I went back to my locker, and put my things in there. That feeling of something being different hasn't left me alone all day. Up until now I've been able to ignore it. What is going on? Instead of keeping my head down like normal, I walked with my head high. This way, I'll be more able to figure out what is happening.

     I heard the chaos before I rounded the corner into the cafeteria. There was a group of kids huddled together picking up a younger-looking boy off the ground. While the rest of the kids circled them. Amongst that group, I saw the girls I ran into earlier. None of them looked scared, but they seemed mostly annoyed. In front of them was another boy. He was tall and fit. Jet black hair that was just long enough to see it was wavy. His eyes were so strikingly different, one light blue and the other was dark brown. And they looked pissed. Even with that pissed off look, he was hot.

"Tell that punk kid to stay the hell away from my girl!" The varsity quarterback, Jack, yelled at the boy who was squaring up to him. Jack was the poster boy for any football player. He was of course dating Kathy, the easiest girl in school. He is every mindless high school girl's dream. Maybe until now.

"My brother done told you! She was just being nice!" The boy yelled back. His voice was deep and leader-like. I felt very drawn to it. I'm sure all the other girls did too. I looked from the boy to the kids behind him. One of the girls from the bathroom met my gaze and it held. Before I realized what was happening, my feet had started to move toward the circle. Toward the center of the circle.

"Hey, now y'all. Let's take a step back and knock down the testosterone levels goin on here." What the hell am I doing here? My heart was pounding. What did I just say? Oh, man. What did I just get myself into? Shit. My mind was completely blank. Something else was driving me.

"Back the hell out of this white trash! This don't concern you." Jack said not looking at me. My temper flared.

"What did you just say to me?" I have no idea what was going on. I just knew I had to put Jack back in his place. After I had spoken the boy took a step back, I could feel his eyes on me. Jack looked at me too. The whole damn cafeteria was staring at me.

"I said, this has nothing to do with you. White. Trash. So Back Off!" He didn't move. I did though. I moved in front of Jack. I wasn't as close as the boy was. I had to stand back a little so I wasn't breaking my neck to look up at him.

"Just because you're a selfish, brainless little git, gettin jealous over Every other male  cause your girl is more interested in Everyone else and sleeps with all your friends and not you don't mean you have to take it out on everyone else ya old heifer." As I mentioned her, Kathy began to say something. I cut her off by holding up my hand to her. 

"It ain't no damn secret, everyone under the sun knows you've slept with the whole football team and most of the teachers here. I've had a bad day so far and I haven't had lunch yet! I'm just done with bullies! Ya hear me? Now ya best turn 'round and mind your own. I bet your coach is right 'round the corner and it would sure look bad if he sees you squarin to someone like me. Get!" My southern drawl was clear as day and thankfully, everyone understood me. Jack was backing off. He looked from me back to the young boy I guessed he pushed down. 

"No, don't look at him. You'll start beef you don't want. Get to steppin Hoss." Jack glared at me one last time before turning around. He put his arm around Kathy as she flipped me the bird and they walked off. The crowd departed with them. That was the time the teachers chose to come into the cafeteria and as I guessed, the football coach was with them too. What had taken them so long to get here? Since no fights were going on, the teachers went back to whatever they were doing before. By this time, my senses returned to me.

Ooh My Lord! What just happened!? I turned to look at the group of kids. There were seven of them and they all looked like seniors and older.

"Ya good?" I asked the youngest looking boy. He nodded and looked at his brother. I looked at him too. He and I stared at each other.

"This is the girl Joann and I were tellin you about." Said I'm assuming Jackie?

"Thank you. For helping our brother." Said the biggest boy. He had smooth coffee color skin. He could be an NFL player. He didn't have the same southern drawl the first two girls had.

"No issue. As I said, I'm tired of bullies." I waved off his thanks and I started taking a few steps away glancing around us. I suppose I looked anxious because one of the girls spoke up.

"What's your name?" The one who spoke had waist-length black hair, olive skin with dark almond eyes that glared daggers at me down her pointed nose. She was tall and skinny too. I met her glare unmoving.

"What's yours?" I shot back. The tone she had didn't sit well with me. After being called white trash I was still a little sensitive.

"I am Anna Knight." She said with a toss of her hair and squaring her shoulders.

"Well, howdy there Anna, I am Sophie Blake. I do hope the rest of y'all have a wonderful day and excuse the riffraff that likes to start up here. If y'all stick close to each other and keep your noses clean, I think you'll be just fine. And for that Kathy girl, it really would be best to stay away from her. She is Not nice, all she is is drama." I finished with a smile, half waved bye, and walked as quickly away from them as I could. Leaving the cafeteria altogether. I suddenly wanted to just leave for the day. Hell. What was stopping me? I could easily get a handful of more hours in at work. The extra money would be very nice. I'm passing all of my classes with flying colors. Yeah. I think I will play hooky today. I smiled at the thought and went back to my locker. I grabbed my keys and wallet, closed the door, and just about jumped out of my skin.

"Oh My Good Lord!" I gasped clutching my chest to ensure my heart was still there. 

"Snap! Sorry, I thought you heard me. I mean, I was trying to call you." It was the hot guy that tried to pick a fight. His striking eyes were round with surprise.

After a few deep breaths, I looked up at him.

"You were calling me?" Was all I could say.

"Well… no. I don't want to be too loud here. I was about to tap your shoulder or something. You just kinda turned around before I could." He started to rub the back of his neck like he was embarrassed. I just nodded slightly.

"So, anyway, I wanted to thank you for what you did back there. Blaze was right to do that."

We stood there a little awkwardly for a minute. Not sure what else to say when I remembered what that Jackie girl had said.

"What did that one girl mean? 'I'm the one y'all were told 'bout' or somethin?" I asked before I could stop myself. Damn. What is going on with me?

"You caught that huh? Going out for lunch?"  He gestured to my keys.

"I am. I don't plan on comin' back though." I answered him slowly.

"May I join you? I'll explain everything Jackie said. I just don't want to talk about that here. Too many people." He lowered his voice and ducked his head slightly. I raised my brow at him and looked around us. We were completely alone.

"You did catch that I ain't comin back here today right?" I asked. I searched the vibes he was giving off for something I couldn't trust. Other than a little twinge of something I couldn't place my finger on, I felt I could trust him.

"Yeah, I caught that. And that is fine with me. I'd have to let my people know of course if you let me go with you." He wasn't begging to come with, but I could tell he wanted to leave school too. I let out a little sigh.

"Alright, you can come with. I'll wait here while you go let them know. I've gotta email my teachers anyway. Get today's work from them." I said. He smiled at me and his blue eyes got a little brighter.

"Thank you, I'll be right back." He almost ran back to the cafeteria. At least I think he ran. He was moving fast, and out of sight within a blink. Hmm. I shrugged, pulled out my phone and emailed my teachers. I didn't have to wait long at all. I was still typing my message to them when he returned. This time, I didn't jump a mile high.

"Ready?" He asked when he got to me. I raised my brow at him again.

"That was fast. Like really fast."

"Uh. I can be kinda quick sometimes." Was all he said and frowned. We started walking out to the parking lot.

"Ok? What are ya hungry for?"

"I'll eat nearly anything, so you can pick"

"Alright. I hope you like overpriced grease."

"Good with me."

I started fiddling with my keys. I was just ready to get out of here. I looked over my shoulder again. What is going on? Am I paranoid?

"You feel it too?" He said it in such a low deep voice I had to look at him to see if he said anything. He was looking at me. Studying me.

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talkin 'bout," I said. It wasn't a lie. I had no clue what was going on here. But as I said that I picked up my pace. By the time we reached the front double doors of the building, I was almost running. He had no problem keeping up with me.

     When we reached my truck I realized something.

"What's your name?" I blurted. I wanted to smack my hand over my mouth. Instead, I ignored his look of amusement and unlocked my driver's door, climbed in, and looked at him expectantly through the window. After a moment of silence, I raised my brows at him. He studied me for a moment longer before answering.

"Axcel." I was waiting for him to say more but he kept quiet. I unlocked my passenger door and he climbed in and I drove us to lunch.