Chapter 2

I played with my fingers as my mom drove closer to the school. It's been a month since I saw the building and I was still not ready to see it. After what happened my mom suggested I visit a therapist while she "handled" the situation. I don't know what really happened to Emmett all I know is he won't be able to bother me anymore, at least that's what my mom said and even though I had flashbacks it wasn't as bad as before at least now I think I have a bit of control over it.

I lifted my head and looked into the mirror and smiled at my new look , a very small sad smile, that's all I could really do since the incident. My waist length dirty blonde hair had now been transformed into shoulder length peach hair which made my eyes more prominent, according to the hairdresser. I became sad at the memory of the reason for getting a haircut.

[Flashback] "Madam are you sure about this" I nodded and turned in my chair to face the mirror '''Jassy I just love how your hair falls perfectly at your back begging me to touch it''' Emmett said and pushed her hair away from her face and touched it the mere memory of the comment he made gave me the courage to cut my hair, "Yes I'm very sure about this" I said as I looked at myself in the mirror.

"We're here" my mom said as she packed in front of the school we both sat in the car and looked at the building none of us making a move to leave the car. My mom sighed after a while and rubbed my hand, "Don't worry , you're fine. He won't get you here, I won't let him" she said the last part undertone but I definitely heard it.

It was ten o'clock so there weren't any students outside which I thought was great. "Don't forget to visit the school counselor and if you have any difficulty I'm just a call away". I pushed back my glasses and nodded before opening the door to leave the car, "Take care baby. I love you" she blew a kiss and drove away leaving me to go into the school, I started to regret asking my mom to not escort me to the office after taking two steps in the hallway . I just hoped everything goes on well.

As I walked through the hallway I couldn't help but wonder what school was going to be like from now on. Would the teachers treat me differently? Will the students mock me or will they pretend nothing happened? What will happen to the classes I missed? So many question came to mind and I became nervous, my palms began to sweat as I got closer to the principal's office I tried to calm myself before I knocked on the door of the principal.

"Come in" ,he called out so I entered the office. He smiled at me and at that instant my anxiety eased a little. "Umm...s..sir good morning" I stuttered but his smile didn't falter, "Hello Jasmine, good to see you back in school. I hope you're better now?" he looked concerned as he asked and I nodded in reply. He clapped his hands and continued. "Okay your schedule has not really changed it's just you'll have to stay an extra hour for classes so you can catch up. Is that alright?" He saw my hesitation and smiled at me ," Don't worry you won't be alone you'll be in the class with some of your mates so you'll be safe" I started to panic even more. What will they think of me? How will they react? I think the principal noticed my uneasiness, "Don't worry you'll be fine" he said and tried to touch me but I moved away.

"So let's head to your class now, shall we?", he said ignoring my reaction. He held the door for me to go out and locked it behind him. I waited for him to lead the way but then I started to think. If today is Monday, and this is the second period then I have...oh shoot... Chemistry. I really didn't like Chemistry and having it as my first subject after returning to school wasn't really a good idea. I became nervous all over again.

I didn't realize we had reached the lab until the principal tapped me which made me move completely away from him with tears in my eyes but I regained my composure (if you can call it that) and entered the room. I expected the principal to go in with me but when I turned to him he just waved at me greeted the teacher and left.

I could feel all eyes on me but I just couldn't face the class. I readjusted my bag strap on my shoulder and timidly walked to the teacher who was already beaming with a smile. "Okay class we have Jasmine back with us so please be nice and make her feel safe okay?", she addressed the class who chorused an affirmative answer. "Okay dear please sit in the empty seat over there and let's continue" she pointed to the second seat on the first column as she whispered in my ear. They didn't seem to be performing any experiments so there was no need for protection.

All eyes were on me as I walked to my seat. Miss Brown continued teaching but I didn't really pay attention I was lost in my own world until Priscilla, the girl sitting beside me, tapped me and I immediately flinched partly because I didn't expect it, "Hey Jasmine are you okay now?" you could clearly see concern written on her face.

I nodded and she smiled " Okay if you want anyone to talk to know that I'm always here okay" she was being really nice and I really appreciated it I just couldn't tell her that. She even exchanged seats with me so I could sit by the window. I tried to listen to the rest of the lesson and prayed that everything went well.

It wasn't long before the bell rung for lunch mostly because I wasn't really paying attention to the lesson. I had all my classes with Priscilla and she walked with me to all of them after a while I got used to her. She walked out of the class with me when the bell rung " Um... Jasmine would you like to sit with me during lunch?" she asked sweetly. I was a little hesitant because I initially planned to sit alone and I think she noticed," There are not many people at my table so you don't have to worry" she assured me so I agreed and we walked to her locker so she could put her books down before going to the cafeteria.

She led me to her table and asked me to wait as she went for our food, "Um..i..it's okay I have...my own...lunch", that was the first time I had spoken to her since morning she just smiled and went to get her food . I could hear people talking about me in whispers and some made nasty comments I just wanted it to stop but I couldn't.

I planned on leaving but I decided I should probably wait for Priscilla to return it'll be rude if I just left plus she's been soo nice to me so I stayed and put my earbuds in instead (some music should calm me down) but as always I could never really have peace. Someone sat beside me he didn't look familiar maybe he was a new student. I was home for a month I didn't really know what happened here and he didn't seem like he was going to bother me so I just pretended he wasn't there and a few moments later Priscilla returned with our food. "Oh hey Jared" she said with a smile.

You know that thing where you meet someone and you sort of picture their reactions and what they sound like? Yeah this guy was definitely not what I expected. When he spoke I had to remove the earbuds to be sure that was him talking because I didn't expect his voice to sound so cool. Anyway, we had lunch with Jared who is a new student not really new he's been going to the school for about two weeks now according to Priscilla. He seems like a good guy but I'm not letting my guard down again. All in all my first day back in school uneventful (which means great by the way).

I bid Priscilla goodbye at the school gate because she insisted on walking with me after class, so she went home and I waited for my mom to pick me up. I stood at the gate for almost ten minutes before it struck me that I had extra classes and a meeting with the school counselor. I speed walked to the office trying my best to avid touching anybody and I made it to the counselor just in time.

I didn't take long because she just wanted to see how I was doing after school and stuff. She also told me to not push myself too much and a lot more encouraging words that I really needed to hear. I thanked her and left for my extra class. When I entered, Mr. Anderson, the Math teacher had already started teaching. He smiled at me "Welcome back Jasmine. Take a seat and let's continue", he said and I took a seat a bit away from the only other student in the class. I didn't really look at his face so I couldn't really tell who it was and I honestly didn't want to know.

When I was seated, Mr. Anderson started. "So everyday after school, you'll have a teacher give you a lesson after school and on Saturday morning to noon. This is to help you catch up with the rest of your class and since you're in your final year this is very important for you so take it seriously." Mr. Anderson finished explaining and went on with the lesson.

I always liked Math so I had no problem paying attention. It was a long hour but since it was needed I couldn't complain. I immediately walked out of the class the moment Mr. Anderson closed us. I still had to wait for my mum though but it won't be long. "Um...hey" I heard a voice behind me and I turned and moved away a bit from the guy who just spoke, he's the same one with the nice voice from lunch.

"C...can I help...you" I asked, "I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Jared" I nodded and was about to turn but he spoke again, "I was thinking that maybe because we have these classes together and lunch as well maybe you'd want to be friends" he said with a cute smile (I did not just say that). "Sorry Jared but no" I said and turned away he said a disappointed 'oh' and before he left my mum came and I sat in the car a little bit too fast. In no time we were off to my home where it was safe.