I knew my little sister did not want the attention in her so I gave her some space and went back to school the next couple of days. But on the third day I surprised her with her favorite breakfast that I made myself. I made some blueberry pancakes; homemade hot chocolate , and some fresh fruit. She loved it all and greatly appreciated the effort I put in. But as always she was the more practical one and rushed me out to class so I would not be late. Of course I did not mind if I went to school late since I had some passes saved up for such a time as this. And since most of my teachers knew what had happened they didn't bother with my tardiness. They actually encouraged that I take a few days off and we're surprised when I came back right away.
I walked in to class, not looking at anyone in particular since the class had made it obvious how they felt about me. My thoughts came and went as class progressed, only snapping me out of my trance when Mr. Mraz mentioned the group project that was due in a couple of weeks. I listened as he listed off all the groups, waiting for him to mention my name and seeing who I would be placed with. Just my luck, I was in Kayline and Sobri's group, along with a boy named Waco Huxx. I went and joined the groups, eager to get the assignment out of the way, I quickly agreed to whatever they wanted without raising any issues. The less time around them the better.
But that did not satisfy their pettiness. They made it difficult in every situation.
"Katerina, you can work on the intro, Sobri will work on the beginning, I will work on the body and Waco here and do the ending," Kayline took charge, making herself team leader of the group.
"But what is the topic?" I asked. "Shouldn't we all decide?"
Kayline rolled her eyes as she smacked her lips. "Well, we have many topics to choose from but I know what the teachers want and I say we stick to the topic of financial stability."
I looked at her in awe. "But Mr. Mraz said-"
"To pick whatever topic we want," she finished abruptly while exchanging glance with Sobri and Waco, who agreed with her whole heartedly.
"Ok," I said defeated. Finances was not exactly what I wanted to talk about but it was a hot topic with the majority of the kids at the academy since many would take over as CEO for their parent's company once they graduated high school and others with more education from prestigious universities. My goals being different set me apart from everyone, making me a target once again.
We finished out discussion and I was taking my time getting ready to leave when I heard them talking about me. 'Little miss death! What does that even mean?' I thought to myself. I got up and was about to leave when I saw Collins getting up and chatting with them. The girl's attitude quickly changed to sweetness as they had Collin's attention. I glared at them and quietly mocked in my head how he is able to talk and carry on a conversation, when and if he chooses to do so. I left for my next class, taking a quick breather outside. I saw the garden the school had for the students to take care of and smiled. Seeing the blooms made me relax and smile. I was engrossed in daydreaming that I did not realize someone was calling my name.
"Hey, Katerina," someone called out. I turned and saw Collin walking quickly towards me.
My eyes got big and panic quickly set in. 'Oh no!' I thought. "No! Please leave me alone," I cried out before running away to my class. I was thankful we did not have too many of the same classes. 'Shoot! What did those girls tell him?' I questioned myself. 'This is not good, I need to have a plan to avoid him, Bray, and his gang.
The rest of my my morning was gloomy for me. My only high light was lunch time since we had an hour lunch and we would do whatever we wanted. I enjoyed the garden scenery again but went to a more secluded area where no one could easily find me, of course Mr. Mraz being an exception since he knew of the place as well and he frequently went there to relax and take some time off from his office and teaching. I saw him most of the time but he was not there today, which I was glad to see since I wanting some uninterrupted time to myself today to work on some drawings that I had been working on for a while now. I took out my sketch pad and fine pencils as well as my lunch next to me to munch on while I worked.
I was diligently working on my characters eyes that I did not notice someone walking nearer and nearer towards me until they stood right before me. Sensing their presence from my peripheral view I looked up, startled once again! Collin was standing before me, only this time he had his hands outstretched, waving them frantically.
"Please don't go, I only want to talk!"
On full alert, I looked around me looking for anyone else who may be coming or hiding. Meanwhile, I was packing my belongings just as fast as possible and ran just as fast, leaving Collin alone again without hearing him out.