"Come in."
Gracie heard clearly before she revolted the handle, unbolting the door that produced a long smoothing cry. She slipped in and gently closed it for the sound earlier was too long. Exposed to a woman, whose was busy with some paperwork, she cleared her throat and the woman peered from beneath her glasses. She finally locked eye contact with the girl in proper uniform.
"Oh! Miss. Richards, It's a pleasure to have you back." She smiled, friendly at the girl as she quitted her work by ditching her black pen.
"Same here, Miss. Davis, to see you in your f-favorite suit." said Gracie, nervously as she found it hard to conserve with her after the huge drop about her screwing the principal.
"Please, take a sit!" Miss. Davis offered, with her other hand adjusted her unfitting rimmed glasses.
After some seconds of contemplation, Gracie perched on the leather comfy seat in front of Miss. Davis, it was absolutely better than the class chairs and the speculators seat on the field. Gracie examined the occupied table before her, lots of sheets and documents, some textbooks and a ton of harlequin romance novels which were barely closeted under the blank papers.
"I must confess, you came back at the right time Miss. Richards cogitating the fact that your examination will start in some weeks from now, it's still far though but it was a good idea you finally decided to resume." Miss. Davis expressed her true concern as she went down, going through the cabinet where each student schedule were kept.
Placing her right hand on her neck, Gracie massaged it to relieve her of the pain that rest in there. She had slept on her neck overnight and with the thought that the ache was gone while she was in the bus but now it back, sending a cord of discomfort on the joint.
Insentiently, Gracie's sight was linked to a distinct sheet with long list but jagged, like it was torn out of a page and squeezed. She leaned in and strained her sight to see, just then she caught sharp of her name and some other names.
Soon as she reached out to pick it up, a hand with strong hold clutched her hand banning her from grasping it. She sought, slightly peeping at the woman before struggling her hand away from her grip. Her face raged with ire and she swore to see the blue in her eyes darken.
"I was with the opinion that you walk in through that door for this!.. and now you deemed to be distracted by a common wasted page." Miss. Davis scolded before withdrawing her hand.
Upon realizing the act she just put on. Miss. Davis rested back on her seat and adjusted her glasses with the tip of her thumb and index finger, "Sorry." She muttered and stretched the two page script to Gracie.
Gracie smiled awkwardly, she collected it and stood up from the seat as the place descended into an unnerving hush allowed the speed of her heard race in blatancy.
She went for the door without sparing the secretary a glance.
But before she got there, the door opened, revealing a lovely looking woman. Gracie didn't know who this lady was yet her pretty face welcomed her. Almond shaped eyes with hazel irises and long lashed that she batted every second, her dark eyeshadow matched her wine lipstick and her face got perfected with her buttoned nose. Gracie was convince that she was from the middle-east.
"Hello there, pretty blondie!"
"Hi." She shortly said and tried to by-pass the lady out.
"Wait! Are you new? transfer? haven't seen you before." the lady asked, obstructing Gracie from going through while she fiddled with the brown slip in her hands.
"I- no, not transfer, heh... I'm just returning." Gracie kept her lips in a firm, thin line, suckling on the inner part.
"Oh! oh, I thought as much. You hardly see a new student getting their ways." She spoke in a soft tone, one of her hands circled a strand of Gracie's golden ringlets.
Just when she thought that never in her life would she ever have a reason to post a defense against someone, especially not from the basketball team, Gracie felt absolute unpleased under the eagle gaze of the woman like she was piercing her skin.
"What're you talking about?" Her brows dipped.
The lady ignored her question and moved an inch back with her coyly smile still on. "Forget. I'm Rhoda by the way, the new counsellor." the lady named Rhoda lengthen her hand forward for Gracie.
"Gracie." Gracie answered, finally taking the hand in shake. However, she didn't fail to notice how cold the hand was before letting go, on the other phase Rhoda unwilling to let go, pulled her close to herself.
Gracie was startled by the force, it was as strong as that of fifty giants. Her green eyes almost popping out of it socket as fever shimmered down her body as though she had been soaked under a frozen river.
"So, you're the Gracie I've been anticipating to bump into." Like the words were sinking deep into her soul, Gracie felt her body weaken and she wondered if Miss. Davis was still in the room.
"You can always branch at my office anytime, we could have coffee together, whatcha say?" Immediately, the woman liberated her arm, Gracie flinched away from her, she didn't bother to give a reply instead she sprinted out, sliding pass Rhoda.
Still unable to catch her breath, Gracie panted continually, bead of sweat gathered at the top of her forehead, planning to lapse soon. She crashed on the nearest wall, as the cold still race through her.
What the hell just happened?
She thought, squeezing the sheet in her hand, on realizing what she was doing, Gracie lessen her harshness on the poor schedule then took a glance over it.
"English." she read out.
Moving from the wall, she put the schedule in her backpack and composed up. English was good for a start so it was pleasing. Readily, she strode down the hallway to the classroom.
***
Gracie didn't notice the heavy pungent smell whooshing the cafeteria rather the unwanted attention from viscous snobs while passing occupied her mind as she looked for her gateway with her tray. From the corner of her eye she saw some sneering and throwing her way hateful looks.
The pressure on her heart lowered when she spotted an empty table. Instantly, she found her way there and dropped the tray of French fries. A way to avoid the world was to pretend not to care, but Gracie flopped a bit in this area as she tried to adjust to their stare while eating.
Desperate to tell them to stop gazing, she stood up and attempted to leave, on the contrary, a hand bored her back to the seat. Alarmed, Gracie glanced up at the cuprite.
Red haired beauty grinned back at her, "Hey there, Lovely."
Tranquility embraced her on the warm touch of someone close. Lingering her eye on Tori's curvy body while she alighted down, spraying a whiff of her rosemary cologne slither Gracie's nose.
"Geez! You ooze of rosemary." Gracie slated.
"Oh my gosh! Is it much?" Tori stressed, sounding troubled.
"Nope, just that you smell like my nana on a sabbath day." Gracie shrugged, trying hard to suppress her laughter.
For all she knew. Tori smelt normal in the morning and now this, just remarkably unbelievable. Gracie watched as Tori's face shaded into a deep color of pink.
"Gracie!" she was mortified.
Gracie choked on a French fry while giggling.
"Hello ladies."
Looking up at the all tall boy with one of his hands pocketed and the other holding tray of a bottle water and something else, Gracie frowned, having no idea why someone from the basketball team was joining their table.
"Pete," Tori cooed.
She got a glimpse of Gracie grimacing. Gracie had been going for four weeks long and to start explaining how Pete and her became an item was necessary.
"Hmm, Gracie, Pete my -boyfriend... Pete, Gracie my best friend."
Gracie chuckled. Yes! She did mentioned Pete and her catching some butterflies on the phone, but never did she revealed they were dating.
"Essentially from my part, It's nice to finally meet your. Vee talks about you everyday."
"Vee?-"
"What's that smell?" Someone interrupted her, causing her head to made a turn and gazed at the owner of the voice, persuaded her eye to follow the voice owner as she sat across.
"I don't know, but smells like wet dog anyway." Another girl said, plumbing down beside the first girl who owned that voice.
The girl were alike, same hair, same eyes and everything else. Gracie's eyes betrayed her by getting wider on recognizing who they were.
The dummy math twins.
They looked modish, and their shoulder length blonde hair was fabulous. They were extremely beautiful. Padded shoulder suit jackets fitted well on bodies, bringing on the perfect physiques.
"Did you say I smell like wet dog!" Tori asked angrily.
"What? I didn't say you, I said it." the twin defended.
"You smell fabulous." Pete smiled, trying to calm Tori, but it was a lie, Pete knew she smelt horrible. Tori pecked her boyfriend and the twins groaned, then they started talking to each.
"Wow," Gracie heard on of the twin said, when she was just feeling alone.
Although, the twins might be identical in contrast, Gracie knew it was the one sitting directly opposite her that exclaimed. She examined she ensued forward to her, Gracie backed misunderstanding her motive.
"So beautiful."
"Seriously sister!" The other twin gasped and grabbed her sister's hand that what about digging into Gracie's meal.
"C'mon!" The thief groaned.
"Pardon my sister's act, she got a hand surgery when we were twelve even since that I've got a job to watch over." The twin explained.
Gracie wished we wore different hair ribbon then she would be able to distinct them.
"Oh, It's okay," beamed Gracie.
Tori furrowed her brow as she glared at Shelia, who sat in her front, she was lucky to know them from another. She couldn't believe she had lied to Gracie just like that.
"Tell me Gracie, did you seriously rely on Shelia's speech?"
Gracie reeled to Tori and gave a confused expression, as she blinked her doe eyes looking from one person on the table to another.
"Oh Jesus." Gracie chuckled, fathoming that Shelia had made a mockery of her sister's thievery.
They all joined her, laughing.
"Well, it's a pity my twin cracks joke like a old Joe, but you slipped for it. I'm Jenny... Tori talks about you five times in a day, like 'if Gracie was to be here she'd know the answer to this'- 'oh! Gracie loves the vampire tales, she's probably reading one right now' and bablah." Jenny mimicked.
"Shut up, Jenny!" Tori quitted Jenny in a bouncy style, whereas she was in spite guffawing.
Gently lacing her hands with Tori in sideway, where no one could see them, Gracie winked at her bestfriend. Tori winked back and tapped hers lightly.
"Holy moly, here they come." The twin in front of Gracie whisper-yelled.
Uniformly, the bestfriends pivoted. Tori snorted and whirled back, unlike Gracie who managed to stare shamelessly at the approaching group of friends. The white hair girl in the middle wore a dim smirk, holding evil behind the pretty face. Her hips swung both way calling like a runaway model, people's awareness. Gracie still sat on the fact that the girl carried a dark aura.
Then her gaze marked on the one on her right side, his legs were genuinely long and lean or the school uniform pants were amazing. Gracie trailed those curious eyes of hers up meeting his melting yet icy blue eyes, his look was ruthless. If there was one thing she wanted to rethink, it was his cheekbone, structuring well with his square jaw, and his lips.
His lower lip plumped out than the upper one, plus it was hell red of a kind. He was perfect. Gracie wondered how it would feel to run hands on those soft looking silky black jet of hair that laid back-
"My ovaries is wet just merely seeing him." the voice sounded like one of the twins. It was Jenny.
"You're so gross, Jenny." Tori frowned in disdained.
Gracie rotated back to their table, she puckered her brow at Jenny whose her hands folded on her chest as she seemed like a fangirl with delight look.
"He's so hot!" Jenny's voice came out in hoarse rather that her high-pitched tone.
"Not as hot as Nicky," Shelia boasted.
Feeling so lost, Gracie put her mind in what the twins had to ague. She let go off her grip on her bottled coconut water and ignored the displeased look on Tori's face. Tori definitely had no interest in what was about to happen.
"No, I disagree, have you seen the way Lewis' eyes drown one, like a an ocean." placing her face in palms, Jenny looked unbreaking at something or someone rather, behind Gracie.
"Huh, well, Nicholas' fire. He burns. Whatcha say, Tori?" Shelia asked and Gracie broke a neck to Tori.
Tori hurled them a confounded guise. Her eyes dabbed almost closing, something she does when not interested.
"I've got no words for you both, I think Pete is better looking." She casted a grin at her boyfriend.
"Eh, Pete is good looking, yes, but better looking, not. Do you see the way they all are, it like they are from different planet." Sheila purported.
Gracie turned back one more time to glance at them, they were four, she speculated if they were truly as dangerous as Tori depicted.
Just at the right moment the fallen angel caught Gracie staring, he wasn't the type to fall for light-haired girls but he could play at little with this one.
Her heart beat halted on discovering he had noticed her nevertheless she didn't turn away, instead she brazenly gaped at him until a word heart-rending winded into her ear.
"Filthy slut."
This was presumed but she prepared not. In the class earlier, lot of letters in tiny sheet were passed to her with the words slut relating written on them in different ink.
With her free hand, Tori grabbed the boy passing by, "Hey you! what the hell did you called my best friend, huh?" she stood on the bench they sat, entirely rebuffing Gracie as she tugged her skirt for her to rest.
"I-"
"Dare to say that again?" She caught the thin, pale looking boy off rudely.
"Skeleton with lanky colorless skin as a cover, why don't you give yourself an appeal in the mirror and shot on how you appear rather than picking a nose in other's."
The boy shivered as everyone including Gracie laughed. He looked round, rejecting on the ball he grew, hence everyone was insulting Gracie, it was a nice shot to give but definitely not the best.
"Hmm... I'm sorry." He apologized, planning to take his leave but Tori gripped him back to his stand as his stagger earn more laughter.
"No, no, we're not done here, Skeleton. You're to atone to my best friend... c'mon, go on." She rose her brow at him.
However, this action got the DEN's attention. Countess peeked with a bright eagerness on her face, same as the rest.
"I-I'm sorry... Gracie."
Gracie underwent a touched at heart. She felt glad to have Tori by her side, it was like her making up for not visiting her all the time.
After the boy disappeared, Gracie watched Tori mounting the table, "What you doing, girl?" Jenny gasped in disbelief, clamping her hand over her mouth.
"Listen up, assholes!" bellowing at the end of her lung, Tori summoned. All Gracie could do was stare at her tall boots, clearly in her front. She was right after all, it was a fishnet.
"I know y'all been going around with a gig that Gracie is a slut. Well, guess what? She's better than anyone in the shitty room." Murmurs grew louder only to annoy Tori, she was dead ready to attack anyone who dared pretend to be a saint, "Y'all know that piece of shit in you cupboard that mustn't leak out, so don't pretend to be a saint cause ya asses still cover up. It may be you tomorrow. It would be appreciated if no one points a bloody finger at her, I would say this. Gracie is the victim in the scenario. So eat up now, Fellas. Thanks." She slumped back on her seat as her heart raced.
"Interesting." The white haired girl sighed, her voice wasn't loud enough in the people's chaos.
Everything just made sense, like a gathered pieces of puzzle. Her interest in the one, just rose high, not only her interest but all of them.
Gracie bit on her smile as the twins grinned from ear to ear, she pressed unto her bestie's hand to alert her. "Thank you." she mouthed to her.
"Anything for you, sweetheart." Tori mouthed back.
And Gracie was delight.