CHASE HAS BEEN super quiet since my little renovation of his half of the dorm room and to be honest, I'm kinda fearing for my life. Chase doesn't have the best track record around Caldwell for being civil and fair and there's also the whole mysterious, apparently super terrifying reason why he's here, so I assume he's planning something big that could ultimately and most probably will end in my death.
But instead of worrying, I've been drowning myself in paint and graphite. I have more freedom with my art in this school than previously and I'm milking it for all I've got.
"You do have other classes, right?" Miss Rowan smirks as she helped me slide my portrait into the protective slip. I laugh lightly and nod my head.
"I do but they're not as fun as spending time with you." I grin cheekily at her as I carry the canvas across the room and slide it into it's respective slot.
"Butt-kissing will not get you extra points, Hayden." She chides as she takes a seat behind her wooden paint stained desk.
"Of course not. But what about a bottle of wine?" I return to my empty easel and pick up my bag and jacket from the floor. Miss Rowan shakes her head as I slip my bag onto my shoulders, "Two? Three? Oh my god, Miss Rowan. You really know how to party."
Miss Rowan chuckles as I leave the classroom, hooking my jacket over my arm as I return to the swarming sea of students. I head in the completely other direction of my next class and instead I push my way towards the Gymnasium. I had learned from Noah that there was a Caldwell swim team and I wanted to check it out.
I was a semi-casual team member of the Holden Bay Sharks and I say semi-casual because I couldn't be bothered waking up at five in the morning to swim laps.
I stop in front of the large, paper filled cork board and find the sign up sheet for the swim team. I was scribbling down my name when I felt a shadow loom over me.
"Signing up for the swim team?" I turn around, noticing Luke standing on the other side of the small corridor, his arms folded across his chest.
"I thought I'd give it a go." I shrug as Luke moves across the hall towards me. He takes the pen out of my hand and signs his name up directly underneath mine. His writing was cursive and so fancy, I was kinda mesmerised watching the movement of the pen.
"The swim team at Caldwell is probably the only sport team that goes to competitions. The soccer team smokes pot under the bleachers every training and we don't have a football team because it got too violent. We also had a volleyball team but that also got too violent." Luke explains and I internally cringe at my mistake to willingly sign up for anything in this school.
"Maybe I should've picked Geography club instead." I scoff as Luke lets out a small chuckle. We both turn and begin walking towards our next class. I was dreading having to sit through another hour before lunch but the promise of a large bowl of delicious chicken carbonara will be worth it.
I found it easy to talk to Luke for some reason. He did most of the talking though while I just listened, but I honestly didn't mind. And before I knew it I was outside my counselling room. Kill me now.
"So, I guess I'll see you at training?" Luke questions with a large grin on his face. He reminded me of an adorable little puppy.
I nod, "Only if it's physically and spiritually possible for me to wake up that early."
Luke laughs and waves goodbye as I swivel on my heels and open the wooden door. I stroll into the familiar room completely drowning in yellow. Counselling was compulsory for all students in Caldwell. It's completely dependent on our class timetable, so my counselling sessions are for one hour on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Obviously today was a group session which I completely forgot, hence why I was slightly startled by the small group of students gathered in the insanely bright room.
I take a seat on an empty wooden chair in the circle of matching wooden chairs and drop my bag to the floor. As if the fates are conspiring against me, Chase and Levi were in my group. Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Good morning students!" Miss Oakley announces cheerily as she flies into the room, her floral kimono flowing behind her as she walks swiftly. She was too chipper for a Monday morning. She definetly has to be doing crack or some other drug to make her so annoyingly happy.
The response wasn't as cheery as hers, obviously because no one wanted to fucking be here. Me especially.
"For today's lesson we will all be making new friends! How exciting! I will put you into pairs and you have to tell your partner twenty things about yourself." She explains from behind her large wooden desk. Everyone in the room groans instantly at the thought. Miss Oakley picks up her holographic clipboard and smiles the students in the room, "I had so much fun assigning you into pairs. It felt like christmas came early!"
If the highlight of her day was putting trouble making students into pairs, then this lady needs a damn life. I would bet my left arm that she owned at least ten cats in the one-bedroom apartment she rents on her own.
"Okay, Allison Williams and Renne Harris." She begins to explain and I felt my fingers beginning to pockets of my denim jacket. Please not Chase. Please not Chase. Living with him is worse enough but actually getting to know him—ugh, I can already feel the bile rising up my throat.
Students begin moving their chairs to sit with their partners, the wooden legs scratching the surface of the floor and making an incredibly unpleasant sound. And then my name leaves the mouth of Miss Oakley and I pause from grimacing at everyone else in the room.
Luckily, I wasn't placed with chase. I was beginning to think someone up there loved me before realising that instead of Chase I had been placed with the second worse possible human being in the room; Levi Addams.
Reluctantly, I drag my chair over to him because god forbid that Levi would willingly move closer to me on his own accord. I drop my bag to the ground and sag into my chair, in no mood to talk to this emotionless void before me. I glance across the room, noticing Chase had been placed with a cute little brunette who was giggling as he whispered in her ear.
I screw my nose up and groan, turning my attention back to Levi who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. At least we had one thing in common.
"What's your favourite colour?" I direct my question at Levi, trying to ignore the disturbing giggling echoing from the other side of the office. It wasn't even a cute laugh it was similar to that of a mother hen in labour.
Levi grunts, "Black."
"Of course it is." I mutter under my breath as I glance down at my lap. What kinda questions are we suppose to be asking anyway. "Favourite season?"
"Winter." Levi answers in yet another monotonous word. The persistent giggling distracts me once more and I send a sharp glare at the bothersome couple. Chase turns his razor blade jaw and his gaze catches mine. A cocky smirk stretches across his face as he winks. He fucking winks at me.
Startled slightly, I snap my stare back at Levi who was staring out the window at the overcast sky, "Got any siblings?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Yes."
"What the f—that's not even a proper answer." I frown in confusion before sighing, "You know just because you can't fell emotions doesn't mean you get to act like a blatant asshole."
Levi's gaze turns to mine, his dark eyes piercing and cold, "Actually, I can."
Between Levi's completely uninteresting answers and the damn chicken-birthing giggle, I was going out of my goddamn mind. I grumble under my breath and rub my temples before sticking my hand up in the air.
"Miss Oakley, may we go out for some fresh air and a walk?" I question over the chatter of the room and she smiles softly from her chair behind her large desk. She claps her hands and rises to her feet.
"What a brilliant idea Hayden! You can take supervisor Nancy with you." She explains, gesturing to the petite lady standing by the door with thick black bangs and wearing a brown turtle neck. I stand from my chair and swipe my bag from the ground as Levi stands as well with a hefty sigh. But nonetheless, he follows.
We walk out to the overgrown soccer field and begin slowly strolling around the faded white lines in complete silence. I didn't mind though, it was a hell of lot better than sitting in that cramped room for another second. Supervisor Nancy walked a good sixty feet behind us, most probably because she was terrified of Levi.
"Do you enjoy the fact that people are scared of you?" I question, genuinely curious as I glance up at Levi's clenched jaw and incredibly handsome face.
"I wouldn't say enjoy but I don't like humans so it's not that bad." He shrugs and I'm stunned for a few seconds that I got an answer longer than one word.
"What about Chase and Noah?" I continue even though Levi being friends with Noah is understandable because I have never met anyone so kind and so adorable before. He always fixes my bad moods that are often brought on my my stupid roommate.
"They're an exception." Levi mutters, kicking the orange leaves littering the grass ground as we continue to walk side by side, "When I first arrived, no one talked to me. Then one day at lunch Chase sits down and starts talking to me like we've known each other for fucking years."
Levi scoffs and it kinda sounded like an amused laugh. But I'm reminded quickly that Levi would rather pull his ear drums out with tweezers than laugh. Trust me, he's told me on multiple occasions.
"I didn't like Noah at the start because he was loud and annoying," Levi continues, "But now that fucking sunshine idiot is my best friend."
"You should have the kind of thinking with everyone you meet." I advised, sticking my hands into the pockets of my denim jacket as a shiver run downs my spine. The chilly breeze sweeps over the field, picking up the dead leaves and gently throwing them around.
"It's too tiring." He shrugs and a loud huff leaves my lips as I roll my eyes, "Stop judging me because I don't feel what you do. You probably make the same amount of mistakes as I have if not more."
Well, I haven't burnt someone's house down before because I didn't like their cat but sure...
"Hey, I'm not judging you Levi." I glance up at him as his dark gaze locks with mine and I give a small smile, "And of course I've made mistakes. Life didn't come with instructions and if it did I probably wouldn't follow them anyway because I'm too fucking stubborn."
Levi laughs slightly and it was so small that I almost missed it. The key word being almost. I lean my head forward as he turns away instantly from my gaze. A large grin stretches across my face as I stare up at him.
"Was that—was that a smile I just saw?" I tease cheekily as Levi clears his throat and quickly moves his lips to get rid of his small cute little grin. I cheer loudly as I throw my arms up in the air, "Holy shit! I made you smile!"
I begin dancing on the spot with my arms in the air, most definetly embarrassing him. Levi grumbles and asks me to stop as he glances back at the school to make sure no one was watching. I cared not, I was having too much fun teasing the ever stoic Levi Addams.
I then calm down as I fall into step next to him and nudge his arm with mine, "You like me."
"No." Levi grumbles, instantly back to monosyllables.
I giggle at his expressionless face, "Yeah you do. I saw that little cute grin, Levi. You can't change my mind, Addams"