Chapter 2
Kierra's POV
"Ugh! I thought that class would never end!" Emily groaned in exhaustion as we both stepped out of our first class for the day: Biology.
I smiled at her familiar actions and asked, "Are you tired already? What happened to the girl who was so eager to resume school yesterday? You know, to get her 'freedom'."
Emily rolled her eyes at me and retorted, "Let's leave the past in the past, okay?"
"That was yesterday!" I reminded her.
"Whatever! I'm just tired and I can't believe we still have seven more periods to go. School sucks!" she hissed. I shook my head at her childlike actions and was about to mock her yet again when I felt a familiar presence behind me.
I tensed up as his shoulder barely brushed mine and the manly scent of his cologne flooded my nostrils. Now a little weak in the knees, I slowly cocked my head to the side and locked eyes with the guy of my dreams: Ethan Grayson. His bright, blue eyes were like clear pools of water, beckoning me to get lost in their depths.
And I almost did but before that could happen, he looked away and the moment ended. I looked at the floor and took deep breaths to try and calm my racing heart.
"Get a hold of yourself, Kierra O'Connor!" I chastised myself internally.
"How was your first class? And why do you look like you've given up on life?" Ethan was saying to Emily.
"Maybe because I have," was her curt response. Ethan rolled his eyes and turned to me again. "I really don't know how you've managed to stay friends with her for so long."
Before I could answer though, Emily snarled, "And what is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say I don't deserve my best friend?"
"Emily," Ethan spoke slowly in a pacifying tone, "you know that's not what I meant. It was a joke."
"Well your jokes aren't funny! Not everyone is like you, okay? Not everyone enjoys being trapped within the four walls of this prison for eight damn hours!" she yelled furiously in his face before storming off, leaving everyone staring silently and awkwardly at Ethan.
Thankfully, the bell rang just then shattering the silence and everyone quickly hurried to their next classes until only Ethan and I stood alone in the vast hallway.
"Well," he spoke up, running his hand through his hair, "I should probably get to class too. Later, little Key."
"Yeah. Bye Ethan," I mumbled, giving a little wave as I watched him walk away slowly until he turned the corner and disappeared from my sight. Now all alone, I palmed my forehead and paced around as I thought about Emily's action.
For as long as I had known her, I knew that Emily had always felt overshadowed by her brother. They were twins but Ethan had always been the 'perfect' one. He was the one with the good grades, good looks, athletic abilities, multitalented and good at everything he did, the popular one, the responsible one...
Everyone treated Ethan like a god even their parents and unfortunately for Emily, she'd never been able to match up to Ethan's standards. Her response to that was to treat him as bad as she could.
I knew she loved her brother very much but that was her way to cope; she took all her hurt out on him like what just happened now. School had never been Emily's thing but it was for Ethan hence the outburst.
This wasn't the first time and it probably wasn't going to be the last. The only problem now was that she was going to make me late for my next class.
"Emily!" I drawled tiredly, throwing my head back as I headed towards the only place where she could be.
***
"You do know that we're gonna be late for class, right?" I said with mock anger in my voice as I sidled up to Emily on the bench she was sitting on.
"You're talking like I care," she said without looking at me. "I know you don't."
A brief silence fell over us as we both stared at the open football field, the wind softly breezing past our faces. Slowly, I reached for her hand and squeezed lightly.
"You do know that nothing's gonna take me away from you, right? I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what," I spoke frankly.
"Yeah," she expressed, glancing at me, "I know."
"And you know that Ethan didn't mean what he said."
"Yeah. I know," she reiterated. "I don't know why I reacted like I did. It's not his fault school sucks."
"Does that mean you'll apologize?" I asked hopefully. She chuckled and shook her head. "Absolutely not."
"Oh well. It was worth a shot." I shrugged, looking back at the field ahead of us. I was reminded of the reason that this particular spot became special to Emily.
This was the same place she'd been sitting as she watched her then boyfriend and Ethan's best friend, Rory, make out with her friend (not me), Celine right after a football game.
After it happened, she continued to come back to the same bench, at first to cry but eventually she stopped crying and would just come here to reflect or to escape the world.
Whenever there wasn't a game or practice wasn't going on, the field was usually very peaceful, breezy and quiet. Just like it was right now. I almost didn't want to leave. Almost.
"Emily, don't you think we should get back inside?" I inquired, anxious to get back to class.
"Oh come on Kierra. Let's just wait a little longer. Second period is probably almost over. Pretty please!" she pleaded with her hands clasped and a little pout on her face. She knew I couldn't say no to her when she was like this and I didn't. I rolled my eyes at her but didn't ask to leave anymore.
We spent the rest of second period, sitting on the bleachers at the football field, enjoying the peace and quiet. But immediately after second period, I didn't hesitate to drag her back into the main school building, ignoring her protests.
On our way to her locker though, we ran into trouble and her name was Celine Miller.