Chapter 2
For some unexplainable reason, Carlisle and I have always been in the same class, ever since middle school. It's safe to say that I've known him longer than I've known any of the friends I have now. The only time we had ever talked to each other, was once time last year, when he accidentally shoved me in the hallway.
He gave an apology so swift, that I couldn't even memorise his voice.
"We may not need his signature, I'm sure not everyone is as sadistic as he is." Olive boldly announced, not caring that he was behind us and might have heard that comment.
I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but the homeroom teacher walked in, putting on a straight face. Her eyes spelt discernment and discipline, just by one glance, it was obvious that the school gave our class the toughest teacher it had.
"Listen here students, I'll be firm and brief with you all. So pay close attention to the rules of the class..."
I zoned out immediately she said the first three words, and fixed my mind on helping Olive with the petition. We were sixty seven students in total, Carlisle included.
And the spring dance was three months away, that should be more than enough time to get everyone's signatures and demand our dance. My cheeks reddened at the thought of Ace picking me up and showing me off to the whole school. Infact, I was so invested in my fantasy, that I didn't hear the teacher call out to me.
"For heaven's sake! Peyton West!" She yelled, standing directly in front of me, slamming her palm hard against my desk. I snapped out of my delusions and stared into the cold face of reality.
"Ma'am?!" I yelped, feeling the sudden urge to yell, horribly making a bad first impression.
The teacher made a face at me, and folded her arms, I take it she didn't fancy me much. "Congratulations! You've won the first day starters pack!" She cried out, making excited gestures with her hands.
"I did? What did I win?" I eagerly inquired, failing to see where this short sighted conversation was headed. My excited fingers strummed against the desk, expecting a reward for doing something I was quite sure of.
"You won yourself detention during your lunch break." she plainly told me, wasting no time to rule this class with her iron fist. I was tempted to groan, but was grateful she only made me wait during my lunch break.
It was only after she had said it, that I stood up in realisation, just remembering the plans I had scheduled.
"Wait lunch?!"
The whole class looked at me abruptly, causing me to feel self conscious. From the side of my left eye, I could see Olive toss her head from side to side.
"Is that a problem?" The teacher asked, resting her hands on her table, staring intently at me.
"It's only the first day of school, and my lunch break is really important..."
"Fine then, I'll cancel, since it's so important to you." She inserted, cutting me off.
I heaved a sigh of relief, and sat back down, glad that everything worked itself out in the end.
"Be sure to stay behind after school for an hour's detention. Surely you don't have anything important to do on the first day." Her Stern eyes met my flustered gaze.
She was sending me a message, that if I wasn't careful, I might end up on her blacklist this year, something I desperately wanted to avoid.
"No problem at all." I said in defeat, burying my face in my notebook, glad that I'd still get to see Ace during my lunch break.
The teacher went on with her explanation, ignoring my corner of the classroom. I relaxed my tensed shoulders and reclined into my seat.
Olive took out her phone and discreetly typed me a text, she flashed her screen to me, allowing me read what she had written down.
“Don't look now, but Carlisle has had his creepy eye on you for a while now. If I were you, I'd steer clear of him. Pervert much?”
I gasped and immediately looked over my shoulder in his direction, only to catch him scrubbing into his notebook, ignoring everyone in the room. I shrugged my shoulders at Olive, who had once again proven how much she overreacted over everything.
"See you all tomorrow morning, except you Peyton, I'll be seeing you in detention." The black haired woman with bangs told me while taking her leave.
As soon as she left, the girls in the class all flocked at my desk, like they usually did, sympathising with me.
Growing up, I had always had the spotlight on me, so it was only natural that Ace would ask me to be his girlfriend. Next to being one of the top scorers in the school and an incredible athlete, becoming the quarterback's girlfriend became another added accomplishment for me.
I felt good this year, aside this detention thing, I was looking forward to living every day in highschool like it was my last.
Lunch
I stood outside the boy's locker room for close to ten minutes, waiting for some kind of signal or a text from Ace. Some people who passed by started to imagine the craziest things about me.
I had asked Olive to come wait with me, but she wouldn't, she kept on insisting that she had some urgent student council work to take care of.
"Where are you?" I stared into my phone, asking for the tenth time, wondering why he wasn't answering any of my texts. My lunch break would soon be over, and I was feeling very hungry right about now.
Tired of waiting, I sent my boyfriend a text, telling him that I had left already. It started to get really embarrassing once I realised how I must have looked, waiting outside the boy's locker room for a make out session with Ace.
The picture perfect definition of slutty.
Definitely not the kind of girl I'd want anyone to peg me for, I thought as I mindlessly walked down the stairs, failing to realise I missed a step.
"Aa—h!" I bellowed, falling straight down, scared of twisting my ankle, or worse hurting my face!
Just as I was about to fall straight into my demise, a firm pair of hands gripped my sides, restoring my balance. A strong manly cologne intoxicated my nose, making me sniff whomever this was discreetly.
The soft fabric of their hoodie grazed my cheeks, I had to fight back the urge to nestle into this person's clothing. His firm trip loosened, but did not let go of me yet, his fingers gently stroked my sides, calming me down.
Their warm breath fanned against my skin, causing my lower lip to quiver out of their own free will. I finally opened my petrified eyes and stared at the grey hoodie in front of me.
"Huh...is this..." Before I could finish my sentence, he retracted his hands and shoved them into his pockets, then turned to descend the stairs.
I was tempted to call out to him, or hold him back to thank him for saving me from falling. But the rumours about him stopped me from doing so.
"It's my last year, I think I'll stay away from trouble this time." I told myself, running as fast as I could, hoping not to run into him again.
After all, who would want to be friends with a rumoured murderer?
An hour, felt like an eternity when one was in detention, most especially when your teacher's eyesight rivalled that of an eagle's.
My phone kept on vibrating in my bag, but I couldn't even pick it up to respond to whomever was texting me.
To top off my misery, the weather suddenly worsened, hinting that it was going to rain soon.
"You're dismissed Peyton, I have a plant that doesn't need the rain to tend to. You're one lucky girl." And just like that, my homeroom teacher stood up and left the empty classroom, hurrying her footsteps to get home to that plant of hers.
I placed my hand on my chest, and whipped out my phone to respond the texts that almost made my battery die.
While scrolling through, I ran out of the school, to quickly get to the bus station and catch the next bus.
My house was far from the school, which was why Ace picked me up, or I subsequently had to take the bus.
The wind grew stronger, causing tall trees to clap their hands and shed their leaves unto the sidewalk. I stared at my contacts, digesting the ten plus messages Olive had sent me.
But not one single text from my boyfriend himself, and worse of all, his car wasn't parked outside, he had left without me.
This thought haunted my mind so badly, that I ended up crossing the street without looking the second time, and failed to realise the speeding car that didn't look like it was going to stop.
I froze like a deer caught in front of headlights, too shaken to find the strength to move my frightened feet. As a last resort, I used both my hands to shield my eyes from the miserable face of death, defending myself till the very end.
Swoosh
It wasn't the breeze that moved me out of my position, I felt a pair of strong arms rest around my waist, pulling my chest firmly against them.
My back landed lightly on the side walk, the pair of arms caging my fall.
I widened my eyes in shock, marvelled at just what, or rather...who it was that just saved my life.
My eyelids ceremoniously opened, a powerful gush of wind following after, pushing the grey hoodie off the wearer's head.
Sexy locks of black hair danced with the rhythm of the wind, exposing the piercing brown eyes that gazed directly into my mesmerized blue eyes.
He brought his face closer to mine, his soft lips brushed against my ears, as he parted them to speak.
"Are you hurt?" He whispered into my ears, seizing my breath at that very moment.