Our English Literature teacher is probably the oldest in the school and will probably retire soon. Her grey hair is tied in a conservative bun and her glasses are held by those golden straps that no one uses anymore.
The door opens. The entire class falls silent. Even Mrs Stone stops talking.
I pause mid-scribble and lift my head.
A flushed Kim peeks from the door, her hair in disarray.
Snickers and laughs erupt in the class.
“You’re ten minutes late, Ms Reed,” Mrs Stone scolds.
“I… um…” Kim stumbles upon her own words.
I wince, feeling her discomfort under my skin. She always hated being put in the spotlight.
“What’s the matter, Berly, did you lose your tongue along with the fat?” Someone taunts from the side.
Mrs Stone shoots him a glare. “Another word and that’ll be detention for you, Mr Robbins.”
His face turns ashen, and I want to get up and hug Mrs Stone. She’s probably the only teacher who doesn’t turn a blind eye on the bullying. At least from insignificant people like Robbins. I doubt she’d do anything if one of the ‘Elites’ were involved.
A shadow appears behind Kim’s fidgeting body.
I stop breathing.
It’s like the earth has opened and is now sucking me into its depths to be buried alive.
Aiden places both his hands on Kim’s shoulders.
He has his filthy hands on my friend’s fucking shoulders.
Not to be dramatic, but I think I’m going to throw up.
His gaze meets mine and something sparks in it. A corner of his lips lifts in a cruel, psychotic smirk.
That’s it.
I’m going to kill him.
I’m going to sacrifice my entire future to save the world from his evil.
The smirk falls as fast as it showed. Still gripping Kim by the shoulders, he flashes Mrs Stone his golden boy’s smile. “I’m sorry. Kimberly wasn’t feeling well so I had to take her to the nurse.”
Is he for real?
I’m mortified when Mrs Stone’s expression shifts from scolding to acceptance. “Are you all right, Ms Reed?”
Kim nods without saying a word.
“That was nice of you, Mr King.” Mrs Stone offers him a smile. “Both of you take a seat.”
My jaw is probably dropping to the floor. I can’t believe this.
The dark hole from earlier expands until I can hardly breathe.
He must’ve done something to Kim, and now, he’s making everyone believe he was helping her.
I search his face for any signs.
He’s smiling, mask firmly in place, appearing every bit of the golden boy everyone envies.
The girls want him. The boys want to be him.
But none of them sees that emptiness inside him.
The void.
The… nothingness.
They only know this Aiden. The one he puts on for show. The image he projects their way. They’re too blinded by his fake light to see the shadows.
But isn’t that better? Isn’t the lie better than the truth?
After all, the truth destroys before setting anyone free.
My heart hammers with each step he takes. This time, it’s not fear for me.
It’s for what he’s done to Kim.
I knew that kicking him would come back to bite me, but I never thought it would be this fast.
Or this lethal.
I never thought he’d go after Kim.
My lips tremble as I try to meet my best friend’s gaze and make sure she’s okay. Her head is bowed. Curtains of her mint-coloured hair camouflage her expression from me and the world.
Aiden stops beside me. I catch a glimpse of his hand slipping in his pocket before I concentrate on my notebook, gripping the pencil so hard, it almost breaks.
His body looms over mine like a grim reaper and his eyes burn holes at the top of my head.
A part of me wants to look up and glare back. Like I’ve done for the past two years.
But back then, I didn’t have the slightest clue of what he was capable of.
Now, I do.
After what seems like forever, he saunters to the vacant seat behind me. The seat I was saving for Kim.
She fidgets beside the only empty seat in the class. In front of Xander.
The latter gives her a taunting look as if daring her to sit.
“Ms Reed?” Mrs Stone’s impatient tone calls. “Is something the matter?”
“No,” Kim whispers.
“Then please take a seat so we can continue the class.”
Kim slides into her seat slowly as if afraid there’s a bomb waiting there.
Cole flashes a look behind him to Kim and Ronan winks at me from in front of me.
We’re surrounded by the enemy.