Blackstone Academy: The Rogue

3. Nova Rose

Nova (Female P.O.V) 

Date: September 14, 2238

I yanked open the gym door and rushed inside, stopping near the bleachers. Each one of my classmate's heads swiveled in my direction, taking in my breathless form. I could feel their eyes boring into the side of my head as they spoke in hushed tones.

I mentally scoffed, overhearing pieces of their conversation as half of them pitied while the rest mocked my tardiness.

Rolling my eyes, I looked down at the silver watch adorning my right wrist. The long jagged crack across the center slightly distorted the 9:15 displayed on it.

Wait a minute. That couldn't be right. I shifted my gaze to the clock hanging on the far right next to the stairs leading to the observation room. 9:05 it read.

Shit! Either one or both clocks was wrong, and I had run for nothing. I choose to trust the clock on the wall. Therefore I had ten minutes. At precisely 9:15, our instructor would arrive, and class would commence. Every one of us needed to be waiting for his arrival and finished stretching before then. Our instructor was a stickler for time and had zero tolerance for anyone wasting his.

I walked to the side of the room, unconsciously caressing the cool metal wrapped around my wrist.

Anyone else would have replaced the broken watch, but I couldn't. It and the matching locket around my neck were the last things I owned connecting me to my parents, so throwing it away wasn't an option. Getting it fixed was also not a solution since watch repair shops were a thing of the past.

The gym door cracking open brought me back to reality as my childhood friend, Troy, entered. His golden-brown irises with specks of green scanned the room before landing on me. Simultaneously we moved towards each other, only for a five-foot-three obstruction to veer into our path.

Carlie...Cicily... no, Cindy. That was her name. She was one of many girls thirsting after Troy like he was the last drop of water for miles in the desert, but unlike the others, she was a lot bolder and didn't feel an ounce of shame.

"Troy," she breathed, flicking her bleach blonde ponytail over one bony shoulder as she plastered her body to his side. "Can I talk with you for a sec?"

"Su-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, she led him to the bleachers far out of my earshot. All I could do was watch as her red-painted lips moved a mile a minute while Troy smiled politely and nodded ever so often.

Shit. Knowing how to read lips would really be handy right now.

Oh, well. I continued to stretch, and not long after, Troy stormed over to me, leaving behind a red-faced Cindy that was shooting daggers at me.

My eyes narrowed to slits as I took in the lopsided grin on Troy's face. "What did you say to her?"

He looked me up and down while taking his sweet time to reply, "Nothing."

He wrapped one arm around my shoulders, reeling me into his side. "She didn't glare at you. Stop imagining things."

I sighed deeply and clasped my hands together to keep from murdering him. "I know what I saw, Troy. And I hope you didn't use me to reject her."

Silence. He didn't say a single word as he released me and raised his lower left leg behind him.

"You did, didn't you?!"

"No."

I was hesitant to believe him because of the look Cindy gave me. But truthfully, she probably would have done that even if Troy wasn't around. Not because I had done anything to her personally but just because I simply existed.