⚜Guardian⚜

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

When Lacey collapsed on her bed twenty minutes later, her new roommate was stumbling around, completely drunk. Lacey eyed her own suitcase, kicking it haphazardly across the room. Alyssa, he new roommate, was a short blond girl who's bed was across the room from hers. Lacey looked up, noting Alyssa's drunken stupor. She had been sort of relieved when she discovered that her roommate was an alcoholic. She could have been a murderer, a pyromaniac, or something worse, yet she was only alcoholic, something easily visible and not harmful.

Lacey couldn't help thinking back to today, and how everything had ensued. She thought of how handsome, how handsome the blond boy had looked, even as he was beating the life out of Theo. She visualized how perfect his shining violet eyes looked, and how they seemed to pierce her soul. She could still remember how he had held her against his body, his steady heartbeat jumping against the skin of her back... A sharp buzzing noise interrupted her thoughts, and she jumped.

"Relax, Lassy, it's dinner time," Alyssa slurred. Lacey sighed, smoothing some gel in her hair and fixing the style before heading to the dining hall, which was on the first floor. They passed through a nice looking living room, with several couches, 2 TVs, a foosball table, a pool table, and a drink machine.

"Oh my goodness! This place is awesome!" Lacey squealed excitedly. Maybe life at Stratfield wouldn't be so bad, she mused.

"Yeah, the lounge is great! Jaime's dad paid for it," Alyssa explained. Lacey cast a sidelong glance at Alyssa, realizing that she sounded almost...sober. Alyssa tripped over her own feet then, immediately casting that thought away. They entered a huge dining hall with long, rectangular tables. She went and sat at the first open seat she saw, relieved that there was one. A brunette eyed her carefully, whispering something quickly to her friend.

"You do know these seats are reserved by last name, right?" the brunette snapped snarkily. Lacey swallowed, her face heating up quickly. She spluttered for a moment before standing, realizing she had sat on the place card.

"Nice one, Jaime," a girl next to her jeered, handing her a high five. Lacey swallowed, unable to speak.

"Go on, blondie," the brunette sneered. Lacey flushed even redder, walking away quickly. She saw now that there were letters on the edge of the tables, letters indicating last names. She looks around quickly, but no one seemed to have noticed her slip up. Schmidt, she thought to herself. I'm looking for S. She found S, seeing the place card for Schmidt. She sat gratefully, keeping her head down in embarrassment.

"Hey there, gumdrop," Theo said, turning and facing Lacey. Lacey groaned internally, resisting the urge to smack her forehead.

"Ain't it great that we were placed at the same table. What a coincidence!" Theo said, placing his hand on her shoulder. She gently brushed his hand off, trying to be subtle.

"Well, it's not like there are many tables for 'S'," she stated, looking around.

"Actually, there's two," he announced, pointing at another table. She saw the blond boy sitting down, and her heart stopped then. His movements were so fluid, so lively, that he literally took her breath away. His devastating good looks were enough to capture many eyes in the room, and she felt a stab of jealousy pierce her stomach. He turned then, his eyes meeting hers. She forgot how to move away. He lifted his hand then, raising it in a wave. She lifted her hand, too, but then Theo moved his arm around her, waving back. She looked down, realizing that his last name was the same as Theo's. She flushed, dropping her hand. The blonde's face twisted in anger quickly, and she realized she had offended him. She dropped her hand, and Theo left his arm on her shoulders.

"You two are related?" she hissed suddenly. Theo laughed, and her eyes flitted to the blond boy instinctively. He was still visibly angry, but was making small talk with a blond haired girl. She was flawless, with shiny pink lip gloss and dark, smoky eyes. She didn't seem afraid of him, as Lacey had been, but more...condescending, like she had known him for a long time. She was immediately envious of how familiar they looked, of how she could know that much about him.