All I Wanted Was You

Two

2 

Hayley's POV 

The first few days were ok. "Ok" as in, I didn't get hit by a bus, I didn't spill spaghetti over anyone's head and I actually managed to sort of keep up in class. I hadn't made many friends though, and I kept getting lost ALL THE FRICKING TIME. Was this place constantly changing, like the magical staircase in Harry Potter? Or was I just stupid?  

Anyway, everything was ok, until that day. 

The last class of the day was chemistry, and luckily I managed to not be late this time. I reached the table I shared with my lab partner-some guy named Jack-just as the bell rang, and sat down. I groaned when I realised that Jack was absent-again. He was absent half the time, and the other half he was late. I wondered how the hell he hadn't been expelled yet. 

"Listen up, class!" crowed our teacher, 50-or-so-year-old Mrs. Henry, in her irritating voice. "Today will be a genuinely exciting class for most of you, as you will be working with..." she paused for effect, "toxic chemicals."  

I could feel the eyes rolling all through the class. To Mrs. Henry, even toothpaste was a toxic chemical. "Now, I want you all to be very safe! Don't forget to put on your goggles!" She chuckled. "But first, you must understand what you'll be doing, naturally..." And here came the hard part. Listening. 

I paid as much attention as I could while she blabbered on, taking notes and trying my best to understand. Long story short, we were supposed to mix up something blue with something transparent, stick a piece of paper in it and observe the color the paper took. Wow. Exciting. 

"I want you all to work in teams, no exceptions!" squealed Mrs. Henry, eyeing me with raised eyebrows. "I see Mr. Barakat is absent AGAIN." She sighed, looking around the class. "Oh, Mr. Ramsay!" I turned my head to see a blond boy at the back of the class snap out of his daydream with wide eyes.  

"Er... yes?"  

"Your partner is absent as well." 

He glanced to the empty spot beside him. "So it seems." A few people chuckled. 

Mrs. Henry frowned. "You will be working with Miss Williams today. Come on over here." He groaned and finally pulled himself up, dragging his feet over to my table. He let himself fall on the empty chair like a wet rag, his head heavily resting in his hand while he drummed his fingers on the table. Well, he seemed enthusiastic.  

The lab was a disaster. I was incapable of doing anything right, and that Ramsay guy-I didn't even know his first name-wasn't helping. He'd managed to get back on his feet, but that was about the greatest of his achievements. Apart from that, all he did was pass annoying comments. 

"Ever notice how much your hands shake?" he asked at some point. "You should get that checked, you might have a serious disease-" 

"Shut up, will you!? I'm trying to do something here!" 

"No seriously," he continued, "They're moving so much, they're probably possessed by a lost soul lingering among the living...."  

"Ugh! How do you come up with this stuff? And why am I the only one working here? I could use some fricking help!"  

He cocked his head to one side, completely ignoring my point. "Fricking? It's funny how girls never say "fuck" don't you think?" 

I couldn't take it anymore. I spun on my heels and violently pointed my index finger at his nose. "I said-" I stopped short. The hand I was pointing at him with was holding one of the test tubes, and my sudden movement had made half the liquid in it spill all over his shirt. Shit.  

He looked down in horror and back up at me. And suddenly, a smile spread across his face. "Oh my god! I'm gonna turn into a mutant ninja turtle!" I laughed. 

"Mr. Ramsay!" my head snapped towards the shrill voice who had yelled that. Mrs. Henry and her assistant were staring at Ramsay in horror. My smile vanished.  

Suddenly, the two women gripped his arms and pulled him to the front of the class. Mrs. Henry pulled his shirt off so quickly it took me a while to process what was happening. But man, was he HOT. I quickly looked away and shook my head. I was such an idiot. Still, I couldn't help but smile again. 

Josh's POV 

Before I could stop her, the old crone half-ripped my shirt off and shoved it in the sink. I wanted to protest and be pissed off, but another feeling took over.  

I quickly covered as much of my body as I could with my arms and glanced behind me. No, I couldn't glance behind me. I couldn't bear to look at them. I knew instinctively that they were all staring at me. Every single person in the class. Gawking. Judging. I didn't want them to see me, to see what I really looked like. I didn't want them to see my scars. I was terrified. I suddenly forgot how to suck air into my lungs and I could feel myself start shaking with shame and embarrassment. 

The assistant misunderstood my shaking. "Oh, you poor thing, you must be so cold! I'll bring you another shirt!" She disappeared behind a small door and I followed her slowly. My feet felt like two huge bricks. I shut my eyes tightly when my vision became blurry. I urged myself not to cry. It would make things so much worse. 

And suddenly, all the shame was replaced by anger. Hatred. Towards that little bitch for ruining everything, towards that horrible snake of a woman for doing this to me, towards all of THEM, staring and judging, but most of all towards myself. I was a sick, broken person, and I would never be anything else. No matter how much I tried to forget. No matter how much I tried to change, to ignore what I used to be. No matter how much time I managed to pretend I was something else, I would always be reminded of who I was.  

Miserable, useless, pathetic little Josh.