A Way to Pass Time

4

Ch. 4

"Hannah?" Peter called and I shut my eyes tightly. No way in hell that this was possible. No way that Kale freaking White was Peter's psychology teacher.

Don't get the wrong idea, we're not related, we just have the same last name. Because of that, we were always forced to sit near each other in our senior year, him eighteen and me sixteen. We ended up going to the same college and we always ended up bumping into each other. We weren't exactly friends but we were more than just acquaintances. We didn't even talk to each other that much. He was a typical Golden and I was Gray.

I tried to rack my brain to figure out what he was studying in college and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise that he chose to a psychologist teacher.

"Is something wrong with her?" I heard him ask.

Of course something's wrong, dipshit! YOU'RE what's wrong with me! Maybe he didn't remember me. It's been three years since I've seen him. He probably forgot about me and he would just ignore me. Yes, that's what would happen. Slowly, I took my notebook away from my face.

That is not what fucking happened.

I saw recognition in his blue-gray eyes. He hadn't really changed in the last few years. He still had his brown hair and a bumpy nose from that one fight he had in high school. He broke his nose but the other boy was just a twitching piece of meat back then. He had some stubble on his jaw, and he had more muscle on him than I remembered but he was still Kale White.

"Hannah?"

That was it.

I threw down my notebook and bolted. I sprinted down the hallways, trying to find the damn stairs. Why the hell was this school so friggin' big. Oh shit, I could hear him following behind me, calling my name. I look back and see him charging at me like a bull and I was the red cape. Suddenly, he leaps at me.

Uh-oh.

I heard a thud and suddenly I was on the ground, firmly pinned by Kale as he grabbed my hands behind my back. I was gasping for air but so was he. I wanted to die. I didn't care that the floor was dirty with dust and dirt, I just kissed the ground and didn't even care.

"Hell, Hannah." He panted. "It really is you."

Well shit.

I felt the vibrations of more footsteps through the floor. Peter. "What's wrong with you, Hannah? Why did you run?"

Kale grabbed my shoulders and hauled me up to my feet like a limp rag doll. I hung my head in defeat and humiliation. Even if they didn't mean it, the Goldens had set a trap for me and I fell for it. I reached inside my pocket and shoved the money he gave me at Peter. Just as quickly, I turned on my heel and walked towards the exit of the school.

They didn't stop me and I walked the streets of Denver with no destination in mind. It was freezing, the fluffy snow that had fallen today was becoming ice. There weren't a lot of people walking, all of them were in nice warm cars or in their cozy homes.

What a depressing week.

I didn't feel like going home, so I went to the bookstore. I had my own key so I let myself in and turned on the lights. It seemed so dim and dusty, desolate. I didn't want to think. I wanted to be a mindless Gray, so I started to dust the neglected books that have made friends with the dust bunnies.

Why was I so weird? Why did I like to set myself up for humiliation and disappointment? I didn't want to answer the question but a part of my mind whispered, because you want to get the life that you used to have. You're not satisfied as you are now.