Walking on Glass

Chapter 1

The sound of my alarm startles me as I wake up, another day passed me by yesterday and now it's time to begin a new one. "Ugh. But I don't wanna get up." I groan, as I flop back down onto my bed. Reluctantly I get up and drag myself through the apartment, still groggy from waking up I pack my things and head out.

My walk to the bus stop was uneventful, the cars passed by me rapidly, and the people walked past me in their daily rush to work. I thank the bus driver, and find my seat; quickly putting in my headphones hoping that no one will speak to me.

Two stops pass before May gets on rushing with her bag half open in her hands, she spots me and waves frantically as she pays the fare. Quickly she rushes towards the seat next to me and yanks out my headphone, placing it in her ear.

"How'd I know you'd be listening to Backdoor?" She laughs,

"Woke up late again?" I sigh.

"Hey, do you think being this pretty is easy? I need my beauty sleep and at LEAST an hour to get ready" she smiles.

"If only you'd put as much effort into your studies as you do your looks; you'd be unstoppable." I smile back at her as she sits down.

"Not everyone can be like you, Rain. I can't be pretty and smart, that's too much work!" She giggles, as she pulls out a hair brush and begins to tie her hair back into a loose ponytail.

As we arrive at the school she looks at me and says, "I hear we have a new student coming in today; I hope he's nice." He of course it's another boy, another distraction for her.

"Great." I sigh. We find our way to our class, and sit down at our desks. May turns around in her seat to face me as everyone else files in,

"He'll probably end up falling madly in love with me a-"

"Madly in love with you?" Jaxon scoffs as he sits beside May. "I got a look at him, and you're totally not his type."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT" May's flustered face says it all, she doesn't want to be his type anyways Jaxon.

"ALRIGHT CLASS SETTLE DOWN." Professor Wade says as he walks in, adjusting his glasses and placing his books on the podium at the front of the class, "Today as you've all heard we have a new student. Please come in and introduce yourself to the class." he gestures for the student to come in from the hall.

"My name is Colton Connors." He says coldly as he stares towards the back of the class.

"Alright, now why don't you go and sit beside Rain." He smiles towards the teacher and makes his way up the lecture hall stairs to the seat next to mine.

"Hi, I'm May!" May whispers excitedly towards him,

"Don't talk to me." He says looking annoyed as he finds his pen. May looks at him with a confused expression, she reaches for her phone and sends a text to our group chat.

Jeez what's wrong with the new guy? He was so mean... she pouts. Jaxon put his hand on her shoulder and laughs

"I told you, you aren't his type" He whispers, May turns to him and lightly punches him,

"SHUT UP!" she yells, the silent class looks towards her, her face turns a bright shade of red from embarrassment "Sorry."

After a few excruciating hours of listening to Professor Wade go on about the psychological effects of trauma were finally released from prison. "Let's go to the café to study today." I say with a smile, Jaxon nods in agreement and May follows along. I enjoy going to the café after classes, the warm evening breeze and the smell of fresh coffee was relaxing after studying and the cozy environment of the café provided the perfect atmosphere to study in. Jaxon heads towards our usual booth, with May tailing behind him as I go to make our coffee orders.

"One large Strawberry coconut refresher, one Large iced americano, and one Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel please" I smile at the cashier who punches in my order,

"Three drinks for one person? Are you that thirsty?" A voice says from behind me, I turn around and look up at the new boy from our class.

"I'm here with May and Jaxon actually," I smile, he looks down at me seriously.

"Hm. Excuse me, could you add a second large americano please." the cashier nods as he steps in front of me and pays for the order, he was so rude to May and now he's paying for our drinks? What's with him? "I'll help you take these to your friends." he picks up the americanos and looks to me to guide him to our spot.

"Would you like to sit and study with us?" I ask with an awkward smile,

"Sure." We walk up the steps to our booth where Jaxon sat watching May take selfies. I hand May her Caramel drink, and Jaxon his strawberry drink, then slide into my spot on the opposite side of them. Colton sits next to me and places my coffee by me; May makes a confused face and looks back at her text book.

"He paid for our drinks so I asked if he wanted to study with us. I hope you don't mind." I kick Jaxon lightly under the table and force a smile at him notifying him to get May to cooperate

"Oh..OH No we don't mind at all right May?" He smiles awkwardly and May only let out a huff. We spent the rest of the evening studying and joking amongst each other, though Colton stayed silent for most of it, only ever talking when it came to studying. Most of the time it felt less like he was studying the curriculum but more like he was studying us the entire time, by the end of the night I could feel he was bored of our company.

"I should head out guys, I have things to do around the house" I say as I begin packing up my books,

"Your apartment is in pristine condition, what could you possibly have to do?" Jaxon laughs

"Tidying mainly" I sigh, "Chores don't get done themselves you know" I smirk

"Chores? You live alone and you give yourself chores?" Jaxon looks at May and laughs at the confused look on her face "what I'm serious! If I lived alone I'd be free and live as I wanted!"

"That's why we always go to Rain's place. I can't imagine what your room looks like." Jaxon laughs, Mays face burns red, and she looks down

"Shut up." Jaxon you idiot.

"I should head out as well." Colton says abruptly, "Thanks for letting me stay." He gets up, grabs his things and walks out.

"He's so strange." May says, as we all get up to leave, soon after we say our goodbyes and head out.

After a hot shower, I sit myself on my couch and turn on the tv. "I should eat." I mumble to myself, I walk to the kitchen as the news plays on the screen in my living room,

"Reports from Toronto's 11th ward states another young woman has been murdered," the tv blares, "The woman was found in her home with a gunshot wound to the chest, Toronto police say they have no witnesses and no leads."

Another one. This is starting to get closer to home too. It makes me sick to my stomach. I close my fridge. I'm not even hungry anymore.