Walking Through Flames

Chapter Four

It was time to go back to school after the Christmas break. It felt so short compared to other breaks but I assume that's just because it was the first Christmas I had spent working full time. My mother dropped me to school half an hour before the doors opened. She always brought me early as she worked in a different town and her work starts the same time school does. I waited outside, sitting on one of the concrete benches. It was beyond cold, it still being January. Most people didn't come in until just before the school opens so they didn't have to wait in the cold. Some of us, those being me and the students who got the bus weren't so lucky. The doors open and I stand to go inside. I feel a hand on my shoulder and Iift my head to see Sam. Sam is one of my best friends. He's also really close with both Charlie and Elijah, ironically. Neither of them are very fond of the other, even before I started talking to Elijah. Sam is the one who got me my job which funnily enough was the result of a night out drinking with my old friend group. He's also one of the people I lied about being with me and Elijah the other day. However he shows no sign of knowing about that, thank god. He walks with me to our tutor class and we sit at our usual spots in the back of the room. I sit in the back corner with an empty chair next to me for Charlie as always. Sam sits at the desk next to ours. It's usually just the two of us for about an hour before other people start to arrive. We talked about how work was going and if we did the schoolwork that was due today for our English class which I completely forgot we even had. That or I didn't even know about it to begin with. He expected that from me so there was no surprise. Sam always tries to get me to focus on school more than I do and get a solid plan for the future. I keep pushing it off because we don't actually need to decide on a college course until February first. That's the deadline to apply through the CAO for college. I'm not sure what I want to do yet. Criminology seems like a good bet but my heart is with music. Both of which are a far shot from what my parents want me to do.

It's another twenty minutes before Charlie walks in. I hold my breath in anticipation. I haven't seen him since that night and he's been slightly off with me the last few days since I hung out with Elijah. I feel incredibly guilty for lying to him but he understands why I did and my thought process behind it. He walks towards us and for a moment I think he might sit next to Sam. Instead but he puts his bag down at his usual spot next to me and stands next to the chair. He beams down at me, waiting for his usual greeting. My heart skips a beat from pure joy. He's not angry with me. He should be, but I'm not going to wish for that because if there's anything I have learned from being alive it's to be careful what you wish for. I stand and melt into his arms,  moving my head under his chin as he rests his chin on the top of my head. We stand there, wrapped in each other for a few seconds. When we pull apart, Sam starts clapping slowly.

"Wow, if ever I'd see a sappy love story it's you guys." He says, putting on a look of disgust. Charlie scoffs.
"Says the one with a tattoo from his ex." 
Sam does his best to look offended for a second before he shakes his head and stands to embrace Charlie. He hadn't seen him since before the break. It seems I'm not the only one Charlie doesn't make much time for. Sam pulls his chair over to us as we sit down. Charlie entangles his hand with mine and the three of us fall into random conversation. Everything seems to be going okay for now.

Our classroom had filled up about three minutes before role call. The tutor teacher was out again so the substitute called each of our names in the daily process of us having our name read out and responding with 'here' or, if you're feeling edgy 'yup'. The bell goes for class so we all get ready to leave. Charlie hugs me again, slipping in a sly peck on the cheek before we start to file out of the room. I accidentally bump into my old friend Lacy and apologise quickly as it was genuinely an accident. Despite that fact I still overhear her whisper 'fucking cunt' under her breath. It was said just loud enough so I could hear it. My breath hitches and Charlie puts his hand on my back to comfort me. I inhale deeply and exhale, leaving the room. This had become a thing near the end of November when I had fallen out with the group. Some of them were more confrontational than others. Lacy was pretty much the leader of the group, the same way all that high school bullshit was. It didn't bother me much. I was used to the typical school bullying having been bullied since the beginning of my school years. What did affect me was the fact that nobody in the group would speak to me if Lacy didn't. After about a month of that I got over that part as well. It was their own immaturity that stopped them from speaking to me so there was no point in me dwelling on it or stooping to that level of childishness myself. There were bigger problems than girls at school calling me a cunt. Sam walks with me to our class. We only have a few together. French is one of them. As much as we hate the class, our constant messing with one of my friends, Harry, makes it bearable. We aren't that close but he's definitely someone I'd like to get to know better. Sam still sits next to his ex, Adam. None of us can understand why they still hang out with each other. All they do is argue and get upset during class. It's entertainment for us, as bad as that sounds, so we won't complain but it does get irritating at times. I sit on my own, across from the two of them. They've already started arguing and neither of them have even put their bags down yet. Harry comes in after us and sits next to me. He doesn't say anything. We both watch the commotion for a second before it inevitably bores me. I stare at him in an attempt to make him feel uncomfortable. He ignores me and proceeds to get his supplies from his bag. I wait for him to look back, resting my chin in my hands. When he does look he has no reaction. I poke his side and his whole body jolts, a yelp escaping his mouth. He scowls at me. I hold my hands up.

"Well hello to you too dick." I say. He rolls his eyes.
"I was gonna greet you after I got my stuff out, bitch." He responds, rubbing his side. "Plus, you're the one being a creep."
He never does make any sense to me in that regard. His routine is to wait few minutes before even saying hello. Sometimes I think he does it to get at me. It works but regardless he ends up getting hurt in some way or another. I lean back in my chair, crossing my legs as our teacher comes in and begins the class. French is one of my better subjects. I've been doing the higher level of it since I started the subject back in first year. At the time I was technically doing five languages. English, Irish, French and German in school while also doing Spanish at home. Language used to peak my interest quite a bit. When I started getting all of them mixed up during exams, I decided it would be best if I dropped German and stopped doing Spanish outside of school. The class always goes by relatively fast for me. When it ends, Harry stands with me and we quickly make our way upstairs for maths. Math is on the third floor whereas our French is on the bottom. It's a bit of a mad dash for the classroom some days and most of the time we end up being late. I don't usually sit with Harry for maths. He only gets that luxury when my best friend Cara doesn't show up. I scan the room for her when we reach the classroom but she doesn't pop up. Harry looks too but she really isn't anywhere to be found. I sigh. I missed her over the break. We hadn't talked much either because she had been busy with things at home. I was looking forward to seeing her today. We're about to sit down at a table together when I hear my name shouted. I spin just in time for Cara to literally jump into my arms and hug me. She's lucky I go to the gym, otherwise I wouldn't be able to stand my ground when she does this. It's been her usual way of letting me know she was there since I met her. She still knocks me off balance slightly but I catch myself and just barely manage to hold her aswell. I put her down and pull away. We're both grinning, literally ear to ear. 
"Tara I missed you!" She squeals. Before I can even begin to say I missed her too she grabs my hand and pulls me to the back of the classroom where she had been sitting with her friends. No wonder we didn't spot them. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to Harry. Cara pulls me down into the seat next to her and I see Harry turned around in his chair, glaring at me. I mouth the word 'sorry'  back to him. He pulls his chair back to his desk and I hear Cara giggle a little beside me. Cara is one of the best friends I've ever had. We relate on a lot of things and we support each other in absolutely everything, no matter how big or small. She jabs me in the rib with her elbow. It stings a little but I notice the note she just passed me. 

I got the evidence I needed to press charges against my ex.