Victorious

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Thank you guys SO much for all the support for this story! It means a lot to me that you guys like it so much.  I'm excited to see what you guys think of this chapter so without further ado...

Oh wait! Haha. Please check out rose-heartbeat 's story "The Indigo Shadows: Shattered" when you have the chance. You won't regret it.  It's amazing. (:

Now, onto the story...

8:15 AM

The late bell will ring in two minutes. Students file into the room in clumps and sit together despite the seating chart. Once the first-day-of-school jitters are gone, they're never that effective. I watch the teacher attempt to organize his desk but it's just layered with stacks and stacks of ungraded and fresh-from-the-printer worksheets. Mr. Hyde seems older than his thirty-two years today with deep wrinkles in his forehead and bags under his eyes. I suspect he was up all night with the baby from the photo sitting on his desk. There is a pretty woman holding the infant up to the camera with a smile plastered on her face. She looks happy. I wonder what that feels like.

"You're late, Mr. SinClair."

Wes enters the room but doesn't see me. He merely smiles at Mr. Hyde and takes his seat beside Rebecca Walsh. There are no assigned seats.

"Alright, class. Let's begin. For this six weeks we will be constructing a lesson to teach the class about something algebraic. As you know, the WAKKI tests are coming up and you will all have to demonstrate your mathematical abilities for the state in order to move into your sophomore year. I will group you into pairs and you will be assigned a mathematical concept. In order to pass you just have to be able to demonstrate the concept. In order to get anything above a D, you will need to create a full lesson plan as well as a PowerPoint presentation and worksheets to hand out to each student in the class. This does include assigning homework." Students' groans erupt from around the class. He smiles a bit as he says, "Yes, don't think you're going to get out of that one." Once again, Mr. Hyde begins to shuffle through the various sheets of paper on his desk. I assume he's looking for the groups' sheet.

Sarah Sanders is sitting beside me, drawing another special tattoo on my arm. Sarah has been my best friend since the second grade. Her foster mom knew my mother before she was murdered. Since that night I've lost my voice but not my best friend. What I loved about her was she could always tell what I was saying without me verbally uttering a word. I know she reads my amber eyes and I am eternally grateful to have her in my life. I have no one else.

"Don't peek," She scolds with a smile playing on her lips.

I cast my eyes elsewhere and allow her to finish without interruption.

"You know, you should really let me curl your hair Friday night when you come over. You're so pretty Savvy. You'd be even prettier if you actually smile every once in a while." She's looking up at me now as she says this and I smile for her.

"There. Fin! Es perfecto!" she exclaims.

I supply the subtitles in my head and look down at the back of my hand after she sets it back on my desk. Staining my porcelain skin is an intricate drawing of a Chinese dragon.

"It symbolizes strength." She pulls my bangs behind my ear and I smile again. She's always been there to lift me up; since the accident she's been pulling in overtime.

"It's beautiful. Thank you."

She grins.

"Just practicing my skills. Better take advantage while you can."

Sarah is an aspiring tattoo artist. But you wouldn't be able to tell that from the multiple drawings all over her arms; there's also a bleeding heart on her ankle with her birth mother's name written in the middle. She was put into the foster care system when her mother died giving birth to her. Back then, I had been her sunshine during a cloudy day. Now she's mine.

"Ah, here we are!" Mr. Hyde found the lists. "Everyone listen up for you and your partner's names. Sarah Sanders and Rebecca Walsh, Trevor Schmidt and Courtney Lux, Connor Waters and Brittney Weaver, Matt Spencer and Owen Conrad, Savvy Rose and Wes SinClair..."

I look up and meet Wes's surprised blue eyes. His lips ease into a smile and I cast my gaze away. He looked victorious.

"Everyone get together with your partner. You have exactly one week to complete this assignment and your time starts now." 

Sounds of moving desks and chairs and chatter distract me from the warm body walking straight towards my desk. Sarah offers a sympathetic smile as she abandons me.

"So now I have your name," He smiles teasingly. "I guess your whole mysterious thing is blown."

I say nothing as I wait for Mr. Hyde to hand us our assigned concept and list of requirements.

"Is it something I did?" He asks, catching my attention and my realization of how close he is.

His desk sits idle beside mine but it's as if he's sitting on the metal bar separating the tabletop from the chair. I inhale a shaky breath, trying keep myself calm. But he is still talking.

"Are you still peeved about this morning?" is all I catch when I zone back in. I shake my head at him.

"It was an accident."

"Aha! So you can speak."

I choose not to reply to that.

"Pascal's pyramid." Mr. Hyde appears out of nowhere, sending my heart on a race and places our assignment in front of us. I play with a bit of my hair to distract myself.

Wes smirks.

"The one thing I don't understand is the one thing I have to demonstrate to the class." His eyes meet mine again but he doesn't look embarrassed for being caught talking to himself. Or was he talking to me?

"Can you do this crap?"

I glance down at the sheet briefly before looking up and nodding my head.

"Good, you might have to teach me."

"Okay."

In all honesty, I don't know what good of a teacher I'll be if I mutter one word for every ten words that come out of his mouth. I don't care about our grade but I imagine he cares about his. I see he's wearing his soccer cleats under the table.

We spend the period going over Pascal's triangle. Wes does everything in his power to get me to talk. He succeeds with a sentence ten words long and wears the biggest grin until the bell rings. Rebecca Walsh is at his side in seconds but he doesn't acknowledge her after he picks up his binder.

"So I'll see you later?"

The way he grin at me makes me contemplate his question and its meaning. I nod so he'll stop staring at me.

"Sweet." He says nothing else and turns to leave with Rebecca. Then he pauses. "Bye Savvy."

Savannah, I correct him in my head. But he's already gone.

Sarah is waiting for me at my locker so we can walk to second period together. She is smiling.

"So how'd it go?" I give her a confused look and she rolls her eyes as if I'm missing the butt of an obvious joke.

"You. Wes. Both of you were smiling. Spill!"

I say nothing and continue to look at her like she has three heads and blue fur.

"You didn't notice the way he was smiling at you?"

I shake my head and input my locker combination. I hear her sigh from behind the door.

"Savvy." She sounds disapproving.

Sarah is the only one with the right to use my mother's name for me now that she's gone. She was the only one that knew its origin.

"Come on, we're gonna be late to class." She loops her arm through mine and pulls me down the hall.

I've been thinking about adding a cast. What do you guys think about Alex Pettyfer for Wes? Who do you see playing Savannah, Sarah and Savannah's dad?  

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