Greywood

Chapter 09

"What are you even talking about?" I shrug off his concern and try to trudge past him. He still has that horrified look on his face when he grabs my arm and pulls me back towards him with surprising strength.

"But Ky... you smell!"

I narrowed my eyes and tugged my hand away from his grasp. "Thanks, but I showered this morning."

He takes an exasperated breath. "No! I mean, you smell wrong! You smell like a rogue!"

"What does that even mean?" I ask when the bell rings. The noise is intense to my sensitive ears and I kneel forward, cupping my hands over them. My eardrums feel like they're about to burst and my head aches. After a few moments it reduces to a more manageable level. "Jeez, why is the bell so loud today?"

Benji pats me on the back, concern dripping off his face. "Please, Ky. Just go home," he begs once more, but I just roll my eyes.

"Bro, stop freaking out. I'll be fine," I turn back around and do my best to weave out of the way from other students rushing to get inside the building. "I'll see you at lunch," I said, giving him a quick glance before heading towards my locker.

I get the feeling that he's still whimpering at the front of the school. Whatever. He's being weird today. There's enough nagging from home I don't need it from him too.

At my locker, I quickly grab my English books and shove them into my pack. Thanks to Benji, I'm feeling rushed now. Slamming the locker door shut, my ears start to pick up on murmurs around me. Slowly, I notice that my hearing strengthens and I'm able to comprehend some of what is being said. I look around and see a few students are staring at me. When I make eye contact with them they quickly turn away, doing a horrible job at trying to pretend they weren't just watching at me. I try not to think about it too much since the warning bell has now rang and I need to hurry my ass to class.

There's a group of jocks hollering about sports shit when I turn the hallway. As soon as I near them their conversation instantly stops and it looks like they sniff the air before heads snap toward my direction. I pause for a moment, finding their sudden attention strange. They give me confused looks and a few of them glare. I give them a frown in return and enter my classroom.

The first thing I notice is a girl up front, Maddie I think her name is, immediately turns to look at me and grimaces. Never before has she paid attention to me, so the fact she suddenly does feels peculiar. She doesn't keep her eyes off me even after I make it to my seat in the back. I glare back at her and she finally turns away, whispering something to her friend, Amanda, who just walked in.

When the bell rings, my teacher, Ms. Adams, calls for attention and takes roll. Maddie is still giving me odd glances when she can but returns to whispering to her friend once my name is called.

What is going on? Why are people acting so strange today? First Benji, then the kids in the hallway, and now my own classmates! I sniff myself, wondering if Benji is right and I smell bad, but all I get is a hint of deodorant and my body wash. I glance around the room and see it's only the two girls up front who seem to have any issue with me. Well, at least not everyone is being strange.

Lesson goes as usual, everyone taking out their books to do silent reading and annotating in our journals for the first half of class. I find it hard to focus in utter silence so I try to sneak my AirPods on to listen to music while I work. Glancing quickly at my teacher to see she's not watching, I take out my phone. I frown when I see that there are multiple texts from Benji and I unlock the device to see what he's said.

You need to get out of here Ky

It's not safe for you here. If the other students scent you you'll be in danger