My Twisted Heart

Chapter Thirteen

The following morning was uneventful. Which was good.

After everything that happened last night, I'd half expected Clayton to come at us with some kind of retaliation. Some sort of revenge plot. But to my surprise, nothing happened. There were no signs of Clayton or his lackeys—just silence. Maybe he was biding his time, or maybe he'd decided to let it go. Either way, I wasn't going to complain. Things were calm for now, and I hoped they'd stay that way. Peaceful. Quiet. Just how I liked it.

The bell rang, signaling the start of our break.

"I'll see you all after lunch," Mr. Lewis said as he walked out of the room.

Taking it as their cue, most of the class jumped from their seats and made a beeline for the door, eager to get ahead of the lunch rush. From the sound of hurried footsteps and shouting in the hall, it was clear they weren't the only ones. The whole school seemed to be moving at once.

"What happened to your head?"

The question caught me off guard. I turned to my side and found Nicole watching me, her expression unreadable as usual. She didn't normally talk to me, which made her sudden interest all the more surprising.

"I ran into a wall last night," I replied.

The memory of Clayton's bat flashed in my mind, but I quickly pushed it aside.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Nicole rolled her eyes and snorted. "For some reason, I'm not surprised."

"Uh... What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean."

I watched in silence as Nicole grabbed her backpack and took out a small lunch box. Steam rose from the freshly cooked food inside.

"I didn't know you could cook... Is it a hobby?"

"I don't necessarily like it or hate it."

"Then, why not just eat at the cafeteria?"

"I prefer to avoid crowded places," she replied, then gave me a pointed look. "AHEM... Can you stop asking me questions so I can eat?"

"Oh, yeah... Sorry," I mumbled, feeling a bit awkward.

I looked out into the hallway and saw that it was less crowded now. Figuring it was time to head out, I stood up to leave. Just then, I noticed a familiar face approaching.

"Oh, hey... Do you want to eat lunch together?" Robert asked, stopping in front of me.

Wait... what did he just say?!

I was a bit stunned. We hadn't spoken since yesterday. For some reason, I'd been under the impression he was upset with me for lying to the security guard last night.

"Yeah, sure..."

"Cool! Let's head out."

"Oh, okay..."

As I followed Robert out of the classroom, I felt some confused glares thrown in my direction. Truthfully, I didn't blame them. Nobody would have expected the most popular guy in class to want to associate with a loner like me.

High school life really is unpredictable, huh...

The cafeteria wasn't as packed as I had imagined. After grabbing our food, we took a seat at an empty table.

"So, how are you feeling this morning?" Robert asked, looking concerned. "Is the wound on your head bothering you?"

"I'm fine," I replied, taking a bite of my sandwich.