Fallen

Chapter 8

The halls were empty when I entered the school. It was already second period. I decided to skip the embarrassment of walking in late to a class and just sit on the bench. The bell rang moments later and the halls filled with people. I walked with my head down to my usual spot at Nicola's locker.

"Hey, cupcake. How's Jeremy?" She questioned once she saw me.

"He's going to be okay. He'll be out of the hospital soon." I responded with a small smile.

"Good I'm glad." She hugged me with compassion. Little did she know, Jeremy was not the cause of my sullen mood.

"I saw Connor," I said once she released me. She gasped and grabbed my face.

"What happened? Did he apologize?" She questioned quickly.

"No. Not even close." I proceeded to tell her the events of last night and she gasped with every surprise.

"He what!?" She screamed.

"You heard me the first time, Nic," I whined.

"He kissed you? But, why?"

"I don't know." I whispered.

"Regardless, I'm really proud of you, Hannah." I smiled at her words. I needed the reassurance that I did the right thing. I knew he wasn't good for me, but he had me hooked. He was a drug, and I am an addict.

Nicola and I only shared third period together, along with Maria. We sat down in our usual seats and waited for Mr. Douglas to start droning on about the wonders of Algebra.

.....................................................................

After school, I stopped by my locker to grab my homework. I was packing my backpack when I saw someone approach.

"Hey, Clark," his southern accent held my name so gracefully.

"Aaron, h-hi," I stuttered. I usually kept an eye out to avoid him in school, but I was late getting out of seventh period and thought for sure the hallways were empty.

"I was just heading to practice. Are you coming to the game on Friday?" He questioned.

"Football games aren't really my scene. I prefer a good book in the comfort of my home." He laughed, as if I was joking.

"I'll see you there. I'll be the one in the jersey running the ball." He winked at me and continued down the hall. Did Aaron White just ask me to come to his football game? Softmore year held more surprises than I planned for.

I walked out of the school still stunned, when I saw a familiar mop of curls walking down the sidewalk in front of me. I ran to catch up to him.

"Helllllooo," I sang as I poked Martin's arm.

"Hey," he said dryly.

"I thought you drove. Where is your car?"

"At home."

"Oh okay. Mind if I walk with you?" I questioned.

"Nope." He kept looking forward as he walked. He hadn't even looked me in the eye yet. Something is wrong. Martin is quiet, but this is too quiet.

"Is something wrong, Martin?" I asked quietly.

"Nope."

"Come on, I can tell you are upset."

"Oh really? Because you know me so well?" He finally looked at me and his expression was void of emotion. I knew this look. This look meant he was hiding something.

"Wow okay, could you tone down the sass a couple notches? I just wanted to make sure you're okay. If you have something that's bothering you, you can tell me." I scowled at him.

"How is Connor today?" He asked out of nowhere.

"What? I don't know. I haven't talked to him." This conversation took a turn quickly.

"Interesting," he resumed walking, while I stood there stunned. His question caught me off guard. I didn't want to talk about Connor right now. He knew we broke up. Why did he ask? Martin had gotten quite a bit of distance on me while I stood in thought. I ran to catch up to him.

"Why did you ask me that?" He continued walking without responding.

"Martin, why did you ask me that?" I repeated while tugging on his arm to stop his advancement forward. He turned to me, but looked at the ground.

"I was locked out of my house yesterday, so I came back to your house." He paused and took a deep breath. "Little did I know that I was walking into a make out session between the two of you." He looked directly into my eyes with some unknown emotion.

My mouth gaped open as I stared at him. He saw us? I wanted to ask him why he didnt say anything, or why he even cared. But my mouth couldn't form the words to speak.

"So I guess you have your picture perfect boyfriend back, and you can continue your picture perfect life," he mumbled.

"How long did you stay?" My brain finally connected with my mouth for me to speak. "Did you stay long enough to see him walk away from me yet again? Long enough to see me completely lose it? Did you stay to see me so paralyzed by pain, that my dad had to carry me into the house?"

He said nothing, but his gaze never faltered. He looked straight into my eyes.

"That's what I thought," I walked away from him. How dare he make assumptions of me. He hardly knew me. He scolded me for making assumptions about him.

My pace was fueled by my anger. I arrived home sooner than usual and threw my backpack on the couch before I plopped myself right next to it. I took out my Biology book and started to study when I heard a knock on my door. I got up to answer it and found the person I needed most at the moment.

"Hey, Clark," Jack picked me up and twirled me in a hug.

"Hello to you too," I giggled once he put me down.

"You promised mitosis and osmosis study session. Are you still up for it?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, of course." We sat on the couch and talked. He asked me about Jeremy and how he was doing. I filled him in on everything except for Jeremy's secret. That was mine to keep. Once I got to the Connor episode, Jack reacted as expected. He threatened to 'beat him to a pulp', which I sadly declined. I didn't want Jack getting into trouble for me. Although, it would be nice to see Connor bruised and beaten. I left out the Martin situation. I was still figuring that out myself.

By the time we finally got around to studying it was nearly six o'clock.

"My mom will be home soon," I groaned.

"Why do you seem unhappy about that?" Jack questioned.

"She worked a double shift today, which means she will be on edge. So that means you have to be quiet and respectful, got it?" I pointed my index finger at him. He grabbed my finger.

"Got it," he lifted my finger to his mouth and bit it.

"Ow! Did you just bite me?" I shouted

"Maybe," he smirked.

"That's it." I tackled him off the couch. After some minor struggling, he let me pin him to the ground.

"Let me go!" He whined.

"Are you going to bite me again?"

"No..." He pouted. I laughed and kissed his cheek before getting of of him. As soon as I was standing, I lend Jack a hand to assist him. We both sat back down on the couch still lightly laughing. I heard my phone vibrate in my backpack. I struggled to find it. By the time I found the source of the buzzing, I had one missed call and one message. They were both from the same person. I pressed the open button on the message.

I'm sorry. Call me.

-Martin