Taken

The New Boy

“Claire Westrow, please report to the office immediately.” The office lady’s voice droned. ‘Aah, here we go again. Just my luck to be called in on Halloween.’ I thought as I stood up from my cramped desk and made my way to the door. About half-way there, I felt something bounce off of the back of my head. “Ow, what the heck?” A snicker came from somewhere near the back of the room in response. I shook my head in disgust and kept walking. After walking down two flights of stairs and turning about five times, I came upon the office. It probably used to be a real office, but now it was just a small room with a supply closet in the back. Inside was an old lady with silvery gray hair in a tight bun. She had wrinkles and a tight lipped mouth. Her glasses had a red chain that looped behind her neck before attaching to the end of her glasses on either side. She had sharp eyes the color of steel, and it was obvious that she tolerated zero nonsense.

“Claire, you’re to assist our newest student, Damon. Show him the ropes, blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.” Her short, clipped tone basically said hurry up and get out already.  The boy, Damon, stood off in the corner and only now did she notice him. He looked to be around six-foot- six, with lean muscles, and a toned body. His shoulders were broad, his hair shaggy and blacker than a new moon night. He wore all black, and had a black scarf hung loosely around his neck.  His eyes were what startled me the most. They were a shocking deep blue, and were the kind of eyes that took in everything and gave nothing away. He pushed off the wall and slowly walked over to me. His movements were smooth, but I felt that something was off with this guy. I sidestepped so he could walk ahead of me. There was no way I was going to put my back to him. He smirked as he stepped past, a trace of amusement on his face, like he knew what I was doing. In the hall, he fell in step with me.

“So, Claire, where are you taking me first?” “To homeroom, which is Mr. Falkner’s room.” Up close, Damon was a good eight inches taller than me. My five- foot- eight inch frame came up to a little below his shoulder. While we passed rooms, I told whose they were. By the time we got back to homeroom, he had a pretty good map of the school. Unfortunately, he had the exact same classes as me. I found this out after Mr. Falkner, a man in his late forties, had Damon introduce himself to everyone. Then he called me to stand up while he said, “And Claire here can help you get to your classes since you have the same schedule. Isn’t that nice?” ‘Kill me now, just someone kill me now.’ I repeated that mantra over and over as I forced a smile. Of course it was hard to smile when every girl in your class was death glaring you for being the ‘lucky’ one. I had to give the guy points for acting as if he didn’t notice them drooling over him. And I admit, he was pretty easy on the eyes, but I kept telling myself to keep him at arms’ length. I thought my day couldn’t get any worse than being shadowed by Damon, but then I walked into biology.

Mrs. Willson was the peppy, cheerleader-like teacher. She looked like a Barbie doll, smile and all. But when it came to biology, she was a rocket scientist on the matter. Mrs. Willson was dressed in a white lab coat, white button-up blouse and tight black skirt that fell down to just before the tops of her knees. She also wore black square rimmed glasses and black high heels. Her hair was straight, platinum blonde, and came down to her elbows. All the boys in the school had a crush on her excluding Damon, not that she noticed either way.

“Okay, class, today we’re going to get new lab partners! Listen for your names while I go around the room.” “Liza and Eli at table one, Derek and John at table two, Rafe and Anna at table three, Tina and Jacob at table four, Marisa, Elly, and Coral at table five, and Damon and Claire at table six. Alright, get your stuff and move to your new table.” ‘Great, just great. Not only does he sit by me in homeroom, but now in my least favorite class too!’ I slowly walked over to the table, which was the last one in the back of the room on the right hand side. Damon was already there and flicked me a dismissive glance. I glared at him in response while Mrs. Willson started today’s lesson. I busied myself by opening my notebook and start doodling. When something appeared in my per phial vision, I glanced over to see a dead fish in a tray. ‘That’s right it's Friday, today’s dissection day.’ Putting away my notebook & pencil, I put on the gloves and goggles. Damon was already waiting for me, scalpel in hand.

“Are you ready, slowpoke?” He asked. “Yes, but I’ll let you know, I’m not slow, I just take my time.” His response was to snort. “Whatever, slowpoke. Now, are you going to help me or are you going to be a baby and make me do all the work?”   I responded to this by glaring and grabbing the scalpel from him. “Okay, since you look like you’re going to stab me, why don’t you start?” Damon’s attempt at humor made me twitch a small smile before smoothly splitting the fish and peeling back the skin. We worked in silence, or at least until Damon ‘accidentally’ pierced a blood vessel that caused blood to spray everywhere. That included me, him, the table, and floor. I yelped and jumped back, but not far enough out of range.

“What, don’t like blood?” Again, he smirked at me, but this time his eyes betrayed the humor in them. “Only if I’m not expecting it.” I said, smirking back. “Claire, Damon, please clean up the mess.” “Yes Mrs. Willson.” We both said at the same time. After class, I stayed behind to finish cleaning all of the tools. I was almost done when I lost my grip on a scalpel, and sliced open my forefinger. I cursed under my breath, and went to grab a Band-Aid from the self above me. Just then someone reached around me and grabbed one for me. I stiffened, turning around to almost bump my nose against a black t-shirt. I craned my neck back, and stared into Damon’s face.

“Um, thanks, I guess?” Damon was standing so close to me, I could feel his body warmth. I was trapped against the counter, with Damon’s arms on either side of me. “No problem. I was just wondering if you wanted any help.” Something in his tone made me feel like his offer was fake. “No, I’ll be fine.” He nodded, turned, and left the room as silently as he had come. I bandaged my finger, finished cleaning, and left the room trying to shake off my thoughts.

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