i walked in the hallway, a notebook in my right hand, as i felt a hand grab my shoulder and give me a pat on the back.
i quickly turned to face whoever it was, when i saw a boy i've never seen before.
"i gotta give it to you, sweetheart, you got balls," he said, grinning.
"excuse me? who the hell are you?" i asked, taking his hand off my shoulder.
he held out his hand and smiled. "i'm a.j. a senior here. and i've heard you're cora, right?"
"uh... yeah. w-who told you that?" i questioned him.
"i did some research, asked around. you're a junior? you have quite the guts to go up to tristan like that. i'm gonna assume you haven't heard of his?"
"should i have?" i asked a.j.
"he's quite the notorious senior here. total ass, pretty psychotic. i wouldn't mess with him anymore, even though what you did was totally badass. maybe make that a one time thing, if you want to come out alive," the boy said.
"if i want to come out alive? the boy doesn't scare me. neither does what you're saying, so if you don't mind, i have a class to attend to," i said, stepping past him.
"cora, i get it. you aren't in the same grade as him, you probably don't have any classes with him-"
"he's in my art class," i piped in.
"he's dangerous. you can't just pull stunts like that without him getting some sort of revenge. just, take it from me, he's not a good guy," a.j. said.
"and i didn't plan to talk to him again. he was staring at me and i confronted him. it's not gonna happen again," i grumbled, annoyed that i was getting interrogated by him.
"just, be careful, alright? he's got a rebellious and dangerous history."
"i can hold my own ground, but thanks. like i said, i have class.. actually, i have art. don't worry, i won't share colored pencils without telling you first."
he looked irritated, and rolled his eyes.
"sorry. that was supposed to come out as a joke. i'll take what you said into consideration.. thanks," i said, turning into the hallway where my art class was located.
when i walked into the class, i took my usual seat, which wasn't assigned, but everyone typically sat in the same spot every day. my partner was already sat down when a shadow caster over him.
"your new seats over there," the voice said, and the boy pointed to an open desk across the room.
"uh, i've been sitting here this entire semester," the boy said nervously, trying to sound brave.
"but?"
"but... that seat over there looks pretty exciting. i'll be going now. bye, cora," he said, quickly picking up his supplies and moving it to the seat the shadow pointed to.
"what the hell's your deal?" i asked, continuing to sketch, assuming the deep voice was the same one that belonged to 'tristan'.
"i don't have a deal. i'm more comfortable on this side of the room," he said, smirking.
"then find another spot to sit in or else i swear to g-"
"alright class, you should be working on your projects for the whole class period, and if you finish, it's probably not good enough," she said, her voice echoing through the room.
"i don't think you should be threatening me, darling," he said.
"and i don't think you should be threatening me, princess," i spat back.
he chuckled. "you have no clue what you're getting yourself into, do you?"
"say another word and i'll get up and move," i warned.
he laughed, but he shut his mouth for the rest of the class.
i focused on the rose i was drawing, the thorns connecting to the veins of a human wrist, the flower sitting in the palm of the hand.
the bell rang and i got up quickly, putting the drawing in my black folder and putting the folder on a rack by my desk.
