The New Girl

The new girl chapter 15

I hugged Skye.

Oh god. I buried myself under the blanket again as I remembered what happened yesterday. I obviously wasn't thinking when I did that. Arghhhh. How was I gonna face him now? I smashed my face into the pillow, groaning loudly.

"Seline! Don't you have school? Why are you still in bed?" Aunt Elda appeared in the doorway - or whatever that was supposed to be the doorway - with her hands on her hips, brows knitted together in impatience.

"Yeah, I'm getting up now." I kicked off my blanket reluctantly and rolled out of bed.

"I've made a sandwich for you. It's on the table. Remember to eat it before you leave, alright?" Aunt Elda called after me as I dragged myself to the bathroom. "I'll be leaving for work now. Be careful on your way to school!"

I mumbled what hopefully sounded like an okay from the bathroom. School... but school was the last place I wanna be in right now. I groaned again. Didn't look like I had a choice though. I grudgingly got ready and left the house, grabbing the sandwich on my way out.

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Why had it become so difficult to go to school? I scanned through the hallway as I cautiously navigated through the crowd. I huffed a sigh of relief as I reached my locker. I made it. Thank god. I opened my locker to take out the books I needed for class today.

"You didn't reply to my texts."

I yelped in response to the sudden voice beside my ear, causing me to drop my books all over the floor. Great. I squatted down to gather my books. I didn't have to look up to know whose voice that belonged to.

"Sorry Dylan. I was... busy."

"But it takes a mere 3s to reply a text." He sounded whiney. Normally, I would have found it cute. This time though, it was actually a little... annoying.

"Just had a lot going on lately, yeah?" That came out harsher than expected. Dylan looked taken aback by my response. Even I was surprised by my own tone.

"Are you... okay, Seline?" Dylan put his hand on my shoulder, worry apparent on his face. I instinctively pulled away. Dylan slowly drew his hand back, a look of hurt unmistakable.

"Yeah um, I'll be going to class now. Got some reading to do for an assignment." I pretended not to notice and walked away quickly. Please, please don't follow me. I hugged my books to my chest and increased my pace. I felt bad for being so cold towards him, but I just didn't know how to face him. I just didn't know how to feel about him lying to me. Maybe he had a reason he couldn't bring himself to say? I shook my head almost violently. I needed to stop thinking about this. I composed myself and opened the door to my classroom.

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RIIIING!

Finally, the day was over. Today seemed even more grueling than normal. Maybe because I was just counting down to the end of the period the entire day. I sighed as I shoved my pencil case into my bag. The assignments and upcoming tests weren't helping as well. I gathered my books halfheartedly, swung my backpack over my shoulder and started to make my way out of the classroom. I was nearing my locker when I suddenly felt a forceful pull on my arm.

"Hey-!" I was being forcefully dragged to a dark stairwell. I started to scream but the man in a cap hastily cupped his hands over my mouth.

"Oomph-!" I started to squirm under his grip, but my efforts were futile. He was really strong. Who is this guy?! And what did he want from me? I became really scared. I started to struggle even harder, desperate to get out of his grip.

"Stop fucking moving, it's me!" He responded in urgent, hushed tones.

Skye? I recognised that voice. I stopped struggling and looked up at him, confused. Skye removed his hand from my mouth, seeing that I'd finally decided not to scream my head out.

"Why did you drag me here?" I pulled my arm away and asked him, almost accusingly. I mean, come on, I thought I was kidnapped or something being dragged here like that.

"Then did you expect me to go up to you smiling in front of all those eyes?"

Well, no. Not the smiling part, at least.

"No. I mean, you're the cool guy. I'm just the nerdish girl you would never hang out with." I looked away while I spat the words out.

Skye gave a small sigh. "Okay no, I didn't mean it that way, okay?" I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms. "People gossip like fire here. You should know that by now."

"Yeah, thanks to a certain someone."

Skye glared at me in annoyance.

"So, why? This had better be a really convincing reason."

There was a moment of brief silence.

"Earth to Skye." I said in a monotonous tone.

"Keep whatever I told you yesterday between us."

For a moment, the memory of me hugging Skye yesterday flashed across my mind. I looked down, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing furiously.

"You dragged me here just to tell me this?"

"I'm serious." I looked up upon hearing his no-nonsense tone, something I obviously wasn't used to hearing.

"Y-yeah, sure. I wasn't intending to tell anyone anyway."

Skye seemed genuinely relieved upon hearing my reply.

"Thanks." That seemed to signal the end of our little exchange as he walked back out into the hallway, acting as if nothing had happened. Well, that was eventful. I guess what he told me yesterday was really important to him, even if he didn't say it. Why did he choose to tell me something so important then? I stared at the empty space he was just in a few seconds ago. Wait, why did I care? I caught myself and shook my head reflexively. Oh well, there were other more important things to think about now. I straightened my back and walked back out from the stairwell.

Little did I notice the pair of eyes on top of the staircase, there the entire time.

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