New

TWO

Jace's POV -- September 23

I step into the classroom and sit down next to my friend Peter. I had just gotten settled with my binder and pencil on my desk when someone taps my shoulder from behind.

Turning, I see Peyton Grey, the cheerleading captain, grinning widely at me. "Hey Jace." She wiggles her pink painted nails.

"Um, hey." I answer back. "So... what do you want?" I ask.

"Nothing. Just wanted to say hi." She flashes her smile at me again.

"Oh, alright." I turn back around in my seat and see Peter wiggling his eyebrows at me.

My history teacher, Mrs. McCarthy, begins class but is promptly interrupted by the intercom, just like every other day.

I doodle on my notebook while I wait for announcements to be over. Then a specific announcement comes on that catches my attention.

"Also, we have a special announcement from a loving mother to her beloved daughter. 'Dear students at Hamilton High School, please come celebrate Rose Volt's sixteenth birthday,"

The whole class turns to look at her. She awkwardly hides her face in her hands, sparking a pang of pity in my abdomen.

"...at 638 Northshore Drive tomorrow at 11 o'clock. There will be games, food, and a bounce house! Hope to see you all there!'"

I watch Rose cringe and I can almost see her mentally curling into a ball. I feel so bad but there's nothing I can do.

I hear whispers and giggling coming from behind me. I turn around and see Peyton and her friends whispering and laughing in Rose's direction. I can only guess what they're talking about.

I sigh to myself, wishing I could help the pour girl out a little more. Rose leans on her desk the rest of the period and I keep taking glances back at her to see if she was okay.

"Why do you keep looking back, Jace? She's nothing." Peyton asks after I look back a few times.

I glare slightly at her but don't say anything, turning around in my seat. No one should be treated the way Rose is. She's not even that bad looking. In fact she's kind of pretty whenever she's not hiding in her hoodie. Class ended and I walked alone to my math class. I couldn't stop thinking about Rose for whatever reason.

--------------------

School passes by slowly and I just can't handle all my loud friends today. Lunch comes around and I reluctantly walk towards my friends sitting at our table.

My friends greet me happily and none comment on my odd, solemn mood. On any other normal day, I would be laughing and joking around with all of my other friends. But something about seeing Rose being humiliated today tattooed its way into my mind. I had to do something.

But I couldn't do much without embarrassing myself in the process. I had worked hard to get my current social status where it's at. Not that it even matters that much to me, I was always just afraid of being bullied.

I'm what you might call... fake.

People believe that my father died when I was little, but in reality, he just lives on the couch in my basement with a beer bottle in his hands, a girl in his lap, and his knuckles bloodied from hurting his last victim. That victim usually plays out to be me.

My mother is terrified of my father and refuses to ever go down to the basement. Why she's still here, I'll never know. Why she doesn't just call the cops, I have no idea. So I'm usually the one to make errands for my dad, the one who makes mistakes in my dads eyes.

But it is what it is and I'm moving out as soon as I graduate and I'm taking my mother with me. There's no way I'd leave her with that monster for any longer.

"Hey Jace."

I'm taken out of my thoughts when Peyton slides into the empty seat next to me.

"What do you want?" I say, unintentionally sounding rude. "Sorry." I mumble.

She smiles widely. "It's okay. I wanted to see what you were doing tomorrow. Maybe we could go on a date or something."

I suddenly had an idea. It was roughly planned and I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a plan. "Sorry Peyton, I'm actually busy tomorrow." I said, faking a disappointed face.

She frowns. "Oh? What are you doing?" She prods.

"I have a birthday party to go to." I say.

"Whose? Maybe we can all come!" Peyton says loudly, alerting my other friends of our conversation.

"Um..." I quickly search my brain for a logical excuse. "My cousins. Her birthday is on Sunday." I say. I really did have a cousin whose birthday was on Sunday, but she was turning like thirty or something. "And I don't think you guys should come." I add. "She's kind of shy and it's more of a family party."

"I love shy girls." Peter jokes, making the rest of the group laugh.

Obviously not, or else Rose wouldn't be bullied every single day. I think to myself.

I sigh. "Moral of the story, I'm busy tomorrow. Sorry." I say to Peyton, getting annoyed.

She huffs and finally leaves the table to go join her other girl friends. They all look at me with disappointed looks. I groan. It has not been a good day.

--------------------
Thanks for making it this far my lovely readers! I apologize for the delay in my updating, I've been working vigorously on my other books lately. If you have the chance, please go check out my other books! Particularly: Devils With Wings, Shimmer, Rebellion, Beyond Limits, and anything else that suits your interests!

Please remember to comment and vote! It really means a lot to receive feedback from my readers! Keep updated!