Running Blind // Discontinued

Chapter 28

AN:

Hey, kids, I'm alive...barely. If you don't remember what's going on (which is probably all of you) I'm going to give you a quick reminder.

Basically, Mercy (that blond chick Ashley is friends with) didn't tell Ash about a dance competition without telling Ashley, and Ash gets REALLY mad about this. Do you want more detail? Go read chapter 26!!

-=+=-

Monday came quicker than it should have.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm and got dressed in my running clothes before bolting out the door, screaming a quick goodbye to my mom, to meet Jaxon outside my house like I did every other Monday morning. Only this was no ordinary Monday, and I suppose Jaxon could sense it as we ran the normal route with the other runners. My joints felt stiff like I was some creature made of ice, my movements slow and limited. Yet inside my mind, I was filled with the dark fires of rage and betrayal.

As I changed into whatever my mom packed for me to wear to school the prior night in the locker room, I thought about what I would say to her once we met in science that day. For some reason, in my mind I pictured the room going silent as I screeched insult after insult as I did with Jordan and Marissa. With her signing her stupid excuses back to me, as the class watched wondering what had torn the two of us apart. The way they did when Jordan and Marissa left me all that time ago.

I thought all about what I would say to Mercy.

I let Jaxon walk me to class, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, as I rested my head against his chest. "What's wrong, Raindrop?" His voice sounded far off, like I was underwater, or someone had stuck large cotton balls in my ears so I couldn't quite hear him properly.

Yet my lips moved anyways. "Nothing," I said, my voice just above a whisper. A complete and utter lie, that I knew Jaxon could, without a shadow of a doubt, see through. I suppose, even though we had only known one another for just a few weeks, he knew me better than I knew myself. Yet, I still was so...so blind to what he looked like. And that just about destroyed me on the inside. 

"Okay," he said back to me, accepting the lie rather than pushing me for details. That was when the unthinkable happened. Or perhaps it was thinkable since Jaxon was, technically, my boyfriend, but I was still unprepared for it. Soft, warm lips against my cheek, that was still frozen from the cold air outside. Jaxon had left go of me by the time my brain had processed what had happened, but I could still sense his smile. "Hope your day gets better," he called to me before disappearing into the sea of people flooding through the hallway.

He had kissed me. 

On the cheek, but a kiss was still a kiss, no matter where it was planted. I stood alone in that hallway, an island in the sea of people who I would never see, nor want to see, my cheeks stained a cherry red, and suddenly feel a whole hell of a lot warmer. I was so astounded I near tripped when I entered science that day. By the time I made it to my desk, I still hadn't recovered, and I hardly even realized it when Mercy grabbed my hand and began to sign.

Your cheeks are really red. Are you okay? She signed, but currently, my embarrassment outweighed my rage at her and all my anger died out as I responded.

Yeah. Fine.

The class went by in a blur. Several new students had joined our class, but I only recalled a couple of names. The two Isabellas, a Renee that Mercy said hello to, a Liam. Mercy mentioned how they had come from some fancy private school that was closing down after a teacher molested a student. I didn't ask how she knew, but I made a good guess. She must have met someone from that private school at her stupid dance competition. For the rest of class, I listened with a half ear about how DNA replicated itself.