Damaged -Grayson Dolan-

Chapter One

School sucks.

That was the reoccurring thought that appeared in my head as I ducked around a group of junior boys. One of them held out a phone, the others crowding around. To my right, a group of girls, tittered next to each other, leaning up against the steel colored lockers. A couple shoved past me, hand in hand, too absorbed in their own world to notice anyone else. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and focused on the matted carpet beneath my feet. I tugged my sweatshirt tighter around me, feeling a sudden chill.

Spring in New Jersey was a joke.

"Alanna!"

My head popped up as my friend, Mina, came into view. Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement, offset by the burgundy color of her knitted sweater. She hurried to me, coat draped over one arm. "It's been so long! I'm so happy you're finally back!"

"Well, at least one of us is glad I'm back." I stated as I looked around at the crowded hallway.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Com'n school is just the same as its always been." She curled a strand of blond hair behind her ear as her phone buzzed. She glanced at it. "Shit- the bell's about to ring. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yep," I said, popping the "p". "See you at lunch. Save me a seat."

"Got it!" She disappeared into the crowd of students, now scattering to various classes. I heaved a sigh and adjusted the straps of my backpack. It was going to be a long day. I made my way down the hall and into my first-period class. All the seats were nearly occupied, given that we only had a minute before the bell would ring. I slid into an empty desk, making sure both the aisles next to me were unoccupied. I set my bag down beside me.

I scanned the faces in the room. A few were familiar but not enough for me to go strike up a conversation. I opted to open up my phone instead, answering a few snapchats that had popped up on my screen.

The chair beside me shifted and a guy slid into the seat. Startled, I met his gaze. Dark brown eyes flashed to mine.

"Sorry," he said, his voice deep. "Was this seat taken?"

"What? Oh-no." I answered. My fingers curled around the edge of the desk, heartbeat quickening in my chest.
Calm down, Alanna, you are not doing this here. Not right now.

"Cool." He turned and faced the front of the room where our teacher, Mrs. Harris, was beginning to talk.

"Welcome back, all of you. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday. This morning we'll start with..."

It was hard to hear her words over the sound of my heart beating in my ears. My chest stung and felt tight. I swallowed, my throat feeling like cotton and counted in my head.
1, 2, 3, breath. Look at all the space around you. You're fine.

I chewed my lower lip. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Eventually, the feeling subsided and I slowly felt my muscles relax. If the kid next to me had noticed anything odd, he didn't let on.

Heels clicked against the tile floor. Mrs. Harris walked down our row, handing us each a piece of paper. She smiled at me. "Alanna, it's good to see you back in class. I trust you kept up with everything online?"

I nodded and accepted the piece of paper.

"Wonderful. Grayson here is fairly new to the school as well. Maybe you two will be able to help each other along." She headed over to the next aisle. I scanned the paper in my hand. It was a syllabus for the rest of the school year.

"Yeah, I didn't remember seeing you during the first semester of this class," the guy- Grayson- looked at me.

I brushed a strand of hair from my face. "I took the first semester online for all my classes."

"Why?"

I hesitated for half a second and then shrugged. "I was moving and it was too hectic for me to attend school at the same time." Half truth and half lie. "How about you?" I asked switching the focus to him. "Are you new?"

Grayson nodded and I noticed how deep and rich the brown in his eyes was and the way his he smiled a bit when he talked. "My family just moved here at the beginning of the year. So I started in the fall."

Mrs. Harris began to talk at the front of the room again and I wrote my name at the top of the syllabus. I did my best to pay attention, bouncing my knee underneath the table. The class dragged on and on. I really preferred online schooling over this torture.

By the time lunch rolled around I was starving and looking forward to seeing Mina. I didn't have any classes with her in the morning but my last period- English- we had together.

"So how's it going?" Mina set down her lunch tray on the table. I slid into the cafeteria seat across from her and picked up my fork. "Pretty good I'd say."

Mina ripped open a packet of salad dressing. "I wish we had more classes together."

"I know," I eyed the wilting green leaves in front of me before taking a bite. "You're pretty much the only person I know."

"That's not true."

"Okay, well the only person worth talking too." I amended, glancing past her shoulder. I saw Grayson come into the cafeteria, talking to another person next to him. I blinked as the other guy raised his head and for a minute I thought I was seeing double.

"What are you looking at-" Mina twisted to see behind her and then back to me. "Oh. I see you noticed the Dolan twins."

I raised my eyebrows. "I know that one's Grayson, but who's the other one?"

"Ethan," Mina finished dousing her lettuce in dressing and tossed the emptied packet aside. "And how did you know that's Grayson?"

"We have first-period Pre-Calc together." I turned my attention back to my lunch and took another bite.

"Okay, but didn't you just meet him this morning? How can you even tell them apart?" Her phone buzzed next to her lunch tray but she ignored it.

I chewed slowly. "I don't know. They don't look exactly the same."

Mina shook her head at me. "Did you guys talk?"

"Who?"

"You and Grayson, dumbass. You said you have first period together."

"Oh yeah. He sits next to me."

She blinked her wide brown eyes at me. "What I wouldn't give to sit next to Ethan." A dreamy look crossed her face.

"Please, Mina. Spare me the details of your romantic delusions." I took a sip of my water.

Mina frowned at me, feigning a hurt look on her face. "I'm offended. They are not delusions. One day they will become reality." She waved a finger at me. "Just wait."

"I have a feeling we'll both be waiting a long time."

Mina tossed a tomato at me and I ducked, laughing. "Alanna, you're impossible."

"I speak the truth." I speared another piece of lettuce with my fork and popped in my mouth. We finished up our meals in comfortable silence, throwing away our trash as the bell rang.

"I'm off to Statistics." Mina wrinkled her nose. "See you in English?"

"Yeah, I'll save you a seat."

"Perfect." With that, we both left the cafeteria and waded through the crowded halls of Brookstone High.