Weres

2. Him

Mrs. Sherman dropped Marley for her first day of school. The eighteen-year-old was nervous as she was going to be the new girl, and she wasn't used to that. Till now, she had lived her life surrounded by people she knew and was comfortable with. This was going to be hard.

"You are going to be fine. People here are friendly," Mrs. Sherman assured Marley, sensing her tensed state.

"I guess I'm not used to this whole moving to 'new place' thing." Marley tried to give her a cheerful smile.

"You'll get the hang of it."

With a nod and a thank you for the ride, she got out of the car.

Marley looked at the building standing tall in front of her and its board on it that said 'Marshville high'. She took a deep breath and walked inside with her head down. She could feel the stares as she walked through the hallways. 

Drops of sweat appeared on her forehead, and she quickly wiped them with the back of her hand. She asked one of the students for the direction to the receptionist desk, got her timetable, and managed to find her classroom. Somehow, these simple tasks left her a perspiring mess.

Marley was sitting at a desk placed at the back, when a girl approached her. She took in her appearance. The girl had long wavy blonde hair falling to the sides of her freckled cheeks. Her blue eyes stood on her small face, and her figure could be described as small and petite.

"You're new," girl said, her lips quirking up in a smirk. "Hi, I'm Kiara. We don't get new people here often, so I thought I say hi to the new chicken in the coop."

"Ahh.." Marley spluttered, confused if Kiara was being nice or mean. "I-I am Marley."

"We got a shy bean." Kiara beamed, finding Marley cute. "I like it."

"Thanks... I guess." Marley blushed. She wasn't good with interacting with new people, her crippling shyness always won.

Seeing her flustered, Kiara patted her shoulder. "Relax, I'm not here to kidnap you."

"I didn't see you here before," another voice joined in as a shadow was cast over both of them. 

Marley looked up and found a sturdy, tall guy with ginger hair looking down at her curiously. His aura and large body reminded her of some people back in her town, who she always avoided. He had those same vibes, and Marley knew she had to stay clear of him. It was a hunch that timid people like her always followed.

"Good, it'll be better if you don't see her at all." Kiara glared at the guy. 

Not that Marley was a fan of unneeded hostility, she didn't mind Kiara trying to shoo away the guy. She also didn't want to mingle with him. In fact, on some level she admired her boldness against a guy like him who could crush her within a second.

"I'm Mark," he introduced himself, ignoring Kiara.

"Marley Seyfried," she muttered as she avoided meeting his eyes.

"Seyfried?" Mark's brows knitted in confusion, before recognition flashed in his eyes. "Mrs. Sherman's new tenant?" He asked.

Marley nodded, surprised and a tad bit afraid.

"Don't worry, I'm not a creep. We know Mrs. Sherman. She's a family friend, so we already knew you were coming." Mark reassured her. He then glanced at Kiara, and Marley noticed his demeanor softening slightly. "I guess I'll be leaving you ladies."

"Please." Kiara rolled her eyes, and he left without another word. "Asshole," she said, when he was out of earshot. "One word of advice: stay away from him and his circle of jerks."

"Did he do something?" Marley prodded even though she was already planning on following her advice.

"Let's not discuss that jerk."

"Okay."

"Where are-" Their teacher entered the class, cutting off Kiara—who was back to her bubbly self. "I'll see you at lunch." she chirped before hurrying to her desk.

******

Sitting in the cafeteria, Marley looked around, studying the new atmosphere and munching on her apple. The room was filled with jocks, popular girls and geeks—all segregated by different tables. She considered herself to be one of the nerds.

"Hey, mind if I join?" She heard a familiar voice from behind. She turned around and found Kiara standing with another girl. Her frame was similar to that of Kiara, though she had brown hair and hazel eyes in contrast to her friend's features.

"Yeah sure." Marley was surprised as she didn't expect Kiara to actually look for her, however, she felt grateful too for the budding friendship.

As the two girls settled on the table, the chit-chat ensued. The other girl was Rachel, she and Kiara had been friends since middle school. 

The flow of conversation involved interrogating Marley before steering to celebrity-crushes, hot gossips of the school, clothes, and other so-called 'girly' stuff. It was mostly Kiara and Rachel who were chatting, whereas Marley listened and chimed in occasionally. 

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed throughout the cafeteria. All pair of eyes turned to the source of the sound. A boy was lying on the floor, his nose dripping blood. He was surrounded by two other guys who were staring down at him. 

Marley could only see those two guys' backs. They had big built and muscular frame. One of them had black hair, while the other one was blond. 

Her eyes shifted to the table beside them. There sat three more guys and two girls. All of them seemingly enjoying the show that their friends were putting on. Everyone at that table looked like the peak of human beauty—including the guys who were looming above their poor prey. She spotted Mark among them, proving her hunch about him right.

Marley's gaze moved to the guy sitting beside Mark. He was looking at the victim with blank expression. As she zoned in on him, something inside her flickered. Her heart skidded to a halt before beating wildly.

Even from far, Marley could see his face had sharp features, complimented by those short spiked black hair—which she imagined would be silky against her fingers. He was wearing a simple t-shirt that did a great job at highlighting his muscular arms and lean torso. He looked unaffected by his surrounding—his aloofness making him more alluring.

When the guy caught Marley staring at him, she turned away quickly, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment. She mentally cursed herself. She was supposed to stay invisible to those people, not gawk at them. 

But looking at that guy gave her a warm fuzzy feeling inside her chest. It was weird.

"Take a picture! It'll last longer," the blond guy shouted, his glare cutting through the cafeteria. His voice pulled Marley out of her thoughts. On instinct, everyone turned their heads away from the scene and looked down. There was a pin drop silence for a whole minute.

"Remember what I said," Kiara whispered softly, shaking her head in annoyance. Marley nodded, barely resisting herself to look at that boy again.

Kiara caught the said boy already staring at Marley. She narrowed her eyes at him, her protectiveness kicking in for her new friend. The guy shrugged and looked away, but there was a strange smirk on his face.

******

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