Hiding From The Past

Chapter 2

I sat by myself on the bus, which was perfectly fine with me, and stared out the window watching field after field of wheat, sunflowers, and cows pass by. After what felt like hours, we arrived in front of a massive grey building labelled 'Canville High'. We unloaded and headed inside down long corridors filled with lockers and sleepy teenagers regretting their young lives.

I walked down a long hall following small blue signs that pointed toward the counselor's office. I knocked on the door and awaited an answer, "Come in!" came a cheerful voice on the other side. I opened the door and Mr. Boyce was standing behind his desk motioning for me to come in. He appeared to be in his early twenties. While he was a small man, probably no taller than five foot five he seemed very confident with short brown hair, and glasses the size of his face. He wore jeans and an oddly patterned sweater that swallowed him whole.

I smiled slightly at the odd sight and walked in, "Hi, I'm Paige Kindall."

"Hi, Paige! Please, have a seat while I get your books and schedule for you," He said as I sat down and took in a full view of his office. Large bean bag chairs were huddled in the corner, movie and band posters lined one wall, and a bookcase covering an entire wall on the other side of the room was overflowing from top to bottom.

He held out my schedule. I took it and looked it over, "Does it look alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," I looked up, "Thanks."

He slid a stack of books toward me, "Good luck, Paige!" I put them in my backpack, stood up, and walked out the door.

I took a deep breath. My chest felt like it was going to concave. I stopped, leaned against some lockers, and tried to catch my breath. I could hardly breathe, but I couldn't give up now. This could be my last chance to have a better life. I could finally walk through the doors of my home without worrying whether or not I was going to be beaten for grades, dishes not being done, or sneezing the wrong direction. I finally had a safe place. I took one more deep breath before I started heading to my first class.

"Room 204..." I mumbled to myself as I walked down the long hallway. No one was left in the hall to ask for directions, so I kept going until I found it. The door opened at the back of the classroom. I tried to sneak in, but the teacher, an elderly woman with silver hair, stopped me in my tracks, "Welcome to my class! You must be our newest addition. Would you please come up and introduce yourself?" she asked.

"Um, hey," I brushed my hair from my face. My palms started to sweat and my voice shook slightly, "My name is Paige. I'm from Florida, and I somehow managed to end up here, in the great state of Kansas." I rolled my eyes and looked around and found an empty desk near the door. I grabbed the book Mr. Boyce had given me, put my backpack on the floor by my feet, and slumped down in my seat.

"Welcome, Paige! We're so glad you could join us. My name is Miss Winnie. Now, if everyone's ready, please turn to page 55 in your History books!" She exclaimed.

I swallowed hard and looked her up and down. Her hair that was thrown up in a very messy bun, a cute, knee length, blue, flowery dress that showed her long legs off nicely, and a pair of brown cowgirl boots. She was much taller than Mr. Boyce, and she looked to be in her early sixties. She was adorable, in a country bumpkin kind of way.

Before too long, the class was over. I threw my book into my bag and hurried out of the classroom to try and find my geometry class. I looked down at my schedule to see what room number I was supposed to find, "306... 306... Where is it?" I mumbled to myself.

A few minutes later I noticed the hallways were empty. I sighed, looked down at the paper again, and kept walking. "Oof!" I looked up and all I could see was a stubbly chin. I stumbled backward and took in the features that stood in front of me. Green eyes, shaggy brown hair, and a soft jawline. He was quite a bit taller than me and wore a black muscle shirt, light blue jeans with holes in the knees, and black Converse.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" his deep voice rang in my ears. He seemed slightly annoyed.

"I could ask you the same thing," I somehow mustered the courage to say.

He seemed surprised and smirked, "Well yeah, but the real question is, why aren't we?" He looked down at the schedule in my hands and snatched it from me.

"Hey, asshole, give that back! I didn't ask for help," I tried getting it back but he held it just out of my reach as he kept reading.

He smirked again, "Geometry? I don't blame you for getting lost."

"It wasn't on purpose!" I rolled my eyes.

He looked down at me, "You expect me to believe you aren't trying to skip class?"

I was starting to get annoyed. The more he talked, the later I would be. "I have to go. Give me back my schedule."

"What if I don't?" What are you gonna do?" He held the schedule up higher.

I huffed and walked around him down the hall without my schedule. He stood there perplexed like he couldn't believe I wouldn't stand there and play his silly game. Once he caught up, he started walking beside me, "What's your name?" He asked.

"Paige. Can I have my schedule back now? I kinda need it." I stopped and crossed my arms.

He stuck his hand out for me to shake but I did not oblige. "Well, my name is Chester. It's nice to meet you, Paige."