SUNGLASSES

Chapter Eleven

It was Wednesday, and I had to face school. Kids knew that both I and Daniel had missed school Monday and Tuesday, and rumors were obviously starting to spread.

"I heard that they got high and he got her pregnant."

"I heard that they already had the kid, and they were trying to take care of it."

"Weren't there cops involved?"

It was the most embarrassing day of my life. I walked through the hallways with the sunglasses Emma gave me, hoping they would at least shelter me in the slightest bit. But they actually brought about more attention.

Everyone was talking about the sunglasses girl that skipped school with Daniel Weiss.

"Cady!" I heard Emma call as I walked down the hallway, cringing at the many more looks that were drawn to me. Emma caught up with me and enveloped me in a hug, the smell of flowers and heavy perfume filling my nostrils. "I am so glad I caught you before English. What did you do for the essay?" She pulled away, and I glared at her.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" I murmured, pushing past her and walking faster to my next class. Her high heels clicked after me.

"What? What's the matter?"

I turned around, a slight smirk plastered on my face. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you act like NOTHING happened last weekend."

She shrugged, looking down at the floor. "I don't know. If you try to ignore it, maybe it'll go away?"

Before I could respond, I heard a loud clang from behind me. I turned and locked eyes with Daniel. He was further down the hallway, bent over something on the floor. He quickly picked it up and walked in the opposite direction, obviously not wanting me to have seen him.

Too late, buddy.

"Daniel!" I yelled, running after him. At this point, I didn't care that people were staring at me. I had to talk to him. "Daniel, wait up!"

He was picking up his pace, but was still at a leisurely walk, trying to make himself look cool. I was fine with that - it meant I could catch up with him.

"Daniel," I panted, grabbing his shoulder and jerking him around to face me. He was holding a plastic bag filled with...

"Marijuana? What the hell, Daniel?"

He looked down at the bag before shoving it into his jacket pocket. "It's uh...not for me. I'm holding it for a friend."

"Liar."

"Not a liar." He turned and continued to walk farther down the hallway, not bothering to look back at me. I followed him, more out of curiosity than suspicion. He walked all the way out to the back doors, stopping briefly to look at his bag more closely, then stepped out into the gloomy weather with some sort of airy confidence he had somehow pulled on at that very moment. I let the door close completely before silently creeping outside and following him again. He turned around the side of the building and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it before jumping out into the street. He walked down the road a little ways until we reached his car. Oh God, please don't make me run after a car, I prayed, staying behind a tree.

Luckily, I didn't have to. He reached in through the open window and grabbed a roll of money out of the glove box, shoving it deep into his jacket pocket and rolling the window back up. He turned and went back up the road, once again passing the school and reaching the stop sign at the intersection. He lead me to a very sketchy alley a few blocks away, and I ducked behind a huge trash can while he continued down the alley.

"Hey," I heard him mumble. The bag rustled softly, and a gruff voice mumbled something I couldn't understand. It was a quick transaction - Daniel was walking past the trash can within moments of when he got there. I peered my head around it and into the alley, looking for the owner of the voice, but whoever it was was already gone.

"Seriously?"

I jumped, hitting my head against the side of the metal bin. "You're following me now?"

"I was looking for something I think I left here," I lied, looking around on the ground like I was hoping it would be there. Daniel laughed.

"Since when do you come to alleys and mysteriously leave your things near trash cans?"

"Since when do you come to alleys and mysteriously buy drugs off of random guys?"

His smile faded slightly. "That dude's not random. He's a friend of mine."

"Like that makes anything better."

He grabbed my arm and pulled me through the alley, ignoring my protests to let me go. We only stopped when we reached the other end, when we were standing on the sidewalk of a familiar street only a couple blocks from the school. "Look, you don't know half as much as you think you know. Just because we spent a few days together and had a few moments doesn't mean you know me in and out. It's better if we just stop talking altogether. I won't look your way, you won't look mine. Deal?"

He said everything so fast that I had to blink a few times to process it all. "I don't understand. Why are you being like this?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking down at his shoes. "Just go, Cadence. Please."

I stared at him for a few seconds, shaking my head slightly in disbelief. "Whatever," I grumbled, shoving past him and making my way back to the school. He made no effort to try to bring me back. When I reached the front doors, I looked back and watched him get into his car and drive away, completely leaving me to walk in alone.

"Cady! Where have you been?" Emma asked as she rushed over to me. "English literally just ended. Where did you disappear to?"

I shrugged. "I just had to deal with something."

She grabbed my hands and looked me in the eyes. "Let's just go to lunch, okay? I'll tell you all about how Jacob told off Mr. Taylor in Algebra. I think he was hitting on me in Chemistry, too. Did I tell you about that? OMG. It was SO creepy..."

I followed her to the cafeteria, but it was like I wasn't there anymore. My mind was wandering to wherever Daniel had gone to, and my heart was wishing I had just offered to smoke his weed with him.

A/N:
Lol I haven't updated in forever...forgive me? I'm at such a creative block right now uGh. Happy reading you guys:)