Outcasts

Chapter 4

Luce

I wake to find that Nathan is holding me tightly, his head resting on my stomach. I smile at this. He looks so young. I brush his hair out of his face, and he wakes. Its like watching a child wake from a nap. He opens his eyes and blinks, trying to make sense of his surroundings. When he gets his bearings he slowly removes himself from me.

Then I get up and make my morning preparations.

I have first period with Alex. Typical. At least we share this one with Alice. He notices my arrival and gives me one of his signature grins as he takes in my outfit.

I wear a red and black striped sleeveless cropped shirt and black skinny jeans. Its a pretty simple outfit.

"What?"

"New bracelets?"

I look down at my wrists. Two black wristbands, one red wristband and a few metal bracelets decorate my right wrist. On my left wrist I wear a fishnet sleeve and a black My Chemical Romance wristband. The only other accessories I wear are black angel wing earrings and a black cross necklace around my neck.

"Yeah..."

"Looks nice."

I'm surprised by the compliment.

"Thanks."

"You're jeans are as tight as an emo guy's though."

And he's back.

"Shut up. That's stereotypical and you know it."

He shrugs.

Then we see Alice. And she's dressed in... Well, typical Alice fashion.

Today her lilac hair is in a side ponytail, with her signature skull pin in place. She's wearing a very short frilled black skirt, and a black cropped tee depicting a broken heart with an arrow through it on the front. I suppose she almost made up for the lack of length of her skirt with her thigh high boots, though not quite. She adjusted her black messenger bag slung over her shoulder while her black painted lips part to show an innocent smile quite contradictory to her appearance when she sees us.

I chuckle lightly.

"Wow Alice. You look like a porcelain doll gone bad!"

I gesture to her skull adorned bag and boots.

"Hey it's not all bad, look!" she defends pulling out her crucifix necklace and showing us her black cross earrings. This time both me and Alex laugh.

"Right..."

After a few more laughs Alex asks, "Hey has anyone seen Lucky?"

Alice answers, "Yeah, he said he was gonna meet up with a friend of his."

I raise a brow.

"A friend we don't know about?"

Alice only shrugs.

Just then the bell starts to emit its monotonous ring and students begin to reluctantly shuffle toward their classes.

We have first period History with Mr. Mills who isn't really my ideal choice for the first teacher of the morning. He hates us. Even Alice, who gets A's in every class including his. He just has a permanent prejudice against anyone or anyone who looks "punk." Its pretty messed up, but, hey what can you do?

He, as always, sends us to to the back of the room. He doesn't want "kids like us" too close to his desk. I try my best to pay attention but History isn't my best subject and everything he says sounds like he's speaking in a different language. On top of that his lisp definitely isn't helping.

So my eyes start to wander. I see Alex. He's not paying any attention to class as usual, and instead has opted to fold origami. I watch his hands for a moment. Fold, unfold, refold... He's very skilled with his hands.

Then Mr. Mills calls on him and I tear my eyes away from him while he makes a smart remark for an answer. Eventually Mr. Mills gives up and moves on. He puts on a video that I know I won't be able to pay attention to. And I was right.

After a few tedious minutes my eyes begin to wander again. This time they settle on a goth couple making out in the far back. Something about them makes me sad and I turn my attention to the floor. The rest of the period goes by at an infuriatingly slow pace. As soon as the bell rings its dismissal, I'm gone.

"Hey, slow down! What are you running from, the Alamo?"

Alex catches my arm.

"I'm not running from anything, now let go of me!"

I'm not sure why but I feel panicked at his proximity.

He rolls his eyes, "Yeah right."

I forcibly try to tear my arm out of his grasp, to no avail.

"Luce."

"Let go!"

"Lucinda!"

I feel a chill run down my spine as my name passes through his lips. He loosens his grip. At last I wretch my arm away. Then I turn on him.

"Screw off!"

And I'm gone.