The Spiral of Acceptance

Chapter 2

Arctic waited outside the school library, reading some Fanfiction on his phone. He knew he still had some time to burn before the girl - whoever she was - arrived, because he could tell from the school's compulsory level photographs that she was in 3P, the class famous for having the teacher who started class 5 minutes early dismissed you 15 minute late.

Honestly, the blond boy wondered what she had to do with him. He knew his mother would kill him if a girl was interested in him, and with O Levels coming up the next year he wasn't ready for a commitment anyway.

Face-palming at the thought, he hoped that the girl was not interested in him that way.

That lead his mind to think about other possible reasons as he turned off his phone, not bothering to feign interest in its weak plot any longer. Was it possible that she had saw his scars? Feeling as self-conscious as ever, Arctic pulled up his blue-black jacket sleeve slightly, glaring at the ugly blemish on his skin.

Damn damn damn damn. He didn't know what was wrong with him, his parents didn't know what was wrong with him, his therapist didn't know what was wrong with him - no one knew why he had a monster living inside him.

Damn it, John. Damn it. Why did John have to exist? Couldn't John just leave him alone?

Arctic sighed and glared at the empty corridor. He seemed to be glaring a lot, nowadays. With 5 minutes before the girl's dismissal, Arctic decided to wait inside the library - at least there was air conditioning.

Just as Arctic was going to fall asleep in the quiet environment of the library, he noticed the girl walk in and jerked awake.

"Hey Arctic,"she greeted quietly.

"Hey," he responded.

"Come on, let's go to the canteen. We can't talk well here," she said. Arctic shrugged and followed her out, mouthing a "sorry" to the librarian glaring at them.

As they walked to the canteen, Arctic decided to start a conversation.

"What's your name? You already know mine," asked the blue-eyed boy.

"Zinnia Brooks. Best friend of Kimberly Jackson," responded Zinnia, almost spitting out the last two words. Arctic only recognised the name Kimberly Jackson. Apparently she loved tattling to teachers and putting down others - and not in a joking way. If Trickwall High School had a bully, it was her.

As if sensing the question in Arctic's eyes, Zinnia continued, "I don't know why I'm friends with her, let alone best friends. I would 'break up' with her, but girl politics." The brown-eyed girl rolled her eyes as Arctic gave a mocking girly giggle.

A/N: Who's John? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Don't look at me, read on!