The Mask (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 21: A Bad Feeling

Helen's P.O.V

When I woke up the next morning, something didn't feel right. Maybe it was just the fact that James had a vice grip on me, keeping me next to him, or maybe it was just a bad feeling I was having...wait. Is James holding me? In his sleep? What on Earth? I know I did not go to sleep like this. How did we even get into this position? I don't exactly have an issue with it, it's quite comfortable, in fact, I wouldn't mind staying like this for a while longer. I pushed that thought out of my mind and checked the time. It said 7:45 am. Since school starts at 9 am, we should probably get up so we're not late.

I tried to get James' arm off of me but to no avail, so I resorted to turning to face him in order to shake him awake so he would let go so I could actually get ready for school. When I finally managed to wake him up, he took one look at the position we were in and immediately let go, probably embarrassed. We both decided to ignore what had just happened and just go on with our day, both of us got up and got ready for the school day.

When I was dressed, I went downstairs and made breakfast for both of us. This was a system we had created after I had been here about a week, James had mentioned to me that he sucks at cooking so I offered to make the meals in return for him driving me places and it's been working out well so far. Once we ate our food, we walked out to James' car and started our journey to school.

Most of the journey was just like every other day, however, when we arrived where James would usually let me get out of the car, he just kept driving instead of letting me out. I turned to face him, confused as to what he was doing. We had agreed after I first moved in that he would not drive me into school because I didn't want people to treat him the way they treated me just because he was seen with me.

"Ummm what are you doing?" I asked him with confusion conveyed in my tone with a little bit of urgency creeping in. The idea of others speaking to James the way they speak to me scares me to my core, he doesn't deserve that kind of torture.

"I'm dropping you off at school properly and there's nothing you can say to change my mind. I know you're freaking out about this but you don't have to worry, I don't care what anyone else says to me, they're opinions don't mean anything." Him saying this didn't make me feel any better about the situation because I knew whatever they say about him will get to me. He can't do anything to stop that.

Before I could open my mouth to refute him once again, we arrived in the school car park and he pulled into an empty space. I froze in my seat, on the verge of a panic attack as I noticed some of James' friends walking towards his car to greet him. James seemed to realise my rigid state and accelerated breathing because he turned his head so he was looking where I was and saw the reason I was freaking out. Suddenly, his face paled to the same shade of white as mine. He was about to pull out of his parking spot and the car park when his friends reached the car and we both froze like ice.

When James' friends noticed me in the car with him, any form of happiness on their faces completely dissipated and turned into displeasured frowns showing both confusion and anger. James sighed before turning back to me with a serious expression on his face.

"Okay, you get out and walk straight into the school, I'll deal with the guys" He expressed before proceeding to get out of the car and speak to the gobsmacked people on the other side of the glass. While he did this, I wasted no time in also getting out and all but running towards the double doors that led to my hell. Part of me felt bad that I didn't even so much as look back towards James to make sure he was okay but a larger part of me knew that I had to get away as soon as possible.

For the rest of the day, I wasn't bothered very much by anyone which was weird for a start but I was also stared at by pretty much every single person I walked past. While that was a normal occurrence, the way everyone was looked at me felt different somehow, the stares seemed to hold a more malicious intent than normal. There is no doubt in my mind that it's due to what happened this morning. All this staring really wasn't helping the bad feeling I have go away so I just kept my head down all day until the last bell rang and I could finally leave.