What Once was Safe

Chapter 1

"Come on, come on, wake up!"

"Go away, Meridith." I groaned, pulling my pillow up and putting it over my head.

I felt weight on my legs. I assumed that Meridith had just sat down on them. "Come on! Get ready quickly, my boyfriend is coming to pick us up soon." She began pushing on my arm.

I quickly sat up. "You're still with that guy! That, that..."

"Che,"

"That Che!" I was angered, and you could see that from how animated I had just become. Don't mess with me in the morning. "You're still with that guy?" I looked over at Meridith, who was blurry due to my terrible eyesight, and was nodding largely with what looked like a small smile on her face, like she was enjoying herself. I laid back down. "I don't see why I cannot just drive to school myself."

Meridith laughed. "Come on, it saves gas!" She reaches over and picked up my thick glasses before sliding them on my face, clearing up her face for me.

Groaning, I got out of bed and stood up, still only half-awake. Meridith quickly clapped her hands in excitement before racing out of our room. At the last moment, I saw that she was wearing pajamas. Frowning, I looked over at the small alarm clock by my bed and saw that I had around two hours before I had to even think of getting to school.

"Meridith!" I quietly yelled, not wanting to wake my other family members.

She popped her head around the doorway, her hands busy brushing her long, light brown hair, "Yeah?"

"Why did you wake me up this early?" Anger was seeping into my voice.

She shrugged. "Well, I wanted you to look nice. You are seeing my boyfriend after a while and it's the start of your junior year of high school, so I thought you'd want to make a good first impression this year," I glared at her, "Maybe actually make a friend." I took two threatening steps towards her and she disappeared from the doorway with an almost silent squeal.

"Well I'm definitely awake now." I muttered to myself. Seeing no point in going back to bed, I got ready for school.

"Is your plan to keep everyone away from you?" Meridith asked, scanning my outfit.

I had settled for what I felt was regular clothes, a slightly oversized t-shirt and dark loose pants along with my thick black glasses. "What's wrong with it?"

"Why can't you just wear contacts like me? And something tighter, you look good underneath your layers."

"Meridith," I looked at her sternly, "no."

She crossed her arms. "Excuse me if I don't want to be walking around with the awkward nerd like I did last year."

I scoffed. "Awkward nerd?" She looked at me with a completely flat face, showing how serious she was. I sighed, "Let's go get breakfast." She smiled and uncrossed her arms, making my eyes almost pop out of my head. She turned to leave, but I quickly walked ahead of her and shut the door before she could walk out. "What are you wearing, Meredith?" My voice was both forceful and flat, trying to convey power.

"I wanted to look nice." Nice? She had on clothes that were way too tight and that showed way to much skin. Her hair was also pulled up into a tight high ponytail to show off her face which had makeup that was too provoking.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want my little sister walking around as if she's a prostitute." The look in her eyes made me feel good about getting my message across. I would not back down till she changed. She sighed and headed to her dresser again.

The car ride to school was terrible. The only noises were Meridith and her boyfriend chatting lively while I sat in the back, trying to block out what they were saying. Seeing Che look at her made me so glad that I made her change into something more appropriate. "We're here." Che said in his heavy Mexican accent, slowing his small car to a stop.

I wasted no time in quickly opening the door and getting away from those two. I couldn't stand their conversations any longer.

Looking at my phone that I had pulled out of my pocket, I only had a few minutes before the bell, so I had time to go in and speak to my first period teacher before class began. I pulled out my schedule and looked for my first period. It was math in P building with the teacher called Mrs. Hass. I quickly rushed in that direction.

"Hello." Came a soft female voice as soon as I knocked on and opened the door. "How can I help you?"

I looked up at the woman before swallowing my nerves of talking to new people. "Hi, I'm Xavior and I'm in your first period. I just wanted to let you know that I have social anxiety, so please don't make me talk much."

"And this social anxiety is the reason you're coming in before class?" I nodded, hoping she didn't notice my shaking hands from holding a conversation with a stranger for longer than two words. "Alrighty, let me just make a quick note." She leaned over and grabbed a clipboard on her desk and a pen before standing up straight and scanning the list. "I'm sorry, but I don't see a Xavier on here."

I started rubbing my fingers on my thumb nail, a habit that I do when I'm in an uncomfortable situation and want to stop shaking before speaking again. "That's because my name is Keir Vincent, but I go by my middle name, which is Xavior. X-a-v-i-o-r." I knew I was talking a little fast, but I wanted to get it over with.

Mrs. Hass was writing things down on a clipboard when the bell rang. "Okay then, Xavior," She then looked up at me. "With an 'o', right?" I nodded. "Okay then, you can go take a seat here." She walked over to a desk near the back of the classroom. I gratefully sat down, thankful for being in the back. "Hmm..." I looked up at the teacher, who was looking at something on the clipboard. Once she caught me looking at her she just gave a small smile before walking to the door, pulling it open just in time for a girl to step into the classroom. Her eyes immediately locked into mine, and I was extremely startled and nervous. Not only was someone looking at me, they were looking at me with golden eyes.