Innocence is just her disguise (Sadie Bane)

21

When I walk into school and see Carlos at his locker I immediately walk over to him and stand behind him.

What do I say? I never thanked him for saving me. If it wasn't for him I would've been stuck talking to Ducky the spider. But then he would've left me to go hunt for some flies to eat so I would be alone and then start talking to my hands.

He turns around and stops to look at me.

"Hi." He says emotionlessly.

"Hi." I reply quietly and shyly. Why am I being shy? "I never thanked you." I say, fiddling with my fingers.

"For what?" He asks.

"For getting me out of the other gangs house."

"Oh, yeah. It's fine. You don't have to thank me." He shrugs. Why not?

"Well I am." I say. "So thank you for-" I feel something hit my head sending me to the floor. I rub my head as I look up at who did that and see Clara giggling with her friends as she walks down the hall. I just sit there rubbing my head and muttering, "Don't kill her. Don't kill her," to myself.

"Are you okay?" I look up at Carlos and nod. He holds his hand out so I take it, letting him pull me up to my feet. "Thank you for getting me out-" I get cut off again by Clara. She wraps her arms around Carlos's neck. He doesn't push her off though, which makes me angrier.

"I was talking." I growl at her.

"Oh, were you? Well he wasn't listening." She says. I look at Carlos to see his arms wrapped around her waist. I look back up at him angrily as he looks at me.

"Bye." I grumble and march away. How dare that son of a duck!

When i Walk into the house i find my dad sitting on the couch. "Hey." I say.

"Come here." He says and I walk over to him. "So you'll probably be glad about this but you don't have to go to school anymore." He says and I stare at him, blinking twice.

"What?"

"You're being homeschooled now. People already saw what happened at your school and there's no point in hiding your true identity. It's not safe, they could come for you again. So from now on you're going to do online school."

"Oh." I say, looking down at my sneakers.

"Is that a problem?" He asks.

"No. It's great. I hated that school anyway. Well I'm going to bed now. Goodnight." I rush out and run upstairs.

"Night!" He shouts. I'm surprised he didn't question why I was going to bed at four in the afternoon.

I open my laptop and sit on my bed, typing in Carlos's number and FaceTiming him. Why am I doing this? Why am I being so... needy?

After a few seconds he answers. "Hey." He says. I can tell he's laying in his bed eating... Pringles.

"Hi." I wave but he doesn't see it because he's looking at something ahead of him. "So... what are you doing?" I ask.

"Sitting here." He replies simply and I nod. "What about you?"

"Same." Why is this so awkward?

We don't say anything for a while until I can't take the silence any longer.

"I won't be at school tomorrow." I finally blurt and he looks at me.

"Are you sick?"

"No. I won't be there the next day either. Or next week. Or the week after that. Or next month. Or the month after that. I won't be there for the rest of the year. Or next year." Carlos raises his brow, tilting his head curiously.

"How come?"

"Because my dad's making me do online school."

"Really?" I nod my head, waiting for him to say he'll miss me.

"At least you don't have to come to school and deal with everyone." I look up at the screen to see he's looking down at his chip, studying it closely before putting it in his mouth and chewing. Does he even care?

"So, what will you do at school?"

"Act like I'm learning." I let out a small chuckle.

"Who are you talking to?" I hear a girls voice say and I tense.

"No one." Carlos says. No one? "Just continue." He says and I narrow my eyes.

"Who was that?" I ask, trying to hide the hurt in my voice.

"No one." He says to me.

All the sudden Clara's in the camera next to him. She leans in towards the camera until her giant nose is right in front of my eyes.

"Is that that loser from school?" She asks, sitting back and looking at Carlos.

"Yes. I mean no. Yes it's her but she's not a loser." I raise a brow.

"Why are you talking to her?" She sneers.

"She called."

"Well stop talking to her and talk to me." She kisses his cheek and my eyes widen.

"I have to go." Carlos says to me before hanging up.

I sit there, staring at the wall before reaching for a pillow and chucking it at my mirror, making it shatter into pieces. Oops. That was my weapon pillow, the one full of rocks. Who cares! He's with her. That bitch!