Four Walls (Book One) ✔️

Chapter One

EIGHT YEARS LATER

"Are you nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?"

"Because we've never done this before."

"There are lot of things we haven't done before."

Damian chuckles and holds the door open as we enter Starkton High School for the very first time. "Only you would be so blasé about the start of freshman year."

I shrug my shoulders. "Ninth grade will be the same as eighth grade. The only difference is the four walls surrounding us."

"This is high school, Layla. At least pretend to be excited."

"Oh, I'm excited. I love school. I've always loved school."

He smiles. "Yeah, only because you're so smart."

I like school for a lot of reasons, most of them having to do with Hank Dodds and his inability to torture me while I'm here. My intelligence is just a bonus.

But my best friend doesn't need to know that.

"So are you finally going to ask Jessica out?" I inquire as we locate our lockers. Fortunately, his is adjacent to mine. "You've only been crushing on her for two years."

"Everything about her terrifies me. Jessica Jermain is a goddess, and I'm a mere mortal. Even if I had the gall to talk to her, she'd probably laugh in my face."

"You're not wrong. She's a narcissistic bitch." I open my locker and shove my empty backpack inside. "Her little sidekick, Janelle, is no better."

Damian rolls aquamarine eyes. "You don't even know them, Layla."

"Neither do you."

I'm not usually a judgmental person. I pride myself on being open-minded and accepting, but Jessica is a walking cliché. Not only is she the most popular and most beautiful girl in this deadbeat town, but she's also a cheerleader, head of homecoming committee, and the girlfriend of Evan Miller, the quarterback of the Starkton High Piranhas. I could tolerate her if she wasn't so High School Musical.

Or, you know, if she treated people better.

"Maybe this will be the year you make a new friend," Damian teases, giving my shoulder a nudge.

I turn to him and smile. "I have you. I don't need anyone else."

Damian and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Neither of us have ever truly connected with anyone else. We've had other friends along the way, but nothing that lasted. We always joke that people are intimidated by us, that we're too "unapproachable."

I'm beginning to think it isn't a joke.

We both have our secrets. He has his unexplained teleportation ability that I've spent countless hours in the library researching but still don't understand. I have my dad. We've built our walls to keep ourselves safe. Maybe we're keeping everyone else away, too.

"So... there's something I need to tell you," Damian announces.

I shut my locker and look at him. "What is it?"

"Well, I...." He lets out a nervous breath. I can almost hear his racing heart. "I'm trying out for the football team."

"No, you're not. Try-outs were at the end of last year. You missed the deadline by three months," I say matter-of-factly.

"There are still a few spots open," he replies. "I think I want one of them."

"Since when? You've never had any interest in football before."