Shadow

Chapter 2

Today was my first day. I was already writing an essay. Unlike my Maths teacher, my English teacher was a man in his late 60's that seemed to want to do anything but sit in a room with thirty teenagers. I had been in this room for almost half an hour and I could already sense his wrath towards us. Instead of welcoming me to his class, like Mrs Pearson, he handed me some paper, ordering an essay to be completed by the end of the period. The best part? It was on a book that they had been studying for the last semester, and I had never heard of.

I flicked through the copy of the book that the teacher generously provided me, trying to understand the plot. I read the useless blurb, in which the author unsuccessfully attempted to create suspense, but instead confused the reader even further. I skimmed through the poorly written chapters, trying to decipher what was going on, but it was useless. I also knew that there was no point in asking the teacher for help, as he was about to fall asleep in his chair.

In the last fifteen minutes, I decided to write an essay on the way the main character was constructed, as that was the only aspect of the novel that made somewhat sense. I hurriedly completed the essay in the last few minutes, and handed it to the teacher, praying that I wasn't going to receive a zero.

As soon as the bell sounded, I stood outside my classroom like Josh had told me to, waiting for him to come and take me to his friends. I tapped my foot, not because I was angry that he was late, I was just nervous about meeting his friends. I know that I'm here for a reason and that I'm only going to be spending a little time with them, after which all my focus will be directed towards Riley James, but still, Josh seems like such a nice person, I couldn't just flat-out reject him.

I smiled as I saw Josh walking towards me, well not walking, more skipping, but he made his way towards me.

"Sorry I'm late, my teacher caught me trying to get answers from my friend," he said, huffing.

I laughed. So his copying was a habit, "That's fine. So, where are your friends?"

"We usually sit next to the Music block, one of my friends is a music student, so it's more convenient for him to sit near his class," he said, beginning to walk towards the music block, "Whereas I sit there to distract people during band practice."

"This school has a band?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, but not the rock type, it's more of an orchestra, which means distracting them is more fun," he said, clicking his fingers, "Oh look, there it is."

I looked to where Josh was gesturing. A huge building stood in front of us. It was built to look modern, in contrast to the old, vintage-looking buildings that filled the rest of the school. From here I could hear students practising a variety of instruments inside, playing melodious tunes in sync. Josh began walking again, and I followed him. We walked around the corner, which led to the entrance into the music block. We continued walking to the end of this side of the building, where three boys were standing.

"Those are my friends," he smiled, "Hey guys!"

The three boys turned around and waved to Josh, one of them rolling his eyes. They all stood tall, looming over me. Although they seemed friendly, it seemed safe to assume that they belong in the 'bad boy' category of the high school hierarchy.

"Who's this?" one of the guys asked, shoving his hands into his black jeans.

"Oh yeah, I should probably introduce you guys," Josh said, laughing, "Guys, this is Raven, Raven, this is guys."

"You're an idiot," the same guy that asked who I was said, "I'm Zayn, Zayn Mountford." He ran his hand through his swooped black hair, revealing a bright red streak in it. Realising that I could see his streak, he quickly fixed his hair, hiding the streak once again, "I'm not weird, I swear, I lost a bet to Josh, resulting in me having to dye my hair," he said, in an angry tone, but his warm caramel eyes showed otherwise.

Josh laughed and ruffled Zayn's hair, receiving a glare in return, "Which is why you don't bet against me, Harold," he said, laughing once again at his horrible insult.

"I will kill you with my own hands," Zayn said, running after Josh. The other two guys shook their heads and looked back at me.

"I'm Brentley Davenport, but you can call me Brent," one of the two guys said. His dark brown hair was neatly gelled sideways, giving a professional vibe, similar to his soft smile. Unlike most guys, his clothes were neat and looked as though he'd ironed them this morning. His blue eyes glistened as he smiled at me, and I couldn't help but return his gesture.

I looked to the last guy, his black bangs hung over his icy blue eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it sideways so his bangs were now side curls. Unlike the other three, his face wore a blank, almost bored expression. He wore a black hoodie and black jeans, finishing it off with black ankle-length converse, "I'm Aidan Coldwell."

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at the irony. Coldwell, just like the impression I got from him, cold.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys," I smiled.

They both nodded in acknowledgement and moved to sit on a bench, beginning to eat their lunch. I followed and sat in front of Brent, pulling my own lunch out, and beginning to eat. It was silent, but not the tense kind, more the kind where no one wants to communicate with anyone else because, well, food.

A few minutes passed, Josh and Zayn jogged back, huffing lightly. Zayn sat beside me, and Josh went to sit beside Aidan. He looked at me and smiled, then looked down to what I was eating. His smile turned into a grin, and he reached over the table, picking a bag of chips out of my lunchbox.

"Thanks!" he said, popping the bag open and shoving multiple chips into his mouth simultaneously. Zayn looked at him in disgust, while Brent looked at him in disappointment.

"Josh, you can't just take someone else's food without asking for permission," he scolded, "Here Raven," he said, handing me his own bag of chips.

"No, Brent, it's fine," I insisted, "I don't like chips."

"See?" Josh said, his mouth full, "I used my mind-reading skills to automatically know what she didn't want."

"Mind-reading, huh?" Zayn said, "Read my mind."

"Okay, if you insist," Josh said, swallowing his chips, "I sense your eternal love and admiration for... oh, what do you know, Josh Vo."

Zayn rolled his eyes and packed away his lunch, "The bell's about to go, what do you have next period Raven?"

"I have PE," I said.

"Sweet, so do I," Zayn smiled, "Let's go, I'll take you there."

I nodded and packed my lunch. I got up from my seat and waved goodbye to the guys. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as I thought.