Broken Promises

6 | noah

Leaning against the brick wall behind me, I take a long drag from the blazing cigarette in my hand. I exhale slowly, watching the gray puffs of smoke extract from my lips, curling into the air around me before fading into oblivion.

I raise the cigarette to my lips again after a brief moment, glancing at the No Smoking On School Property sign across from me as I do so.

I ignore the sign, eyes wandering over the sea of strangers that cloud my vision as I turn my attention to the courtyard. It's lunch break at Magnolia High, and apparently the entire student body decided to eat outside.

I knew this school would be a place I'd never fit into from the second I stepped foot into the building. I'm nothing like the kids around here seem to be, a city boy that's been thrown into the fields. Furthermore, everyone around here seems to already know each other, having formed cliques that have lasted since childhood. I don't know anyone, merely on the outside looking in. I have a feeling this won't change.

And it's exactly how I want things to stay.

A figure across the courtyard catches my eye as I take another drag from my cigarette. I recognize the cascade of dirty blond hair tumbling down flannel-clad shoulders, and my gaze lowers to the tight denim that dresses a pair of long legs adorned with sneakers.

The girl is familiar because she's the only person I know in the slightest since moving here. It's only expected I'd remember her, considering I'd just spent an hour touring the school grounds with her.

Blake, my subconscious reminds me. Her name is Blake.

I exhale sharply, smoke drifting into the air as I drop the cigarette to the ground and put it out with my foot, wondering why I'm paying so much attention to this Blake girl, anyway.

I can't deny the girl is cute, though completely not my type. However, it says a lot that I didn't immediately hate her form the moment we met, as I have a tendency to dislike everyone.

I watch carefully as the blonde shoots her dark-haired friend sitting across from her an impossibly wide smile, and it suddenly hits me why she has captured my attention. That smile. The smile she's giving her friend now is the same smile I remember her giving me in the hallway this morning, after she'd run into her ex. That smile that doesn't quite seem to reach her eyes.

Why this thought even passes my mind is beyond me. It's not like I try to pick up on details like that, because I don't. I try my best to pay the least amount of attention to people as possible. But her smile . . . something about it irks me, and I wish I could figure out why.

I push the thoughts aside, telling myself it isn't worth thinking about any longer. As I'm going to turn my back on the Blake girl, I notice another figure heading her way. It's the Mason guy from the hallway, her ex-boyfriend. I watch as he takes a seat on the bench she's sitting on, planting himself between Blake and the other dark-haired girl.

The girl with the dark hair wrinkles her nose and visibly rolls her eyes. Although I notice this, it's not her that I find myself paying attention to.

For some reason, I can't turn away from Blake.

Discomfort is evident on her features as the Mason guy wraps an arm around her shoulders. The second his face turns to hers, however, her discomfort instantly morphs into a wide smile that almost even has me fooled. I can tell that the perfection of her beauty masked with that grin must fool the Mason dude, because he moves in to her closer and begins to whisper in her ear.

However, Blake's smile doesn't fool me. I can see the panicked gleam shining in her brown eyes even from here. Her expression seems to convey that she's fine, but her eyes clearly protest.

I can easily tell that Blake dislikes the way he's touching her, obviously without her consent as well. I find myself wondering why it's so hard for this guy to see that she doesn't want him around.

Impulsively, I take a step forward, wondering if maybe I should have a word with this guy. But then I notice Blake laugh, and the action stops me short.

I chide myself for thinking to interfere in her business. If she wanted the guy gone, she'd say something. She can handle herself. Besides, it's not my place.

I turn away from the scene playing out before me, removing my gaze from Blake. I walk off, wandering away from the sea of strangers I have no interest in getting to know.

However, the hollow look in the blonde's eyes haunt me as I walk into the school building, and I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

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a/n: i'm fakin by sabrina carpenter is a tune.