Green

Chapter 3

Yanking on dark blue skinny jeans and a light green tank top I pulled on my favourite shoes: lime green All Stars with dark forest green laces.

You can see why people call me Green, right?

‘Britt? You better be ready in five minutes!?’ I yelled, knowing her room’s next to mine.

‘Okay!’

My black and green striped backpack held my laptop, sketch book and a small case of pencils. I’m lucky that Dalton Academy does all work on laptops and we email in homework or projects. It makes life so easy and I don’t have to carry around a ton of books.

Eric’s car horn could be heard from outside, I headed downstairs and heard Britt’s footsteps behind me. Getting to the car first I got in the front, this is the first time I’ve seen Eric since we fought.

‘Hey.’ I smiled.

‘Hi, wanna get going?’

‘Hold on a sec,’ I pointed to where Brit was heading down the walkway, ‘Promised her a lift after she asked if I hated her.’

He chuckled, ‘I remember you running to me when you thought your mom hated you because she was having another kid.’

‘Ugh, don’t remind me.’

Britt got into the back seat, silencing our conversation.

I turned on the radio and made sure it was too loud for conversation. I’m in no mood to make small talk today and they seemed to realise this, Eric kept his eyes on the road and Britt played on her cell phone.

When we got to school and Eric turned off the car jumped out.

‘Britt, there’s the hall, ‘ I pointed, ‘Orientation is in there and they’ll tell you everything you need to know. At lunch you can sit with Eric and his friends okay?’

He nodded along.

‘Why can’t I sit with you?’

‘Because I sit in the library and read at lunch time.’ I stated. ‘Now, shoo.’

She smiled and headed off to the hall. Eric bumped my hip and smiled, ‘Wanna walk in together.’

‘Not really.’

‘How long are you going to be mad at me?’ He huffed.

‘Until you tell me whatever you’re hiding.’

‘How did you know I wasn’t telling you something!?’ He looked so confused, the poor basturd.

‘I didn’t for sure but you just confirmed it.’ I walked off leaving him to stand there shaking his head in surprise.

Dalton Academy is a private school with great spoting facilities such as rugby fields, tennis courts, a volley ball court, Olympic size swimming pool and horse riding. All of which I’ve never done due to my asthma, I think it’s ironic that I go to such a highly sport oriented school but I don’t do any sports. I'm here for the grand library.

Finding my new homeroom was easy since I already know this school, I’m in grade 11 now and I seriously can’t get lost anymore. Walking in I headed to the back and sat down ignoring everyone else. I don’t have anything against the people here, I’m just not very good at talking to people because I usually end up saying the wrong thing and pissing them off.

Tap, tap. I looked up to see who was tapping on my desk expecting to see a teacher.

A tall, tan boy with longish black hair and a blood red streak dyed up the left side of his hair looked down at me. He wore a self-important smirk and tight black tee shirt but what really freaked me out were his eyes, they were an orange-red. Contacts, they must be contacts.

Acting like his eyes didn’t freak me out a raised an eyebrow, ‘Yes?’

He sniffed, ‘You smell like a Pierce. Bitch.’

‘What the hell?’ Yeah, my surname is Pierce. So what?

‘So move bitch.’

‘Why should I move? I was here first.’

‘And now I’m here. You don’t look scared, you can’t tell who I am.’

‘Uh, no. You’re new here, I know that.’ I said confused.

His face suddenly twisted, ‘How old are you?’

‘I’m seventeen in a February, why do you care?’

‘Shit, you haven’t turned yet. Look, forget I spoke to you.’

‘What? What the hell are you talking about!?’

‘Forget it girl.’ He walked off before I could say anything more and the teacher began to speak.

What a weirdo.

***

School went by quickly and soon I was getting into Eric’s car with my sister. Britt filled the car ride talking about how much she loved Dalton Academy, how great the classes are and all her new friends. When she eventually put on her head phones I decided to talk to Eric about the weird guy in my homeroom.

‘Some guy in my homeroom called me a bitch today.’

He braked abruptly and I giggled as he snarled, ‘I’ll beat him up.’

‘Nah, it’s okay. He was acting really weird though, I think he sniffed me.’

Eric’s face paled, ‘What colour were his eyes?’

Strange question, ‘I think he was wearing contacts, they were like this red and orange colour.’

‘Shit, shit, shit.’

‘What?’

‘What else did he say?’

‘He asked if I’d turned or something and then when I gave him the what-the-hell-are-you-on face he asked my age. He left me alone when I told him I’m still sixteen.’

‘Stay away from him Green, I’m serious about this.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s not my place to tell you.’

I saw red when he said that. ‘More fucking secrets!?’

Eric pulled over in front of my house and I got out, storming off and not waiting for his answer.

I’m so used to people lying to me, my dad cheated on my mom and then just left without a word to me, my mother didn’t tell me why until I was twelve and I begged her to talk to me about it. She didn’t tell me she was dating Robert until a month before they got engaged. I’m so used to everyone not telling me things, everyone except Eric.

He told me the first time he shoplifted, the first time he slept with a girl, he told me when he accidently drove over my iPod and he told me when he drunkenly slept with my cousin in my room.

I value honesty over everything, no matter what you've done I can always forgive and forget if you're honest about it, if you take responsibility for your actions.

Eric has never hidden anything from me. We both went through our parents cheating and abandoning us, this is why we never hide things. We know what it feels like.

That’s exactly why it hurts so much.