FLATLINE

Chapter Four; Curiosity killed the cat

The next day I avoided the cafeteria altogether, and I found out I had History class with Gavin as well. Had he not ignored me the day before during the whole Christina-spectacle, I probably would not have hesitated as much as I do to approach him. But every time I see him and his brooding eyes meet mine, all I want to do is turn the other way. Every time I saw his blue eyes stare back at me, I couldn't help but feel judged. Christina and her wannabes always lingered around him and his two followers, and his friends seemed to eat up the extra attention the ladies gave them simply because Gavin was looking the other way.

I wonder what his mother thought of his behaviour. When I stepped out of the car once we arrived to our new house a few days prior, I couldn't feel the hostility that was hanging over him like the rainy cloud it was now. Where was it then? Surely a person couldn't have such a broad spectrum of emotions aimed at a person within such a small spec of time?

It didn't matter how he acted anyways. I came back to avoid being tied down, and it seems like he was the biggest distraction towering over me with his confident stance and minions that couldn't walk two steps unless he was in front of them. I decided that morning that just because our parents were best friends, did not mean we had to be. He was the big, fat, red sign saying danger and I was too paranoid to even look so I followed the rules (for once). I didn't let myself wonder what was behind the big, fat, red letters. Ignoring him would be the best option if I wanted to keep my wits about me this year, and I had to do whatever it took to stick to that plan. If I could just get through this year without any commitments, I could finally follow through the second part of my plan; freedom. It was all I could do until freedom.

My plan was challenged already, seeing as the senior hallway contained all the lockers belonging to said seniors. His locker was exactly 6 lockers to the left of mine. Not that I counted, it was just easy to scan the lockers and realize that the distance of 6 lockers in between was simply too little. They could at least have put them buildings apart, it would be a great sacrifice on my end.

I was sitting at the library during lunch, sneaking small bites of my sandwich through the small opening of my bag. I had planned my lunch exactly according to this moment, making sure I packed nothing that would stink up the library and give my well-thought-out plan away.

As I was reading another Colleen Hoover book, I could hear the click of heels eco through the librabry, followed by a brutal "Shhh" from the librarian behind the desk. The sound she made connotated in my head with a snake spitting venom, but the comparison could not have been further off. The librarian was strict, but when she saw me walking in with my bag slung over my shoulder and my book in hand, all she did was give me a weak smile and a nod.

The clicking of heels countinued, and it got louder the more I told myself to ignore it. It wasn't the head-turning sound that Christina's stillettos made on the floor. It was different, as if the heel had eaten the heel of her foot and merged with it. It was a confident walk, and one I did not necessarily recognize.

Someone stopped in front of the table I was sitting at and cleared their throat. I was forced to gulp down the chunk of sandwich in my mouth before looking up. I was met with fierce hazel-brown eyes and an outfit I knew I would wear myself had I owned it. "Didn't take you as the girl to run away from your problems, Hastings?"

It was the girl from calculus, I remembered her. The one the teacher didn't seem to spit sarcastic remarks at besides Gavin. My eyebrow rose in a challenge. "Can't see how that's any of your business?"

She smirked. "Is that your go-to line? Because if so, then we have some serious work on our hands," she said a she slumped down in the seat across from me. Her brown long hair had a streak of dark purple, and her clothes consisted of wide, black denim jeans and a crop top. She was simply said beautiful, and I found myself almost self-concious in front of a girl so effortlessly striking.

I rolled my eyes at her reply. "I'm out of practice, aren't I?"

She seemed to relax a bit more, as if she was anxious to sit there in all her gorgeous glory. "You're talking to the right girl then," she winked. She crossed her arms across her chest, and I had to almost look away because the way she was making me feel was new to me. When had I ever been this affected by a girl? "I'm Sasha, your local outcast extraordinaire. And you're Jenny Hastings, the returned beauty from the big city."

I tried not to blush at her words. "You sure have done your research," I mumbled and looked down at my half-eaten sandwich. I tucked it further into my bag and rested the bag on the chair next to mine.

Sasha was amused by my response, because she let out a small chuckle that sent shivers down my spine. "Hard to ignore when your name pops up in every conversation in every clique. I gotta say, that's a pretty impressive entrance to such a shitty school. You made me look like an amateur."

I tilted my head, feeling the curiousity seep out in my gaze at her. "Are you new?"

"I was, two years ago. The called me new-money back then," she shrugged as she took my book from in front of me and started reading the blurb.

"Why is that, if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked up at my choice of wording. "You're too polite for a city girl, are you sure you lived in Chicago?" Her hands were all over my book, and seeing as I could smell her perfume from here, I knew I would only think of her when I finished the rest of the book.

"Positive," I said, and now it was my turn to cross my arms.

That seemed to only spike her curiousity further, but she pushed it away. "My mom, being the gold-digger that she is, married Hugh Fisher a few years back. So technically he's my stepfather, but that's really only on paper," she said as she leaned back. "My mom didn't care that we had to leave the city where I had to leave all my friends. To be fair, we were in a really difficult financial situation back then, so I can understand it in retrospect. But at the time I really hated her."

I nodded in understanding. Sasha must be a fairly open person to be telling me this, because her recollection of the happenings in her life appeared to be slightly rehearsed. I didn't pick on that even if I noticed it above all else. "That's understandable. You were tied to people, but you were forced to cut those ties. It's only natural to be angry."

She sent me half a smile in response, as if approving of my answer. I felt a spark of satifaction from being given her approval, but it was short-lived when I remembered I wasn't even supposed to be talking to her. Yet here I was, giving this girl consolence when I was still drowning myself. "Yeah, I was. So I used to do pranks on the kids here just to get caught, just to show her that I really hated being here. I broke Christina's heel after gym-class, and I got caught making out with Simon under the teacher staircase leading up to their offices. They're small things, but you know how rich kids are - they blow things out of proportion, and considering I was the new kid, it didn't really ease my case. They ended up contacting my mother saying that, and I quote, "this is not the kind of behaviour we expect from a teenage girl, but from a preschooler". They just said I had difficulties to adjust, although, I always knew what I was doing when I was doing it. I did it all on purpose to piss off Fisher."

I considered what she said for a moment. It was true, rich kids blew things out of proportions. Should I tell her my family was just as loaded, if not more, than Christina's? Would she believe me? "Did it work?" I asked instead.

"Eventually, he threatened to cut off my monthly allowence, but I told him whatever he could give me, my mother could give me in tenfold. I never expected them to last, but here we are, and I'm sure not going back to New York anytime soon by the looks of it.." she trailed off. Her look was slightly distant, but I hadn't known her long enough to say why.

I decided to pick up a little - it wouldn't hurt. It was a simple conversation, nobody was getting attached anywhere. "Too bad, I really want to see you break something else of Christina's," I added a wink. I felt a blush coming up, but I reminded myself of what happened when I got too excited, and it worked well to wipe away any emotion from my face.

That didn't stop the laugh escaping Sasha as she threw her head back, earning her a death-glare from the librarian as she passed by our aisle. "I knew I would like you, Jenny Hastings, but not this much."

She sent me a smile and held my stare for a while, and if I didn't know any better, I would think she was flirting with me. Because if she was, I had no idea how to handle it, so I simply smiled back.

This new beginning was starting to look up, but I knew immediately that was not what I wanted.