He comes and sits right next to me and I don't dare to turn his way. I can't believe I was stupid enough to flip him off in the middle of the canteen!
"I hope you guys don't mind me sitting with you for lunch today," Vincent says and my head whips towards him.
"We do mind, can you go?" I say and there's a slight shock on his face but it disappears and his signature smirk is back.
"You wouldn't want me to sit alone for lunch, would you? You know how that feels." He says and that my eyes became glossy. That strikes a nerve and I am not going to sit here acting like it's okay to talk about my past like that.
"Fuck you." I spit at him and get up and leave.
I will not cry. I will not cry. I WILL NOT CRY!
Flashback
People are laughing and pointing fingers as they walk past with their food trays. I keep my head down and continue to eat my sandwich but the tears don't stop. It's been a week since Raven dumped me for the popular girls and threw the trash on me in front of the school. She's started throwing comments whenever she is around me and I can never stop crying when she does.
I thought people would have forgotten about it by now but every day was the same. Wherever I would walk, people would laugh at me. Teachers did nothing because no one wanted to go against the popular girls and tell what had happened and no one at home knew what happened. I would tell Pandora but she has been shutting me out too.
The thought of Pandora not talking to me releases a new set of tears and I can't stop crying. I quickly grab my bag and tray and head for the library instead. That became my new home until GCSEs.
***
I find myself outside the school, on a bench just thinking about how pathetic I was to be taking everyone's shit. I should've stood up to Raven and her barbie squad and told them to fuck off when I had the chance. Raven still occasionally shoves me or throws a comment during the lesson but now I don't sit there and cry. I stand up to her which pisses her off so much it is hilarious.
I feel a presence standing in front of me and I look up and see Hazel standing there. I move a little so she can sit next to me. I rest my head on her shoulder and she wraps her arm around me.
"For what it's worth, his face was hilarious when you told him to fuck off and walked off. I took a picture when he wasn't looking." She shows and I start laughing at how shocked his face. "He isn't worth it." She adds and I nod.
Hazel and I have been friends since Primary school. She knows what I have gone threw and has always been on my side. She joined Waterstone for the sixth form so she wasn't here when Raven decided I wasn't good enough but I had told her everything over the phone.
"Let's go inside, I have drama next," I say and we both walk to school in silence.
***
I walk into the stage room and see that nearly everyone was here. We were just missing Vincent. The thought of having a lesson with him again makes me want to claw his eyes out and feed them to the pigeons. We only have Drama together but we have never spoken before today.
No one really speaks about what happened 4 years ago and I want to keep it that way. I have started to build an aura where people don't mess with me and I need to keep it up.
I'm chilling on my phone when the atmosphere of the room suddenly changes and I don't even need to look up to know that Vincent the dickhead has walked in. I roll my eyes at how dramatic everyone is in this class.
"I'm sorry I'm late! They were handing out chocolate cookies in the staff room and brought a fresh batch out as the bell went. Don't worry I grabbed a handful before running out of the door." Mr Turner says as he walks in behind Vincent.
We all laugh at his childish behaviour and I put my phone away. He came around and gave everyone one cookie and I happily munched the chocolate treat and soothed my cramps.
"Okay, for the next month we will be practising how to display different emotions whilst acting. Love is one of the hardest emotion to display and makes the audience goes all mushy when you can display it right. We need to make the audience believe that it is not acting. I have paired you guys up with people you aren't friends with so it would be a harder challenge. At the end of the month, I will assess the performance on all the different emotions and scenes I assign to you guys."
My shoulder slumps a little, I am only friends with this one girl called Lucy and we usually do all the pair work together. Other than that, there are only another 8 people left and most of them are alright at acting.
"Amara and Vincent." Mr Turner calls out.
"Sir, can I change my partner?" I ask, not wanting to work with the biggest idiot in London.
"I'm afraid not. I have paired everyone up very carefully." He says and dismisses me.
I sigh and grab the script on Mr Turner's desk which had our names on it. It's a scene from the play Love Bird.
"Let's get this over and done with." I keep a straight face.
I skim read the script and see it's the scene where Jim, the main character, confesses her feelings for her best friend James. I internally gag at the cringe scene is but then my eyes widen when I see the last stage direction.
James and Jim kiss - Lights dim out.
I will not be kissing this douche. I will not be having my first kiss as part of a performance! No fucking way. I look up and see Vincent smirking as he reads the last stage direction.
"We aren't doing the last stage direction, we can just walk off the stage holding hands or something," I suggest.
"I need the best grade possible. So no I am not changing the scene." He says and I realise, he is right. I need the grade too if I want to get into UCL.
I just roll my eyes and start talking about the characters.
***
The end of lesson bell rings and Vincent and I decide to meet twice a week where would practice the scene for the next month. I was acting civil for the sake of my grade, I couldn't have myself slacking anymore.
I get to my locker and grab my Psychology textbook for the essay due tomorrow when the door is slammed shut and I jump a little at the sudden action. I look up and see Raven standing there with her barbie clan, Britney, Alison and Julie. I roll my eyes at her immature behaviour and lean against my locker.
"What do you want now Raven? More insults?" I ask sarcastically and see her nostril flare a little.
"No, just wanted to see how my best friend is doing!"She says in an even more sarcastic tone and I roll my eyes again.
"I was doing great before I saw your face, now I feel like I'm slowly going blind by your highlight." I shrug and point at the overdone highlight on her face. People who were walking nearby were now standing and snickering at what was happening.
"What did you say?!" Britney squeaked from the back and I just cocked my eyebrow.
"I knew bitches couldn't see but damn, didn't know they couldn't hear either. I would insult you again but it would be nowhere near as good as what nature has done." I say and she gasps. Everyone starts roaring with laughter and I get a sense of triumph. "Good day bitches," I say and start to walk away.
I feel a pair of eyes on me again and I turn to see Vincent staring at me, again. He had his smirk and just nodded at me as if to say well done. I nod back with my own smirk and continue walking towards the car park.
***
YOU ARE READING
CodeRed
Mystery / Thriller"Guys, I got another note," I say as I sit down at lunch. Vanessa and Xander were here but Hazel was missing. "Where's Hazel?" I question, eyeing her empty seat. "Out with Adam today, it's Friday," Xander says whilst I munch on my sandwich. "Did yo...
