BREATHE FOR ME

Chapter 9: Bumblebee

Over the next few days, May eases me into high school life and I begin to enjoy the experience as my confidence grows. True to her word, she introduces me to her group. The triplets, Dominico, Lucan and Isaia, welcome me with open arms. It seems that Teddy's message to them came through loud and clear as they all greet me with a huge hug, earning some longing looks from the girly girls across the common room. Finn and Dex both give me a laddish nod, politely asking questions about Oklahoma and my family. They seem cool. Dalia, the blonde, is really bubbly and airy when I meet her. She seems to be happy all of the time, grinning and laughing at everything that happens around her. She has a very likeable, warm personality to match her beautiful looks. The two girls that I hadn't encountered properly, Piper and Julianne, turned out to be very chill, expressing a go-with-the-flow kind of energy. They are nice to me, inviting me over to Julianne's to get ready with the girls before the party on Friday night. The last person I meet turns out to be Morgan, the stunning red head, who isn't as warm as the others. All she offers is a nonchalant 'what's up, nice to meet you' before she loses interest and walks away. Her intimidation is very off-putting but reminding myself that she doesn't know me, I don't let it get to me. Lorrie, or Ren, as everyone here calls him, doesn't come to school again for a few days but nobody comments on it so I don't pry.

On Friday, May has to leave early for a dentist appointment, leaving me on my own at the end of lunch with twenty minutes to spare before History last period. With the rest of the group out on the football field, behind the campus, I decide that it's probably not worth going out to find them all so start to make my way to history. When I get there, the room is empty, like I expected. I make my way to the back table, where I sit on my own during lessons, and plonk myself down on my seat. History has to be my least favourite lesson at this school because I don't have May with me. She opted for geography instead of History so twice a week, I have to get on without her, all alone at the back. Fortunately, Dex and Julianne also take history so I'm not completely alone. They sit in front of my desk, together, and leaned back on their chairs last lesson so that I could talk to them during discussion times. Just as I slip my pencil case out of my bag, placing it in the corner of my two person desk, the history door swings open, surprising me. Confident as ever, Lorrie steps into the room, making his way down the aisle, straight towards me. My heart does a little jig in my chest at the sight of his dark, silky locks and very green eyes, a strong sign that I've missed his presence in school. As he drifts past all of the other empty desks, I notice that he has his earphones in, loud music playing through them, creating little thuds in the very quiet room. His eyes stay glued to a wad of papers in his hands, repetitively flicking back and forth over them. I decide that I want to play this coolly today; be confident in myself. I won't let him get under my skin or patronise me like he did at Teddy's house. Given that he hasn't been here all week, I assume that he is also in this history class with me. He doesn't notice me, not even when I clear my suddenly dry throat, until he's stood right in front of my desk. When he does, he almost jumps out of his skin.

"Gesù Cristo!" he hisses in what sounds like Italian, almost dropping his papers all over the place. I feel my face intensely heat up and start fiddling with the pencil in my hand anxiously. No, no, no, I can do this. Holding the pencil still, I force myself to meet his eyes. His face looks as red as mine feels, his eyes furrowed under his dark brows. The creases in his forehead deepen as he gives me a slow once over, looking from my black Docs under the table, up my bare legs, over my denim skirt and flannel shirt, to meet my eyes. Despite the unsettling feeling he gives me every time he does this, the annoyed look on his face makes me laugh. Who does he think he is looking me up and down all of the time? He suddenly pulls the earphones away from his face, regaining his composure. "You're in my seat."

"No I'm not, this seat was free at the start of the week. I sit here now." I say steadily, placing my pencil on the desk.

"I've sat here for three years." He says, crossing his long arms across his chest. I try to ignore the flexing muscles along his biceps but fail miserably, earning a smirk from him. "So actually, I think it's my seat."