Rejected At First Sight (Spinoff Series)

17

Ashlyn Jesse

Though Sage sticks close to my side, I can tell that he is out of it. As we are about to enter the gym, he abruptly grabs my elbow and drags me past the open doors, slipping around the corner.

"What is it Sage?" I asked quietly, cautiously. Sage being on edge made me slightly more careful of my words. I didn't like him like this.

His eyes kept flashing over my shoulder like he was wary of a stalking predator. Sage let out a quick breath of air from his mouth and then looked at me. "Stay close to me." He harshly whispered. I frowned slightly. The way his brow was creased, this was not what he actually wanted to talk about. "Or Ronnie. Just... never stray far from my side, okay?"

I looked at him, the confusion on my face apparent. "Why?" Something clicked inside my head. "Is this because of what happened at lunch?" I ask reluctantly, scared of the answer. "It really only happens at night-"

Sage flinched, his jaw clenching. He grabbed my hand again, his mouth opening and closing.

"Sage? What is it?" I asked. "You can tell me." I whispered as softly as I could manage. What was stopping him from telling me? He obviously knew something.

Could it be about the bruises? Did he know what was happening to me?

No. Sage wouldn't keep that from me.

I cursed at myself for putting my curiosity over the well being of my friend.

Sage just shook his head and let go of my hand, taking a step back. "Your bruises." He whispered. My hand twitches at my side, ready to cover myself up as a wave of self consciousness washes over me. Sage sees this action and his jaw clenches again. "I heard what Mr. Guy said yesterday. That you had to wear the uniform shorts. You haven't be wearing them, because of the bruises, right?"

I didn't have time to think about how Sage could have possibly heard this as he across the gym getting jackets for us at the time, as I realized I had no idea what I was going to do.

"Just... wait a second. I have a plan." Sage said quietly, sadly, almost regretfully.

I leant against the wall as Sage's mind seemed to go elsewhere.

Suddenly, the feeling of uncertainty and anxiety bombarded me. My arm snapped out and grabbed Sage's wrist. "Sage!" I nearly yelled at him as he stood right next to me.

His eyes flashed to mine, eyebrows raised in shock. "Yes Lu-" he coughed away his words, a rather obvious cover up that I easily caught onto.

I met his gaze with a steeled expression. "You're acting really strange."

Sage saw the edge of humor in my eyes and offered me a small smile. "I don't mean to."

"It's okay. I believe you. I mean, we're friends." I keep talking hoping to catch a glimmer of life in his eyes. "We kinda need to trust each other." But instead, as soon as the words leave my lips, he looks like he is in agonizing torture.

"Ash I need to tell you someth-"

"There you guys are." A voice says from behind Sage. I look to see Ronnie's blond curls bouncing as he bounds toward us.

Ronnie immediately makes eye contact with me, rather than his friend. His arm shoots out to hand me a pair of the boys uniform shorts. They were much longer than the girls, cut in a basketball style rather than the running cut the girls were in.

Before stepping away, Ronnie bobbed his head in a slight bow and then disappeared back around the corner as quickly as he had come. Had he really just bowed at me?