Welcome to My World

Chapter 6 Rayla's POV {Strange New Everything}

I storm away from Callum.

"Rayla! Rayla, wait!" I hear him call, but I ignore him. We're late to Math class, anyways. I wonder if it's too late to go home, but I promised him, and besides, that would just make me seem like I'm a coward. Like my real parents.

I step inside the classroom, scanning the room for an empty desk. Great. There's only two left, and one is next to Genelyn. The other stands beside the window, next to the chair next to Genelyn. I slide into the window seat just as soon as Callum arrives. I don't look at him.

He sighs and sits down next to me. "Rayla, I-"

"Just leave me alone." I mutter, turning away from him. Genelyn looks from me, to him, and back to me again. Her eyes widen and she lets out a silent squeal. She immediately scoots her chair closer to Callum's. "Hey, babe." She murmurs.

Callum's face was priceless. He immediately scoots away towards me. I let him. We may be fighting, but jeez, I'm not cruel.

"Help. Me." He whispers to me. I ignore him. Genelyn makes a kind of purring sound. I think it was intended to be sexy but honestly she sounds like she's quietly choking.

The teacher writes her name on the board. I squint to read it. Mrs..... Harriston. Great.

"Welcome, class." She shrills. Her voice is like nails scraping on a chalkboard. "I am your teacher. I am Mrs. Harriston."

"And I am physically incapable of using conjunctions and/or contractions." I mutter. Callum snickers, but Genelyn shoots me a dirty look. I couldn't care less.

"As you may know, this is a class for Math." She continues, her shrill voice giving me a headache, as if it didn't ache enough already. My head's throbbing like a dragon egg about to hatch, but I am never, ever, telling Callum that. He'd send me back to the infirmary in a heartbeat. I groan slightly and rub my forehead. Pretty stupid of me to fall.

Callum touches my shoulder. "Rayla, are you okay?" He asks gently. "Does your head hurt?"

"I'm fine." I snap, still whispering. Who knows what Mrs. If-I-Smiled-My-Face-Would-Crack will do.

Genelyn's head whips towards us. "Mommy!" She cries. "Rayla won't stop bothering Callum!"

All heads turn towards me and Callum, his face flushing. My temper flares, and I shoot up, glaring at Genelyn. "Liar!" I yell, ignoring the wave of dizziness that threatens to overwhelm me.

Genelyn's lip quivers, as if she's scared. Ha, the phony. "Mommy, she's the one who beat me up earlier!" She whimpers in this totally fake scared voice.

Mrs. Harriston stares at me, and I glare back defiantly. Callum tries to pull me down. "Rayla. Rayla, don't." He pleads.

I'm too dizzy anyways. I sit down, my head spinning like a hamster on a wheel. Mrs. Harriston glares at me. "Ms. Lunarson."

"Yeah?" I mutter, not thinking straight.

She sucks in a breath, her face twitching. Her hair remains still and impeccable. By the moon and the stars, I think she's wearing a blind wig. "Ms. Lunarson. You will call me ma'am." She says.

I roll my eyes. "Yez, ma'am." I say with sarcastic sugar.

She peers at me through thick, cloudy glasses and harrumphs. "Very well. Genelyn, sweetie, switch places with Mr. Harrowson." She demands.

Genelyn sighs but gets up and switches places with Callum. Now she's in between Callum and I. Great. On her way to sit down she accidentally-on-purpose whacks my head with her hot pink minibackpack. I gasp in pain, the impact sending jolts through me.

Mrs. Harriston clears her throat. "Now we will start our class. The lesson I will teach you today is about exponents."

I groan. My head's not in the game, Genelyn keeps pinching me, and have I mentioned how much I hate math?

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After math we have Assembly Hall, when all the students assemble before lunch. Callum's new friends drag him off, and he goes with them, so I find a spot and sit alone. A bunch of girls laugh as they sit in front of me. My head is spinning like a top now, and I put down my bag. A shadow falls across me and I look up.

A girl about my age stands over me. Her long, black hair is braided over one shoulder. She has freckles sitting her caramel skin, and her dark eyes are kind. "Can I sit here?" She asks.