Banking On My Bodyguard

chapter 15

1 month later

A whole month had gone by since my final terrible interaction with Kingsley.

I'd been true to my word, the next day I'd called Isaac and asked him for a new bodyguard. He'd asked me why but I'd just told him that we weren't getting along very well, not wanting to go into the details of our explosive clash.

By that evening he'd managed to swap Kingsley with another bodyguard already posted at the school. His name was Daniel and ironically he used to be Ophelia's, so now Kingsley was at her disposal.

And Daniel was great. He did his job without bothering me. He didn't try to tell me who I shouldn't be friends with or wake me up at 6am. He didn't smirk and he wasn't rude to me, in fact we got along fairly well.

But I wasn't any happier.

The argument Kingsley and I had still lingered in my mind. After the pain subsided I was left with an overwhelming amount of guilt. I began to doubt my own actions, it seemed possible that Kingsley was right and maybe I should have tried harder to be nice to him.

But I was also still hurt by the things he'd said about me. Time didn't seem to make them any easier to accept and even though I knew he might have only said things in the heat of the moment, they still stung as fresh as the first time.

And in truth, I missed his annoying presence in some strange way. I couldn't quite explain why, even to myself, but life seemed flat without him around.

We hadn't talked since that night, the most that happened were occasional moments at lunchtime where I'd catch him staring at me, or vice versa. Each time his green eyes focused on me, my stomach did a little flip, as if he could see everything that I was thinking.

It was a strange dynamic to have after being in such close proximity, but I supposed it was for the greater good of everyone. Now I was free to be friends with Eli or go for a morning walk without judgement.

It was Thursday lunchtime and I was sat with Naila, Jess, Amelia, Jasper, Eli and his friend Charlie. They were now frequent guests at our table, Eli liked to split his time between our group and his own group of lads.

At first I'd thought it to be fairly innocent, but as the month went on it became obvious he was there for me. He always made sure to sit in the neighbouring seat and we'd spend the whole hour chatting animatedly about any topic imaginable. We were becoming closer and occasionally our legs would brush or he'd lean his arm around the back of my chair.

This particular lunchtime I wasn't in the best mood. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and the stress of school was beginning to weigh down on me.

I sighed as I opened my lunchbox, surveying the salad I'd made. The leaves had begun to wilt, making it look particularly sad and I frowned to myself. The others chattered around me and I picked at my meal as I zoned out.

It would be Artie's birthday in a week and I was disappointed I'd be missing it again. Even though he was my adopted brother, he felt like a real one, and it was nice to have a sibling around. I envied him really, being a toddler was so easy, you didn't have to worry about any of the adult crap like the rest of us.

I sighed again and placed my fork down, giving up on the tragic lunch and surveying the dining hall.

My eyes seemed to know who they were looking for before my brain did and they fell upon the bodyguard's table. But to my surprise, he wasn't there.