(FEATURED)
It's been months since the unceremonious fall of Kimie Sato's older sister. The whole of Ridgerock High knows it, and by now, the majority have moved on. But Kimie still watches those who had a hand in it continue to walk free, and the mo...
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It turned out that no matter how hard I tried, I found it hard seeing Mr. Joey the same way.
No matter what he said about the contest and how he had to increase the amount of time we spent after school, all I saw was him in Libby's backyard on Friday night, begging her to release him like he was a caged animal. It was just so hard to forget.
When he declared the meeting over, I slowly made my way to my feet, unlike the other students that almost flew out the door, and beside me, West took his jacket from the back of his chair where he'd hung it.
"That was torture," he whispered close to my ear as we made our way to the door.
"I heard that, Westley," Mr. Joey said from his table, giving the both of us a smile that had my blood curdling, and West smiled back, holding the door open for me.
He was being weird today, but not a very weird weird. Honestly, I kind of liked this side of him.
"I seriously can't get Friday out of my mind," I said to him once we were outside the classroom, keeping my voice low so I wouldn't attract eavesdroppers. I knew they were everywhere, with the current situation of things, and I knew how alert their ears were now.
"I can't, either. I could see past his nice teacher face." He looked over his shoulder. "Honestly, it was creeping me out."
We walked past two girls talking, and they gave me cold looks that had me looking away and gripping the strap of my backpack. A part of me wondered if they knew I was behind Smooches, but I soon realized how ridiculous I was being, subconsciously moving closer to West. He surprised me by placing an arm around my shoulders, and a strange emotion ran down my spine at the contact. I had to fight the urge to look at his hand on my arm.
"Just ignore them, okay?" he mumbled, and I nodded, reminding myself to continue breathing.
He let go of me immediately we got outside, then pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked into the screen.
His eyebrows furrowed and his steps slowed. "Um," he began, glancing up at me, "I . . . have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
Without allowing me to respond, he started rushing down the front stairs, and I got the feeling that something wasn't all right.
"West."
He stopped, then turned to look at me with his eyebrows raised. "Yeah?"
In response, I walked to him, stopping on the same step as him. "What's up? Is everything fine?"
He scratched the back of his head, his eyes leaving mine to study the few students around. "Not exactly, but I'm good. I just have to . . ."
I waited for him to continue, trying to meet his eyes, but he didn't, so I followed his line of sight. Nothing prepared me for the instant chill I felt.
