This new school was... in the simplest terms, scary. Gangs roamed everywhere, girls glared at me if I took a step toward them, and no one seemed to like the new girl from the other side of town.
I looked up to see if anyone had noticed my silent crying, and was met with two blue eyes staring straight at me. I gasped and cringed away from me, and his gaze quickly averted from mine. My cheeks warmed at the thought of his eyes, and I looked down at my notebook again, hoping the bell would ring.
RING! RING!
I jumped at the unfamiliar sound and quickly looked up to see that the crowd had already dispersed, and from yesterday, I learned the longer I wait to get to class the more risk I have of getting a bloody lip, or a black eye.
Walking quickly through the unfamiliar hallways, I ran dead-smack into someone. He or she was about a foot taller than me, and looking the body structure I guessed it was a girl. I was in trouble. I kept my eyes down and used my hair to sheild as much of my face as I could. Muttering a quick sorry, I tried to slide past her only to have her step in front of me.
"Look what showed up. Wasn't the black eye enough for you? You asking for more now?" her voice hit me like a battering ram. I flinched back into the lockers, and the crowd around us laughed. Keeping my eyes down, I feebly shook my head. I could feel my eye swelling slightly again at the blood pounding in my head.
"You know what I think? I think that you could use a little more lipstick. Unfortunately, I don't happen to have any with me, but I can improvise." her hand caught my hair and yanked it up. She waited until I looked up into her horrible green eyes. She sneered at me for one second and her fist made contact with my lip. My head swung back toward the lockers, and a droplets of red splattered against the black lockers. I felt the tears streaming down my face, as my body cowered against the wall anticipating more.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I felt another presence enter the arena. All the heads turned toward the voice, including mine. The boy from earlier stood there, his face blank from expression. He stepped toward me, and the crowd immediatley made way from him. I looked from him to the girl, who seemed to be growling now. Her eyes slid toward me, and she mouthed the words, You'll get yours, and stormed off.
Now he stood right next to me, in almost a protective stance shooing everyone away. When the crowd has dissapated to a few students who mumbled to themselves, and then also walked away, he turned to me. I flinched away from his outstretched hand, saw hurt in his eyes. But only for a second, because anger soon replaced them. He looked down and shook his head.
"Uhm, listen you're going to need some ice for that lip. Trust me, I've been there, and I know how it hurts." he talked to me while still not meeting my eyes. Was he afraid of me? No, that couldn't be it. He was almost as tall as that other girl, and his shoulders were a little broader. Though he wasn't as wide as her, he did have muscle flexing as a spoke. He jaw looked strong and angular, and his brown, curly hair hung down a little above his eys. When ever he talked, he looked up from under his eyes, as though he was scared to reveal what he was thinking.
I nodded weakly, and put my hand in his still outstretched hand. He looked down at my hand and up at my face and smiled. He gently pulled me toward a room with a neon light flashing Nurse above it. For the first time in a long time, my heart started to feel hope.
