“Hey!” Ms. Ester, my American History teacher, called out from down the hallway, a hint of ice threading into her words. When she had the hard expression on her face, the resemblance to Lyla, who had that exact look perfected, was undeniable. “I do believe you have classes to be going to instead of harassing fellow students. If I see it again, I will send all of you to the office, am I clear?”
The crowd grumbled but didn’t continue to throw insults toward us. Somehow understanding that I didn’t have it in me to verbally spar anyone else today, Jesse and I continued down the hall without so much as a backward glance.
“Thank you.” I spoke quietly, ignoring the glares that were no doubt burning holes into our backs.
“Always,” he told me with a grin. “I’ll text you.” With a final kiss, he broke away from me toward his own class, leaving Ms. Ester and me alone in the hallway.
“Thank you,” I repeated, shifting my bag strap on my shoulder in a fresh wave of nerves. Lyla and I were extremely close, heck, I would even consider her my best friend, but Ms. Ester was still my teacher.
“No problem,” she said, a soft smile curling her lips as she looked at me. “Lyla told me all the nonsense that was going on. If you need anything, you’re more than welcome to come to me. In or out of school, okay?” Nodding, I gave her a grateful smile and walked into the classroom, murmuring a quiet acknowledgment for her holding the door open for me.
I appreciated her help. Knowing I had at least one person on the faculty—other than my counselor Ms. Rogers—backing me was a good boost to my security, but when I sank into my seat, the pang of sadness grew anyway. Reid wasn’t here to give me a silly face, tell me some ridiculous joke, or tease me mercilessly, but it was temporary, and I knew I could get through school and my mom all on my own.
It may suck, but if I can survive Brad and his stupid boat shoes, I can get through this too.
History and AP English passed in sort of a blur, my mind so focused on scribbling notes across the page that I had little time to think about anything else. Kingston was content to just walk with me through the halls to my next class, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on my lower back. Since we’d met, he had always known how I was feeling, could see right through the façade I wore, so he knew my mood was precariously balanced on the line between sour and decent and didn’t push. Instead, he chose to show his support through his actions—a gentle touch, laidback grin, and a toe-curling kiss.
Before I knew it, I was seated at my desk in Nutrition. I could tell Ashley and the twins had questions, their gazes just brimming with eagerness, but the bell rang, and Mrs. Sanders called the start to class before they could ask what they wanted to. I wonder… the previous thought about Brad and his behavior started to filter in before I pushed it away. I don’t want to know if he’s done this to someone else, not right now anyway. With that somber reminder, I focused on my teacher.
The period passed like all the others, scribbling a quick doodle in the corner of the page, then a haze of information filtering in and my pen flying across the paper. At least until Mrs. Sanders called us to study by ourselves or in small groups for our upcoming anatomy test.
Here come the questions.
“Hey, Emma,” Ashley greeted with a tentative smile, surprising me with the fact that she got my name right.
Over the last few months, the gossips of Arbor Ridge and I had come to a tender truce; they came to me for the truth, and I trusted them to counter any crappy lies the student body was trying to listen to.
“How’re you holding up?”
I chuckled softly, the sound barely holding back the intense wave of emotions that flooded me. One simple question and I was already about to spill the waterworks.
“Uh,” I started, struggling to make the simple lie that danced on the tip of my tongue come out, but after another moment I couldn’t stop the truth from tumbling out instead. “Not great, but you know… pushing through.”
“I can only imagine,” Right Twin said with a sad smile.
“It must have been super difficult to go up on that stand,” Left Twin took over, “but I mean… it’s pretty awesome that you did. I mean… you know, standing up for what’s right.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. The signature burn of tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them away, knowing they wouldn’t do anything other than inspire more gossip.
“I, uh, think it’s brave,” Ashley whispered, and something filled her gaze, but it was gone before I could figure out what it was or if I had truly seen it at all. “Do you have to testify against Brad?” Her voice was soft and held a hint of worry that confused me, but I brushed it off. With the way things had been going today, it was probably just me overanalyzing.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure I will,” I told her. “Though the thought kind of makes me sick to my stomach.” The statement was filled with a bubble of laughter, almost too tense to sound real, but based on their sympathetic smiles they understood. This wasn’t a laugh of happiness but one to keep myself grounded amidst the storm.
Ashley hesitated for a split second, seeming to be debating with herself before opening her mouth, but Mrs. Sanders’s reminder that we were supposed to be studying silenced anything she was going to say.
Well, that went way better than I was anticipating, I thought before the bell rang a few minutes later. Gathering my stuff, I moved slowly, waiting for the crowd to filter out of the room before following. Even amongst the crowd of a few thousand students, I felt isolated, like this barrier separated me from the lighthearted students who seemed unburdened by anything other than what class they had next or what was for lunch.
As I walked the busy halls, my eyes scanned the other students. Their faces were bright, bits of their laughter echoing through the hallway. They wandered from class to class, not plagued by reality. They could lose themselves in today’s gossip... or at least make it appear that way. The train of thought had my mind stuttering. Jesse had blended in with the others while still hiding his horrible secret. How many others are holding back some kind of dark, terrible moment in their lives? I wondered in a startling moment of clarity.
My stomach squeezed in a fit of nausea. How many of us are facing unknown challenges… pain from something that we don’t let anyone see? In that horrid realization, I no longer felt alone. Despite that sensation though, I didn’t feel any better.
The warning bell rang, rousing me from my dour thoughts. Shuffling faster through the quickly dwindling crowd, I hurried to Civics. Like all the other classes so far this morning, it flew by in a wash of note-taking and rambling facts, and before I knew it, I was on my way to lunch.
Kingston was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, his grin easing the dissonance that had been building throughout the day. Feeling lighter than I had in what felt like days, my own smile grew to match his. Instead of putting his hand on my lower back like I anticipated he would, Kingston wrapped me in his arms and kissed me gently. The sweet gesture made my toes curl and my heart flutter as I leaned into him more.
“I figured you could use one of those,” he murmured, his lips brushing gently against mine.
“Thank you,” I whispered, pulling away and grabbing hold of his hand so we could make our way through the line.