Be My Addiction

49 • New Girl

Hey! Long time no see. I know I've been gone for FAR too long. I'll touch more on that at the end of the chapter, but first, theres a few things I would like to touch on for this chapter.

In this chapter, I am introducing a new character who is a POC (person of color). Her name is Odyssey. I want to start by saying I am not well experienced with writing POC. I want there to be diversity in the book, but I am also weary. I have no intention of following tropes that are harmful to that community. The character (Odyssey) isn't a side kick to Ethan. I intend on having her be more than just an extension of the main characters and I really have no desire to use her just as a plot point. In this universe, she's just as much of a person as Ethan and Eugene.

Of course, I'm open to critiques and tips. I want this book to be enjoyable and accurate (as accurate as a fiction book can be).

This chapter may have a few tweaks in the futer.

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Ethan

The therapy session helped with my problems at home but that didn't stop the whole situation at school. I was the outcast. Before Eugene, I was used to sitting alone. But with the months we spent together, I'd grown quite attached to having someone to eat by or someone to look forward to seeing in the hallway. Now that everyone thought I was just some horny guy who doesn't take no for an answer, nobody wanted to be associated with me. 

I was just lucky that the bullying died down a bit. I guess after the overall adrenaline that everyone got from taking all their anger out on me, most people moved on. Of course, I still got bumped and rammed in the hallway but no one was going out of their way to make my life hell. 

But I was still alone. 

Dread was always present when I thought about being at school. I had nothing to look forward to so I tried to skip a lot, but now that Mom and Dad were home, I couldn't exactly do that. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're home but it makes avoiding my problems a little harder. 

And because I couldn't avoid my problems, I was here at school just waiting for hours to tick by. I've already gotten past the 2nd hour and was heading to lunch. That's where my dread increased. I had no one to sit with, not to mention people tended to still stare at me. I sometimes went out of my way to avoid eating there. The last few days, I even ate in the library. Unfortunately for me, the library was closed because of some stupid faculty meeting so I had nowhere else to eat but in the cafeteria. Which meant I was sitting alone at a table, surrounded by thousands of students who hated me for some particular reason.

Resigning myself in loneliness, I filled my tray in the lunch line before heading to an empty seat off in a corner. maybe that will help me avoid any trouble. 

lunch today was decent.it was a spicy chicken sandwich with mayo and pickles with some waffle fries. it was one of the good days for cafeteria food. the cafeteria erupted and noise as the usual chatter bounce between table and table not including mine, of course. 

I couldn't help but listen to see if anyone is talking about me. my surprise, they were talking about a new student. it's a small town in the middle of nowhere so it's a bit shocking every time we hear about somebody new coming. my attention was soon pulled to the door of the cafeteria much like the other students, as a girl walked in. She had mahogany skin; her athletic build giving the impression that she worked out. She wore a pair of baggy joggers and a pink crop top over a black tank top of some kind. The girl drew in a lot of attention though she didn’t seem to acknowledge it one bit.

She was definitely the new girl.

Her russet eyes glanced over the cafeteria, presumably for a place to sit. I looked back down to my food, knowing I'd probably only ever see her in passing.

To my surprise, I was wrong.

"Is this seat taken?" I looked to see the person in question standing at my table.

Giving a glance around at the table I was sitting at, I noted the mostly empty chairs, "This table is barely taken."

To my semi-grouchy remark, she laughed, loud enough to draw just a few eyes close to my table. Great, more attention. 

"I like your sarcasm. I'm going to sit down" My eyes flew back to where she stood as the girl sat down, propping her feet down on one of the empty chairs. 

"H-hey- I didn't say you could just… sit" By the end of my sentence, I had dwindled to a whisper.

The stranger looked to me, "Oh, well I can leave if you want, but you looked kinda lonely sitting here by yourself"

I bit my lip at that comment but shook my head "I don't even know your name."

"Odyssey. I'm Odyssey." She was blunt and seemed quite confident, but I didn't mind that.

"Ethan" a low mutter left my mouth.

Odyssey smiled at me, which no one had done in a while, "Looks like we'll be table buddies for now on."

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Alright, now to address me not being here. I know you all are tired of excuses so I'm not going to give any. I just haven't been writing.

I appreciate everyone who still has hope and wants to see this book to the end. I am grateful for the undeserved patience.

I'm trying to set in stone that this book will be done by the end of the year, if not sooner. Thats 4 months.
I really hope that deadline will stick, but I can't make any promises based on... my current writing habits.

But again, thank you all for sticking around, and thank you if you choose to see this book till the end <3

~Evan