The Rejects.

☻ ARDEN ☻

Arden-

Waking up in a happy mood wasn't exactly normal for me yet. I actually couldn't stand the happiness I automatically felt arouse in my heart, it just felt too unnatural.

"Morning Arden." Camilla knocked on my door.

"Hey, Come in."

She opened the door and pounced on my bed, wearing only a short, silky robe.

"Someone's happy."

"I could say the same." She winked.

Her hair was messed up in that 'morning after sex' way and she had red marks all over her neck.

"So," I smirked. "Have fun last night?"

She made wide eyes while I pointed to her neck.

"Shit," She mumbled. "How do I cover this for school?"

"It's not like anyone cares if you have hickies... But I have a black scarf in that drawer over there."

"Thanks," She walked over and grabbed it. "I'm going to drive us in a half hour, sound good?"

"Good." I smiled.

She then left as I got up to get ready. A half hour later, I was grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.

"Ready?" Matthias asked while grabbing Camilla from behind and nibbling at her ear.

We both nodded and hopped into Camilla's black Jeep Wrangler. When we arrived at the school, Irene, Nelli, and Bruno were all standing under the palm trees waiting for us. I had to admit, I did have a little heart attack when I saw that Evan wasn't there. I quickly got out and ran to our friends.

"Where's Evan?"

"Good morning to you too." Bruno said.

I gave an apologetic smile before turning to Matthias and Camilla who joined the group.

"Sorry," I turned back to Bruno. "It's just-"

"We get it," Nelli cut me off. "But we don't know where he is."

I looked at Irene and she shrugged.

"Great." I sighed.

"Arden... you're stressing yourself over nothing. Chill, girl." Matthias chuckled while rubbing my shoulder.

I nodded and pulled out my phone right when the late bell rang.

"You guys go ahead" I waved them off.

Irene gave me the 'I don't want you out here by yourself' face.

"I'll be fine." I said.

She rolled her eyes and followed our group into the school. Once they were inside, I dialed his number and called. But it went to automatic voicemail.

"Great," I gritted. "Fucking great."

I called a couple more times, just to see if the automatic voicemail meant he was on the phone with someone else. But it didn't seem like that was the case. I frustratedly threw my phone in my back pocket and headed into the school. The hallways were empty thank god, so I headed to my locker to get my book for Algebra 2. I remember at the beginning of the year, Irene, Nelli and I all decided not to try in school because we thought it wouldn't matter.

But, we were all actually trying to do good now. Who would have known? A reject like me averaging an A in math.

When I closed my locker, I began to hear wheels running echoing down the hallway, coming closer and closer.

Shit.

Before I knew it. Ray swiftly skated in front of me and pushed me against the locker.

"Look who's all by herself." Alex smiled.

I looked down when Ray grabbed my face and made me look at him, but I ripped it away.

"Leave me alone." I gritted.

They all laughed while Lily shoved me into the lockers again, and then struck me in the face afterward. I gasped and tried to fight back. But the boys held me down while Lily beat me. I tried to scream, but Alex had his hand over my mouth. I began to black out, slowly falling to the ground and watching the slightly blurred figures glide back down the hallway. I was angry, so angry.

But I was too weak to fight back, as always.

I found enough energy to pull myself off the floor, but shortly after I fell into a pair of arms.

"Oh my god." Evan gasped while holding my face. "What the hell happened to you?"

"N-Nothing." I stuttered.

I didn't need to worry him, or stress him out. I felt like before he left, I stressed him out so much with all my issues, and I always felt like that was one of the reasons he left which is absurd to think, obviously. But, I just couldn't help but feel like it was one of the reasons.

"I ran into my locker."

He made wide eyes while turning to my locker and then back to me.

"A split eyebrow, bloody nose, and bleeding lips aren't from a locker," He chuckled a bit. "You swear like I don't know when you're lying. Come on, just tell me what happened."

I smirked a bit, out of defeat.

"It was Ray and them." I said softly.

His jaw clenched and his eyes turned stern.

"I'm taking you to the nurse, then I'm taking care of them all."

"No." I backed away from him and lost my balance, causing me to grab hold of him again. "No, just... Please don't do anything you'll regret later, just stay with me."

"Okay... okay," He hugged me softly. "Just... let's get you to the nurse."

He put his arm around my shoulders and lead me down the hallway.