Locked Away - Book 1

Chapter 4

 "Good morning!"

"Do you really have to be this chipper in the morning?" I look at that big smile on Abby's face.

"Well it's nighttime for me, so I'm happy to be going to bed."

"Okay."

"Well just remember I'm on night shifts for the rest of the week so you'll have to fend for yourself for dinner."

"Okay."

"Wow, you're talkative today. Excited for school?"

"Sure." Couldn't care less.

"Well nice talk. See you on my way out tonight."

She heads to her room and I head out of the house. Abby told me she'd get me a bike, but I told her I'd rather walk. It's only a mile or so. I just put my headphones in and walk.

Shit, this place is big!

I walk up to the campus with massive brick buildings.

I might be into this... maybe...

"Who's that?" I hear as I pause my music. "New kid?" A group of kids continues to wonder who I am.

Well, this should be interesting...

I turn my music back on and turn the volume up.

I walk my way through the very wide and surprisingly nice halls of this old building. That is until a grown man with glasses and a tweed jacket jumps right in front of me, nearly giving me a heart attack. He starts moving his lips. He doesn't seem to realize I'm listening to music. I just nod. I put the tiniest of smiles on my face. And eventually, he just walks off.

I continue walking. I look around, waiting to find my homeroom.

Room 34. Room 36. Room 38. Shit!

Someone taps on my shoulder. I turn and there he is. Tyler.

"Ey!" I hear as I take my headphones off.

"Hey."

"It's me, Tyler. We met the other day. By the ice cream shop."

"Yeah. I know." He's adorable.

"Oh, good. Couldn't tell." Ugh, that smile!

"So...?"

"Oh! Yeah! Well, I just saw you talking to the Headmaster. Did he tell you the news?"

"Probably. I was listening to music."

"Oh, well he has assigned me as your tour guide. Basically, because I was new last year."

"Yeah, that must've been quite the hard choice for him." He laughs.

"Yeah. He may not be the brightest, but he's nice."

"Hey, Ty!" One boy with a curly head of hair walks up with another shorter and Latino boy.

"Hey, guys." Tyler doesn't seem to genuinely be happy to see these guys.

"Who's this?" The other guy speaks.

"This is Eliot. He's new here." He looks to me, embarrassed for some reason. "This is Brinker." The curly-haired one. "And Dylan." The other one. "They're on the hockey team with me."

"Cool." Dylan looks me up and down. "You're quite tall and muscular. I can tell you work out." It sounds like weird flirting, but it feels different.

"Okay."

"I just mean, you look like you may play sports. Maybe hockey?"

I can't help but burst out in laughter. Not a lot, but a fair amount before I stop and compose myself. All three of them are looking at me, confused. Then I start walking around them, another small chuckle coming out before I walk off.

"Sorry about them." Tyler catches up with me as I reach the stairs.

"Why?"

"What?"

"They didn't do anything wrong. Didn't offend me or anything."

"Oh..." He's confused again.

"I just find people like that funny. That's it. Then I got bored."

"Oh? People like that?"

"Jocks."

"Well, I'm a jock."

"No, you're not."

"But..."

"You play hockey, but you're not a jock."

"Okay. I get that."

Is he getting cuter by the minute?

"Where's room 50?"

"It's upstairs. Let me show you."

"No. It's fine. I can find it."

"It's my homeroom too."

"Fine. I guess I could use an escort. Make sure I don't offend anyone else."

"That's me, the offender police."

I just look him in the eyes for a few seconds, caught up in his deep eyes, before laughing.

"Lord." He starts laughing too. "I should stop talking."

"Please don't."

We begin walking upstairs and to homeroom.