Fragments of Hearts: A Healing Romance

Chapter Three

As the class finishes, I take my bag and head as fast as possible towards the classroom's grey door, but before I can open it, a voice stops me. "Anne, could you wait for a minute?" Mrs. Carter looks at me, smiling as always. I turn around, making room for everyone to leave.

As Mrs. Carter's request hangs in the air, I can feel the pit of my stomach tighten. 'I'm screwed,' echoes in my mind like a relentless mantra. The escape plan I had meticulously crafted, the one that was supposed to keep me clear of Chris and his menacing presence, now crumbles before me. A wave of helplessness washes over me, my heartbeat quickening with every passing second. The very idea of being caught in Chris's radar ignites a primal fear within me, and my mind races to find a way out, a solution that can salvage what's left of my carefully laid plans.

I look at the teacher, waiting for her while she looks at Erik. "Could you be nice and show him around?" she looks back at me, while Erik gets up heading towards us. I am more than screwed. I feel like my blood is not circulating properly anymore, my lungs are not properly working, not feeling air as I try to breathe. With all my power left in me, I nod. "Sure, Mrs. Carter." smiling at her I turn my sight towards the guy, who seems to trouble my day without even trying. He seems casual, nothing about him directly standing out.

He's wearing a rather monochrome outfit, full of shades of grey to black, simple clothes, but well enough made to accentuate the obvious fact that he trains. His black hair looks rough, adding edginess to his overall aura. He radiates coldness and intimidation. My eyes quickly wander somewhere else when I spot him looking at me too.

Note to myself: keep eye contact to a minimum.

I head out with him, seeing how the plain, long hallway is not as full as two hours ago. I stop for a second, thinking about what I should do now. I never show people around, teachers never ask me to.

I text Sarah for a quick moment, letting her know that I'll probably see her in the next class, and then I turn my head towards the guy next to me. "Do you know where your locker is?" I look at him, waiting for his answer. His blue eyes, even colder when close to his proximity, look at me, down at his papers which seem like a plan, then back at me shaking his head. He doesn't seem to talk much.

I eye him, probably noticing him because he hands them to me in a curious manner. I take them, looking at specific information we need, such as the place of his locker. It's in the area of mine, so he probably won't struggle finding it. It is however another risk.
I'm smart enough to know that he'll be spending time with Chris and his group, drawing them to me everytime he approaches his locker. I wish I'm wrong about it.

I head towards the lockers, him following behind. It's quite intimidating given his height and mass. The school hallways look very depressing and underwhelming, as if life was sucked out of this place; which might be the case. I can sense the people around me, hearing them laugh and talk, making the school more bright. I can sense some stares once again, just like in the class, as I walk down the corridor, knowing why: I stand out too much because of the person following me.

He will be another sight in the school next to Chris. People will stare at me as long as I have someone as attractive and mysterious as Erik behind me. Another reason why this is a bad idea.

Arriving at his locker, I give him the papers back, showing him his dark blue and old locker. The silence between us is stressful. I know I should be saying something, offering more help, but all I can think of is what's going to happen if I don't rush. I don't think my heartbeat has slowed down ever since the break started, and I feel how my limbs are starting to go numb because of my lack of oxygen in my body.

Few seconds pass by and I can see Erik wanting to say something before "Erik, man!" is heard. My heart officially stops beating. I can feel how pale my face gets, how my hands grab each other in order to maintain my sanity to some level. I turn my head towards the way the voice came from, and I see Chris alone, coming towards us, smirking while looking at me. He sees me like his prey and from his look I know that running is not an option anymore.

Chris looks the same as he did before, his hair only shorter. The look on his face is just like before, sinister. Just by that, I remember easily about the way he was talking to me last year, shoving me into lockers, ordering his friends to make me wish I was dead.

In comparison to Erik and his dark features, Chris portrays the exact opposite. He's blond, still as tall and built but his aura portrays danger in person. He has the same icy blue eyes as Erik, but the coldness he spreads around is my own death.

He comes next to me, his arm wrapping around my shoulder as if leaning onto me, leaving his weight on me. I never considered myself small, but with him next to me, I feel minuscule. I feel Eriks eyes on me, as Chris makes his appearance more noticeable.
People around us started staring and stopped whatever they were doing. I feel myself in the middle of attention and I hate every second of it.

I feel suffocating, as if my heart is a volcano that's about to erupt. Overwhelming emotions take the best out of me as I feel like melting. The air cooling system is not doing its job because my blood has been boiling for too long.

"Hey Chris." Erik looks confused between me and Chris, trying to figure out what's going on. He really didn't know about me. Chris looks down on me before saying "What are you doing with my little tiny Anne here?" he mocks me. I know that my disgust is obvious on my face as I hear him say my. I was never his .
"Do you know her?" Erik replies with a question, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Oh, of course!" Chris brings me even more next to him, shaking me slightly with force. I feel my head and the world around me spinning. "Anne and me have been... let's say 'friends' for quite a while now, right?" he looks down on me as if he's ready to kill me if I say something wrong. Out of fear, I nod, hiding my face under my dark hair, looking down.

"Anne, you don't have to be shy." he smirks proudly, knowing how dominated I am by him. His hand is cutting the circulation around my shoulder as he grabs me inhumanly hard. "What are you doing with my cousin, dear Anne?" he demands to know, his tone not as 'friendly' as before.

My eyes widened. 'They are cousins.' That's why they had the same family name. I was sure about the fact that Chris didn't have a brother, especially since they are not looking similar whatsoever.

"She was just assigned to show me around." Erik replies in my regard. I look up at him, wondering about this whole situation. I think he can see my trembling and the fear in my eyes. I need time to process everything that is happening, and Chris's hand on me is distracting, making me even more terrified.

Erik looks tense himself, but also extremely confused. I don't think he understands Chris's actions, but I think he's sensing the obvious - something if off.

Chris laughs, the sound sending shivers down my spine. "Isn't this nice, Anne? If you have to spend time with him, that means you get to spend more time with me." he makes a quick pause exchanging looks. "You know I missed you, right?" he whispers in my ear. Shivers run down my spine as his words process into my mind.

He didn't just miss me. He missed playing his sick game with me.
I recall last year's events, where he forcefully made me run through the hallways so he can catch me. If he did, his minions would beat the crap out of me. I can still remember the pain I felt throughout the weeks.

Erik fakely coughs in order to get his attention. "She finished helping me. There's no reason for her to stay around." he says firmly, deepening his voice in order to make Chris stop. We both know he lied. I didn't get the chance to help him, but I don't think it's a good idea for me to even try. "Let's go." he looks at Chris while heading down the hallway.

Before Chris follows, he looks at me and shoves me into the locker behind me, loud noise coming with the impact. I can feel my shoulder itching because of the tremendous pain, but I will not complain; this doesn't compare to what I felt before.

I don't wait to see both of them disappear before my feet start running towards my upcoming class, far away from the danger I was just exposed to.