Guarded

Chapter 4

4. Can You Get Away?

Freedom's pristine white and freshly manicured nails tapped carelessly on the smooth surface of her desk as she hummed to herself softly. The classroom that she was forced to sit in smelled of freshly ground coffee and warm paper from the printer, instantly reminding her of better days ... but still, she wouldn't let her guard down. Her mask stayed planted on her face: an expression of a mean mug but deep, deep inside and settled in the darkest pits of her stomach, her pain was still fresh. She sighed deeply, wanting to be anywhere but in this room full of idiotic imbeciles and foolish children.

"You all right?" a deep and charming voice, similar to the sound of dripping caramel reached her ears, causing a stir in her. 

She perked up, immediately changing her stance and glanced beside her. Stuck in an immediate trance, she coughed awkwardly, breaking the silence. She soon realised that he was still awaiting her response. She nodded. 

"I'm Dre. You're new, init?" he smiled a dazzling smile and she was sure that she could feel the vibes of envy radiating against her from many of the females within the class. 

She nodded, slightly sighing. 'Of course I'm new,' Freedom thought slightly irritated, 'I just introduced myself to your class, dumb ass.' 

"You don't talk much, init?" he smirked, wondering where the dark skinned beauty's bold exterior had gone. 

He knew that he was capable of making girls speechless but never would he have thought that he could do it to Freedom. 

"Are you done yet?" Freedom replied, slightly bored already. 'Fuck you, Shane,' she thought grumpily, 'you could have at least given me something interesting.' 

Dre blinked in surprised, her buttery voice sending slight trembles down his spine but still, he kept composure, smirking as he allowed his eyes to travel to her full and plump lips. She noticed almost instantly. 

"There's my lil' Freedom," he grinned, rolling his tongue over his top row of teeth. 

"Yeah so fuck off now," she yawned, waving her hand in his face. 

This was all a part of her act. She wanted to mess with him, make her unpredictable so he could stay chasing her ... and then when she finally had him right where she wanted, she would dismantle him. Dre threw his head back and laughed loudly, causing a few girls to turn their heads at the commotion. He liked her already. 

He tapped her desk with his fist once and threw a flirtatious wink in her direction. "I'll see you around, babe."

Freedom strolled casually through the halls of the building, occasionally peeking inside the empty classrooms. She hummed to herself lowly and wormed her way through the crowds of students rushing to the cafeteria to eat. She sighed. 'If you could be anywhere but here, Freedom, where would you go?'

(Flashback)

"Where's Tristan?" Shane muttered to no one in particular, realising that his right hand man and best friend was no where to be seen and had disappeared for the past four days. 

Celia glanced at her older brother, clutching his cold hand in hers. She couldn't help but shiver at the distant look his eyes gave and how dark his once hazel tinged orbs had now become. His light caramel coloured skin no longer looked nourished and sunken circles quickly found home beneath his eyes. 

"Don't worry about him," Celia began softly, "it's just you and me now, Shane. We'll conquer our broken world."

(End of flashback)