Fighting to go on

Chapter 3

*Samantha’s POV*

            I couldn’t believe that Ryan was in my Geography class as well. There was something about him that was starting to give me a calm feeling and it made no sense to me. I knew how scary he could be.

            But he had chased that guy away, and he wasn’t trying to force me into conversation. He just sat quietly in his seat, looking straight ahead. I knew this because I kept stealing glances at him. He really was quite handsome, with his dark brown hair and brilliant hazel eyes.

            The bell rang, breaking me from my thoughts. I looked at my schedule and groaned when I realized I had Gym now. I hated that class with a passion. Not because of the physical activity so much, but because I was supposed to change in front of a bunch of girls.

            I reluctantly left my seat and trudged towards the gymnasium. I went into the locker room and cringed when I saw all the girls in there already. Luckily, there was a notice on the door that informed us that we didn’t have to get changed for today. I let out a sigh of relief and followed the rest of the girls into the gym.

            When we entered, I froze and cursed violently under my breath. There were boys scattered around the gym already, and guess who was there? Apparently I was only allowed one class that he wasn’t in.

            His eyes locked onto mine from across the large area and I swear I felt an electric current race through me. I shivered a little before looking away and finding a spot against the wall to sit down. I hugged my knees to my chest as I waited for the teacher to start the class.

            I sensed someone sitting down beside me and I turned my head, half expecting it to be Ryan. But instead, it was a little red headed girl and she mirrored my position. She gave me a shy smile. “Hi,” she said.

            Remembering my promise to Charlie, I gave her a half smile in return. “Hey,” I replied.

            “I’m Sarah.”

            “I’m Samantha, but you can call me Sammy or Sam if you want.”

            “I like Sammy,” she said. “You’re new, right?”

            I nodded. “Yeah, we just moved here a few weeks ago.”

            She nodded, but didn’t pry anymore. I decided I liked her for that reason alone. The teacher finally made an appearance and he told us all to gather around. I got to my feet and Sarah followed me as we headed to stand in front of him. I felt another presence to my side, but this time I knew it was Ryan without even looking.

            “Alright class, I’m Mr. Kasper. Welcome to Phys Ed. Due to school cutbacks, we had to make this a coed class this year. This is the first year we’re attempting it, so consider yourselves guinea pigs.” He looked down at his clipboard. “Today, we’re just going over the rules. There will be health weeks that we go through as well, and I’ll give you a couple of days warning for those.”

            The class actually went by fairly quickly, considering we were all just standing around listening to him. When the bell went, Sarah walked with me towards my locker. When we reached it, she waved and said she’d see me tomorrow.

            Charlie was already waiting for me, so I grabbed my bag and then we both headed out the school doors. We starting walking home, telling each other about the rest of our days.

            The closer we got to home, the tenser we got. It wasn’t until we saw the empty driveway that we both visibly relaxed. We went inside and both went our separate ways. I went up to my room to listen to some music until I had to start dinner.