Vanilla And Cocoa

Chapter 9 "Belonging"

I arrived at school the next day and instantly sought out my new acquaintances. Hanging out with them was so much fun yesterday. I ended up staying over until sunset and promised to stay over another time.

My eyes darted the hallway as I walked towards my locker. I clicked my tongue when I couldn't spot any of them and opened my locker. I picked my books out for my first class and was about to shut it when Justin leaned against the locker beside mine.

"Hey."

I raised an eyebrow at him and shut my locker. "Hello."

"Can I walk you to class?" He asked, coughing into his fist.

"Aw, look at you trying to be cool," I teased and he tried to keep down the smile forming on his face. "Are you going to protect me from the mean girls?"

"I mean, I don't know. If they stab me in the eye with one of their heels, I'm down for the count. You would have to rely on the others after that. But after meeting you, I'd say you'd hold your own pretty well." He complimented.

I pursed my lips and nodded. "Yeah, but having back up is a comfort as well."

We started walking down the hallway to my class and I could feel everyone's eyes were on us. "Don't worry, I've told you we've got you."

My eyes widened slightly and I turned to him. "Wait, do you mean...?"

He smiled and pushed me forward slightly. "Welcome to the crew."

I looked towards my class and saw Izzy standing by the door, waving me over. "You're going to be late for class."

"I, uh," I glanced back at Justin and started walking towards Izzy. "Thank you."

He nodded and started walking in a separate direction. I turned back to Izzy and smiled. "Let's go."

---

When I walked into my Science class, I did not expect Ashley to look as good as she did. Disappointment flared inside my chest for a moment before I took my seat. I crossed my arms over my chest and bit the inside of my cheek.

Not one goddamn bruise.

But then, it happened. She took her mirror out of her bag and checked her face in the mirror. She touched her face tenderly and I noticed how her eye twitched in a wince.

I narrowed my eyes at her and she must of felt my heated gaze. We made eye contact and she stared for a moment before glaring, turning back to her phone.

Makeup. How could I forget?

I grinned to myself. I got a couple of things that could fix that.

"Stop it. After spending a day with you, I know what that look means. You're going to get suspended." I looked up and saw Justin leaning over my desk.

"I wasn't going to do anything." I said, innocently.

"But you were thinking it," I sighed and ignored the curious stares. Justin seemed unbothered as usual. "Are you going to ask her?"

I glanced over at our teacher who was setting things up for class and bit my lip. "Yeah..."

His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Do you need me to go with you?"

I scoffed but the crack in my voice gave the nervousness away. "No, I've got this."

"Are you su-" I cut him off with a jerky nod of my head.

I stood up and Justin stepped aside to let me pass through. I straightened up and did a straight B-line for Ms. Jester.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I prompted.