The Dog Walker

Chapter 3- edited

Throwing a tennis ball with a blue ball thrower, it flies through the air and Audi races after. I breathe in the fresh morning air. After I got ready for school, I figured that the bus wouldn't be here for some time so I here I am, the bottom of my pants damp with dew, my hair frizzing already with the amount of moisture in the air, and wondering if the weight in my backpack can grow any heavier.

She runs back, tennis ball procured inside her mouth and panting past the drool and green fuzz. She loves to play fetch; she would probably do anything to get the tooth-marked ball. In the distance, I can faintly hear the sound of the bus's brakes screaming for relief.

"Come on Audi, time to go back inside." She walks beside me to the back door, walking in and looking back to see me slide the glass door shut as I coo to her what a good girl she is. Walking to the end of the road, the bus pulls to a stop and the doors creak open, folding into each other. Stepping in, I avoid unnecessary eye contact with everyone else and sit in the back, clutching my backpack against my chest.

The bus moves on and soon enough it stops again. Looking out the window, Adrian is there waiting for the doors to open. He walks in and looks around for a moment before spotting me, his lips twitching before settling back into a straight line. Walking down the aisle, he sits next to me and the bus starts to move again.

"Hey," he grunts.

"Hey." He looks nervous and the artery in his neck pounds. "You look nervous, what's up?"

"It's just that I've never really been to a real school. I've always been homeschooled by my dad, but now that he got a new job and is gone most of the time he can't," he explains, his eyebrows furrowed.

I feel my own rise but decide to have mercy on him. "It's absolute torture. The food is practically inedible, the people are the worst, and the work is unbelievable." He groans and I fight to contain my grin.

"You're not lying, are you?" He grins this time, amusement lighting up his green eyes.

"Just a little bit." I hold my thumb and index finger, peaking at him through the small space between the two fingers and laughing.

"Oh, that's a relief!" He chuckles, letting his head hit the back of the seat before letting his eyes drift closed.

We sit in silence until the bus finally stops in front of the school. It's a good-sized building for the amount of kids attending. Walking inside, he pulls out his timetable sheet and I sneak a look, frowning.

"I have a different class than you."

He nods. "Alright then, I'll see you later." He smiles and I can't fight a smile of my own before we part ways.

Walking into my first class, I immediately go and sit down in my usual spot in the back. Some other students are already seated or are beginning to pile in and take their seats. As the seconds pass, the talking, gossiping and flirting grows louder, someone even throwing a paper airplane, until Mr. Burns walks in. The fun ends and those who are still standing sit down quickly.

A guy with pale skin and almost platinum blonde hair follows after Mr. Burns, his ice blue eyes cold and intimidating. Mr. Burns doesn't seem to notice, though. He looks cheerful, as his usual self always is until his temper rises. Then it's like a demon rose from the depths and took his place.

"Good morning class, before we start the lesson I have an announcement. We have a new student joining us today: Shaw Conner. Welcome," he grins, looking at Shaw. Then he looks over at the seat beside me. "You can sit in the empty seat beside Miss Nightshade."

Shaw just nods and walks slowly down the aisle towards me or well, the seat beside me. Of course, everyone watches him as he walks past, whispering about him not so quietly. "Where do you think he came from?" or "Why do you think he moved here?" and then the best one of all: "He's hot." I guess you can say he's hot if you can get over the cold look he's giving everyone.

Once he's sitting down, he breathes in deeply and looks over with curiosity. He smiles at me although it doesn't seem to reach his eyes. I smile back before facing the front, sensing him still looking at me. I shift uncomfortably in my seat. What is this guy's problem?

Mr. Burns clears his throat, starting the lesson and Shaw's eyes remove from the side of my face.

The end of class couldn't come sooner. Standing a second before the bell rings, I quickly grab my stuff and start to walk out of the classroom. I can feel my heart stop - my lungs immediately struggling to pull in air from the organ's failure - when Shaw practically appears beside me. I can hear my blood rushing, heart pounding from the effort of catching up. How did he do that? When he glances my way, I'm already looking at something else.

~

The morning passes by quickly and soon it's lunchtime. So far, I've had a couple of classes with Adrian and sadly another one with Shaw. The same time as last time, he wouldn't stop looking at me.

Grabbing some food, I pay and sit down at an empty table then start the task of peeling an orange. When I hear footsteps approaching from behind me, I turn my head to see my best friend since public school, Ruby. Her dark brown hair is up in a purposefully messy ponytail and she's wearing her stylish glasses over her brown eyes. She holds up her large slice of pizza and soda in the air as a salute.

"Hey."

"Hey," I grin as she sits down in front of me.

Taking a bite out of her pizza, she waits until she's swallowed the cheesy goodness before speaking. "You hear about the new kids?"

I shrug, my fingertips begin to ache slightly from peeling the sweet fruit. Why was this so hard? "Yeah, I have a few classes with them."

"Shaw is so hot," she gushes with a slight giggle.

I settle on shrugging again. "I think he's kinda cold looking." The familiar scent of pine trees and rain hits my nose and I turn to see Adrian sitting down in the seat beside me.

He takes a long pull from his drink before looking over. "Hey."

I nod and finally free the wedges of orange from their former prison. Free at last! I proceed to pull them apart before popping one in my mouth.

"Who's this?" Ruby asks, a single groomed brow raised.

"Adrian. I walk his dogs," I explain. She smirks before opening her mouth, probably to say something dirty but I stop her with a glare. With a dazzling grin, she drops whatever she was going to say. Instead, she glances around the room before looking past me.

"So don't look now but Shaw is staring at you," she says casually, dropping her gaze to her pizza and taking another bite.

I tried to resist the temptation to look. I really did. But when someone's been staring at you and then someone else takes notice, it's hard not to turn your head and look to confirm that once again, that someone is staring at you and you aren't actually going crazy. Swiveling around to see she's right, Shaw is staring right at me.

I turn back around and Adrian moves his chair closer to mine. I try to focus on eating, try to ignore Shaw's eyes on me, but I don't know what it is. There's something dark about him that keeps drawing my focus, especially when that darkness is directed at me