43| Back again

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I held onto Alex's hand tightly as we walked together into the school. For some reason, it's like I'm scared to return. He made circles on the back of my small hand with his thumb in an attempt to calm me down. It only made my anxiety build.

"What if Blair beats me up again? Or if somebody starts a rumor? I don't think I'm ready for anyone to know." I said through a strained voice. My ankle, which was now in a boot instead of the cast, dragged behind me.

"Calm down Shortie." Alex said calmly. Besides, Claire has those dumb pictures of us up on her medias anyways. Most people probably know already." I nodded. Yeah, he's right. I shouldn't panic.

"Blair still scares me, though." Grace said.

"Who isn't scared of that monster?" Aaron scoffed.

I bit my lip. Alex said something. I wasn't paying attention. "Brook? You there?" He asked me.

"Hm? Oh yeah." I said quietly.

"Pfft, no we aren't. We're so out of it." Grace said smugly.

"He can't hear you, you know." Aaron told her.

"Oh shut up. If he could hear us, he wouldn't even talk to us." Grace pointed out.

"Oh my god, just shut up." I muttered. Oops. I didn't mean to say that out loud.

"What? I didn't say anything." Alex said as we walked down hallway C for first period.

"N-No, not you." God, I'm so stupid. Now I'll have to explain and he'll think I'm absolutely crazy!

"Okay, then..." He opened the classroom door and allowed me to step in first. The first thing I noticed was how different the desks were arranged. It had rows of two desks facing each other.

"Oh, you're early. Go ahead and find a seat, don't mind the desk arrangement." Mr. Rivers instructed. Alex nudged my side softly and leaned me to a pair of desks near the back.

I hope this isn't permanent desk arrangement, because I already know that Alex and I will get into so much trouble just for one class period.

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I walked into the cafeteria silently, ignored the stares and whispers coming from the other students. It has been like this all day: Whispers, pointing fingers, giggles, purposeful trips, gasps, glares, threats. All of it. Surely there's no a single soul in the school who doesn't know about Alex and I.

I grabbed a tray and went to choose my food. I walked away with a hamburger, a bottle of diet Cola, and an apple. Search the huge crowd for Claire's head, I started to wander around. I couldn't see her or Nate or even Alex. Maybe I should start expanding my friend group.

"Brooklyn! Over here!" I heard a voice shout. Turning, I saw Claire standing on a table and waving. I laughed at how extra she was. I made my way towards her. Nate was sitting at the table, talking to Charlotte and Alex, who also sat there. Maybe Charlotte will agree to be friends with me. I know we have fourth period together, along with first period.

I slapped my tray onto the table, sitting down next to Alex. Claire climbed down from the table and joined the conversation between Nate and Charlotte.

"See? I told you that you'd survive the day." Alex said as he picked up a fry and took a bite from it. I rolled my eyes and took one of his fries. "Hey, you have your own food." He whined.

"You still owe me for that run-in we had." I reminded him. He raised an eyebrow. "That first day? When you taught me about the school's hierarchy?"

He snorted. "Oh right. Yeah, I admit that I was an asshole." I nodded in agreement, opening my bottle of diet Cola and taking a swig.

"Yup, you sure-"

An annoyingly high pitched and snobby voice interrupted me. "Alex, you really shouldn't hang out with sluts. It's going to give you a bad reputation." I turned around to face the one monster I feared. Blair. She took the cap for my bottle and threw it across the cafeteria. What a child.

"Yeah, you should leave." I muttered under my breath. It felt like the cafeteria went silent. The silence was broken by obnoxious laugh and Blair sitting down at the table.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"Did I stutter?" I'm tired of her and her stupid rumors and lies. I'm tired of her bullying and manipulation.

"No, but you sure did lie." She snapped back.
"You're the one who can't pull herself off of Alex. I'm not the-"

Something in me snapped. It was like a child who wanted to prove they were strong by breaking a pencil in half. I stood up abruptly, interrupting Blair mid sentence. I didn't care.

"Hold my Coke, Claire. Crap is about to go down."

"

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