With My Last Breath

Chapter 7

My mind continued to buzz with a hundred thoughts as I walked down the hallway trying to find the room for my next class. The teachers all seemed friendly enough and so did most of the students, but no one had really talked to me just yet. Everyone seemed to be with their usual group of friends and didn't even notice as I walked by them; but why would I expect them to? My thoughts wandered to Ashton and what he had said; maybe I didn't really like him the way I thought I did. From what I've heard and read about, people say when you sleep with someone it often makes you start having feelings for them even if the feeling isn't real.

Finally reaching the door to my third period English class I saw there was only two other students in the room already. One, a curly haired blond boy about my own age, sat at the desk in the second row talking to the tall raven haired boy, who looked slightly older, in front of him. The blond stopped mid sentence when he glanced over and saw that I was standing in the doorway. My heart pounded against my chest as a feeling of overwhelming anxiety came over me. I probably looked like an idiot just staring at them the way I was...but the blond was extremely cute...

He smiled and waved me over. "Don't worry, we don't bite," he laughed.

His friend shrugged. "Most of the time we don't."

I smiled down at the floor, unsure of what to say.

"You must be new," continued the blond. "I've never seen you around here before. My name's Evan and this here is my partner-in-crime Kyle."

"I'm Krystal; it's nice to meet both of you."

Even grinned, showing off the whitest teeth I had ever seen a teen have along with the most adorable dimples.

"Well, Krystal, why don't you sit down next to me," Evan said as he looked up at me. "I'll help you through the class and make sure they don't hurt you too bad."

"Are people in this class jerks?"

Kyle shook his head. "Not so much jerks, but, it's mostly a bunch of football guys eyeing up the other girls. It's kinda like those cheesy high school movies you see but in real life. Mrs. Peterson is pretty cool though, so you'll probably like her."

"We should warn you though that she loves to make new students stand at the front and make them talk about themselves and why they moved here."

My smile instantly fell. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Furrowing his brows, Evan looked at me with a confused look. "How come? Did something happen?"

My mouth opened, but quickly closed again. I knew Ashton would freak out if he heard that I told someone about why I was here, yet, something told me I could trust Evan completely; but maybe that was just another feeling I didn't know anything about. Feeling myself scowl I quickly shook my head and looked back at Evan, who now looked even more confused than before.

"My mom and stepdad killed my father and then tried to kill me after I found out. I was taken to stay with these people by someone I thought was my friend, and they sent me here and said I'd be safer here. I'm not really supposed to be talking about it, but, I feel like I can trust you."

"Jesus...." whispered Kyle.

Evan quickly stood up from his desk and wrapped his arms tightly around me. "I know we just met, but I promise you can trust us. We won't let anything happen to you; you're our friend now."

Slowly I relaxed into his arms, feeling myself wanting to break down and cry in that moment; luckily the final bell rang before I got the chance. Evan quickly pulled away from the hug as more students flooded into the room with bored looks already plastered on their faces while some were busy chatting away with their friends. As I sat down and looked around I saw what Kyle meant by the class being mostly football type guys and preppy schoolgirls ogling them as if they were the greatest thing in the world.

"Alright, class," chimed the voice of a woman in her early thirties. "We have a new student in the class today so let's all give a nice welcome to Miss Krystal Nightingale! Krystal, why don't you come tell us a bit about yourself?"

Evan squeezed my hand reassuringly. "I'll distract her if she asks you why you moved here, don't worry."

Giving him a brief smile of thanks, I made my way to the front of the room, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room focus on me.

"Hi everyone. My name is Krystal, I just transferred here and I'm really looking forward to getting to know some of you. I like music and poetry and write a lot. That's about it honestly."

Mrs. Peterson rested her hand on my shoulder. "Where did you move from, Krystal? Did you move here with your family?"

"Mrs. Peterson," interrupted Evan. "Didn't we have that poem assignment due today?"

Patting me on the shoulder I made my way back to the desk beside Evan mouthing a quick thank you. The corner of his mouth turned up in a small smirk, his right dimple becoming visible once again.

"You're right, Evan," continued Mrs. Peterson. "Since you're most likely the only one who remembered it was due today, why don't you go ahead and read us your poem first."

Evan let out an exaggerated sigh as he stood up and moved to the front. "I don't have my paper with me, but here it goes."

He looked over at me with a small smirk.

"She waits patiently for the world to change,

For someone to remind her that she'll be safe.

Yet , she remains silent through it all.

Living in a world scary and strange

Yet through it all she keeps her head held high

Her smile never falling, her beauty and strength a message to all."