Scratched Smiles

Chapter 1

The door slid open and I heard someone walk into the room, breaking the heavy silence that was hanging in the air. Everyone's heads shot up in sync.

"Sorry," the girl who had just entered muttered through her beautiful pink, plump lips.

"It's okay," the professor offered her a warm smile and introduced her to the class.

"Go sit with Laura for now," he said, pointing in my direction, making my eyes go wide at the thought of sharing a seat with a new student.

I anxiously grabbed my things and made space for her to sit as she made her way through the class to sit in the usually vacant seat beside me. She made herself comfortable and smiled brightly at me, her eyes shining as bright as the sun, making me even more anxious.

"Hey," she quietly whispered to me with a smile but all I did was nod back, unable to mutter anything.

As the lecture carried on, I got lost in my own world and didn't even realize that the bell had rung until the new girl snapped her fingers infront of me.

"The class is over," she said, picking up her things and getting off of her seat. "By the way," she turned towards me, smiling again, "I'm Kylie. I recently moved here. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand towards me. I hesitantly took it and smiled back.

"Yeah, the professor introduced. I'm Laura," I told and she nodded and smiled before turning around to walk away. She halted just after a few steps, turning back around, "oh, and if you don't mind, can you please show me around during the lunch break?"

"Sure," I said in a heartbeat, instantly regretting it the second later.

I quickly picked up my bag and we headed out to our next class. I gave her the directions to history before going to literature. The only class I was actually  interested in. Mostly because it was the only class I shared with Jordan—my best and only friend in the entire school.

I rushed past the chattering students and plopped down on my regular seat beside his'.

The professor came and went straight into the classic novel that we were reading and Jordan's seat was still empty.

My phone buzzed in my bag. I quickly pulled it out, careful to keep it away from the professor's sight. Jordan's name flashed on the screen. I opened his message that said,

'hey, I'm a little sick today so am skipping school. I hope you make it through the day without me ;) text me when you get home xx'

My stomach did a little summersault at his message, but I groaned nevertheless, loud enough for the professor to hear but he ignored.

The class dragged, more boring than I thought possible since Jordan wasn't there. He made me laugh, helped me in my studies and actually cared for me.

The bell rang, telling us it was lunch break. I exited the class, only to see Kylie walking towards me with a bunch of girls I didn't even recognize.

"Laura!" She waved, making her way towards me with the girls by her side. I noticed one of the girls sneer when she saw who I was, giving me a dirty look. She was probably in the cheerleading squad.

"I was searching for you. You have to show me around, remember?" She said, rather excitedly. I sighed, nodding and managed to muster a smile with the other girls still hanging on Kylie's back.

Just when I thought that one of the girls would tell Kylie to not hang out with me, she turned and bid them a polite goodbye.

She grabbed my arm before we started walking. "So, what is the school like? The students and all? The girls I just came with were kind of meanies, to be honest."