Chloe's POV
School. Monday mornings. Not a good combination. When I thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, a car mechanic maybe, I didn't really see the benefits of going to school. School is for a specific set of people, the aspiring teachers, doctors, lawyers, presidents, those type of people. People like me with not so big dreams didn't really need school. So I took it upon myself to skip out on as many days as I liked.
Only catch was at my school, if you miss too many days, they literally unenroll you. Every once in a while I had to show up for about 2 weeks straight to maintain my enrollment.
I groaned as I thought about the next 2 weeks of torture I'd been sentenced to. I threw on a random black hoodie and pulled on some black jeans over my boxers. I wore boxers because I simply couldn't imagine myself walking around in panties. Like seriously no.
I pulled on my usual black converse and left my shack in the junkyard. After two steady months of working, the truck was now in a usable state.
I parked my truck down the street from Blackwell and started my trek to the doors. I could live on campus but what was the point in that. They literally have a bedtime.
I parked my truck farther away so there was no way security could trace it back to me. You see, my truck isn't legal to drive around. Considering the literal hole in the floorboard and how my tail light was literally about to slide out, I couldn't blame them. I'd be scared to be in the lane next to me too. That didn't mean I'd stand idly by while they pounded my truck.
I jingled my keys in my hands as I walked onto the schools campus. They really needed better security, I mean anybody could just walk in.
I got far enough into the entrance when Steph noticed me and scurried towards me with a surprised look on her face.
"Look who's at school!" She said lightly hitting me on my arm, I winced at the touch. She meant no harm but friend or not, I don't like people touching me. Unless you were Rachel I guessed. I quickly glanced at the part of me she'd touched and brushed it off, not caring if she saw.
"It's not that surprising." I said still jingling my keys, wanting the conversation to be over. Don't get me wrong Steph was one of my closest friends but it was Monday. I'm not in the mood for chit chat.
"Of course it is, you never come to school, I feel bad for your partners." Steph chuckled obviously trying to save the conversation.
"So do I." I said bluntly, suddenly filled with anticipation for when the conversation would finally end.
"Well I should get going." Steph said pointing towards the entrance of the school, giving up on the conversation.
Finally.
I gave her a polite smile as she turned to walk away from me, turning my attention back to the kids scattered around the main yard.
I was looking for Rachel.
So I could avoid her.
I know, I know. I'm not avoiding my feelings, I just don't like being in the spotlight. I like being invisible so I can get through the day with little to no human interaction. If me and Rachel came out as a couple, so help me god, I'd have to kiss all that goodbye.
I didn't really think my confession last night through completely. I was thinking in the moment, I didn't think of the consequences. Rookie mistake. I didn't know how to go about correcting my mistake, so I chose my go to option. Running away. In this case, that was avoiding Rachel like my life depended on it.
I spotted her near the main entrance taking to a couple other Vortex Club members. Shit. That was my only way into the school.
She had noticed me too. Her eyes met mine as I scoped for a way into the school without having to talk to her.
I swiftly moved my eyes away, and threw my keys to the ground. I took my time picking them up. If I repeated this a couple of times, they'd eventually have to walk away.
After about 4 more minutes of this, I finally saw them start to enter the school. I swiped my keys off of the ground and started towards the school, shoving them in my pocket.
It wasn't until I looked back up that I saw Rachel had stayed behind. She was specifically waiting for me. Walking with my head down usually stopped people from trying to talk to me, but it really came back to bite me in the ass this time. I didn't see her stay behind.
I was already to close to turn around so I simply walked forward.
"Hi." She said to me, the grin on her face growing.
"Hello." I said bluntly and fast.
"What's the matter?"
"Just running a little late." I said fidgeting in place, playing with the strings coming from my hood, jingling my keys again.
"I'll walk you to class."
"That isn't really necessary." I said a little more abrasive than I probably should have. She had this look of confusion on her face and it was annoying me. Couldn't she take a hint.
"Why are you acting like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you don't want to talk to me."
"Because I don't." I said speaking my thoughts and instantly regretting it.
Her face scrunched up in confusion, "Really? That isn't what you were saying yesterday." She said a little louder than I would have liked. A couple kids turned their heads in our direction and I let out a ragged breath.
"Is that really necessary?" I scolded in a low voice. Almost a whisper.
This conversation had already stretched out for longer than I intended. I actually intended for no conversation at all, but here we were.
"I just think we should keep our relationship under wraps." I said my voice not exceeding above a whisper.
"Why? Are you ashamed of me?"
"What reason would I have to be ashamed of you?"
"I don't fucking know. You tell me."
I took a quick look for the time on my phone. We'd be talking for a solid 7 minutes. Seven minutes. I could tell some of the kids thought it was a little weird, Rachel Amber having a discussion with Chloe Price. So I needed to end this before anyone else caught on.
"Am I wasting your time?" Rachel said crossing her little arms over her chest.
"Yes." I said bluntly, pulling my shoulder bag closer to my neck.
"Unbelievable." She scoffed as she turned to walk away from me.
That was never good.
I grabbed her arms and pulled her back towards me, "I don't wanna fight with you okay? I just want to keep this our business for right now. I don't need the extra attention on me."
She looked at me for what felt like days before finally shrugging her shoulders, "Whatever, You'll come to my place later?"
"If nothing comes up, yeah." I said leaving myself some wiggle room to cancel. If you hadn't caught on, I was smart as hell. I analyzed situations and planned my response on my observation. It's almost like I could pause time and take all the time in the world to make a choice.
I saw her Vortex friends coming behind her, They probably noticed she was gone and had come to look for her.
"What the hell you doing with this freak?" Drew laughed lightly punching Rachel.
"You'd be surprised." I said pushing past them, breaking my own rule. Probably almost exposing us.
But It was worth it when I saw the look on their faces.
I was basically screwing the girl everybody wanted. That was enough to put a smile on my face as I walked into hell.
