Salvia High School

Chapter 6: Morning Buddies

Standing in front of Kaila was Lain and Mallix. They had smiles on both of their faces before seeing how scared Kaila was. Immediately letting go of her shoulder Mallix removed his hand rubbing his neck instead. "Sorry. I'll just stop coming up to you from behind." He apologized.

Feeling her worried state of mind relax she looked at him with sympathy. "It's alright." She watched his smile return.

"How about we just start this over, yeah?" Lain started before looking back at Kaila with her signature smile. "Hey." She waved.

Giggling Kaila waved back, "hi."

"Good. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, do you want to come with us to meet up with everyone else?" Mallix laughed turning to Kaila.

"Everyone else?"

"Yeah. You remember Nina, Alex, and Zander." Mallix reminded.

After a bit of hesitation Kaila nodded her head and the couple got on either side of Kaila. They guided her towards their typical meet up spot outside. They made casual talk of yesterday's events as they walked out of the back of the school. Walking over to a large willow tree. The shade it casted provided enough cover for the small group to enjoy their nice sunny mornings. From a distance Kaila could see that there were four people under the tree rather than the three she was anticipating.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Zander crossed his arms playfully tapping his feet as the friends stopped talking and watched as Lain, Mallix, and Kaila all walked over.

"We made a quick stop on the way here." Lain glanced down at Kaila before back to her friends.

"It's good to see you again Kaila. Glad to know we didn't scare you off yesterday." Nina smiled. Besides her Kaila noticed the fourth person leaning with his back against the tree looking off into the distance. He looked similar to Mallix in some ways. They had almost identical builds and features, the only main difference Kaila could see was the slight height difference. Looking between the two Mallix was clearly taller than this boy.

"I'm James." He said when he saw Kaila staring at him before turning back away facing the students around them.

Something about him seemed off to Kaila. He wasn't like the rest of the group. Everyone else was so playful and happy to be with one another, but he was something completely different. Noticing the small girl analyzing and judging the boy unamused with the group, Mallix stepped up to change the topic.

"Does anyone have plans this weekend?" He clapped his hands getting James to turn back around.

As the entire group stood shaking their heads Mallix grew excited. "Perfect. You guys should come over to our place then, we can have a small party. Maybe even get to know Kaila a little better." He looked down trying to see if she was into the idea.

As they all unanimously agreed to the idea Kaila couldn't help but get caught up in a small detail. "Our place?" She questioned him.

"Yeah. Lain and I share a house not too far from the school."

"What about your parents?"

"What about them?" Lain asked.

"Well...are they okay with you living together?"

The couple laughed seeing Kaila struggling to find the right questions to ask them.

"They better be alright with it. They're the ones who bought the place after all." Lain assuringly told her. Kaila's eyes bulged. She never would have guessed parents were willing to just buy their children—who are still in high school—a house to live in on their own.

"Why?" She wanted to know.

"Well we're both eighteen, and let's just say our parents weren't very fond of us constantly being over at one of their homes. They considered it an early graduation present."

"But what about if...um...nevermind..." Kaila felt herself becoming hotter. She was curious about something but she figured it was best not to say.

"Kaila." Mallix grabbed her attention. His voice was so stern that she felt obligated to listen. "What is it?" He asked softer.

Not wanting to disappoint she played with the tips of her fingers looking down as she spoke, "well...well what if—if..."

"If..." he crossed his arms trying to help push her question along.

"If you guys...well...break up?"

Mallix dropped his arms as he met Lain's stare. Putting his hand securely on one of Kaila's shoulder he looked down with full certainty in his eyes. "That's not going to happen."

Lain moved in closer putting her hand on Kaila's other shoulder with a calming smile, "Mallix and I may not get along all the time, but I wouldn't change my mind about him for the world."

Everyone else watched as the small trio interacted. Both Zander and Nina had smirks on their faces seeing sparks forming in the air. Meanwhile Alex watched obliviously, he was simply amused by them. All the while James had drifted back off, he was more interested in the other groups around.

"So are you going to come Kaila?" Nina asked seeing Kaila's face starting to become a light shade of pink by the sincerity of the couple.

"Um...I...I dunno. I'll think about it." Kaila watched carefully as the people around her accepted her coverup. When they returned to talking about their nights she got lost in her head.

She had always hoped she'd be able to make friends again. She wanted to be normal. But that didn't mean she was going to easily let herself be trapped within the walls of someone else's home. Who knows what kind of twisted mind games they could be playing with her? 'But they haven't been anything but nice...' she debated.

The school bell rang alarming the group. "We'd better head to class." Zander groaned dragging his feet in despair.

As the all made their way inside, Kaila glanced behind her noticing Nina and James were holding hands. Taking a mental note she looked ahead trying to focus on finding her class again. "We'll see you around Kay." The group waved as Kaila stopped at her math class.

She waved back but as she turned to enter the room she felt empty inside. A part of her didn't want them to leave her. She wanted them to stay. Yet at the same time she wanted them to leave. The closer she got to them the harder it would be when they'd break her heart. 'Avoid anyone who comes your way. Protect yourself from harms way.' She repeated her motto needing a push to remind herself of how things need to be.

With her head hung low Kaila walked into class taking her seat in the back. At the door she saw Lauren and her friends already in their seats laughing about something. Kaila pulled out her supplies from her bag trying not to focus on the obvious whispers and giggles that she could hear from the opposite side of class.

Luckily for her there wasn't anything more distracting than the boring lecture going on up ahead. Tuning into that Kaila managed to get by without overhearing too much of the conversation. But as the class got quiet that proved to be a misfortune when she could do nothing but hear them.

"Can you believe that newbie is hanging out with those freaks? It's only a matter of time before she becomes one." She could clearly hear Lauren's voice.

"I bet she already is one." Another one of the girls remarked. The groups laughter echoed in the room. To make matters worst with the classroom as silent as it was, Kaila knew everyone had heard her too.

By the time class ended, everyone was occasionally glancing over at Kaila with either curious or disgusted looks. The poor girl waited eagerly for the bell to ring. She just wanted to get as far away from Lauren as she could.
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Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off