Unseen

Chapter 3

I take a deep breath as I stare at myself in my full length mirror, giving myself a little smirk. I've never been overly confident, but I've decided to adopt a fake it 'til you make it mentality, and so far? It's doing wonders. The small amount of eyeliner I rimmed my eyes with makes the blue look like the Caribbean and my white blonde hair gives the illusion that I'm tanner than I actually am.

"Dalton, you're going to be late!" Pops calls out as he walks past my door and I give myself one last look in the mirror then grab my messenger bag from my desk chair and slip out of my room, closing the door softly behind me.

Just as I turn to make my way downstairs, I'm shoved into the door with an irritated 'move' as my sister rushes past me and down the stairs in her cheerleading uniform. I close my eyes and take a deep, calming breath. New year, new me; I'm not letting people shove me around anymore' I'm stronger, I'm braver, I'm bigger; I've got this.

"Have a good day, kiddo," Pops says as he kisses my forehead and pats my back, and I give him a small smile before leaving the house.

I hop into my truck and toss my bag on the passenger seat, then relax and watch through my mirror as Maddie hops into Flynn's convertible. Even though my windows are tinted, I swear he manages to lock eyes with me before punching the gas and flying down the road. I let out the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and pop my truck into gear before easing onto the road, then head to prison.

Twenty minutes later, I'm driving through the iron gates of Bridgestone Academy, the massive stone building looming before me and cutting off the sun, bathing the parking lot in darkness.

Fitting...

I do a quick scan of the senior's lot and find a space relatively close to the doors, so I smoothly maneuver into the stall and cut the engine. I take a few calming breaths, then gather my bag and start making my way to my own personal hell.

My mirrored aviators cover my eyes and my black converse clap along the asphalt as I walk across the parking lot, the muggy heat making my tight black v-neck cling to my skin a little more than normal. I like colour, don't get me wrong, but I love the way wearing all black looks with my white hair, so I've shoved most of my colourful clothes to the back of my closet and replaced it with all black, specifically for this year. Out with the old Dalton, and in with the badass version of him.

I see people doing double takes as I walk past them, then start whispering to their friends, and I roll my eyes behind the protection of my opaque lenses. Looks like I'm the only thing that's changed this year. These fuckers still have nothing better to do than make fun of me behind barely concealed whispers and pointed glances. Fuck 'em, let them say what they want because I know who I am and I'm not going to let any of them shit on my senior year.

"Hi there." A high pitched voice says from my left and I glance over to see one of the cheerleaders, Grace I think, matching my pace, a bright smile curling her pink painted lips. I raise an eyebrow then face forward again, completely ignoring her. "I'm Grace," she continues and I can't help but snort a bit. Yeah, I know... "Are you new here?" At that, I stop walking and turn to face her.

She bites down on her plump bottom lip and gives me a slow once over, not even hiding the fact that she's checking me out. I choke out a laugh and shake my head before spinning on my heel and continue the last few feet to the front door. I can hear her calling out for me, but I ignore her as I push open the double doors with a bit more force than necessary and the noise causes everyone in the vicinity to grow quiet and stare at me as I make my way down the hall towards my locker.

As I get closer, my heart starts to race and my footsteps falter when I see black sharpie already marring the shiny blue surface. I breathe in deeply through my nose and force myself to walk closer, already knowing what it'll say but dreading it nonetheless. I come to a stop and stare at the words, tears pricking the backs of my eyes from behind my sunglasses as my heart cracks the tiniest bit. Freak, loser, loner, abomination, queer, fagot... I pause, my eyebrows drawing together as I stare at that last word. That's not right...