B007Q4JDEM EBOK (2 page)

I raised my hand sheepishly.

“Yes, Miss Hobbs?” t
he teacher said coldly.

“I don't have a book,
” I replied, and noticed everyone had turned to stare at me. My cheeks instantly grew red.

“You can read from my copy,” s
he waltzed over to my desk and flopped the worn book onto the wooden surface.

“Thanks,
” I said meekly and began flipping through the volume until I found the right page. I had become engulfed in the story, unaware of how quickly time was passing. I jumped when the bell rang and reluctantly put the book down.

“We will continu
e reading next week, Miss Hobbs,
” Mrs. Donovan said as she pried the book from my hand.

“Right,
” I mumbled and noticed that the classroom was deserted aside from us. I rushed out of the room and headed toward biology. I barely paid any attention to what was happening as the teacher droned on about heart vessels and other things I didn't care about. Next was lunch, and I was beyond excited to get out of the classroom.

The cafeteria was packed full of students. After gathering my tray of food, I walked slowly toward my usual table. Sitting there were my two closest friends, Jason and Karen.

Karen was your typical teenage
girl – she loved to shop, to flirt, and to gossip. Somehow, however, we got along. We had known each other since we were toddlers, and lived as neighbors for nearly ten years before my mom decided to relocate to my current house. She was tall, stick-thin, with green eyes and perfect
ly
straight, long blonde hair that she always wore in braids or a ponytail.

Jason, on the other hand, was somewhat different from the typical high school boy. He was smart, but I wouldn't classify him as a geek. He enjoyed sports, but I wouldn't consider him a jock, either. He had a love for literature, art, and most of all – partying. Jason was almost a jumble of every high school stereotype put into one body. We had been friends for almost as long as Karen and I had. We met in kindergarten, and the three of us became inseparable. While some girls considered him highly attractive, he was just another guy to me, possibly because of our close friendship. He was slightly shorter than Karen (which I often teased him for), with a slight muscular build. Every member of his family had the same dark brunette hair with the faintest hint of a golden highlight; his hair was chin-length and wavy towards the ends. His eyes were a shade of brown that reminded me of milk chocolate.

“Hey, Alex,
” Jason said with a grin, until he noticed my disappointed expression. “What's wrong?”

“It's nothing,
” I said quietly, but knew he would pry it out of me one way or another.

“I'm not letting you off that
easy
,” h
e objected.

“Fine,
” I eyed the food on
my tray before pushing it away, “m
om left.” I tried to stop myself from falling apart as I spoke the words
out loud for the first time
.

“What?” Karen piped in, having previously been distracted by one of the boys across the room, which was typical for her.

“She took the job in Denver I
was telling you about last week,
” I studied their face
s, “d
on't worry. I'm not going anywhere.”

“Where are you going to live?” Karen frowned, wrapping her arms around me in a sympathetic hug. “You can come stay with me if you need to. My parents have always said you
’re
welcome to stay whenever you wanted to.”

“
No, it’s okay
,
” I said, my disappointed look evolving into a half-hearted smile. “She gave me the house.”

“You have your own house?” Jason gaped.

“I guess so,
” I grinned. “She's paying for it, too.”

“Wow...” Karen whispered.

“So, when is the first party?” Jason smirked.

“I don't
think I’ll
be throwing any parties any time soon, Jason.”

“C'm
on...I'll do all of the work!” h
e pleaded. “I'll make the invitations, provide the food...you just have to provide the location!”

I laughed. “I'll think about it
.”

My appetite finally came back and I was able to down a pudding cup before the bell rang again.

“I'll see you two in gym,
” I waved as I walked off to music class.

My friends knew I was in music class, but as far as they were aware I hated it. Music was my passion, but I had my doubts that anything would ever come from it in terms of a career. Simply listening to a piece of classical music, or inventing my own, was enough to make me happy. Unfortunately, my mother could never afford to buy me a piano of my own, so most of my practice was done at school. There was also a period of my life where I took part in piano lessons, but after my father left I lost interest in it as well as many other hobbies. After a few years, I came to realize that Desmond wasn't returning and I had to carry on with my life and rediscovered my joy of playing. I don't know why I felt so compelled to keep my love of classical music a secret.
Maybe
I was worried my friends would tease me for it, as they had done with other students. I walked briskly into the class, excited to practice on the piano again. I had been improving greatly and I was looking forward to getting my fingers on the keys.

To my despair, we had a substitute teacher who didn't appear to have a clue what he was doing.

“Mr. Collins won't be in today,” t
he teacher announced when the class was seated. He had a bulging round belly and pants held up by suspenders. His head was round, with
a very
evident receding hair
line
. “My name is Mr. Knotts, and I will be filling in as best as I can, but I must apologize ahead of time – I am usually the astronomy teacher and have never touched an instrument in my life.”

“Then what do you expect us to do today?” The words came out of my mouth before I had the chance to stop myself. This wasn't uncommon for me, and I had been scolded on the habit far too many times – enough that I should have learned by now to keep my mouth shut.

“I-well...” the sub stuttered, ignoring my rudeness, and his puffy cheeks reddened. “I suppose you can just, play whatever musi
c you want until the bell rings,” h
e replied with a shrug of his thick shoulders.

The class laughed, myself included. I shrugged and walked over to one of the pianos – there were two of them in the classroom, as well as a keyboard. The one I selected had obvious wear to it, no doubt donated to the school by an employee or some sort of foundation. This was usually the one I chose to play on, something about it lured me to it the very day I began this class. I placed my hands on the keys, feeling comfortable and at ease as I gently ran my fingers along them. I played an unfamiliar tune, something that simply came to me as my fingers did their magic. I noticed that everyone had their eyes in my direction, and I stopped abruptly.

“That is magnificent,
” s
omeone said beside me. I could distinctly hear what I thought must have been a British
accent mingled in their v
oice, “If not a tad melancholic,
” t
hey added.

“Um, thank you,
” I blushed.

“Whose was it?”

“My own,
” I said quietly, almost wishing I had stuck to something well known to avoid the attention. Then I looked up, astonished by what I saw. Sitting next to me on the bench was a student I had yet to see before in this class...or in the entire school, for that matter. He had a pleasant smile that ceased to fade as he stared at me through pale blue eyes. He came into full focus – short, shaggy black hair that fell across his pale face, a long-sleeved burgundy V-neck shirt that hung loosely against his thin body, black slacks and a brilliant smile. His appearance was very unfitting for this school...maybe he
was dressed for a meeting with the drama club after school or something
.

“Where d
id you learn to play so well?” h
e asked, and I noticed how silky his voice was.

“My
mom
put me through lessons when I was
a kid
. The rest I learned here.” I answered confidently.

“I am impressed.”

“
I’ve
never seen you here before,
” I spat out, without meaning to. I looked away suddenly.

“That is because I h
ave never been here until today,” h
e replied and unexpectedly put his hand to my chin and turned my face back toward him. “I find you very intriguing.”

I blinked. “What?”

“I will
see you later.”

“No, wait!” B
ut it was too
late;
he was already exiting the room as the words escaped my mouth.

As I pondered this
unfamiliar new student
, I continued playing on the piano – this time choosing something less conspicuous and before I knew it, the bell was ringing. Stopping playing, I couldn't help but notice some students were staring in my direction still and talking in hushed voices. Clearly it hadn't solely been my music that had caught their attention, but the out-of-place new kid as well. I sat there a few moments longer, still somewhat in shock from the encounter with
this new boy
, as I watched the rest of the students flood through the classroom door. After I gathered my thoughts
,
I exited the room and raced toward gym.

I met Jason and Karen on the bleachers, where I tied my shoelaces that had somewhere along the way come undone. Karen stared at me inquisitively.

“What's up, Alex?” s
he asked as I hopped off of the bleachers.

“Not
much
,
” I answered. “Just wondering who this new kid is that I met in music class.”

“Some music nerd, huh?” Jason snickered.

My eyes lowered to the ground when he said that, but I tried to ignore the c
omment. “No. He was...different,
” I said difficultly.

“Different how?” Karen
inquired
as she passed me a ball that I recognized immediately as a volleyball. I sighed, hating sports with a passion.

I hit the ball over the net absentmindedly as I talked to my friends. “There was just something strange about him...I don't know.”

“I haven't noticed an
y new kids in any of my classes,
” Jason said as he deflected the incoming ball, sending it back over the net.

“
Me either
,
” Karen agreed.

“Maybe
he isn't in any of your classes,
” I said, but I knew that was near impossible. The school wasn't that big. Willowshire High School held a student body count of maybe
a
hundred kids.

As the volleyball game was coming to an end, Jason and Karen pulled me along to the bleachers again. We each sat there, catching our breath when the inevitable happened – Jason brought up the subject I knew was coming.

“So, when's the party?” h
e grinned.

“There isn't going to be a party, Jace.”

“It won't
be a problem at all, I swear!” h
e practically begged.

“Fine. Sunday night,
” I gave in with a worried frown. “That gives you two days to plan, so you better hurry. And no alcohol!”

“Yes, ma'am!” he said triumphantly,
“I'll catch up with you two later. I have to head home, lots of planning to do!”

“See you
later
,
” Karen and I said in unison.

“Do you w
ant me to ride home with you?” s
he asked as we watched Jason exit the gymnasium.

“Why would I want that?”

“I just thought,” she paused momentarily,
and then
continued, “that since your mom
is gone...you might get lonely,” s
he said sorrowfully.

I smiled up at her, but shook my head. “It's all right. A night alone might do me some good. Maybe I will call her and straighten things out...”

“All right. I'll see
you next week, then,” s
he gave me a quick worried glance, then turned and left.

And there I was, alone on the bleachers. I reluctantly got up and walked off to my locker to collect my book bag. As I slowly walked through the gym I considered the possibility of calling my mother when I returned home. What would I even say to her? I was certain I wouldn't be able to control my fury and hurt, that it would begin with an outburst of accusations on how she decided her plans were more important, how Mark was more important than me...and then it dawned on me how similar this felt to when
dad
abandoned us eleven years ago. Had she realized this? I could feel the warmth of tears welling up behind my eyes and it was hard to hold it back as the pain and knowing seeped in. Was I doing something wrong to cause my parents to leave me? My pace quickened as I felt the tears trickling down my cheeks. I had to get out of here, before someone noticed...