Arabella Rivera "Chewing gum in class is prohibited Gwen." Mr. Boyd's tone is rough as he glares at Gwen from across the room. "You better swallow it or throw it in the trash." His eyes narrowed, daring her to argue. Gwen's confused eyes turn to me as she chews the gum obnoxiously. "What does prohibited mean? Oh don't look at me like that, you know my brain hasn't updated to that level yet." I shook my head, biting my lip to not laugh at her expense. " It means banned, forbidden, not accepted- "Okay enough genius I got it." She rolls her eyes. My shoulder lift in a shrug. "You asked, I answered." "Gwen." Mr. Boyd growls, impatience seeming to twirl itself in his voice. Gwen snapped her head to face Mr. Boyd and sends him an apologetic smile. "The gum now." Giving her a pointed look that warned her of the pending trouble she would be in, Mr. Boyd pointed at his thin mouth. "And stop talking during class, you too Arabella. I expected this from Gwen but not you." He sends me a stern look that nearly had me melting in my seat by the sheer embarrassment I felt at the moment. I pinched my pencil just to distract myself from the eyes that now peered at me. He brings his attention to Gwen and grounds out in frustration. "Gweneth." Okay he pulled out her full name. He is definitely pissed off. Using the back of my hand, I smacked her on her arm. She's startled by the sudden action and seems to have swallowed the gum. She coughs, turning to me to mouth 'what the hell'. "Remember when they told us to not swallow gum when we were kids because it grew a tree?" She asked, still coughing and completely ignoring the fuming teacher at the front. I wanted to point out so badly that they told us about seeds and not gum but the anger darkening our English Lit teacher's face was something to be very wary of. In fact, if I were Gwen, I'd definitely be shitting my pants right at this moment. "Earth to Arabella? Did the haircut suddenly make you mute- Her joke gets cut off by a loud bang and a growl of anger. "Gweneth, if I hear any word from you again you'll be sitting in the principal's office." "But Sir-" Gwen started to come up with an excuse that wouldn't work. Mr. Boyd was the sternest teacher in this school. Gwen had no chance to melt him with her puppy eyes and pretty features. "Could you put this much effort in your studies Gwen?" He snapped. "Because right now, I'm this close to throwing you out of my class." He uses his thumb and index finger to show how little his restraint was. With a pout that made all the boys in the class eyes turn with lust, Gwen nodded and held her hand up in surrender. With a roll of his eyes, Mr. Boyd turns around to clean off the chalk on the blackboard. Gwen takes this chance to whisper, her head turning slightly so I could see her amused eyes. "Seriously he could just cuff me any day and any where. Such a dominant man." She snaps her attention to the front when Mr. Boyd turns back around to pin her with a stern glare. She makes the motion of someone zipping their mouth and throwing away the key and winks. Mr. Boyd rolls his eyes in annoyance, opening his mouth to speak. "Okay, toda- The creaking of the door being opened interrupts him and the silence of everyone. They began to murmur as Haiden walls in, head lowered with a hoodie covering his hair and some parts of his forehead. "Glad for you to join us Cross. Always a pleasure to see you extra late." Mr. Boyd says sarcastically and fixes an annoyed look at Haiden. "Woke up late." Was Haiden's stiff reply. His head was lowered and he looked to be so transfixed by the dirty floor. I promised myself I wouldn't look at him, ignore him as best as I could, but here I was, my eyes refusing to tear away from his figure. My heart pulsed in my chest then the pain of his words came back like a raging hurricane. She's no one. Just a girl who follows me around occasionally. I said I would be strong today. This isn't strong. Me fighting the urge to flee, me fighting the urge to cry. The pencil I had been holding snaps in half by the sudden pressure I applied to it. "Woah cool it down hulk 2.0. What's with you?" Gwen's voice pulls me out of my raging head. "Nothing." I stared at Haiden's stiff figure. "Nothing's wrong with me." "Have a seat Cross. And try to not let it happen again. Although I doubt it." Mr. Boyd motions to the class. "Come on hurry up, we're already so late into the lesson." Pushing his hands in the front pockets of his black hoodie, Haiden makes his way over to the back. Suddenly he stops, as if just realizing something and his head snaps up.Our eyes collide and I couldn't help but hold in my breath. God, the brown in his eyes brought goosebumps racking down my spine. Then they swirled a little with shock until it took the entire brown of his eyes. His eyes stay on my hair, confused, stunned, and a brief flicker of fire burns through the depths. I didn't fail to notice his bust-up lip or the darkening under his eye. I now knew how he got those bruises and the thought of him getting hurt had a sickening feeling settling in my stomach. She's no one. Those words were now haunting me more than I realized. I forced the worry out of me, okay I'll admit it didn't move a hundred percent but it was a start. Unconsciously, I tucked a few strands of my tresses behind my ear and tore my eyes away from him. I couldn't handle staring at him longer, my body was betraying me, like usual when it comes to him. "Cross get your ass on a seat now." Mr. Boyd growled with irritation twisting in his voice. Haiden doesn't say anything, only his footsteps did the talking. When he's near, the tiny hairs on my arm stand on end. I drop my eyes to the desk, fascinated by the little dust specs on the surface. Well, at least I pretended to. The scent of him, mint. Today he didn't have the distinct smell of cigarettes. I forced my eyes to stay on the desk, counting the seconds until he passes. When he is right beside me, he stopped for a second. My heart jolted in my throat and the blood rushed through my veins, heating up until I felt the slick sheen of sweat on my forehead. I bit my lip, praying he'd hurry up and have a seat. My feet jammed on the tiled floor as nervosity crawled its way into my being. One boy, can make my entire resolve turn to smudge. I hated this. Fisting my hands I dared to look up at him. Our eyes connected and I swore something warm passes through the swirls of brown. He rips his gaze away and finally walks away. I could finally breathe properly. I was supposed to be strong. Avoid him at all costs. Being in the same class, same room with him and just a few feet away weren't exactly helping. "He looks like shit. Wonder with whom he got into a fight with again. That guy is such a tool." Gwen murmurs, seeming to spit out the words like talking about Haiden was as tasteless as water. "Yeah, he is." I agreed softly while feeling the burning of his stare on my back.