idea. The sunrise couldn’t be far off.
I slid into dreamland and the only thing on my mind was Grayson. I thought about the first time I had met him. We had just moved a few towns over and I was starting to a new high school. I was the kind of person who could get along with anyone but preferred to be left alone. I managed to be late to nearly every class that morning and all of the students noticed. Most of them stared at me with curiosity, but I had also received the occasional glare.
***
In a small town like this one, there was no blending in. They could smell the outsider on me a mile away, even though I had grown up just a few towns over. It’s like we were from different worlds.
When it was finally time for lunch, I breathed a sigh of relief and made my way through the stampede of students to the hill outside. They gathered in groups to eat their processed meals and gossip. I ducked my head and made a beeline up the hill to the alley behind the school where I had parked my car.
I smiled as my teal Duster came into view. “Thank you, Dad,” I muttered under my breath. When I had passed my driving test, he had given it to me as a present. We didn’t have a lot of money, but my father was very handy with cars and found me a fixer upper.
I unlocked the door and slid into the seat. I turned the key just enough for the radio to blare to life and fished in my bag for a pack of cigarettes. I bobbed my head to the beat, lighting my cigarette. It felt good to be alone in my own space. I wound down the window and laid my head against the headrest, closing my eyes and letting my imagination take me away from this place.
“You’re gonna get busted,” A voice called from beside me. I was startled but tried to keep my composure. Opening one eye, I peered to the side to see a teenage boy with dirty blonde hair and a blue and white jersey that read Rockets.
“I’ll take my chances,” I replied, closing my eye and taking in another drag. “Even in my own space, I am getting messed with,” I thought to myself.
Suddenly, the cigarette was ripped from my fingers. Before I could protest, the boy was walking away from my car and toward the hill. I peered out the side mirror at a heavy set woman scaling the side of the slope.
“Grayson, you better not be smoking up here,” She called in between labored breaths. I slid down in my seat and watched as he took a long drag on the cigarette and threw it on the ground in front of him. “You just earned yourself a detention, Mr. West! I’m sure coach won’t be very pleased about this. You can count yourself out of the game on Friday,” She shouted angrily.
Grayson glanced over his shoulder, his eyes catching mine in the mirror before walking by the teacher. He replied back to her, but it was too quiet for me to make out. The teacher turned and followed him.
“Shit,” I scolded myself. Who was that guy? Why was he helping me? I hadn’t exactly given off a friendly vibe. I waited for the bell to ring and the students filed back into the building. I slid out of my car and made my way back inside, trying to find my next class.
I wandered down the hall, glancing up from my map from time to time to read the numbers above the doors. I came across one that read Office and slipped inside.
I stood at the counter as the receptionist held up a finger for me to wait as she finished up a phone call. I took a seat along the wall. The bell rang again I knew I was late yet again. The door on the side of the room opened and Grayson stepped out followed by the principal I had met when my father had registered me for school. I tensed up as Grayson glanced my way then immediately looked to the exit.
“Eva Morgan. Just the person I wanted to see,” The principal called and gestured for me to follow him into his office. I looked at the exit that Grayson had just passed through and shook my head. He must have told them the truth.