LITMIR.BIZ

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several girls looked at me in wonder. As we kept walking, more and more people looked. I wasn’t sure what they were looking at. Were they seeing Levi’s sister? Or were they looking at the girl walking in with Ross? If I had walked in alone I would have known for sure what they were looking at. This made that easier, somehow.

      Ross walked in with confidence and he kept the tight grip on my hand. He worked his way through the commons and all the teens. He would nod or throw knuckles out to people he passed that he knew. I wondered what was so popular about this boy. Everyone knew who he was. You could tell the jealousy in the girls and boys who wished he nodded to them. We made it out to the other end of the crowd. There were a few hallways to chose from. Ross guided me down the nearest one. After we passed the office, there were more halls. Ross confirmed that my locker was in A hall. He told me that A hall was a freshman hall and all my classes should be in that section too

      “What’s your locker number?”

      I dug into my purse and pulled out a tiny note pad and found my number.

      “128.”

      I started to calm down and catch my breath. That was not so bad. Ross made it easy to just walk through and ignore the teens. Amazing, entry, check.

      I truly hoped the rest of the day could go that smooth. If I was able to just blend in, I could just escape the day as an invisible girl.

      The hallway circled around and had classroom doors periodically between lockers. Ross stopped in front of my locker.

      “Uh, thanks” I let go of his hand.

      I dug out the paper with my combination from my purse. Ross stood there staring at me as I fumbled around like an idiot. He grabbed my combination and spun my dial several times and had it open.

      “Ross I can do things for myself you know.”

      He flashed his gorgeous smile. I saw why everyone was drawn to him. He kind of reminded me of a great salesman who could just schmooze anyone. One thing was for sure, he was not going to get what he wanted from me that way. I snatched my paper back, slammed my locker shut and redid it myself. Locker, check.

      I loaded my locker with my new locker mirror and other silly things my mom got me. Ross just watched me. When I finished loading my décor, I put my book bag in and shut the door. Ross was still standing there. When I looked at him, his eyes grew big and he lifted his eyebrows.

      “Are you done with your fit?”

      I rolled my eyes at him.

      “My fit?” (I let out a sigh) Listen I know that you must be desired by many. I can tell you are used to getting what you want. So let’s just hope that it’s not me that you want.”

      He smiled a melt your body smile and batted his beautiful eyelashes at me.

      “I love a challenge,” he said it in a deep rumble of a man’s voice.

      Ross came close to me. He smelled amazing and he was hot a in rough way; he made me want to be bad. His confidence and assured movements and suave told me a lot about him.He was older and way more experienced than I was. He was also very short for a guy, but he still had about an inch on me. I didn’t want him to know I found him attractive. I did all I could to hold my composure. He stepped into me, filling the last bit of space between us. My back was pressed into a locker. Flashes of Em came flooding in and I felt my anxiety pick up. My ears started to ring and my stomach twisted and turned inside itself. I went to that dark numb spot of mine and took in a deep breath. I met his eyes and glared into them and I pushed him off me with more force than I had planned on.

      “Like I said, not me!” My words were filled with animosity.

      Ross just crossed a boundary that left me confused. I wanted to separate him from Em but somehow they collided when he had me pressed against that locker. I could not hide my disgust and discomfort.

      Ross looked frustrated and started scratching the back of his head. He smiled an unsure smile. I scowled at him, turned my back and walked away. I needed to find my first classroom. I looked behind me and saw that Ross was following me like an annoying puppy dog. For such a confident guy the lost puppy dog thing seemed to be funny to me. I giggled to myself. Ross caught up and was by my side.

      “I just did you a favor and you are gonna turn me down. That’s pretty bold of you.” He had his swagger back and winked at me with a doting grin.

      I didn’t answer right away, but when I reached my classroom door I stopped and looked around. The hall was filled with many kids now, mostly lost first years like me. I focused on Ross.

      “See ya, good luck finding an easy freshman.” I smiled at him, letting him know I knew his type. He shook his head at me. In a very robust low voice he said, “as if you are my own Olivia of Twelfth night.”

      “What did you say?” It seemed out of character for him to reference Shakespeare.

      Ross closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

      “Uh sorry about that, I am not sure what I meant by that. I’ll, ah. Catch ya later.”

      He turned and walked away. His head was bent and looking at the ground. He was shaking his head and his speed picked up as he disappeared into the crowd. Although I recognized Twelfth night as a Shakespearian title, it was not one I had read.

      I did not think of Ross as a Shakespeare connoisseur. I was definitely curious about what he meant by his comment. I wondered if they would have Twelfth night in the library here. I thought of how amazing the library had to be in this school. I felt a little joy fill me when I thought of all the books. I thought maybe I could go in during lunch and look around.

      I found my seat in the far back corner of my classroom. There seemed to be no familiar faces as I looked around at all the kids. I knew my middle school was one of the many feeder schools, so I would have thought I would find at least one familiar face. I had really wished Bitzy was there. As I studied the other kids in my class, they all were as alone as I was. There were only two pairs of people who actually did seem to know each other.

      The teacher announced himself as Mr. Crane. He looked like a Mr. Crane, tall and lanky with sunken in eye sockets. Under his eyes were dark and his hair was a silvery grey color; it was a big wavy mop on his head. His hands were wrinkly and slender with well groomed nails. His nose was big and pointy and he had a deep wrinkle going down his forehead. It was paired with many other wrinkles on his face but that one stood out the most. He seemed to fit as a perfect biology teacher. He began the class with attendance. It was a typical roll call until he got to me.

      “Seele, hmmm must be Levi’s sister,” he glared at me as I raised my hand.

      “Shall I assume you are going to be mischievous too?”

      My heart rate sped up and my chest tightened. I could feel the tears burning in my eyes. I could not cry on my first day!

      “Bite me!” It flew out of my mouth with annoyance and disbelief.

      I believe I shocked myself as much as I shocked the teacher. Mr. Crane scrunched in his eyes deepening his wrinkle, and pointed to the door. I gladly got up and went out to the hall. When I sat down on the hard floor I began to cry, I pulled my face into my knees. I thought it was low of him to say that. It wasn’t just what he said but how he said it too. He acted as if what he was saying was funny. I know Levi had a bad name, especially amongst teachers, but how could this guy have the audacity to just put it out there like that? It was disrespectful to Levi, to me and to my whole family.

      I felt my chest tighten more and more. My breaths became rapid. I closed my eyes and practiced deeper breaths. I needed to calm down. I slowly pulled myself out of my increasing panic attack. I wiped the tears from my face. I thought about Levi, I felt angry because I didn’t have a fair chance with these teachers because of him and his reputation. I lifted my head when I heard the door open and Mr. Crane walked out, shutting the door behind him.

      “Miss Seele, I expected mischievousness from you, but not disrespect. Levi always used manners in my class.”

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