2. Got Pizza?
1110 Words
"Sh...Shane, good morning," I stammered. I didn't see him these past three weeks as I was away at a summer camp, away from this nightmare. I assessed him real quick. He had grown taller and somehow better looking. His skin looked more tan, and his eyes shone brighter.
But I knew one thing, under that pretty face was an ugly beast. And I was terrified of that beast.
"Looks like you're back to ruin my mornings with your ugly face," he hissed.
"Ye...yeah, I go to this school," I let out a nervous giggle.
"I know that, stupid. Actually, I'm glad your locker is next to mine. It'd be easier to find you," he smirked.
His locker is next to mine? Well, I'd be damned!
"You can be my slave now. You'll do whatever I ask you to do, or there will be consequences," Shane said.
"No way! I won't do such a thing. Screw you! I'm not a little girl anymore, so you don't scare me," my voice shook as I lied through my teeth. He scared me. He scared me a lot!
"Oh, you a big girl now, huh?" his eyes glowed with mischief. He suddenly grabbed my throat and pressed me against the locker. Not hard enough to choke me but hard enough to keep me in place. I was trapped. Does no one see this? I looked around in panic, but people were walking by without paying us attention.
"You'll do as I say, little nerd. Don't make me lose my patience," he said through gritted teeth.
"Shane!"
Oh good, a distraction.
A girl with long brown hair and big blue eyes came bouncing across the hallway, smiling brightly at Shane. Shane let go of me and turned around to face her. He flashed his infamous dimples that girls go crazy for.
"Hey Molly, what's up?" he said. He was suddenly all smiles? What a two-faced jerk!
"Are you still taking me out for lunch?" Molly asked. She side-eyed me as if to tell me to get lost. I'd gladly do it.
"I promised, didn't I?" Shane smirked.
"Whelp, I'm off. Bye, guys!" I announced, then bounced off of there before Shane could say anything else.
He was taking Molly out, which mean he may not come over to our house after school. My heart danced with joy. I was safe from him today!
The fourth period was dance class. The one I had been looking forward to. Dancing was the only thing I was good at. It brought me joy and peace, especially after the stressful moments with Shane.
It was only the first day, so we didn't get to do any dancing. We just went around the room, introduced ourselves, and then watched a PowerPoint presentation on modern dancing history. Easy peasy. I even made a new friend. A petit redhead named Leah.
I was shy among my classmates, so I didn't make any more new friends. The rest of the people I've known since kindergarten but never hang out with. I was kind of anti-social. Thankfully, Shane was a senior, so I didn't have the same classes as him.
Then lunchtime came.
I gulped as I saw the big table in the middle of the cafeteria. A group of kids sat on it, and they were all seniors. And among them was none other than my worst nightmare, Shane.
"I don't want to eat here. Let's go outside," I turned to Leah, who looked at me quizzically.
"Why not?" she asked.
"I'll explain later. Let's just go," I urged her.
"It's like 20 degrees outside! There are plenty of tables here," Leah insisted.
Goddammit, Leah! This is a life and death situation for me!
I sighed. I didn't want to weird her out on the first day of school. She was the only one I was able to connect with. I couldn't mess this up. "Fine, we'll stay here," I said.
This means I had to tread carefully. Avoid his gaze at any cost.
I went to grab some food. Today was pizza day, so Leah and I grabbed a slice, and some juice then looked for an empty table. I wasn't looking at Shane's table. I thought if I didn't make eye contact with him, he wouldn't see me. Besides, he was busy chatting and messing around with his friends. I was probably stressing out for no reason.
Leah pointed at an empty table at the end of the hall. "What about that one?"
"Perfect," I nodded. I started walking to the table. It didn't seem like he noticed me.
I was wrong.
As I made my way to our designated table, I felt the ground disappearing beneath my feet. I was tripped, and I was falling. But right before I hit the ground, someone grabbed my shirt from the back. I was saved!
But wait! Then I see a hand sliding under my tray and then SLAM! Pretty soon, I was wearing the slice of Pizza on my face.
I wiped the cheese off my eyes and stood there dumbfounded as I didn't know what to do for several minutes. I heard laughter. Groups from each table were hooting and hollering. Someone yelled, Got Pizza? How lame.
"Oh my god, Anna! Are you okay?" I heard Leah yell from my side, but I wasn't paying attention to her. My ears were burning from embarrassment, and my eyes stung from pizza grease.
"Well? Aren't you going to thank me for saving your ass?" A familiar voice hissed.
Shane.
"Thank you? You tripped me, asshole!" I screamed.
"The f**k are you talking about? I grabbed you, so you didn't fall," Shane acted obliviously.
"I was falling because you tripped me! Then after grabbing me, you slammed the tray on my face. You jerk!" I cried again. I could feel myself turning red from anger, but Shane looked like my words had no effect on him. He was smiling!
"You're nuts, Anna. No wonder you have no friends. How can you be mean to me after I helped you out?" Shane said. His grey eyes were boring into mine, challenging me.
"Why are you always after me? Why can't you leave me alone?" I held back my tears. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Anna, calm down," Jayce stepped in. Where was he this whole time?
"Tell your friend to leave me alone. You're my brother. How can you let him do these things to me?" I whined.
"What things? It was an accident," Jayce wrinkled his forehead. Is he dumb or what?
"Anna is just upset. I'll apologize if it makes you feel better, Anna," he said and gave me a devilish grin. "In fact, I'm gonna help you clean up. I have an extra hoodie in my locker." Shane said and grabbed my arm, then dragged me out of the cafeteria before I could protest.
- Writer
