2. First day, first problem
2141 Words
When I approached the classroom to attend the last class of the morning, the students moved away from me like water from oil. I was beginning to think I really did smell bad.
But there was a little twist.
A tall blond with blue eyes, wearing a white T-shirt as tiny as her shorts, didn’t move a millimetre when I arrived. And judging by her icy attitude, it wasn’t a good sign.
Barbie gave me a nasty, haughty look.
“Is there a reason why she smells of you, Erwan?”
“Is there a reason why you f*****g care, Gina?” muttered an amused voice behind me.
Which made me furious in a second. I took care to ignore its owner and entered the classroom to let Barbie and Erwan argue.
Which didn’t happen.
I found a free seat and sat down, focusing my attention on the math teacher. A tall, almost bald guy, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and canvas pants.
I kept staring at him until my retinas burned to avoid raising my head towards the rogue passing by me.
“Get lost,” Erwan said to my neighbour from behind.
A simple and direct order, almost pronounced nicely. The student who had the misfortune to be next to me got up hurriedly.
Erwan had just sat down laughing softly.
“Baby... baby... baby...” he hummed in a low voice.
I straighten myself.
Silence was the best contempt.
“Mr Granit Erwan... What a pleasure to have you in my class,” the teacher shouted without looking at him. “To what do we owe this honour?”
Some students giggled nervously.
“I just wanted to hang out with Baby. It’s pure chance that it occurred during your class, Mr Radom!”
The math teacher raised a questioning eyebrow.
“And who is... Baby?”
I closed my eyes and prayed quietly that he was silent.
Wasted effort. I felt Erwan reach out a hand to ruffle my auburn hair.
“I see,” muttered Radom. “And you’re…?”
“Elizabeth Barrem, sir.”
The teacher just nodded before writing several arithmetic problems on the board.
“Babeeeeeeeee...” whispered a voice against my neck.
“Leave me alone.”
A little laugh greeted my attempt at rebellion.
“You can’t know how much I’m longing for the next moon, Baby.”
Erwan had said this with such a low and serious intonation that I thought I had imagined the phrase.
Finally, I yielded to temptation and turned to him. He was almost lying on the table and I nearly bumped my nose against his. My eyes met his eyes.
Two dark lakes, brilliant. Fascinating. Worrying.
“Mr Granit!” Radom said severely. “I’ll ask you to keep your hormones on a leash in my class. And if you cannot, you know the way out.”
Erwan took his time before moving away from me.
“I love your smell, Baby,” Erwan purred. He looks like a little puppy. It’s cute.
He stared at my lips with an indecent look. The rogue even allowed himself to caress my jaw with his index finger.
“Erwan has found a new toy!” Gina giggled from the back of the classroom.
“Are you jealous because I’m the only one who didn’t make you sing to the moon, Gina?” the young man joked without looking at her.
The tall blond spat with fury.
“Don’t take your dreams for reality!”
I’m blushing.
We caught the attention of all the students present. Even the professor didn’t say a word, but with a certain weariness.
“Oh, Baby... You’re blushing! You’re so adorable! Yum!” Erwan laughed.
Then he stood up softly.
“You’re right, sir! I’m going to get out of here because I can’t keep up with myself. It would be unfortunate if I devoted myself to active seduction in this class. Exciting, certainly. But I’m still a gentleman.”
I blush again under the insinuation. The rogue stopped at my desk, licked his mouth and then left whistling. At the door, he made a sort of theatrical bow with an imaginary hat and then went out to the cheers of a few males.
What the hell was this place my father and I had just arrived at?
“How was your first day, Beth?”
This was a simple question.
Normal for a parent worried about knowing the first day of his offspring in an unknown school in the boondocks.
What was I supposed to say?
Super cool, daddy dear! A blond giant said I smelled funny after someone made an attempt on my life with some sports equipment. And another guy assaulted me… Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he embarrassed me in front of my math teacher in a full class! Great, no?
“Good. I was just wondering why you were hell-bent on coming back to this town.”
My father raised a bushy eyebrow over his silver glasses.
“It was important. For you.”
“For me?”
Carvin Barrem cleared his throat, suddenly embarrassed.
“You’re going to be eighteen. You’ve got a difficult time ahead.”
“Driving test?” I said.
My father’s face remained strangely serious.
“We’ll discuss it... later.”
After these mysterious words, we had an evening of pizza and old TV shows.
Once in my room, I turned on my computer. I distractedly opened Line and it informed me that a new contact was waiting to be accepted.
Bizarre.
I hadn’t given my phone number to anyone.
“Do you accept DarkWolf in your new contacts?”
I clicked yes. Curiosity. Worst thing. Immediately, a discussion window opened on the so-called DarkWolf.
“Hello, stranger.”
“Hi. We know each other?”
“You could say that... Baby.”
Oh no.
Erwan.
“How did you get my phone number?”
“I’m a resourceful guy. Can you leave your house now?”
“To do what?”
“Forbidden things, at least until 18 years old!”
“Exactly, I’m under 18!”
“Uh... oops? Okay, then I’ll give you the soft version. Baby... baby...”
I got up from my chair and opened my window. My eyes searched the surroundings—small houses neatly lined up next to each other, going down to the main square of the estate.
He was there. An iPhone in hand, beckoning me, smiling.
Further, behind him, was parked a huge red SUV. Around the vehicle, a cheerful group of young people laughed while they emptied beer cans.
Koran towered over this little world, even leaning against the car... Barbie, aka Gina from math class, hung around his neck.
As if he had felt my gaze on him, the blond giant turned his head in my direction. Even at this distance, I had the sensation that his chocolate eyes pierced me.
“So... can you come out?”
I looked down at Erwan again before shaking my head.
“Very good,” he said. “I’m going to have to sing under your window like a redneck. Your neighbours are going to...”
“Okay, I’m coming.”
As I walked down the stairs to the living room, I wondered what to tell my father so he’d let his beloved daughter out on a weekday night with strangers. I thought I’d find him in front of the TV.
My surprise turned to absolute horror when I saw him at the front door open to Erwan.
“Yes, Professor Barrem, I assure you that we’ll remain in front of your home.”
My father ran a nervous hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.
“Okay. Please don’t keep her up too late.”
Please?
Since when did my father say please to an 18-year-old? As if the two men had felt my presence, they looked at me as a beautiful ensemble. My father came over to me, put a hand on my shoulder, and then went back to sit on the couch.
I promised myself to ask him about his strange behaviour later. Erwan had a funny smile on his face.
“Hello, Baby.”
“Is my name so hard to remember?” I mumbled before closing the front door. “So why did you get me out of my house at this hour?”
Then, he took my hand to drag me behind him, a few metres from his crowd of friends.
I pushed him away.
My gesture made him laugh.
“Do you have to put on a show?” I hissed between my teeth.
“I love to annoy you. It’s so funny!”
Pitiful.
We were pitiful, both him and me, but for different reasons.
Me, to find myself in the role of a toy.
Him, to have fun at my expense.
My phone started beeping.
A text.
I pulled it out of my pocket, turning away from Erwan and his chatting and giggling friends.
“Hi B.
Terrible day without you. Everything okay?
Jamie.”
Jamie was my ex-boyfriend. We had broken up a week before I left. No long-distance relationship at our age could have survived. We decided to separate before my move.
I was about to answer him when I felt Erwan’s warm breath on my neck as he leaned over my shoulder to read.
“Who the hell is that?”
“It’s none of your business.”
With a quick gesture, he took my phone. He easily avoided my attempts to recover it.
“Give it back to me, Erwan!”
The young man raised his arm in the air, waving my cell phone.
“Who’s this guy? Your boyfriend?”
“I said it’s none of your business! Now, give me back my phone.”
Erwan’s eyes darkened as they went from the phone to me, several times.
“I’ll tell him the good news.”
Something was threatening in the tone of his voice. It gave me a series of chills down my spine.
“Stop it.”
We were like two boxers in a ring.
Frozen.
Even the others were silent.
Koran had approached but, too busy defying each other with our eyes, we only noticed his presence when he spoke.
“Is there a problem, Err?” the blond giant asked softly, staring at me with his chocolate eyes.
Eyes incriminating me as if I were guilty.
“Yes, but I’ll fix it right now,” whispered the rogue with a bad smile.
Abruptly, Erwan tapped the call icon.
He didn’t let go of my eyes as he stuck the phone to his ear.
“Jamie, right? ... Yes, this is Beth’s phone. I’m her man, man. And I don’t appreciate another sending her sweet texts ... Yeah. So if you dare make contact with her again, I’ll come to pay you a courtesy visit, buddy. That’s right, man. Excuse yourself as much as you want, I don’t care. If you care about your knees and your teeth, forget her.”
Koran pulled the phone out of his friend’s hands and pressed the icon to cut the conversation before returning it to me.
Erwan was shaking with angry tremors.
The blond giant stood in front of Erwan as if to shield him from me.
“Calm down, Err. I think the guy understands and won’t call her anymore.”
I heard a kind of grunt and I made a move towards the young man. Koran stopped me with a wave of his hand.
“Yeah,” Erwan whispered as if trying to regain control of himself.
Then Koran went back to his car, ignoring me. The young man facing me was sweating.
“You okay?” I asked, despite my anger.
He chuckled.
“No. And now what? You want to make it up to me?”
“Now what? It’s you who’s meddling in my business. If anyone should apologize, it’s not me.”
With a leap, the young man attached himself to me. His arms closed around my waist like an iron vice. He plunged his face into my neck, squeezing me a little more.
Erwan was trembling and a strange warmth emanated from him. I jumped when I felt him nibbling my shoulder through my T-shirt.
“What are…”
“Just a little bit. It calms me.”
“Hey! Get a den!” someone shouted as Erwan’s fingers tried to venture under my shirt.
This triggered general laughter. I realized that Erwan was also laughing as he broke away from me.
“Go home, Baby, before I agree with them!”
Then he went to join his gang, who greeted him with manly back slaps.
They were all nuts in this rotten town.
Sure.
- Writer
