Witness: A Bad-Boy Romance

Gym class

I was relieved that Blake ignored me for the rest of the class. I had expected him to make rude comments or to make fun of me whenever I got anything wrong, but he just sat quietly and did is work.

The second the bell rang, he was gone, and I was faced with my first lunch break at my new school as Victoria.

I had no idea where to go, and I had nobody to talk to, but I followed everyone as they spilled out of the classroom and eventually I made my way down to the canteen.

The food looked awful, and as I piled lukewarm fries onto my plate I made a note to bring my own food from now on.

After I had paid for my food I was left holding the tray and I didn’t know where I should sit. I wasn’t the kind of girl who would just smile and sit at any random table, and apparently, Victoria wasn’t either.

As I looked around the room I felt my guts twist and a lump in the back of my throat.

The school was different and the people were new but a group of younger girls giggling at one table reminded me of Tammie and her friends, and now I couldn’t stop thinking of her.

“Hey new kid, are you going to stand there all day?”

Oh god, they were talking to me.

I turned to look at whoever it was. It was a guy who had been in my computer science class.

He had been disruptive and annoying all class and I groaned inwardly at the fact he had even spoken to me.

I shuffled nervously to the side, and he shoved past me.

I didn’t even want the food anymore, and I took it over to the garbage and scraped it silently away.

I hated being so wasteful, but I just couldn’t stay in the canteen right now.

I didn’t even know where I was going to go. I wandered around the hallways filled with chattering kids in an attempt to get to know the building.

I found where my algebra class had been, and then the theater, and then where I guessed my history classes would be.

I didn’t have history today, though. My final class of the day was gym class, with Brooke.

I wondered how her first day was going. I guessed that she wasn’t being spoken to the way I was and that she had probably settled in far better than I ever would.

I found a quieter part of the building and sat down on a bench so I could read for the rest of the lunch break.

The bell rang again, and I started to make my way to the locker room. I was nearly there when I realized there was one problem with that; I didn’t have my gym kit with me. I was wearing tight pants, boots, and a form-fitting shirt. There was no way I could do any kind of gym class like this.

Thankfully I caught sight of Brooke and flagged her down.

She was overly cheerful, confirming my suspicions that her first day was going far better than mine.

“Excited for gym class, kiddo?” she beamed.

I shook my head nervously.

“I don’t have anything to wear, Brooke.”

“Oh.”

She seemed crestfallen, and I felt guilty.

“I don’t suppose you can let me off, just this once?”

She bit her lip, then sighed.

“Just this once. But you owe me, OK?”

I nodded enthusiastically, relieved beyond words that she had agreed not to embarrass me.

“Deal. I’ll see you down at the car after class.”

“See you,” she smiled cheerfully again and waved goodbye before disappearing to teach the class.

I didn’t really know what to do with myself, but in the end, I decided to explore outside for a bit so I was ready to leave as soon as Brooke was done for the day.

I wandered quietly through the hallways, stopping only when I dipped into a doorway to avoid talking to the principal.

I felt free when I walked out of the doors of the school in a way that I never had before. I always loved school. I wasn’t popular, but I had certainly never been treated the way that Blake seemed determined to treat me.

I coughed when I walked out into a cloud of cigarette smoke, and then my eyes shot open wider when I saw that it was Blake who was stood smoking by the main entrance.

“You’re following me again.”

His tone was harsh and accusatory, and it made me cringe.

I stared down at the floor. I felt like I had done something wrong, but I had no idea he would even be there.

“No. I’m just not going to gym class.”

“Bad girl, huh? And here I was thinking you were a goody-goody. I’m pleasantly surprised.”

“I’m not a bad girl, I just don’t have any gym clothes.”

I was embarrassed even as I was saying the words, but it was too late to take them back now. I was just glad that no one else was there to hear me.

Blake laughed dismissively.

“Of course, you’re not a bad girl.”

He threw the last of the cigarette down onto the floor beside me then turned away.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

I wanted to call him on it, but he was already walking away from me.

He disappeared around the corner, and then a few seconds later a motorcycle roared to life and he drove away.