My alarm buzzing woke me up, I groaned reaching a hand over to the other side of my bed, frowning when I was met with a hoodie. I sat up looking around the empty room, Jason was gone but he had left me his hoodie, I smiled slightly, holding the cloth to my nose and inhaling his scent.
My alarm buzzed again and I groaned, flopping back onto the bed. I didn’t want to go to school, I didn’t want to face Derek, even though Jason had assured me that Derek won’t be a problem, I was still having doubts.
The door opened to reveal Siobhan and I stared at her confused. I was certain I had locked the door last night, or did I think I locked the door.
“Are you okay?” She asked crossing the room, over to me. I blinked, forcing a smile.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Good morning.” I greeted smiling.
“Good morning, I have breakfast ready for you. Adolfo is already waiting.” She informed me. I nodded, yawning. Climbing out of the bed as soon as she stood up, she left the room while I made my way to the bathroom.
I had a shower and got dressed in blue skinny jeans and a frilly top, I was tempted to wear Jason’s hoodie but something told me today was going to be an exceptionally hot day. I made sure I had everything I needed in my bag, grabbing my phone from the charging dock before leaving my room.
A plate of blueberry pancakes and a glass of orange juice was set on the dining table, I sat and dug in, occasionally scrolling through my socials which was very limited since I didn’t have many friends. I glanced at the time, I had 15 minutes left. I dabbed the syrup away with the serviette and got up.
“I’m leaving.” I called out, making my way to the front door; the black Audi sedan was outside with Adolfo standing by the back passenger door.
“Good morning Young Miss.” He greeted opening the door for me.
“Good morning Adolfo.” I replied smiling and getting in, he closed the door and walked to the driver’s side and got in. I connected my air pods to my phone and music filled my ears. I rested my head against the headrest and watched as we drove out of the property, through the town to school.
He parked in his usual spot and I got out not before thanking him. I watched him drive off and I tightened my grip on my bag strap, I looked around the parking lot, Jason wasn’t here yet, same with Janice.
The roar of an engine had me looking to my left, my heart slamming in my chest at the sight of Derek’s cobalt blue Mustang. He drove past me, I couldn’t see him due to the tint but something told me he was staring at me. I decided to head into school, call me a coward but I did not want to deal with Derek alone.
I reached the doors to the building and turned back to look in the direction of his car. He was leaning against it, surrounded by his friends, sporting a black eye; a small bandage was placed on the bridge of his nose. His eyes were on me and an evil smirk was on his lips, I shivered and all but ran into the building. I didn’t bother stopping by my locker, instead I ran to my sanctuary; the art studio.
Mr. Mathew, one of the janitors jumped as I pushed the door to the studio open, the door slamming against the wall, the sound echoing. I winced shooting him an apologetic look.
“Sorry Mr. Mathew” I whispered closing the door behind me with utmost care. He sighed, rubbing his bald head with his hand.
“It’s nothing Annalise. What are you doing here so early? The last time you came here this early was ba…” He trailed off sensing how awkward the conversation was going to be if he headed in that direction but it was a bit too late.
Back then, I used to hide in the art studio to avoid Derek. Adolfo always dropped me off super early and Derek came super early with his friends just to torment me before Janice could come to my rescue, so once Adolfo dropped me off, I scurried to the art studio and waited for Janice, Mr. Mathew always kept me company.
I guess Derek got tired of tormenting me so he stopped but now he was back to his old ways and I was too much of a weakling to stand up to him.
“It’s nothing” I replied assuring him, he still looked at me worriedly. “I just wanted to find a quiet place to sit before school started.”
Something told me he didn’t believe me but he chose not to press the matter and I was super grateful for that. “In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Have you nice day.” He said heading for the door.
“Have a nice day too.” I watched him close the door behind him, leaving me in the silence. I sighed and plopped onto a stool staring at the white ceiling. I glanced at the clock; I still had 10 minutes before school started. I hoped Jason or Janice would be here soon, the last thing I needed was for Derek to find me here.
The art studio was not only located in the second building but it was a bit separated from the rest of the classes used by the students. It was the last place I wanted to be left alone with Derek.
It seemed luck was on my side because my phone rang, I pulled it out of my pocket to see Jason calling. I sighed in relief and answered the call.
“Hey Princess.” He said, his warm baritone voice filling my ear, “Hi” I replied.
“Are you in school yet?” He asked. “Yeah, at the art studio.”
“I’ll be right there.” He said cutting the call, I slid my phone into my back pocket and sat on the stool and waited for him. The door opened and he walked in, dressed in his usual attire.
“Janice almost assaulted me looking for you.” He stated walking over to me, his hand resting on my thigh. I furrowed my brow looking up at him.
“Why didn’t she call me?” I asked. “Apparently she left her phone at home.” He replied, that sounded like something she could do but why was she frantically looking for me?
Derek
“Did you see Derek? Did he say anything to you?” I asked, he sighed “I saw him, he gave me a smug smile and I gave him the middle finger.” He answered making me gasp.
“Jason” I cried out “We don’t want to make him angry!!!” He looked up at the ceiling, pinching the bridge of his nose before letting out an angry exhale.
“Fine, I’ll try everything possible not to piss the asshole off. Happy?” He conceded making me smile.
“Very.” I replied cheerfully. He cracked a smile, cupping my cheek and pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“Let’s get going before Janice tears down the whole school looking for us.”
I hopped down and let him sling my backpack over his shoulder, his hand found its way to my waist, pulling me into his side, I smiled up at him and together we walked out of the art studio back to the main building where I could see a worried Janice standing by my locker, she spotted us and ran over to us.
“Where have you been?! I was so worried” She cried out turning me around, searching for injuries. My eyes met Jason’s amused ones; he didn’t bother hiding the smirk on his face.
“Thank God you’re okay.” She said letting out a sigh in relief just as the bell rang. I had English Literature while Jason and Janice had History. Jason subtly squeezed my hand gently before he walked in direction of the History class.
“I’ll see you after History.” She said giving me a quick hug. I watched her disappear into the crowd. I headed to class, quickly finding a seat and flipping through my notes as the rest of the students slowly filed into the class.
Mrs. Barnes walked in and the class settled she immediately launched into a discussion on Hamlet. I blinked, the hairs on the back of my neck rising, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched.
The moment Mrs. Barnes turned to write something on the board, I turned my head and my eyes met Derek’s. I had forgotten he was in my English Lit. I hated the way he stared at me, as if he held all the cards in the game, his eyes promised misery.
I couldn’t hold his gaze anymore; it was too intense and scary. I turned back to Mrs. Barnes, my eyes drifting to the clock. I still had 45 minutes and I knew he wasn’t going to stop looking, I hunched up, wrapping my arms around my body as I tried everything to stop my body from shaking and bolting out of the class.
“For the assessment, I have decided to make it a group assignment. I’ll divide you all into group of twos.” She explained, picking up the pad that contained the class list.
“Isabelle Rodriguez, you’ll work with James Anderson. Lizzie Baker with Robert Maloney, Nate Jacobs and Annalise O’Malley, Ted Michael and Susie West, Derek McKinnon and Sydney Johnson.” She said, I sighed in relief, resting my forehead on the desk.
“Thank God.” I whispered, the rest of the class continued and I could still feel his eyes but not being paired with him had boosted my confidence and I was determined to ignore him. School had just started and I would not let him make the rest of the day uncomfortable for me.
The class finally ended and I got up, making my way to the door with the rest of the students when out of nowhere I bumped into a pulled out chair and found myself falling backwards, I closed my eyes and braced for the pain but it never came.
Warm arms held me up, I opened my eyes, looking to see who was my savior only to see Derek holding me up, supporting me with his body. He gave me a creepy smile and all my confidence went up in smoke.
“Careful there, we wouldn’t want you to fall now would we, Princess?”
Everything about the sentence felt wrong, his use of Jason’s pet name made my skin crawl. I tore my arm out of his grip and ran as fast as I could out of the class.
I needed to get as far as possible from him.
**********
A/N
What do you guys think about Derek? Let me know in the comments. Personally he gives me the creeps!!!
Thank you for reading.