Chapter 18 - A Walk To School
1668 Words
“You sure you want to walk?”
“Yes, and I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Emman answers an irritated and, obviously, anxious Emily.
“Do you mind if I walk along with you?” I interject.
Emily’s eyes quickly widen, and she exclaims, “I’ll come with you.”
Weird.
“You sure? It’s a long walk. You’ll be bored out of your mind.” Emman asks.
Why was Emily acting so weird? It’s as if she doesn’t want me to walk alone with Emman.
“Who are you kidding, Em? You can’t and don’t want to walk that far. Let the young lad hang out with the lassie.” Kiki shouts, laughing.
“Oh, whatever. I’ll be waiting for you at the gate. Santi, we’ll talk soon.” She answers as Peter hurriedly drives off before us.
“Is it really that far?” I try to start a conversation. Emman hasn’t spoken to me since our little spat after arriving at the beach. He hasn’t made any eye contact, too.
“No, I told you it’s a little over 5 blocks away. We’ll make it in time for classes.” His tone sounded angry. He hasn’t forgiven me.
“In time for your classes, you mean,” I murmur. It was a little insensitive of them to try to include me in subjects I clearly did not belong to. Their white little privilege was shining through.
“Oh yeah, I heard about that. So, where do you go to school?” His voice lightens.
“Nowhere.”
“You don’t?” He asked, genuinely confused.
“I don’t.”
“Not even homeschooled?”
“Is it even schooling if it’s done at home?”
“You have a point.” He snickers. “But I don’t really get how you came to befriend Emily. She’s snarky and a little bit spoiled. You seem a whole lot of the opposite.”
“Well, what can I say, opposites attract.”
Emman stops dead in his tracks and looks back at me.
“You’re attracted to Emily?”
“What?! Hell no!” I declare, way too quickly. I was trying not to think about other people I may or may not be experiencing a heartbeat for to casually and successfully decline his insinuations.
“Answered too fast, caught you in a lie.” He chuckles.
I wanted to clear it up with him. I didn’t want to risk appearing like a lesbian to him. It was too far from the truth and I never did handle lies well. I didn’t like to pretend I was what I wasn’t. I had to set the record straight.
But just as I pulled him aside, the world turns around me.
Oh, that sweet chuckle.
Tug-dug
I take a moment to see Emman’s full beauty from behind. Even from the back, his hair looked flawless. It was curly and shaggy, not too messy, just the right amount. His jet-black strands of hair sway every time he’d look at me. It wasn’t long enough to sway, but it was soft and bouncy enough to move.
He looks at me, smiling from cheek to cheek.
Tug-dug
That smile. His lips were crooked, smooth, and red. It looked lascivious. It frequently rests at the corners of his mouth, always showing a half-smile. His teeth weren’t perfect, as well. He had a chipped tooth at the upper right, something he tries to hide by casually licking over with his tongue every time he spoke. But it was there, front-row and enjoying the attention.
He flickers his eyes at me, teasing me.
Tug-dug
His eyes. Oh, his lovely, lovely eyes. Green as trees. Shiny as jewels. They sparkled like the light of the first star of the night. His eyes, so piercing. So intense that it could cut the air. His eyes call unto me. Begging me to–
“What are you doing?” My world instantly continues to move, just as fast as it had stopped.
Cars passed by and I anxiously panicked inside. What was I becoming? Did a succubus turn me into a s*x-driven demon? Because I sure was feeling it inside.
“What do you mean?” I play dumb to avoid awkward conversation.
“You are so weird.” He chuckles. “You pulled me aside. I thought you had something to say to me.”
“I had. I mean, I did. I mean, I do have something to tell you.” I frantically racked my brain for something useful. I couldn’t have blacked out during the fifteen minutes of drooling I was doing.
“I don’t like Emily like that. I just wanted to tell you that. She’s sweet and has been a great new friend to me. But that’s that. We’re friends. Please don’t make it any weirder.” I managed to huff out all in one breath.
I was afraid to meet his gaze, fearing he didn’t believe me. Or more so, fearing he did and didn’t care.
“That’s nice to know.” He smiles after some time. “You know, uh, I heard from Emily that she got you into our school?”
“Yeah, I didn’t really get to clarify that with her. It was a whirlwind of a morning, to be honest.” I admit I wanted to get into their school. I wanted to belong. To blend in. Even just for a little while.
“Well, from what I’ve heard, you’re officially enrolled in Brighton High.” He says with open arms. I smile back, appreciating the warm welcome. Emily’s friends were more than just kind. Honestly, they were borderline spoiled, but what does it matter if they were giving a chance to a girl from the streets like me?
“I never got to thank her, anyway. It kind of flew off my mind. I really didn’t think she was serious. I mean, is it really that normal for you humans to do a gesture as big as this?”
They needed a serious privilege check.
“Oh, don’t bother. She knows you’re thankful. And check your tone, Santi, you’re doing it again.” His face scrunches up, as if almost angry.
“Doing what?”
“Judging us for our privileged lives. It’s not as if you’re not benefitting from it anyways. If I know Emily, she has probably fixed you a nice little princess-themed bedroom at her apartment. You’re her little doll but here you are complaining about all the nice things she does for you.”
I stood there in silence, realizing how unfair I had been to judge her so early on. She only really wanted my best interests at heart. How could I blame her for being rich?
“I’m sorry,” I say after some time.
By then, we had already arrived in front of a tall gate. It reeked of privilege once again, but who am I to judge.
Emman suddenly takes my arm as we venture onto what seemed like a small house. Inside it was a security guard. His uniform read, Emilio.
I snatch my arm back, annoyed.
“You’re violent,” I say, more of an observation than a snap back at him.
He looks back at me, seeing the way he gripped my arm tightly, and let's go. He was unaware of his violence.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to grip so hard.” He rubs the back of his nape. “Anyway, Emilio, this is a new student. You’ll probably find her in the system but she doesn’t have id cards yet.” He faces the guard.
Emilio nods in acknowledgement without any more words and opens the gate.
“You bribed him well,” I commented.
He smirks and gestures for me to follow him across the broad hall. It was silent. Almost library-silent.
“It’s 1 already. Students are in class. Emily and the others must’ve gone to class as well.”
“Oh,” I was left a little surprised. Emily put me up in this school, but she left me. Or had she known Emman would do her job for her?
“It’s cool, don’t worry. I know this school inside-out as well. I’ll get you settled.” He smiles back at me.
Damn, who doesn’t melt from that smile.
I shake my head, feeling my crazy thoughts evade again.
“Thanks, that’s nice of you.”
“Don’t bother. Emily always does this. But I’ve got your back.”
So, I wasn’t the only person to befriend the crazy?
“What do you mean?”
“Uhh,” he juggles his thoughts as we navigate through the corners of this huge prominent school. “She easily befriends people, you know. She relates to them, befriends them. They turn out pretty nice. We, her original friends, take care of them. She tends to be a little irresponsible.”
“So, I’m a house pet,” I comment. Nice, I’m not the first one to fall victim to that predator. “Glad to know there were previous pets before me.”
He chuckles. He must think I was joking. But then again, the sentiment didn’t really hit me hard. I was just grateful someone is still looking out for me down there.
Wow, I hadn’t heard from my father in about a week.
He must’ve noticed I was gone by now, didn’t he?
Was he looking for me?
“Hey, Earth to Santi.” Emman snaps his fingers in front of me. I had gotten too deep in thought for a second there. “Now, this here,” he points to a small office room. “This is the registrar. We’ll get your official schedule printed out today. You’ll take your first class this afternoon. Then, we’ll meet back later at the big quadrant you found in front of the gate, okay?”
He spoke to me like a child. Dumbass.
- Writer
