Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up to the drizzle of what's left of yesterday's rain and I groaned. Mom needs to buy me that car soon. I stretched on my bed until I heard a few cracks before yawning and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Forcing myself up from the warm bed, I made my way to the closet and grabbed whatever's on top of the pile of clothes which was a comfortable black tee with 'Supernatural' printed on it in white lettering with the designs of broken shards of glass surrounding it.

I grabbed a pair of long jeans and undergarments before trudging towards the bathroom, mindlessly stripping and getting into the shower and washed myself clean with warm water hitting my back. I was still half asleep, even after I had slipped into my clothes after my shower and brushed my teeth.

After brushing my hair and putting on some deodorant, I contemplated bringing an umbrella with me. Yeah, it'll shield me from the rain but there's no guarantee that it'll come back to me. The umbrella stack is open to anyone who brings an umbrella so there's been a few cases where students lose theirs to another and because I'm an outcast, the chances of that happening to me is more than just a ‘likely possibility’. It's guaranteed.

So with that thought, I grabbed my grey hoodie instead and took my earphones with me. I grabbed an apple and a granola bar before exiting the house. I stopped in front of my doorstep, pausing right under where the roof stops short. I flipped my hoodie on and zipped it up. I fixed the cable of my earphones under my clothes so they wouldn’t get wet and my ears were already plugged with fall out boy on full blast.

My sneakers splashed the small puddles that formed on the uneven ground, distorting the blurred images reflected by the water. The tips of my jeans were starting to get soaked and it clung to my ankles. I kept my quick pace, not fancying the idea of having to walk all the way to school if I missed the bus.

A car honking on my right caught my attention as I continued my half-jog to the bus stop. My head whipped to the side to see what was causing the deafening sounds when a familiar voice hollered, "Yo Princess! Hop in!"

There was Ryder Park, behind the wheel, in a car that had stopped – not by the curb. The nutjob didn’t even bother pulling over to the side of the road. Nope. He just decided to start acting as if he owned the entire paved road, parking his car on the middle of the road.

Has he finally lost it? He's causing traffic!

"Ryder, what on Earth are you doing?!" I shouted at him over the honking of the infuriated drivers behind him.

"Come on, Princess. They're getting mad," he said, trying to speak over the loud and angry cars waiting behind him. Yeah, like I didn’t know that.

As to avoid causing an even bigger scene, I rushed to get into his car.

"Okay, yesterday, I might've had a suspicion that you were half-sane but now? I'm positive you've lost all your marbles!" I started saying the second that I got into his car while buckling my seatbelt as the car sped to school.

My declaration earned a laugh from him. "Chill, Princess. I know what I'm doing." His attempt at calming me down amused me and irritated me at the same time. The nerve of this guy is amazingly abundant.

"Not that I don't appreciate this whole thing, but why in the world are you doing this?" I asked him, baffled by his hospitality towards an outcast. To someone who is definitely going to make him lose his good name if anyone saw us interacting. But then again, he was Ryder Park, it was quite hard to imagine that anyone would ever think of him any less just because he was talking to an outcast like me. I anything, he might even get more popularity for ‘being suck a kind soul and taking pity on the outcast’.

"What? You mean picking you up and dropping you home? I'm flattered, truly, for having left such a big impression on you. But in truth, Princess, I live just around the corner of your block and I coincidentally saw you. I couldn't just leave you walking in the rain, I have an image to keep up." He emphasized.

Ouch.

I flushed deeply. It wasn’t like I didn’t suspect that that was the whole reason he was being nice to me but it didn’t lessen the embarrassment that I felt when he actually confirmed my suspicions. Of course, it was foolish of me to think that he had taken a liking towards someone as low as me.

"Wait, I'm sorry. That came out wrong, what I meant- " He started to say again but I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "It's fine. You don't need to explain."

He parted his lips, about to say something to probably object and argue with me but I beat him to it. "Drop it, Park." I knew that I had no reason to be so hostile towards him. I mean, regardless of what his motive was, it still didn’t change the fact that he did helped me out twice.

Although, deep down I knew that I was acting this way because of how embarrassed I was feeling.

I looked around and saw that we were nearing the school gates so I told him to pull over.

"What? No way!" He outright denied but I was so persistent in making him pull over that he finally begrudgingly obliged.

"Thanks for the ride," I muttered before opening the door, I didn't want his image to be ruined by being seen with me so I thought I would spare him the humiliation. I knew that by acting this way, I was probably being really petty and ruining my image in his eyes. But what could your girl have done instead? Her ego was too bruised.

"Wait, Princess. I'm sorry, for what I said, it was stupid. I-" his hand latched onto my wrist as half of my body was out of the car. I peeled his fingers off my wrist and, as gently as my humiliated self could, got his hand off my wrist.

"It's fine, Park. You did nothing wrong. Thank you for the ride." I cut him off before completely getting off the car and shutting the door to his car. I walked towards the school gates, making sure to keep my head down. One of my hand was keeping a hold on the strap of my backpack as I hitched it higher over my shoulder and the other was clutching my phone with an earbud still plugged in my ear with ACDC's Highway to Hell on.

Could it be more ironic? I thought quietly as the bell rang just as I was opening the door to my homeroom.

"Good morning, everyone! Please take a seat." Mrs. Trevor said to the class and we all scurried to take our seats.

The day went on with lectures and for once, I was absorbed by the lesson itself that it wasn't until lunch that I noticed something terribly wrong. People kept on staring at me while I walk past them in the hallway and they kept on whispering something under their breath.

I daringly raised my head to take a look around as people stared and pointed, speaking in hushed tones. A shriek came from behind me and as I turned to see who it was, Tia came bounding up and crashed into me, taking my shoulders in both of her hands before she started shaking me violently. "Luce! Where the hell have you been and what's up with you and Ryder?"

I held onto her arms and got her to stop shaking me before I could give her a proper pointed look. When she saw the look I gave her, she made a face and got defensive, "What? People aren't really subtle in gossiping in this school." I sighed and rolled my eyes, continuing my walk to the cafeteria.

"Nothing's going on with me and Ryder," I told her quietly. When Tia is around, I didn’t mind raising my head because when she's around, it's like we've got this personal bubble that separates us from the rest of the world. With Tia around, I didn’t get self-conscious thoughts and none of the usual worries that would haunt me incessantly stuck around. Everything just vanishes. That’s what I love about hanging around Tia, she has the ability to take up my entire focus and attention. She keeps my brain occupied and doesn’t let the thoughts and worries wander.

"So the thing about him dropping you off and you guys driving to school together is not true?" She asked me with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk grew on her face when my eyes bulged. I started choking on my own saliva.

"W-what?" I stammered.

She chuckled and patted my back lightly, "Ah, Luce. You've never been a good liar anyways."

I quickly shushed her, looking around to see if anyone heard her – which was useless because of the next thing that happened.

"Aha! It is true!" Tia yelled excitedly. I quickly glared at her, earning myself a sheepish smile that I quickly dismissed. With that volume, it would be impossible for the whole school to not have heard her. I yanked her to the nearest bathroom before she alerts the entire world of what happened this morning.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" I sighed in defeat when we were finally alone.

"About you and Ryder, duh," she rolled her eyes at my dubious nature.

"Like I told you, nothing's going on. I got stuck in school because it rained yesterday, and he happened to be there so he offered to take me home. This morning, I found out that he lived near my house and saw me walking to the bus stop so he offered me a ride." I told her in a bored tone while washing my hands and rinsing my face to maybe help wash away the embarrassment I was still unable to shake off from this morning’s incident.

"Ooh, someone's got a crush on you," Tia said in a sing-song voice while wiggling her shaped eyebrows and smirking.

"No, he doesn't," I snapped at her, quick to shut her suggestive words down. She raised her hands at my aggression, which I instantly felt bad for, before dropping them and tutting me whilst wiggling a finger.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. You always have been an oblivious idiot," I raised my eyebrows at that. I may be a nerd but I embraced the title these biatches gave me and I was proud of it.

"Okay, maybe an oblivious genius," she rolled her eyes, "but an oblivious one nevertheless." This time it was my turn to roll my eyes, arguing with this girl as like talking to a brick wall. You get nowhere and you make a fool out of yourself. Even Sherlock freaking Holmes might not be able to outwit her.

I chuckled at my thought. Oh, who was I kidding; no one outwits Sherlock. "I think someone's in lo-ove," Tia teased but I shook my head, exaggerating a pained and annoyed groan. This girl will be the death of me.

"You know you love me, Luce," she teased with a pout that formed into a grin as she slung her arm across my shoulders. "Just make sure that big headed dollop-head won't replace me and snatch your heart so easily." She teased as I opened the door to the bathroom and exited.

I groaned again but was cut off mid-groan (is that even a thing?) by a screech. Whereas Tia's was an excited and joking one, this one was a screech made by an overgrown guinea pig that has just got her baby snatched away from her. And it's not just a normal overgrown guinea pig, it's an overweight, cannibal, overgrown guinea pig.

Okay, maybe not the overweight part but it was definitely a cannibal one and it was out for blood.

Specifically? Lucinda Kennedy.

Reason? Unknown.

Should I run now? Most probably.

So there you go children, the most important lesson you have to understand in life. Never enrage an overgrown, cannibalistic guinea pig.

The guinea pig that is running after me right now can be identified as none other than, I think you guys know the answer to this one. Who would chase the biggest freak in the school -- in heels – (thanks to some gossip) for riding in the same vehicle as her acclaimed 'boyfriend' without her acknowledgement? You got it, folks. Gina the Queen Bitch. A round of applause, please.

I grabbed Tia's arm and hauled ass. As soon as I saw Gina's face, I knew she heard about what happened and I didn’t fancy sticking around to face her unbelievably terrifying face and wrath.

"Don't worry Gina, I'm sure you'll get another boy toy very soon! Just let it go!" Tia shouted over her shoulder as we ran and proceeded to sing 'Let It Go' from Frozen. Gina's enraged yell/roar was enough to part the student in the hall like the red sea, making it easier for her to catch us.

We had an advantage though. We were wearing sneakers and she was wearing heels. As soon as I thought that, one heel flew past me, missing inches of my face. Okay, maybe I spoke to soon. That shit could've given me an instant concussion if it didn't miss. Or worse, go through me and embed itself into one of my body parts.

"Come back here, you slut!" I grimaced at the nickname but didn't falter in my steps and kept on running.

We turned a corner and bumped into a brick wall. Dammit, I thought as I rubbed my now sore nose, who was stupid enough to build a school with halls that lead to a dead end?

Just then, hands steadied me, preventing my fall. "You okay?" As soon as I heard his voice, I groaned once again and I looked up to see him frown, obviously disturbed that I sound displeased in meeting him. Gina's yells came closer and I grabbed Tia and hid among Ryder's group of friends.

"Where are you, you bitch?!" Gina screeched and I flinched from how close she sounded. I sighed in relief, thinking of the barrier of muscled guys between us, hiding Tia and I from Gina’s view but my breath got caught in my throat when Tia got up to her tip toes and yelled a comeback.

"I didn't think you were as crazy as you are a hoe, talking to yourself and all, you dumb bitch!" I face palmed and the sound echoed through the halls.

To my surprise, Ryder immediately turned to me, "What the hell? Are you okay? Why would you do that?" He demanded, looking stern. I was about to come up with a reply for him but didn't get the chance since a slightly hoarse, but still squirrel-like, voice rang through the halls. "Hands off him, you whore!"

“Ah, damn. Shit's about to get real,” was all I could think as I saw Tia lunge for Gina and grab her by her throat.