Chapter 2

Aria’s POV

Biology in first period was as boring as ever but luckily my desk mate was absent today, a girl named Lucy who always talked too much and would distract me from the teacher. The bell rang and I went to my locker to collect my books for math.

When I rounded the corner, I cried out as I hit a hot, hard body.

“Watch it!”

Hands steadied my shoulders, and I looked up in Marcus’ brown eyes. Marcus was the unofficial third of Finn and Zach’s group. He was also tall with wavy brown hair curling around his ears, and chocolate eyes.

I’d never spoken to Marcus before but he was scowling down at me and wasn’t sure what to say so I just muttered out a quick, “sorry,” before scurrying away. As I approached my locker, I saw Zach standing by it waiting for me.

“Hey Aria, why is your nose red?” Zach asked suspiciously.

“Oh, no reason. Ran into a wall.” I grumbled.

Zach laughed loudly, catching the attention of all the students around us, “clumsy as ever.”

“Whatever.” I growled as I opened my locker and got out my math books. Zach flung his arm around my shoulders and escorted me to class where we took our usual seats next to each other.

The bell rang as soon as we sat down and the principal walked in, Mr. Hanson. “Good morning, students. As you know, Mrs. Clancy was expecting and she went into labor last night, in preparation for her maternity leave, we have hired a replacement teacher. Please welcome Mr. Zane.”

I could practically hear the other girls swoon as a man walked in with dark blue eyes and red hair that was neatly styled on top and shorn short on the sides.

“Good morning, students. I’m Mr. Zane and I won’t tolerate any kind of bullshit like talking out of turn and being disruptive.”

Mr. Hanson spluttered, “excuse me, you can’t use that kind of language in the classroom!”

Mr. Zane turned to him and narrowed his eyes, “why are you still here?”

The principal nearly choked on air before he turned tail and ran out of the room.

“What a hard ass.” Zach complained from next to me.

“You. What’s your name?” The new teacher narrowed in on Zach.

“I’m Zach,” my best friend replied simply.

“Zach. You may think you’re at the top of the food chain but in my classroom, I make the rules. You can move to the front of the classroom where I keep my troubled students.”

My mouth opened wide in shock at Zach being called a troubled student. Usually, teachers loved him. He scoffed from next to me and gathered his stuff to move to the front of the classroom to an empty seat.

“Now then, let’s talk algebra.” Mr. Zane continued like nothing happened.

“Can you believe that prick? Making me sit at the front with all the nerds of the class?” Zach complained as we made our way to our next class together, third period for gym.

“He was a little harsh.” I agreed with him. We split and went to our corresponding locker rooms to get changed.

“Oh look, it’s short, fatty Aria, she got separated from her bodyguard during class today.” Wendy was mocking loudly in the girl’s locker room to her best friend Tiffany.

Tiffany giggled, “yeah, no wonder Zach doesn’t look twice at her with a fat ass like that.”

“Whatever. I don’t even care.” I grumbled to the witch.

“Well, it’s better you two have some separation now rather than later when Zach takes me to senior prom.” She giggled.

I stopped in my tracks, was this true? He was taking her to prom? I wasn’t exactly expecting him to take me but to take my arch nemesis felt like a betrayal.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Wendy smiled with her teeth as she looked down at me. I instantly stared comparing myself to her willowy figure. She was tall, lean and athletic whereas I was short and curvy. Was this what Zach liked in a woman?

I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I turned into my locker to grab my clothes and change into them. Not even my mother’s abuse hurt this much. My feet dragged as I walked into the gym and went to a corner far away from my supposed best friend.

“She’s a bitch, right?” A girl I hadn’t met before said to me.

“Yeah, she’s definitely not an angel.” I scoffed.

“Aria, don’t let her get to you, she’s probably lying.” The girl whose name I still didn’t know told me. She must’ve realized I didn’t know her because then she introduced herself. “I’m Elle, I just transferred in a few weeks late.”

“Hey, Elle. Yeah, I’m Aria, though I guess you already know.” I said.

“I heard that bitch call you that in the locker room earlier, that’s how I knew.” She replied.

“Oh, right.” Come on Aria, it’s not like you are famous or popular, of course that’s how she knew your name.

“Aria! I was waiting for you in our usual spot! Whoa, why are you growling?” Zach said as he approached me.

“You know what you did.” I accused him.

Wendy cackled loudly and recognition shone in his blue eyes. “Seriously? You’re mad about that?”

“You know that she’s always made my life a living hell!” I poked him in the chest and accused him.

“She’s not that bad, she’s actually pretty nice when you get to know her.” He tried to defend himself.

“Right. Sure.” I turned away from him and made my escape with Elle to the opposite side of the room.

Hurt flashed in his eyes before he rolled them and went to talk to Wendy. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and gave me a big shit eating grin before laying her hand on his chest and leaning in to speak in his ear.

“Love is overrated, am I right?” Elle whispered to me.

I coughed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please, I could see the hearts in your eyes from a mile away, you’re in love with him. Look, some friendly advice, if he already realizes how you feel and still chose another girl over you, he’s not worth it. Trust me.” Elle said.

“I guess you’re right.” I admitted.

Coach Bonet chose then to finally walk into class ten minutes late, “sorry class, got caught up talking to another teacher.” He straightened out his shirt and looked around the room until he caught sight of me.

“Ah, Aria, report to the principal’s office.”

My palms were sweating as I trudged to the front office in my gym clothes. What does the principal want with me? As I marched forward an eerie feeling crept over me when a pain exploded on the back of my head and everything went black.