Chapter 2

POV Noralyn

As soon as the bell rings I gather my things to go but the math teacher calls out my name as I'm getting closer to the door.

"Ms Chase can you come for a moment?"

I stop and take a deep breath. I really don't want to spend a second more in this class but I know that the teacher only wants to make sure that I'm okay so I put on a fake smile and walk toward his desk.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier," the teacher says. "I promise you this won't go unpunished. "

"I'm fine, really." I've gotten very good at lying about the way I'm feeling over the past months. 

"This student, Rio Dasilva, is quite the troublemaker but I assure you that as long as you're in my class you won't have to worry about him."

It's nice of Mr. Clarke that he wants to protect me but I just got here and I don't want other people to get in trouble because of me, especially not Rio Dasilva.  There's already a dark past linking us to each other. My family has done enough damage. I don't want to be the reason why he has a bad image at school. 

"In fact Rio and I, we know each other," I hear myself say before I think this through.

The teacher's eyebrows raise in surprise. 

"You do?"

I nod.

"We were neighbors in my hometown. About what happened earlier, he didn't mean to scare me, we just have some unfinished business between us."

I realize that I made it sound like Rio and I were dating, which was absolutely not my intention. I instantly feel my cheeks burning red with embarrassment. The teacher seems even more worried at my miserable attempt to defend Rio's attitude. 

"I would advise you to be careful around him," he says with a deep frown and my heart sinks. By trying to defend Rio I only made matters worse. I'd better stop talking and just get out of here. 

"Thank you sir." I don't wait to see if he has anything else to say and hurry out of the classroom.  

Once I'm outside I almost collide with another student and I apologize to her. 

"I'm sorry."

"No it's okay," she replies with a polite smile. She's breathtaking.  Her hair is styled in a bun and her bangs are dyed in violet. Her clothes are a black ensemble, skirt, crop top, leather jacket and boots. "I'm Jade by the way. You're Noralyn right?"

"Yes." I don't really feel like socializing right now. I'd rather go somewhere quiet and try to digest the fact that I'm attending the same school as the person who's been haunting my mind for the past thirteen months. 

If guilt could kill I would've died ages ago. Rio became an orphan because of Jace, my brother. He also lost the love of his life because of my brother. And the worst part of it all is that my parents did everything in their power so that my brother never went to prison. 

"So, I notice that you and Rio seem close?" Jade says again as she catches up to me when I start walking away.

"Not really, we just used to be neighbors."

Why does she care anyway?

"Well, earlier when you talked to the teacher-"

"Look Jade, I'm not feeling good right now," I cut her off with an apologetic smile. "I'm going to get some fresh air. It was nice meeting you."

She seems flabbergasted that I dared to cut her off but I don't give her the time to recover and simply walk away. 

As I push through the crowded hallways, the noise from the students resonates with the chaos inside my head. Flashes of the events that happened a year ago come back to haunt me.

That night my brother and I had gone to the concert of a rising local boyband. In fact I had bought two tickets, one for myself and one for Keelan to celebrate our six-month anniversary but  we had an argument the week before the concert and I decided that I wasn't going to let him treat me the way he'd been doing anymore. We broke up. 

We'd only been dating for six months but it still hurt like hell.  Dating Keelan was like riding a roller coaster. It was exhilarating and I had the feeling that I could reach the stars, but often I was also scared of crashing and losing myself in the process. 

After I broke up with Keelan my brother refused to let me feel sorry for myself. Jace never approved of my relationship with him anyways.  He made efforts to always take me out so I wouldn't feel lonely. The night of the concert I categorically refused to go but he kept bugging me until I finally dragged my ass out of my room and into his car.

I'll never forget this night. We were singing at the top of our lungs even if we didn't know most of the words. Jace even carried me over his shoulders so I could have a better view of the scene. That night felt as if we could finally escape from the demons that have been running after us for long.

Sadly the demons awaiting us were more ferocious than the ones we'd been trying to escape.

I  find a place under a tree where I sit and lean my head against the trunk. I close my eyes and force myself to think about the good memories that I have with Jace. At first it hurt to think about those good old days but now they bring me peace whenever the thoughts inside my head are going crazy. 

I spend a few minutes like this until I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I take it out. I received a message from my mother.

How's your first day at school going?

I don't bother replying. I never wanted to leave our town. Jace and I were born there, all the good memories that I have of him are from this town. 

My mother pretended that it would help me in the grieving process to start fresh in a new town, a new high school but I know that she and my dad simply wanted to escape the attention that the local media was giving them. My brother's suicide had been the only thing the locals talked about. 

I take my sketchbook out of my backpack and a few pencils then I begin to draw Jace. It's a particular memory that I have of him. We went to see a movie and when we got out of the movie theater it began raining but instead of taking a cab we decided to walk back home. I kept making fun of Jace because his long blond hair made him look like a wet dog under the rain. 

I'm drawing him as I remember him, with his wet hair, mischievous eyes that always seem to mock everything and everyone and a smile that almost every girl at our school was fawning over. 

I often start drawing him when I miss him so much that I can barely breathe. It gives me the feeling that I'm reliving the memories that I'm pouring out on the paper. 

Maybe if I keep drawing him I'll have the feeling that he's still by my side...

Maybe...

"Wow, you're really good!"

My head snaps up at the masculine voice and I notice a student standing over me. 

"Thank you," I say. 

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

I don't really like drawing when people are looking at my work, it stresses me out. The guy seems to notice that I'm hesitating and quickly adds. "Don't worry I won't be bothering you. It's just that this place is usually my favorite spot during lunchtime. "

"Oh, please go ahead." 

He sits next to me and starts reading a manga while he's eating a sandwich and I continue my drawing. 

A few minutes later, I feel kinda awkward that we're sitting so close to each other without making conversation so I decide to introduce myself while I'm still drawing .

"My name is Noralyn by the way."

"Nice name. I'm Kline," he answers.  "You just moved here?"

"Yeah this weekend."

"What do you think about us so far?" His tone is light so I know that he's not expecting a real answer, for some reason I decide to tease him.

"Hmm... I'm still waiting to be impressed. "

That makes him laugh. "Is that so? I take it that you're from a big city where there's always something happening?"

"To be honest my hometown was as peaceful as this one. Nothing ever happened. "

Until my brother...

I finish my drawing and put the sketchbook in my backpack.  

"You want a sandwich?"

Kline offers me one and I take it. 

"Thank you."

"So you've been drawing for long? You look like a professional. "

"I started at 6 and over the years my parents enrolled me for extra classes in that art school. I also paint." 

"Wow that's big. All I ever do is read all these mangas and play video games." 

"Those are still valid as hobbies." I can't help but smile at him. Kline seems like a fun person to be around, there's a kind of positive energy coming from him.

"Now that you moved, how are you gonna attend those classes?"

"I stopped going long before I moved."

After Jace's death I simply lost interest. My therapist kept advising me to go back but I never did. 

"Oh." 

I feel Kline looking at me with curiosity.  He must have noticed that something about my tone changed. Thankfully he doesn't ask any question. Suddenly his face lightens up and he snaps his fingers.

"You said you paint right?"

"Yes?"

"My boss has been talking about hiring someone to paint a mural, a kind of landscape or something, to brighten up the atmosphere at work. Are you interested?"

Well, I did murals before in two restaurants back in my hometown.  But it's been a while since I haven't tackled a project this big.

"I could take you there after school so you can meet him and ask about what he expects," Kline continues. 

Why not? 

This could be fun. It could really help take my mind off the chaos inside of me to focus on this for a while. Luckily I still  have  the pictures of the murals I did on my phone, I can show them to his boss so he can see what my work looks like.

"Alright, let's do that."

What's the worst that can happen anyway?